Shore Fishing reports have been few and far between recently so its great to see a few fish starting to show. Combe Martin SAC member Ali Laird caught this specimen bull huss of 12lb 9oz from a local rock mark.
North Devon Angler wins Prestigous Shark Trophy
Open Sea Angling Competition
Combe Martin SAC are hosting an Open Competition on November 12th. The boundaries are in line with the clubs boundaries. Old Severn Bridge to Lands End. The competition is catch and release with a photo of catch required along with a witness to the capture. Booking in is via the clubs facebook page, via phone or in person via High Street Tackle Ilfracombe.
See Combe Martin SAC Website for relevant specimen sizes ( Note for the competition dogfish specimen size is 3lb 8oz)
Entry fee is £5
COMBE MARTIN SAC LURE FISHING COMPETITION
Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Lure Fishing Competition generously sponsored by High Street Tackle concluded on Saturday, October 29th, with presentation of prizes at Danny Watsons High Street Tackle Shop in Ilfracombe.
I ( Wayne Thomas) was fortunate to take the first prize of a Penn Conflict XR Lure Rod with Dan Welch securing the runner up prize of a lure bundle worth close to £100.
Results – All lengths are actual with weights estimated via B.A.S.S Calculation charts for length to weight.
Wayne Thomas – Bass
74.5 cm 9lb 12oz
69 cm 8lb
68.5 cm 7lb 12oz
Total 212 cm
Daniel Welch
68 cm 7lb 12oz
66 cm. 7lb 2oz
61 cm 5lb 1oz
Total – 195cm
Solly Welch ( Junior)
58 cm 4lb 12oz
58 cm 4lb 12oz
57 cm 4lb 8oz
Total – 173cm
James Corner
62 cm 5lb 13oz
60 cm. 5lb 4oz
Total 122 cm
David Jenkins
55 cm 4lb
53 cm 3lb 12oz
Total 108 cm
Peter Robinson
62 cm 5lb 13oz
Effie Welch
53 cm 3lb 12oz
The club would like to thank Danny at High Street Tackle for his generous support throughout 2022. We look forward to working with Danny in 2023 whe he have exciting plans for another bass lure league for club members and an Open Lure Fishing competition fished over a weekend. More details and dates to be confirmed in the New Year.
North Devon has a vast potentail for lure fishing with beaches, rocks and estuaries providing a wide variety of opportunities. The fishing on offer can certainly match fishing in more high profile areas like Southern Ireland, Pembrokeshire and Cornwall. We owe it to our local angling community to promote what we have to support the local economy.
The NEW IMA Komomo SF125MRD….
The ever popular IMA Komomo SF125 has had an update –
Weight increased to 18g Addition of MRD casting assistance New diving range 5-50cm 3 brand new colours….. |
Specimen Conger – Autumn Nights
At the end of October the clocks go back signalling the true start of late Autumn and the impending onset of winter. This is prime time for shore anglers seeking large predatory species from the Bristol Channel. Combe Martin SAC member Shane Pavio Hookway has enjoyed success targetting conger landing a conger of 19lb 15oz from a rock mark. He also joined Bristol Channel Angling Guide Jansen Teakle to beach a fine eel of 19lb 12oz.
Grey Mullet – Provide Fine Autumn Sport
October and early November can offer some of the best mullet fishing of the year as these fish often feed hard prior to the onset of winter. In past decades the end of October signalled the end of the mullet fishing season but now these wily fish can be caught throughout the year. Harbours and rock marks are well worth fishing throughout North Devon.


Summerlands – Promote Life Saving Jackets














Rescued Angler Launches Crowdfunding for the RNLI

Following on from my previous post Jamie has asked if I could share the below on my website.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lyndse-and-jamie-steward-rnli-ilfracombe?utm_term=mPZrnaDY8 please could you share this on your page and help me raise money for the RNLI ilfracombe as they saved my life on Saturday night the least I can do is raise them some money. I will be walking 100k with my wife in the lakedistrict to help them like they helped me. 🙏 also I want to try and raise awareness on an anglers safety and try and get as many anglers as I can to buy a crew saver life jacket or floatation device. These should become an essential part of our kit. Regards Jamie
Since publishing my initial article on this near miss I have received considerable feedback and believe that the local RNLI will be launching an awareness campaign on safety. I will liaise with them to help promore awareness of the dangers and how to increase survival rates if things go wrong.
Local tackle shops are joining in the general effort to raise awareness.
Quay Sports posted the below guidance


