11 members fished Appledore Shipbuilder’s April Rover and three fish were registered at the weigh in.
Andrew Atkinson secured the top three places with a ballan wrasse of 3lb 8.5oz and a brace of 2lb dogfish.
Bideford Angling Club
April Rover results
1st Antony Smith Small Eyed Ray 8lb 1oz 89.583%
2nd Elliot Clements Dogfish 1lb 15 1/4oz 65.104%
Combe Martin SAC
Wayne Thomas took top spot in Combe Martin SAC’s April Rover with a boat caught small eyed ray of 7lb. Nick Phillips was runner up with a thick lipped grey mullet of 2lb 3.5oz.
Prospects
Hopefully with the oncoming Spring and warmer temperatures sport will start to pick up along the coast. Smoothound will be caught from all the familiar marks over coming weeks along with a few bass. The estuary will be well worth trying for bass and mullet with the chance of gilthead bream.
Small eyed ray will be worth targeting from surf beaches with Woolacombe and Putsborough favourites.
Thick lipped grey mullet are already being caught from local harbours and offer excellent sport on light tackle.
Fly Fishing in saltwater is growing in popularity with bass and grey mullet offering some exciting and at times challenging opportunities from the estuary and local surf beaches.
With a Combe Martin Club Competition over the weekend, I was looking at a plan when Rob Scoines suggested a trip out on Steve Webbers Osprey. There were two places available and the weather forecast was spot on. It took a few moments to come to a decision and within five minutes the trip was secure and plans in place.
The boat was due to sail at 10:00am so there was no crack of dawn rise. I picked Rob up at 07:30am and enjoyed a scenic drive across Exmoor arriving at Minehead Mc Donald’s for a Breakfast roll and coffee before grabbing some bait from Speedbait the new fishing tackle and bait outlet situated close by on the Industrial estate.
We climbed aboard Osprey shortly before 10:00am and met with our fellow anglers, Colin Shepard, Rich Leonard, Lee Buck and Joe Woodward who had travelled down from the Bristol area.
It was one of those rare days with a mirror calm sea and a bright sky. There was a chill in the air after a few days of cold North East winds with overnight frosts. Anticipation was high as we headed off down channel.
First stop was in Porlock Bay hoping for an early smoothound. Within minutes dogfish were swung aboard in profusion.
Joe Woodward admires his first sea fish!!
After our first brew of the day from Steve’s son Will it was a unanimous decision to up anchor and head down to a well-known huss mark beneath the spectacular cliffs of the Exmoor coast.
After a few moments rod tips were nodding as scavenging predators below located our baits. I hooked into what felt a reasonable fish that plodded about at the end of the line as I persuaded it towards the boat. The head of a very large bull huss appeared ten yards behind the boat as Will stood ready with the net. Skipper Steve commented that it was a very good huss or words to that effect. At that moment the huss opened its mouth and spat out the bait, the terminal tackle flying back towards the boat. B******** or words to that effect. These nearly moments often seem to stick in the mind longer than success stories.
A flurry of huss to around 10lb followed along with strap eels and the occasional dogfish. As the tide began to ease the catch rate slowed and the decision was made to head back up channel in search of ray.
Myself and Rich Leonard with two of several Bull Huss caught during a brief feeding spell
We dropped anchor a short distance off Selworthy and put out our baits into what was very shallow water. A small eyed ray was brought to the boat by Lee Buck within a minute or so of settling at anchor.
Lee Buck with a small eyed ray
A good start that was to prove a false promise as just one other small eyed was tempted from the location. All remaining very quiet with just the occasional dogfish showing and a solitary conger of perhaps five pounds to my rod.
(Above) Rich Leonard with a small eyed ray
A move of a few hundred yards to a new position brought a few more dogfish and a small thornback ray.
As the day ticked past all to quickly it was very apparent that the fish were not feeding, perhaps as a result of the easterly air flow and high pressure?
Steve as ever kept trying and moved to another mark a mile closer to Minehead. The rod tips remained frustratingly still with even the dogfish scarce. As Steve called time my rod tip nodded and I lifted into a small eyed ray of 7lb. A reminder that success can come at the very last moment.
It had been an enjoyable day afloat with good company and the spectacular scenery of the Exmoor coast. Results had not lived up to expectations but this was no reflection on the skill of the skipper for we all knew that on another day these same marks would have brought a steady stream of quality fish.
Andrew Clements won Bideford Angling Clubs twenty-four hour rover with a massive Bull Huss scaling 15lb 11.25oz. The fish was caught from a North Devon rock mark and is one of the biggest huss caught from the North Devon coast in recent decades.
