North Devon Quay Sports held their rescheduled Christmas Match at Morchard Road where Steve Hayman took top spot with 36lb 5oz. In runner up spot was Andrew Preston with 36lb and Barry Lee third with 30lb 8oz. Graham Curnow was forth with 29lb 12oz.
SOUTH WEST FLY FAIR
SEA ANGLING RESULTS
Combe Martin SAC members braved rough weather over the weekend in their search for specimen fish. Ross Stanway won the competition with a specimen small eyed ray scaling 10lb 15.5oz. (109 %) Shane Hookway was runner up with a conger of 19lb 14oz (99%).
Bideford Angling Clubs January 48-hour Rover results
7 angler’s fished
1 fish weighed
1st Stephen Found Small-eyed ray 9lb 4oz 102.777%
The WYVERN REGION OPEN SHORE MATCH was held at Slapton Sands in South Devon and attracted 130 entrants. I will post a full report on the match later this week when I have the full results.
Specimen Small Eyed Ray
Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge caught a double figure small eyed ray weighing 10lb 12oz that picked up a launce and squid cocktail fished on Varivas Big Mouth Xtra hooks.
If you are out fishing over the next couple of days, do check the swell forecasts and if in any doubt, play it safe and keep well back away from the water.
Sea Angling Catches –
Sea Anglers are catching some good fish from the North Devon shore line with huss, spurdog and conger amongst catches.
Prospects for the coming month are excellent if the Westerly winds persist.
Combe Martin SAC member Ross Stanway enjoyed a session at a local shore mark to land several ray including three small eyed ray of 8lb 8oz and a brace of spotted ray.
Bideford Angling Club Monthly Sea Rover
January Rover results
9 angler’s fished
1 fished weighed
1st Stephen Found Dog 2lb 3 1/2oz
Stafford Moor Carp Catch
Jim Dean banked two carp out up to 29lb 2oz from swim 2 up on lodge lake, Jim caught on CC Moore live system and washed out pink carp freaks pop ups.
Bideford Coarse Match Results
January Monthly Coarse Section
Competition Results:
Tarka Swims:
1st Kevin Shears 14lb 15oz
2nd Warren Thornton 14lb 3oz
3rd Les Polden 13lb
4th Paul Elworthy 12lb 11oz
5th Keith Mountjoy 9lb 9oz
6th Nathan Underwood 7lb 8oz
7th Antony Bentley 6lb 6oz
Our first competition of the year was well attended, with 21 anglers braving the weather.
Conditions were colder than recently, with heavy showers, George’s lake has fished hard , although roach have fed all over., and top weights close.
Kevin has put together a lovely net ,of mainly silver fish , for victory on peg 19 using pole and maggots.
Warren 2nd place, on peg 13 , was also a pole fished maggot catch , including several smaller carp.
Les finished in third spot , and won his section.
Wimbleball to Open on February 1st
The South West’s Premier Trout Fishery opens on February 1st. Fly Fishing enthusiasts across the South West will be delighted to get back to fishing this water after a drought hit 2022.
Coastal Access Issues
When I started fishing from the North Devon Coast close to fifty years ago access to the coast was not a major issue with many marks freely accessible. During the 1980’s and onwards issues started to arise as the numbers of anglers fishing increased with many travelling long distances to fish the marks. Sadly, some of the anglers showed little respect for private property and sometimes left litter and in some cases broke down fences to gain access.
During recent years some marks have been operated on a permit only basis with an annual fee charged to allow access to private land to fish. Permits are generally obtained by local anglers who tend to respect the owners and their property accepting that times have changed and that to gain access to fish a charge is perhaps the new normal.
These access issues have perhaps been highligted further since COVID and lockdowns increased coastal visits by the general public.
In some cases certain areas have been closed to angling to ensure maximum potential use of the venue for commercial purposes. There are concerns that anglers breaking the rules regarding access to closed areas could jeopardise access to wider areas.
I hope that those reading this will know of the areas and appreciate the issues. It would be sad if those who have invested in permits and follow the rules are denied access to several prime marks due to anglers fishing a couple of marks that have been closed off. Once access is lost it is seldom regained.
Respect of private property is essential if anglers wish to maintain access to the coast.
Some areas of South Devon have become virtual no go areas as a result of anti social behaviour by a minority it is to be hoped this does not happen in North Devon.
CARP CATCHES FROM TRUSTY WATERS
The recent mild weather is proving ideal for local carp fishing with some great catches from local SWLT waters.
Jason McEvoy caught this 20lb common as his first fish of the year from Upper Tamar.
It took an 18mm CC Moore Live System bottom bait fished on a size 6 crank, fox camotek hook length and west country leads.
( Below) Some fantastic catches from our Darracott Bailiff Ken Sampson which he had over the Christmas period.
(Below )Some cracking catches from Dean Willoughby who had these fish at Melbury recently.
