I was saddened to learn earlier this week that Summerlands Tackle Shop at Westward Ho! is closing soon a big surprise, it seems that they have always been there. No longer will we be able to pop into Summerlands whilst visiting Westward Ho! In fact Summerlands was generally the main reason for us to visit Westward Ho!
Nick Laws founded Summerlands Tackle back in 1985 close to forty years ago and for as long as I can remember there has always been a cheery welcome from the family run business. Nick has lived in and around Westward Ho! all his life and has fished the local shore since his childhood days when he would fish the beach with his father taking home the occasional bass for his mother to cook.
Nick Laws and his father fishing for bass at Westward Ho!One of Nicks first fish a tasty bass to take home.
Summerlands became the social hub of the local angling community with anglers of all disciplines meeting to swap tales over a coffee and the occasional slice of cake. Local tackle shops are at the core of anglings social network and many a friendship and trip to the water’s edge has been forged.
The original Summerlands Tackle Shop
In recent years Nick and Louise have taken a back seat with the business their daughter Heather and her husband Simon taking the reign’s and keeping it very much in the family.
Simon McCarthy with a smoothound from a few years back.
On hearing the news that Summerlands was closing I headed down to wish the family well for the future. The quick visit soon became a couple of hours as other local anglers called into the shop chatting about the good times they had enjoyed over the years. Heather told me that she was heartened by the warmth that had been evident from the well -wishers who had called into the shop having heard the news.
I asked Heather if she had a message for customers and this is the piece she carefully prepared for the shops social media page.
“So as our family now moves on and explores new possibilities and the founders of Summerlands get their well earnt retirement. All that is for us to say is THANK YOU. It has always been about you the customer and you are the part we are saddest about leaving. The friendships we have made with customers and also within the trade we will always cherish and it has been an absolute honour to serve you and work with you over the last four decades. We hope to see you to say goodbye and celebrate our final chapter with you as we close the book on the best fishing tackle shop adventure ever. Tight lines always we will miss you the Summerlands Tackle family over and out.”
Many local anglers are featured on the shops photo gallery bringing back many happy memories. Heather welcomes anglers to come and collect their photos from the gallery.
Much has changed in the world of angling and beyond in the past forty years and we reflected upon this as we chatted. Nick reminisced fondly about fishing forays to Ireland where he had enjoyed fishing those famous surf beaches for bass. The tackle of the day was very basic in comparison to many of the state of the art rods sold in Summerlands over the past decades.
Nick holds a fishing rod and reel from his formative years as a life long angler.
Over the coming weeks starting on Saturday 31st August there will be an EVERTHING MUST GO SALE.
On a personal note I wish all those at Summerlands the best for the future and would like to thank them for their support with North Devon Angling News since 2016. The closing of Summerlands will leave a void in the local angling scene but we are fortunate that we have several excellent tackle shops across North Devon.
Combe Martin SAC are hosting their annual Fun Fishing event on Ilfracombe Pier on Sunday September 1st 10:30am util 12:30pm.
We will have Matt Mander from the D & S IFCA at the event to answer all those questions surrounding management of our coastal waters. We also hope to have attendance from the RNLI and Coastguard. There will be prizes from our local sponsors and the chance to chat with CMSAC Club members. The fun competition is a species competition with all ages and abilities welcome under 16’s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
As this coincides with the Sea Ilfracombe Festival there is plenty to do in Ilfracombe after the fishing with live music and street stalls and other activities.
Renewables deliver the cheapest electricity in history. So follow the profits …
If you want to burn money, then investing in a company that’s about to be wiped out by a new technology is a good way to go. History is littered with the wreckage of complacent has-beens mugged by progress. Stranded Assets.
So does this ever happen to countries? Could there be some budding technology, so ignored or sneered at that the threat is overlooked by the masses and their political leaders. Until, suddenly, it blindsides them?
Well, how about renewable energy? Populist opinion says it’s expensive, annoying and tastes like cardboard. And if Donald Trump wins then the fanboys expect to Dig baby, dig and Burn baby, burn. American coal, oil and gas are cheap, right? And a nation that runs on cheaper energy becomes richer than its neighbours. To the winner, the spoils.
The catch in this is that on-shore wind and solar are now a lot cheaper and more profitable to build and run than fossil fuels.
According to the World Economic Forum, the price of solar electricity has fallen 90% in just 10 years, making it “the cheapest electricity in history”. Onshore wind is close behind and utility-scale battery costs have also fallen 90% in a decade (IEA). The days when renewables carried premium prices are gone and the word is spreading: There are fortunes to be made in cheap green energy.
Take Texas, where they subsidise fossil fuels and claim legislative hurdles to obstruct renewables. It’s not working:
Financial Times 2024
Forbes Magazine, not noted for its bunny-hugging, reports that soaring Texan wind and solar energy deployment cut wholesale state electricity costs by $31.5 billion between 2010-2022, with $11 billion in 2022 alone. Whoops. Officially, that’s not meant to be happening.
The Financial Times, also no bunny-hugger, smells profit: “Economics can turn even the biggest climate change sceptic into a clean energy evangelist. This is exactly what has happened in Texas.” So green money is growing political muscle while coal, oil and gas wilt.