March 24 hour results
1st Andrew ClementsBull Huss 15lb 11oz 1/4 157.031%
Danny Watson at High Street Tackle love his lures and has a steady stream of lures arriving to tempt both anglers and bass!
Im thinking it won’t be long before a few bass are being tempted from North Devon’s coastline.
IMA Komomo II – Sexy Mackerel….
The IMA Komomo II is by far one of the most popular lures from IMA and has a place in many lure anglers A Team box…
At 110mm weighing 15g it casts extremely well and rated to swim at 10-20cm it will be in amongst the action on many occasions…
Just arrived in the UK is this new version for 2022 – Sexy Mackerel – click either of the pictures to buy yours now…..
The arrival of this colour brings the number of colours currently in stock of just this one model to 16 – from our massive selection of over 150 different IMA lures!
North Devon based Dan Spearman and Mark Jones travelled to the Canary Islands to target the specimen fish that hunt the shoreline. Fishing from beach and rock marks they fished hard making the most of their time and existing on only a few hours sleep each day. The biggest fish caught was sting ray caught by Dan estimated at 250lb. They also landed butterfly ray to 88lb, smoothound to 25lb and several white skate to 40lb.
The bass lure fishing season shouldn’t be long now as the water starts to warm up bass will be on the prowl and High Street Tackle Ilfracombe has a wide selection of the latest lures. Well worth calling in for a chat with Danny who is always ready to assist with lure choice.
New IMA Lures Colours – Available Now….
The first of this years new colours from IMA Lures have now arrived and are available to order…
First, and my personal favourite is the Chappy 100 in Pearl White – the Chappy is an excellent surface lure with a long casting ability that is very easy to walk across the surface, making as much splash as you dare and always backed up by its internal rattles…..
Several new additions now – this time it’s all about the colour. Previously only available in the Sasuke 105 we now have exclusive to the UK Aji (Horse Mackerel) available in the following models….
Hound Glide 125F
Sasuke 120 Reppa
Komomo 2
Komomo 2 90
Komomo SF125
Chappy 100
Lipper 90
At High Street Tackle we now consistently have over 150 different IMA Lure variants – without a doubt the largest selection in the UK constantly available, as well as lures we also keep the whole range of IMA storage boxes and the high quality aluminium pliers too – click on the pictures above to start viewing these products.
Tom Wade’s Anglers Heaven is situated close to Bideford’s Pannier Market with convenient free parking close by. Tom is a keen sea angler who has been at Anglers Heaven for nine years working closely with local angling clubs including Bideford and District Angling Club providing a valuable location for obtaining club membership allowing access to the clubs fishing lakes at Tarka Swims. He sells fresh bait for both Coarse and sea angling.
Tom Wade of Anglers Heaven
The shop carries an extensive range of tackle including Pure-fishing and other popular brands. He is a stockist for Century Rods with a good number of beach rods available to examine in the shop. Toms main focus is sea angling with an impressive display of images pinned upon the shop wall.
It is vital that local tackle shops are supported as they are a valuable meeting place for anglers giving a service that cannot be replicated on-line. With local advice on where, when to fish and what tackle is required.
In addition the shop carries a wide range of air rifles.
Spring time on the North Devon Coast is often a lean time for the shore angler with fish hard to find. Anglers often move out of the area to find winning fish. Bull huss are probably the best chance of a good sized specimen from the North Devon shoreline. A trip to Somerset is often worth a try at this time for with ray and huss found even during daylight in the murky waters above the County boundary.
Bideford Angling Club
March rover results
1st Nathan Clements Bull Huss 12lb 5oz 123.125%
2nd Nathan Clements Bull Huss 7lb 5oz 73.125%
3rd Stephen Found Dog 1lb 15oz 1/4
Next competition 24 hour19/20 March
Appledore Shipbuilders
13 members fished the March Rover. Only 2 fish were recorded at the weigh in.
Both fell to James Atkinson.
James’s winning fish was a fantastic Thornback Ray of 10lb 9ozs and his second fish was a lovely Plaice of 1lb 7 1/4ozs.
Bideford Angling Clubs twenty-four rover resulted in just one fish being registered at the end of the match. A dogfish scaling 1lb 15.75oz to the rod of Nathan Clements.
Appledore Shipbuilders February Rover was equally uninspiring with Josh Atkinson registering the winning fish a dogfish of 2lb.
Spring is often a lean time for the sea angler with winter species departing and fish of the warmer months yet to arrive. Early bass and ray could be worth targeting with bull huss likely from rock marks.
