The hot calm conditions have proved ideal for boat anglers with tope now showing in good numbers off Ilfracombe. Dan Hawkins took these pictures of some of the tope boated on ‘Reel Deal’ today.
Bideford Result and estuary mullet
Dan Redmore won Bideford Angling Clubs twenty-four hour rover with a fine specimen plaice of 2lb 4oz. Antony Smith was runner up with a thick lipped grey mullet of 4lb 3oz and Lee Watts third with a plaice of 1lb 12oz.
In the estuaries thin lipped mullet are giving good sport with John Shapland landing a brace of the hard fighting fish weighing 3lb 13.5oz and 2lb 14oz.
Smoothound Packs give top sport
Shore fishers have been enjoying some great sport with smoothound from many marks. Combe Martin SAC member Dan Spearman landed a fine hound of 12lb 14oz. Fellow club member Ollie Passmore landed a hound of 12lb 6oz.
Dan West also enjoyed a hectic session with smoothound landing several fish to double figures from his mate Keith Bullards boat whilst fishing in Bideford Bay.
Tope on the boat
Anglers have been enjoying some fine sport with tope numbers increasing as mackerel shoals move into the Bristol Channel. Dan Hawkins took a part of anglers into Combe Martin Bay as a strong westerly blew up Channel and managed to find several quality tope.
Variety on the Pier – Feature from Contributor James Wigglesworth
James Wigglesworth and his angling friends often enjoy trips to Ilfracombe’s Pier where they catch a wide variety of species using both conventional tactics and LRF techniques. Many thanks to James for sending me this informative article.
Whether you’ve fished it or not, Ilfracombe Pier should be a venue on any species hunters radar. Throughout the seasons nearly anything is possible from the North Devon Port. During the summer months it can get particularly busy with families and groups targeting the seasonal mackerel that visit our waters so I prefer to head down at quieter times and adapt a mobile approach where I can fish on the move and target different species in different habitats. My favourite style of fishing is using a very light LRF rod (0.5-7g) with a size 16 hooks trying to tempt all the weird and wonderful mini species that find sanctuary in and around the harbour. Tiny bits of ragworm or Isome fished tight to the wall will produce bites for the majority of the day with gobies, blennies, scorpion fish, wrasse and small pollack finding it too irresistible to ignore. If that’s not really your game and you like to fish static with heavier gear then you’d be silly to ignore the piers potential. I haven’t done too much of this myself but good friend and local species hunter George Stavrakopoulos has and he’s bagged a lot of good fish. He fishes light flapper rigs baited with worm, squid or mackerel. Fishing straight off the end of the lower Pier will find your lead landing on rough, rocky ground which will see you getting plenty of bites from wrasse, pout and the likes. Moving round into the harbour the ground cleans up and just a gentle lob will find you on the sand where there are plenty of dabs, flounders, bass and the odd ray or gurnard.
Float fishing through the warmer months will get you mackerel and garfish which is always great fun on light gear. We’ve seen some pretty strange fish come from the Pier since we’ve been fishing it and also some pretty rare ones. One recent session saw myself catch a topknot and a leopard spotted goby in consecutive casts and I know that George bagged himself a cling fish and a tadpole fish in a single session there last year. Get down there and give it a go…. you never know what might turn up!
Ilfracombe Summer Boat Sport
Summer boat sport is on the up Off Ilfracombe where Dan Welch and Ross Stanway enjoyed some superb fishing relishing the calm conditions with North Devons spectacular coastline as a backdrop. Many thanks to Dan for sharing these stunning images.
Tope are starting to show in increasing numbers offshore. To target these hard fighting fish book a trip aboard Reel Deal as Chidgy did recently when he boated this hard fighting tope.
Ali Laird beaches a fine ray
Ali Laird landed this superb small eyed ray weighing 9lb 7oz on a recent trip over the border to Somerset.
Management measures for the North Devon Marine Pioneer area
Nick Phillips and I met with Dr Gill Ainsworth Social Scientist from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology CEH Edinburgh to represent Combe Martin Sea Angling Club in an hour long filmed interview that will form part of a film for the below project that gives Marine stakeholders an opportunity to voice their views on the Marine Environment and what matters to them and their communities.
Cultural values, experiences, identities and capabilities relating to marine ecosystem services
Project introduction: This Community Voice Method (CVM) project is being undertaken in collaboration between the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) as part of the Marine Ecosystems Research Programme (MERP). The project goal is to identify potential management measures for the North Devon Marine Pioneer area and views on the future of the marine environment in the Southwest. We aim to do this by gathering people’s views about the benefits, experiences and capabilities they gain from conducting different activities in the marine environment and how these might be affected by a range of possible future scenarios.
How the Community Voice Method works: This project aims to gather stakeholder views about potential marine management options and enable deliberation on those options. The method involves filming interviews in order to produce a documentary film to be shown during a stakeholder workshop later in the year. This will inform the design of marine management in the Southwest, and ensure different community voices are represented more effectively when policy options are being considered, alongside ecological and economic evidence.
The Marine Pioneer: The Marine Pioneer is an area of the Celtic Seas that joins the existing North Devon Biosphere along the coast and extends to approximately 20 nautical miles beyond Lundy. Defra chose the Marine Pioneer in 2016 as part of its 25 Year Environment Strategy to deliver growth in our natural environment and in the social and economic well-being of the North Devon area.
Who is being interviewed? We are approaching people for interview based on their knowledge or involvement in relevant marine industries or sea user groups as well as trying to ensure that we capture as full a range of views and values as possible. We are intentionally selecting people who we know are engaged in, care about, or are impacted by the marine management process, and who represent a range of views on and interests in marine resource use, management and conservation.
The films will be used later as a focus point at workshops where stakeholders have the opportunity to work together to find a way forward to ensure a marine environment that balances the needs for all involved.
Sea Fishing Trips Off Ilfracombe
There is every chance of a wide range of species off Ilfracombe with tope amongst the hardest fighting species likely to be caught.
Appledore Shipbuilders- Specimen hounds and a fine gilt.
Cameron Atkinson won Appledore Shipbuilders monthly Rover with a specimen smoothound of 12lb 111/4oz. In runner up spot was David Langbridge with a fine gilthead bream of 4lb 2oz and in third was James Mayhew with a smoothound of 9lb 71/2oz.
