4 Sep 2025

Seth Tuson takes lead in CMSAC lure league

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Seth Tuson is now leading Combe Martin SAC’s Lure Fishing League with five bass for 347.5cm after adding a bass of 67cm to his five fish total.

 

1st – Seth Tuson – Five Bass -347.5cm

2nd -Mark Drewer – Five Bass – 344.5cm

3rd – Wayne Thomas – Five bass – 318cm

4th – Jamie Steward – Four bass – 272cm

5th –  Reece Woolgar – Four Bass – 263cm

6th –  Daniel Welch – Four Bass – 233cm

31 Aug 2025

Combe Martin SAC Fun Fish 2025

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Hard to believe that another Combe Martin SAC Fun Fish has come and gone signalling the end of the Summer season in conjunction with the annual Sea-Ilfracombe Festival.

This popular event is very much what it says on the tin so to speak; a fun fishing event with few rules and the focus very much on family fun. Once again a big thank you from Combe Martin SAC for generous sponsorship from High Street Tackle, Ilfracombe Aquarium and Barnstaple Bait and Tackle.

This year’s event saw over twenty taking part with several young anglers catching or seeing their very first fish. The move to use lighter tackle and small barbless hooks has certainly boosted the catch rate ensuring that plenty of fish were tempted.

Nine species were caught including pollock, conger, blenny, red bream, tompot blenny, smelt, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and poor cod. A good number of red sea bream were donated to Ilfracombe aquarium where they can be seen along with other fish caught on previous fun fishing events over recent years.

The Welch Family won a trip to Ilfracombe Aquarium that they kindly donated to runner up family Jesubaul and Becky Mringer. The longest fish was a 54cm conger caught by Louie Cameron and the heaviest a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz to the rod of Daniel Welch. The top individual points scorer was Ben Clarke with 25 points and Jesubaul runner up with 24 points.

Daniel Welch with the heaviest fish a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz
The Cameron Family with Archie (right) holding his brothers conger

The event cast off at 2.30pm as a strong swell surged close to the pier landings and a heavy shower threatened to dampen the spirits.

Fortunately the storm clouds soon drifted past and a vivid rainbow appeared off Hillsborough as bright blue skies brightened the rest of the afternoon.

Fish were caught from the start despite the murky water stirred up by heavy swells throughout the previous week. Four or five lobster were caught which is far more than any previous Fun fish. Another interesting feature was the large number of small red bream caught throughout the two hour long event.

Apologies if I have spelt any names wrong, a strong breeze, aging ears and a rain smeared score sheet undoubtedly contribute to any errors. Everyone who registered a fish took home a prize from our sponsors and in my view everyone who took part was a winner. I hope that those smiles convert just a few to enjoy the marvellous pastime that can forge a deep and lasting connection with the natural world.

28 Aug 2025

WEEKLY ANGLING REPORT – August 28th 2025

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            Members of Combe Martin SAC spent a day off Ilfracombe fishing on Daniel Welch’s boat Predator 2. Whilst the hoped for tope failed to show members found ten different species fishing on the seabed as cloudy water hampered lure fishing. The species caught included mackerel, scad, black bream, bull huss, smoothound, gurnard, conger, pollock, bass and dogfish.

             Combe Martin SAC host their annual fun fishing event this Sunday on Ilfracombe Pier with fishing starting at 2.30pm and ending at 4.30pm. This easy going event has been running for several years in conjunction with the Sea-Ilfracombe Festival. All young anglers should be accompanied by a responsible adult. The club would like to thank the ongoing support of High Street Tackle, Barnstaple Bait and Tackle and Ilfracombe Aquarium. Prizes are awarded for anglers under 16 who catch the most species and longest fish. The heaviest fish caught by and the top family points total.

 

            Late summer and early Autumn offer a wide range of species to target in saltwater as the seasons transition. All tactics can work at this time of year with both bait and lure tactics proving effective dependant on the prevailing conditions. An increasing number of anglers are now compiling records of the fish species they catch. A branch of angling I would compare to keen birdwatchers often referred to as twitchers. This can become very addictive with anglers traveling long distances and adapting tackle to target species not caught on standard sea tackle. Some mini sea species are caught using tiny hooks and gossamer thin lines paired with miniature rods. I recently bought Jack Perks excellent book “Field Guide to British Fish- Freshwater and Marine”. The book contains information and quality photo’s of 200 species found in UK waters. It has a useful tick list in the back of the book to record your own tally of species.

The book is a perfect companion to Alwynne Wheeler’s Key to the Fishes of Northern Europe that was first published in 1978. It is fascinating to compare the two books that illustrate the significant changes that are happening in both marine and freshwater eco systems.

            Ben Evenden won Stafford Moor’s Sunday Open with 197lb 9oz.

            Stafford Moor’s Carp Lakes are in fine form with plenty of multiple hauls. Dan Hoskin and his son fished Beattie’s Lake to bank sixteen carp twelve of which were over twenty pounds with the best a fine fish of 28lb. Martin Burton banked four carp to 32lb and Owen Thrumble banked forty carp over five days to 30lb 5oz.