Simon McCarthy at Summerlands works on the lifeboat and has been involved in many local rescues and is keen to offer advice to any anglers who vist the shop at Westward Ho!
Flounder Season off to a Promising start
Nick Braunton sent a short report on the flounder season starting in the Taw Estaury. He enjoyed a recent session catching and returning severl nice flounder to 1lb 6oz. I asked him if crabs were stripping the baits and he informed me that he had no problem with crabs stripping the bait but large numbers of small bass were whittling the baits away. This is perhaps an encouraging sign for the future.
Flounder sport should take off when heavy rain flushes out the estuary and a few sharp frosts deter the crabs.
Minehead – Teddie Boy – Blonde Ray on the Feed
Mid October is a great time to venture out of Minehead with a wide range of opportunities on offer. I had booked onto Teddie Boy Charters with my son James Thomas, Rob Scoines and a friend from my working life Derek Walters. There were three other anglers already booked onto the boat two of whom turned out to be ex Combe Martin SAC members who I had last met up with twenty years or so ago.
Mike Webber is one of the UK’s youngest charter skippers but has accumulated a mass of knowledge beyond his years after crewing with his father Steve of Osprey Charters for many seasons.
The plan was to enjoy some of the mixed general fishing on offer close to Minehead. Ray, huss, conger, smoothound and bass were all on the agenda.
Sailing from Minehead is always very tide dependant and today’s departure was at 11:00am allowing us time to grab a Full English at the local spoons before grabbing bait from Mike’s Speedbait outlet.
We gathered on the Quay just before 11:00am and chatted about the day ahead noting the autumn shades of the trees on the hillside overlooking the harbour. It was good to exchange a few words with Mike’s father Steve who has taken myself and other CMSAC members out to sea on many occasions.
The boat turned West out of the harbour and steamed down channel to a mark off Porlock Weir where Mike predicted huss, conger and the chance of a ray. The first mark proved a little snaggy and we lost a couple of rigs and hauled up numerous small conger.
Mike up anchored and moved the boat a few hundred yards before resetting the anchor. This proved to be cleared ground and we lost no more rigs. The conger were undoubtedly present in good numbers and a succession of hard fighting eels were brought to the boat. Derek hooked into an eel that put a substantial bend into his rod before eventually being brought to the boat. The eel estimated at around 15lb was hauled in for a quick photo. Next drop down Derek was into an even bigger eel that was released boat side.
A couple of decent huss were brought into the boat along with a thornback and a blonde ray. As the tide eased the action slowed and Mike said it was time to head up channel for a blonde ray.
This new mark was clean ground so Mike stated that conger should be less plentiful. Wrong! A succession of small eels seized our baits intended for blonde ray. Mike was however proved correct as the tide eased to low water. Rob Scoines hooked a decent fish that proved to be a lovely looking blonde of around 8lb.
This was followed a few minutes later when I hooked a good fish that put a healthy bend in my rod before eventually being pulled over the rim of the net. I estimated the ray at around 12lb and slipped it quickly back after a photo. A few years ago, I would have been keen to put a number to the fish but these days I seem to have lost that urgent need for gathering statistics.
A few moments later it was Robs turn to do battle and this fish definitely deserved a number and was recorded at 16lb 3oz a specimen rating of 107%. Another blonde of close to double figure was also boated by our fellow boat fishers from Bristol.
As the tide began to flood the bites again eased as the blonde ray appeared to switch off. It was now time to move once again to our final mark of the day half a mile or so off Dunster.
It was now early evening and the sky was painted in wispy pink clouds. We all savoured the magical fading light over fresh brews of tea and coffee. These moments of quiet contemplation and expectation are to some extent what fishing is all about.
A few eels gave strong bites and tussles in the strong tide. A couple of thornback were also added to the days tally along with a hard fighting smoothound for Rob.