When the rivers are low and salmon and sea trout are hard to find many fly fishers are turning to the the estuary where the silver flanked bass can provide exciting sport on both lure and fly. Nick Hart provides tuition in Fly Fishing in both fresh and saltwater, in rivers and still waters. His latest pictures show some happy anglers making the best of ideal conditions where the estuary meets the sea. Investing in guided fishing can make a huge difference to your catch rates boosting success over many years into the future.
James Atkinson won Appledore shipbuilders monthly Rover with a small eyed ray of 9lb 61/4oz. In second place was Richard Boone with a fine wrasse of 5lb 47/8oz and in third Andy Sanders with a thornback ray of 6lb 5oz.
Bideford Angling Club Monthly Rover
1st Antony smith thornback ray 9lb 5 1/2 103.819%
2nd Antony smith thornback ray 8lb 6 1/2 93.402%
3rd Dick Talbot smoothound 9lb 5 93.125%
4th Andy Sanders thornback ray 6lb 6 70.833%
4th Lee Watts dogfish 2lb 2 70.833%
5th Paul Downing thornback ray 5lb 15 65.972%
As the water starts to warm up wrasse should start to show along the North Devons rock marks. Combe Martin SAC member Ollie Passmore set out after the species and was rewarded with a nice fish of 3lb 6oz.
Bull huss continue to provide sport after dark when Ollie Passmore enjoyed success with a huss of 10lb 11oz. (Below)
Boat anglers are continuing to enjoy boat sport off Ilfracombe with several spurdog to 18lb brought aboard John Barbeary’s boat Bluefin. (Below)
I was recently interviewed by Phil Williams about my many years fishing for grey mullet. Take a listen if you have any interest in these hard fighting and at times frustrating fish.
Fifty eight anglers descended upon Putsborough beach for the annual Combe Martin Sea Angling Club Open and they met with ideal conditions. The east wind that had blown for several days had abated and the sea was calm as everyone gathered in the car park to book in.
It was good to chat with a few anglers who I had reported on over the past twelve months on this website. The nice thing about this competition is that it has a really friendly vibe with anglers meeting up, sharing tales and making plans.
Combe Martin SAC give special thanks to their sponsors; Sakuma, High Street Tackle, Veal Mail Order and Kevin Legge. Thanks also to Putsborough Sands for allowing the use their venue once again. The club also wish to thank all who took part with many anglers travelling a considerable distance to fish the event. Really pleased to hear several cheery “see you next year” as anglers sped off into the night at the end.
The fishing proved to be pretty good as well with most anglers catching fish and more than enough to match the impressive array of prizes on offer at the end. Over thirty small eyed ray were caught, one blonde ray, several smoothound to 5lb 8oz and of course plenty of dogfish.
1st – Matt Druce – blonde ray -11lb 41/4oz
2nd -Dale Kiff – small eyed ray – 7lb 14oz
3rd – Gareth Pike- dogfish – 2lb 5oz
4th – Garry Andrews – small eyed ray – 7lb 1/2oz
5th – Matt Druce – smell eyed ray – 6lb 151/2oz
6th – Dan Welch – small eyed ray – 6lb 15oz
7th – Dan Redmore – small eyed ray – 6lb 12oz
8th – Colin Emery – dogfish 2lb
9th – Lee Holden – dogfish 1lb 15oz
10th – Gareth Pike – dodfish 1lb 14oz
Nick Smith – dogfish 1lb 14oz
Ben Putman – dogfish 1lb 14oz
11th – Ross Stanway – small eyed ray – 6lb 21/2oz
12th – Ben Putman – small eyed ray – 6lb 10z
Colin Tanton – small eyed ray 6lb 1oz
Junior prize – Ollie Laird dogfish – 1lb 15oz
Best Brace -Matt Druce – Blonde Ray 11lb 41/2oz & small eyed ray 6lb 151/2oz Total = 163.4%
Below are a few pictures and comments from the night I will add as I get more so please feel free to send images and comments I try to make this a site for the angling community.
A
(above ) Dale Kiff
(Above) Nick Phillips
Mike Seatherton ( Above) – Fished Putsborough competition last night, really enjoyed it, managed to catch a few fish, smooth hound, small eyed ray and plenty of dog fish, biggest ray 4lbs 10oz,
Congratulations to all who got on the prize table!
(Above) Rob Scoines
(Below) Matt Druce and his winning fish , great turn out and thank you to all the sponsors and the usual suspects for a well organized event
Reel Deal has been making all the headlines with catches of porbeagle shark off the Cornish coast but when the weather doesn’t play ball there is plenty of variety fishing the grounds in the Bristol Channel. A recent session saw anglers land plenty of coalfish and pouting with some brightly coloured wrasse to put a smile on the anglers faces.
Spring time is the best time to head out and catch a big bull huss as Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge did recently catching this handsome huss of 10lb 1oz during one of his recent sessions.
Huss are a far more welcome catch than their relative the Lesser spotted dogfish that devour anglers baits spoiling the chance of something better. Huss can be tempted on a wide range of baits with big squid or mackerel baits favorite. In the murky waters along the Somerset coast near Porlock and Minehead these fish can be caught throughout the day. In North Devon’s clearer waters night time is undoubtedly best with rough ground more likely to bring results.
Rick Blackmore (Below) also targetted the species landing several in recent weeks topped by this specimen of 12lb 13oz.
Saturday May 6th Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs annual open fishing competition at Putsborough Beach. If recent catches are anything to go by we should see plenty of ray caught. As always the weather is the deciding factor so fingers crossed that its good conditions.
Combe Martin Sea Angling Club
Putsborough Sands
Open Fishing Competition 2017
Saturday May 6th
Fishing From 9.30pm to 1.30am
Book In From 8.00pm to 9.00pm
Weigh In By 2.00am
Cash Prizes Of £100 & £50
Sakuma, High Street Tackle & Veals MO
And Many Other Donated Prizes
2 Rods, 4 Hooks, Specimen Sizes
Entry £5 plus £1 Pool Best Brace
Phone Nick 814703 Or Wayne 850586
For More Details Please Check www.cmsac.co.uk Or Our Facebook Page
Combe Martin Sea Angling Club Members Kevin Legge and Derek Ferret have a knack of finding quality fish from the North Devon shoreline throughout the year. their latest catches include a 9lb 10oz bull huss to Kev and a 7lb 4oz bass for Derek!