24 Aug 2025

Combe Martin SAC – Predator 2 Boat Trip

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Combe Martin SAC’s Boat trip on Predator 2 was a trip we had been anticipating eagerly and with a fine day forecast optimism was high as we set out of Ilfracombe harbour on a calm morning.

As expected Skipper Dan Welch had a plan and it was to be a down channel day. Buoyed by stories of bass and tope we bounced over the calm waters and were overtaken by ever speedy Dan Hawkins on Reel Deal who was destined for the reefs of the North Cornish coast.

First stop was the turbulent tide race off Morte Point where bass and wrasse were targeted with lures. The water clarity was disappointing and after a short drift it was decided to head to mixed ground a short distance off the headland and drop the anchor. I opted to fish my light rod with a two hook paternoster baited with small strips of squid on size 4 Sakumu Chinu hooks. The rod tip was soon rattling as scad hit the baits, these were kept fresh as they would surely prove good baits for tope later in the day.

A steady trickle of species were caught including a bass, red gurnard, pollock, smoothound, dogfish, small conger and scad. As the tide eased Dan suggested we move out into deeper water with more tide flow.

 

“Peter the conger charmer”

This was big bait territory and large fish baits were sent to rest on the sea bed. Peter Robinson proved to be the conger charmer tempting a good fish of around 20lb along with others throughout the day. A few bull huss seized our baits and bent the rods. The tope proved elusive and we moved again further out to an area that had been producing some good tope in recent weeks.

The water was very murky and Dan thought this was the result of algae blooms and the dead algae being stirred up by the big tides. Bideford Bay had been alive with bait fish, bass, dolphins and birds a few days before this trip. It seemed devoid of life today with no signs of activity and little or no action as we dropped our baits to the seabed.

An increasingly frustrated Dan could only suggest we head back to where we had started the day and resume sport with the multitude of species that lurk close inshore.

We enjoyed the last couple of hours fishing off the spectacular headland of Morte point. Black bream, bull huss, conger, mackerel and pollock were brought to the boat with Peter Robinson catching a good number of fish from the boats stern.

Dan said it had been one of the toughest days of the season. But we all had a very enjoyable day boating ten different species of fish without actually focussing on amassing a large tally. The next few months will offer an array of opportunities and when the water clarity improves I feel sure sport will take off as it so often does in early autumn.

22 Aug 2025

Weekly – ANGLING REPORT – August 21st 2025

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Grey Mullet offer exciting summer sport

Graham Snow won Bideford Angling Clubs forty eight hour rover with a fine thin lipped grey mullet scaling 5lb 4oz. Runner up was Dale Kiff with a smoothound of 10lb 13oz and third Graham Snow with a thin lipped grey mullet of 4lb 3.5oz.

The hot sunny summer weather provides ideal conditions for mullet fishing with all three species seeming to thrive in hot settled conditions. There are three types of grey mullet in UK waters, thick lipped grey mullet, thin lipped grey mullet and golden grey mullet. All can be caught using light tackle more often associated with freshwater tactics. Thick lipped mullet are generally tempted using bait, generally bread presented on float tackle or legered. The thin lipped mullet are fished for with baited spinners and inhabit estuaries. The golden greys haunt the shallow sandy surf beaches and can be tempted using small bunches of ragworm.

All three species can also be caught using fly fishing tactics a style of fishing that has recently gathered almost cultlike status. These challenging fish offer an exciting alternative for trout anglers whose sport is impacted upon by reservoirs and rivers suffering from a prolonged summer drought.

Tench and carp are providing great summer sport in lakes across North Devon and can tolerate high water temperatures.

The final match of Bideford Angling Clubs Junior Summer league was held last Saturday and was won by Leo Davies with 6.540 Kilo. Runner up was Archie Thorne with 5.1 Kilo and Hawkon Wilson with 4.720 Kilo. The junior league has proved a popular series with all matches well attended with over twenty young anglers fishing each event. The events were generously supported by Anglers Heaven, Barnstaple Bait and Tackle and other local businesses. Club members Martin Turner, Richard Jefferies and Keith Mountjoy invested a great deal of time and effort into running the events. The overall winner of the league was Leo Davies.

Bideford Clubs Coarse fishing sector is thriving with their two club lakes providing excellent fishing for carp, tench and silver fish. The club matches are generally fully subscribed and the recent extension to their portfolio with access to fishing at Higher Shorston Lakes near Holsworthy ensures that members get excellent value for their moderate membership fees.

North Devon Match Group fished Upper Tamar lake where Ian Grey won the match with 67lb 5oz. Runner up was Nathan Underwood with 48lb 6oz and Ian Croxton third with 43lb 8oz.

Stafford Moor’s lakes continue to produce stunning Match weights. Benn Hagg won last Sundays Open match with 277lb 1oz. Jamie Bradshaw won the weekends residents match on Oak Lake with an amazing 487lb 1oz.

Martin Burton with a 32lb Mirror carp caught from Albert Square on a 16mm Sticky Krill Active wafter up on lodge lake

The venues specimen lakes are also in fine form with Riley Saunders and Kirsten Parkhouse enjoying a forty eight hour session on Beatties Lake during which they banked sixteen carp to 30lb 4oz.