Meanwhile, Forbes also reports a massive business opportunity: it says 99% of America’s remaining coal plants cost more to keep running than to replace with wind and solar. And that swapping in clean energy for uneconomic coal would save enough money to finance more than 150 gigawatts’ worth of electricity storage – which, it says, is roughly ten times the total US utility-scale battery capacity as of 2023.
Instead of shutting down these smokestack has-beens, their owners, backed by complicit/corrupt politicians, are investing new capital and tax-payer subsidies to keep them running. They’re increasing utility debt on uncompetitive assets and bilking their customers for the hiked costs. This lays the groundwork for financial disaster. Screwing your customers andtaxpayers on this scale is not sustainable.
Elsewhere, US consumers in states with high renewable generation pay less for their power (Republican South Dakota produced 83% of its in-state electricity from renewables in ‘22). We are witnessing a global flight of capital out of fossil fuels and into renewable energy – and it transcends party politics.
The world is changing, although a lot of people on the left and right margins still believe going green is about hugging trees, hand-wringing and chewing tofu. Forget that: Renewables are the new gold rush. Ask a capitalist. Or read the Economist.
With thanks to Jan Rosenow
Looking ahead, where does this leave major infrastructure investments like refineries, the global shipping fleet carrying oil and gas, and huge pipeline projects? Answer: up shit-creek without the proverbial. Pssst: wanna buy a used oil refinery?
And before someone says electrification needs more mining than fossil fuels; no it doesn’t. The annual hole in the ground needed to service the old energy economy is in the region of 15 billion tonnes (oil, coal & gas). The IEA predicts that by the 2040s we will need 28 to 40 million tonnes of minerals to run the renewables energy economy. On my fingers that’s a big deal. And it creates a lot of stranded mining assets, because there’s going to be a lot less mining.
So the resistance comes from the declining but still fabulously wealthy fossil fuel sector, which faces losing its shirt. Meanwhile, at the political margins, some people can’t see the $s for red mist. Neither the ideologically hard-core anti-growth greens nor their knuckle-dragging opponents in their deeply tedious woke wars (it takes two) are economically significant. So while they hurl brickbats and get lost in click-bait minutiae, the market has left them behind:
And the US is playing catch-up. In the first 6 months of the year it built 20.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity generation capacity (US EIA), a 21 percent increase from the first half of last year. Which is not as good as it sounds.
Cumulative: 59% Solar, while coal and gas (grey/black top) are disappearing.
We started with the idea that the USA might lose its top-dog status (or worse). So if the future is cheap energy and that buys a big competitive advantage, who wins and who loses? The answer is easy: The amount of wind and solar power under construction in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined.
China has 440 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale renewables underway. The US has 40. As it comes online China will reap the benefits.
Source: Global Solar Power Tracker, Global Wind Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor. Projects at or above 20MW for solar and 10MW for wind
And what of Net Zero – that red-mist-inducing 2050 target? Well, it seems safe to say that the first 90% of the journey will deliver cheaper more profitable energy to industry and consumers. Imagine saying that even 10 years ago. The last 10% is generally held to be a bigger ask, but given the amazing speed at which renewable tech is evolving would you bet against this turning out to be much easier than we thought? So we’ll get there because it’s cheaper for users and more profitable for investors.
So what price the USA? My take is that the US fossil fuel industry is already losing global market, wealth and friends. This will accelerate. So there are major geopolitical consequences to Burn Baby, Burn.
The winners will be the Chinese and the countries (and companies) leading the charge into renewables as their costs continue to plummet. A nation or company that runs on cheap energy has a competitive advantage over its competitors that don’t. And it just so happens that the cheapest energy is renewable. So follow the money. There’s still plenty to do, not least the grid, but the direction of travel is set and accelerating.
Renewables are too profitable to fail. And what’s not to like about that?
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Combe Martin SAC member Daniel Welch took time out from his charter boat Predator 2 to target grey mullet whilst inclement weather restricted boat forays. He was rewarded with over half a dozen fish over 3lb, the best a fine specimen of 4lb 6oz.
Ollie Passmore enjoyed a successful trip to Scotland, targeting Skate –
After a week on call for work we were buzzing to set of for our trip to NW Scotland after the Skate. It was our second attempt after a failed effort last year. luckily it happened on the first day with the rest of the trip being quite. I had the first one a 120lb male then Kody had a 157lb female and lastly Chris had a monster getting on for 200lb. we were all amazed just how hard they fight and tested us to our limits.
I was using Sakuma 150lb Supershock for leader and trace material and a 10/0 Sakuma 445 Circle hook. An awesome experience and one we wont forget in a hurry.
With strong Southerly winds forecast the planned mates trip on Predator 2 was in the balance so I was pleased when Dan Welch suggested we head up channel to fish in the shelter of Exmoor’s high cliffs. Toby Bassett and I both agreed with Dan that this was a good idea and so at 8:00am Toby and I climbed on board surprised to find that we were the only two joining Dan for the day.
