The summer Boat fishing season is in full swing out of Ilfracombe with a wide range of species putting a bend in anglers rods. It has been encouraging to hear of some good catches of mackerel so far this season.
Toby Bassett is regular on trips aboard John Barbeary’s Bluefin. Below are just a few recent catches.
Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Putsborough Open was once again a resounding success despite a forecast of less than favourable conditions and slightly disappointing numbers of quality fish. It was great to hold the event again after two years of interruption due to the COVID pandemic.
A massive swell had been pushing into the North Devon Coast over the previous couple of days casting doubt on the wisdom of proceeding with the event. Putsborough is however sheltered to some extent from a westerly wind and does not have such a severe swell as some neighbouring beaches. With high pressure starting to build and the wind set to ease the club decided to take a chance and proceed with the event. As luck would have it the forecast was correct and the wind eased though the swell was still a little challenging.
Thirty-two anglers signed in and it was great to see familiar faces once again from the North Devon angling fraternity. The competitors spread out across the vast expanse of sand some pitching up closer to Woolacombe than Putsborough. The beach was littered with brightly coloured jellyfish.
A stunning sunset was enjoyed by all as tackle was prepared and hooks laden with bait.
http://www.highstreettackle.co.uk
The fishing proved slow with dogfish dominating catches. Two good sized smoothound took the top two places with Ryan Hardman winning and taking the top prize of £100 plus specimen pool and a choice from the prize table. Kevin Legge was runner up with a smoothound of 7lb 4oz. A couple of small bass were tempted the best a bass of 2lb 8oz for Gareth Pike.
Thank you to Scott Wallace for providing a few additional images of the night.
The club would like to give a big thank you to the sponsors; Sakuma Tackle, Quay Sports, HIgh Street Tackle and Braunton Baits. I am sure those who took part appreciated the superb range of prizes for the winners listed below.
1st Ryan Hardman smoothound 7lb 10oz
2nd Kevin Legge smoothound 7lb 4oz
3rd Shaun Kersey dogfish 2lb 6oz
4th Arron Brooker dogfish 1lb 15oz
5th Antony Smith dogfish 1lb 14oz
6th David Brooke dogfish 1lb 12oz
7th Gareth Pike dogfish 1lb 12oz
8th Antony Smith dogfish 1lb 11oz
9th Wayne Thomas dogfish 1lb 10oz
10th Gareth Pike dogfish 1lb 9oz
11th Nick Phillips dogfish 1lb 8oz
12th Nathan Clements dogfish 1lb 7.5oz
13th Arron Brooker dogfish 1lb 7oz
14th James Corner dogfish 1lb 6oz
15th John Johnson dogfish 1lb 6oz
Best bass – Gareth Pike 2lb 8oz
Combe Martin SAC give thanks to all those who made the effort to take part and to the landowners at Putsborough who gave permission for use of the car park free of charge out of hours,
Combe Martin SAC hope you enjoy this open competition with kind permission of the landowner.
The club is very greatfull to local tackle shops and Sakuma for supporting the event.
SAKUMA, High Street Tackle, Quay Sports and Braunton Baits.
The weather as is often the case has proved a concern with a big swell pushing into the North Devon Coast. The conditions should be fishable but challenging. It will be the same for all competitors and big fish often show when there is a bit of movement. Whilst it is breezy this is due to drop off and it is from the West so Putsborough will be sheltered. Whilst two rods are allowed it might prove more effective to fish one rod well than to fish two rods and get tangles as a result of the possible undertow.
Competitors should take great care when wading as there can be a strong undertow and rip tides. Far better to keep shallow and cast from a firm base the fish will come in surprisingly close.
Fishing is for single best specimen, with £100 for first place and £50 second plus pick of the prize table and so on. There is an optional £1 pool foir the best specimen. There will be prizes for the top fifteen fish.
Small-eyed ray are the principal target and can show up anywhere — so pick your spot.
Sandeel is generally best but fish can be tempted at times with a whole squid or mackerel bait. Bass will show if there is some surf, the obliging dogfish is usually around — along with the odd small turbot, conger, smoothound and occasional blonde ray.
Low water is 10:15pm and the best period to fish is usually two hours either side, with the last hour-and-a-half of the ebb and first hour of the flood often proving the most productive. There are some small pits and sandbanks along this beach, so if you can spy one out it might be worth heading for…
For the purpose of this competition two rods and four hooks may be used, with a pennell rig counting as two hooks. Combe Martin Competition size limits apply.
Please leave a space of approximately 20 yards between yourself and the next angler — it’s a large beach!
When you catch a fish, please check it against the sizes overleaf and complete the capture form, before showing it to another competitor and asking them to witness it.
[Witnesses: Please also print name so you can be identified if need be!]
Steward’s decision is final. All complaints must be issued in writing to organisers before the scales close.
Please do not bring fish to the scales in water, unless the intention is to release them alive. Each angler is limited to two fish per species, but we would ask you to minimise killing of fish and endeavour to keep only your single best specimen.
Please respect the beach and do not leave litter, discarded line or old tackle behind and do not start fires.
If possible, please ensure your vehicle is parked at the bottom of the car park to the far right.
https://www.putsborough.com/surf-cams/
A few images from previous Putsborough Competitions.
I enjoyed a short evening session over low water recently that prompted me to ask myself a question? I started the session fishing a shallow boulder strewn shoreline bumping a megabass soft plastic lure through the shallow water. After half an hour searching familair ground as the tide pushed in I had nothing to show for my efforts. As is often the case I followed my instinct and moved to some deeper water thinking that the bass were too wary to come in close as it was very calm and clear.
After scrambling a hundred yards over boulders I cast out the same lure and on the first retrieve had a fish hit the lure close in without hooking up. A couple more casts resulted in nothing. I changed over to a an IMA hard plastic lure and cast this out working it back briskly. After two or three casts I was jolted into focus as a fish hit the lure hard. After a short spirited tussle I released a bass of a couple of pounds.
A few more casts brought no response so again I changed lures. A black Fillish minnow was sent out and after two casts another bass of simular size. These were the only two fish caught but I ponder as to what difference the change of lure made. On some sessions I frequently change lures for various reasons. Depth of water, water clarity, suspended weed and matching what I think the bass are feeding on.
The question I asked myself is did changing the lure result in me catching the second bass or would I have caught it anyway? There are so many variations that can make the difference in a each fishing trip and much of what I do is driven by instinct. The size, colour and design of lures undoubtedly makes a diffrence but how much and how many lures does an angler need? With limited time to experiment I only carry a small selection of lures that I have confidence in introducing the occasional new pattern when I am tempted at the tackle shop. I suspect that lures catch more anglers than fish. If you asked ten anglers their top ten lures you would undoubtedly get ten different lists?
Bideford Angling Club Monthly rover results 11 angler’s fished
3 fish weighed
1st Antony Smith Smoothhound 10lb 11 1/2oz 107.187%
2nd Andrew Clements Small Eyed Ray 9lb 10oz 106.994%
3rd Jon Stevens Small Eyed Ray 8lb 12 1/2oz 97.569%
Kyle Bishop won Combe Martin Saa Angling Clubs fish of the the season for Spring with a fine bull huss of 13lb 9oz.
David Jenkins was runner up with a gilthead bream of 3lb 9oz.
Combe Martin SAC host their annual Putsborough Open on Saturday, June 11th. The club would like to give a special thank you to the sponsors Sakuma Tackle, Quay Sports, High Street Tackle and Braunton Baits. Their generosity has ensured a superb prize table with prizes for the top 15 to register fish on the night. If less than 15 fish are registered prizes will be split accordingly. The club are hoping to see a great turn out for this event after a couple of strange years.