It was good to have this rare chance to have plenty of space on a charter boat and to be heading up channel to grounds that I have a close affinity with having fished them many times over the years.
Dan was as always full of ideas for the day ahead and discussed a wide range of options that we could try. This was an ideal opportunity for Dan to try out a few new marks for different species. It was also perhaps good to have two anglers on board who fish in different ways. Toby is very much focussed on his species fishing whilst I tend to target larger specimens if I get the chance.
We steamed out of Ilfracombe beneath grey skies and it was good to watch the dramatic coastline pass by. The familiar shoreline of Watermouth, Combe Martin Bay and then the dramatic and towering cliffs that plunge to the sea beneath Great Hangman and Holdstone Down. We paused for a few drifts over the Copperas Rocks located off Little Hangman to no avail then headed to some sandbanks situated on the edge of the tide.
We put down large fish baits in search of tope and waited in anticipation. After ten minutes or so Toby hooked a good fish that hung heavy in the tide. The guessing game followed as Toby’s rod bent as the fish battled. The towering heather topped cliffs providing a spectacular backdrop to the action.
A tope of around twenty five pounds appeared on the surface and was safely tailed by Dans expert wielding of a wire tailor of the type once used for salmon.
This was a good start and we fished on expectantly for half an hour or so more with just a few dogfish to show.
It was time for a move and so we headed out for a drift over a few wrecks and reefs. It seemed that the bass and pollock were not feeding as our lures were ignored.
With the tide easing all the time we decided to head into the sheltered waters of Woody Bay and fish the sandbanks for ray and tope.
I dropped down a large mackerel bait and flicked out a sliver of mackerel on my spinning rod hoping for a ray or maybe even a turbot.
Toby caught a beautiful micro tope on small hooks.
My spinning rod tip nodded a couple of times and I picked up the rod feeling for the fish. Tightening the line I felt a good pull and set the hook. The light rod took on a good curve and line was pulled steadily from the reel. A game of give and take eventually resulted in a pleasing small eyed ray of around 8lb.
I decided to try a squid bait and on opening the box found that I had previously stashed a whole prawn in with the squid. Worth a try I thought and threaded on the large prawn.
A few minutes later the spinning rod signalled that something had picked up the prawn. After a similar tussle up came another small eyed ray.
As the tide eased further and no further bites materialised we decided to try out on the reefs again with the lures. A couple of small bass were caught by Dan and Toby on the first drift boosting our confidence. But this proved to be a false dawn as nothing came from the following half a dozen drifts.
We chatted about various options and decided to head back close inshore for the last hour of fishing. By now the wind that was forecast to increase later in the day was gusting strongly arriving earlier than forecast. Fortunately the direction was as predicted and although probably gusting to 40mph plus the sea remained flat.
Dan manoeuvred the boat into position anchoring so that our baits would be trundling back into some rough ground. We both fished two rods a large bait on one and smaller baits on the spinning rods. This was when Toby’s species tactics came into play with size ten hooks employed baited with tiny strips of squid and mackerel. A succession of small pouting and poor cod rattled the rod tip, proof that we were in the rough stuff.
My heavier rod tip plunged over as something grabbed the large mackerel flapper impaled upon the 8/0 hook. Several yards of line were taken from the reel as the rod absorbed powerful lunges of what we guessed correctly was a good sized conger. As is often the case the eel looked larger than the 24lb the scales were to read as it appeared in the clear water behind the boat.
Moments after this Toby hooked into another conger of perhaps 10lb that gave a great account on Toby’s lighter set up.
The boat swung to and fro on the anchor as the wind strength continued to increase and bites dried up. It seemed a good time to up anchor and head back to Ilfracombe. The boat cruised comfortably across the windswept waters of the Bristol Channel. I once again admired those towering cliffs and recalled the many tales I had been told of their history. It is well worth seeking out a copy of “ The Hidden Edge of Exmoor” a book that tells of Kester and Elizabeth Webb’s exploration of this fascinating shoreline.
We arrived back in Ilfracombe Harbour thanking skipper Dan Welch for another good day afloat exploring the rich potential of the Bristol Channel. I look forward keenly to the next adventure.
Smoothound dominated Bideford Angling Clubs forty eight hour rover with Andrew Clements winning with a smoothound scaling 14lb 9.25oz. Andrew Clements was runner up with a smoothound of 14lb 2oz and Stephen Found third with a smoothound of 13lb 15.75oz.
Combe Martin SACs Club members lure fishing league runs from April 1st until October 31st. After a slow start members are now catching some stunning bass from both boat and shore. There are now four members with five bass on the scoreboard. I( Wayne Thomas) have secured a lead after a couple of good sessions on the shore adding a fine bass of 75cm to my tally along with bass of 60cm and 58cm. All fish were caught using mega-bass spindle worms.
75 cm bass – estimated at 10lb 8oz against the BASS conversion chart. See link below
Present standings are :-
Wayne Thomas – Bass – 75cm, 60cm, 58cm, 57cm, 56cm Total – 306cm
Ross Stanway – Bass 67cm, 58cm, 56cm, 56cm, 56cm Total – 293cm