The event is a catch and release event with fish to be weighed witnessed and photographed before being returned to the water.
|
FISH |
MIN SIZE |
SPECIMEN lbs |
|
Small-eyed ray |
16” |
10lb |
|
Blonde ray |
16” |
12lb |
|
Spotted ray |
16” |
4lb 8oz |
|
Lesser-spotted dogfish |
680g/1.5lb |
3lb 8oz |
|
Bull Huss |
2266g/5lb |
10lb |
|
Bass |
18” |
8lb |
|
Conger |
2266g/5lb |
20lb |
|
Tope |
20lb |
30lb |
|
Turbot |
14” |
5lb |
|
Brill |
14” |
3lb |
|
Plaice |
11” |
2lb |
|
Mackerel |
12” |
1.5lb |
|
Garfish |
15” |
1.25lb |
|
Scad |
10” |
1.25lb |
|
Whiting |
11” |
1.5lb |
|
Smoothound (common/starry) |
1360g/3lb |
10lb |
|
Coalfish |
12” |
3.5lb |
|
Pouting |
9” |
1.5lb |
|
Pollack |
12” |
5lb |
|
Dab |
9.5” |
1lb |
|
Flounder |
11” |
2lb |
|
Sole |
10” |
2lb |
|
Rockling, all species |
8” |
1.75lb |
All rays minimum 16-inches across the wings. Mini species do not count. Some commonsense weights have been applied to species such as dogfish or conger.
In the unlikely event of any other species being caught CMSAC sizes apply. If need be, retain fish in water and seek a member of club. Wayne Thomas mobile 07818 631 811 for photos.
For the purpose of this competition two rods and four hooks may be used, with a pennell rig counting as two hooks. CMSAC size limits apply. Please leave a space of approximately 20 yards between yourself and the next angler, it’s a large beach. When you catch a fish, please have this witnessed by a member or steward, complete the capture form and bring the form back to the weigh in, this is a catch and release competition. Fish may be brought back to the weigh in, but only up to two fish per species.
Please respect the beach and do not leave litter, discard line or old tackle behind and do not start fires. The Clubs decision is final. All complaints must be in writing to organisers before the scales close.
The winner of the competition will receive £100 Cash and a choice from the prize table. Runner up will recieve £50 plus a prize from the prize table.
Over the past couple of years, I have been trying to catch grey mullet on the fly without success. On my latest excursion I joined fellow Combe Martin SAC member and mullet enthusiast John Shapland.
John took me to a mark in the Taw estuary where he has enjoyed some success recently using traditional mullet tactics. John had noted that the mullet were feasting on small sand shrimps and had corresponded with the fly fishing for mullet maestro Colin McCloud whose excellent book “Mullet On The Fly” has inspired many fluff chucker’s to target the wily mullet. With a bright blue sky and not a breath of wind it was a joy to be at the waters edge.
John and I arrived just as the tide started to push. We set up our tackles and watched the water for signs of mullet. As the tide gained momentum swirls on the surface showed the presence of good sized fish. I put out a line with two shrimp imitations and allowed it to drift with the current giving the occasional twitch to impart life.
The numbers of fish increased and my optimism grew as these fish were undoubtedly feeding. I missed a couple of pulls that raised expectation further. Suddenly the line zipped tight and I connected. The rod hooped over and I glimpsed a silver flank. Disappointingly It was a bass of around 1lb that saved a blank and was added to later in the session with a second bass slightly smaller.
The mullet were undoubtedly feeding on the sand shrimps and could be seen slurping them off the surface like nymphing trout. I feel I had a few near misses with the frustrating grey ghosts. I will be back again. It was good to fish with John as he fished traditional bread bait tactics and also blanked on the mullet. If I had fished alone with the fly I would probably have though I would catch if I had been using bait.
Catching fish on the fly can be seen as an elitist tactic it can also be an extremely effective method in its own right adding another string to the angler’s repertoire.
Combe Martin SAC Member Kyle Bishop has been enjoying success on the local shoreline recently catching smoothound to 14lb, this superb bull huss of 13lb 9oz and a blonde ray of 13lb 8oz.
It is always good when that first bass of the season hits the lure! I have not invested much time in lure fishing for bass so far this year as I have been focussing on other species. My first session after bass a couple of weeks ago was thwarted by dense weed that made fishing the shallow ground I enjoy fishing virtually impossible. The latest session saw clear water and a gentle wave hitting the shoreline. I love this visual fishing in very shallow boulder strewn water bringing a soft plastic through very shallow water. The bass will move in with water just covering their backs and when they hit the lure there is a flurry of spray as the fish fight hard on a tight line clearly visible as they struggle before being brought to the shoreline.
