A beautiful day at Horwood for their latest Match, the fishing was not bad either, fantastic weights from both lakes and topped with a near lake record by Paul Morris, Paul weighed in 242lb 11oz and was just 10lb below Stephen Barrels record👏👏
Fish came to just about every method and Paul’s winning weight was mainly caught on corn.
Many thanks to Daniel Welch for this report on the first of two species competitions this Autumn.
Predator 2 Species hunt.
On Monday 2nd September we held our first species hunt on predator. We were joined by 4 anglers and left ilfracombe at 0900 in calm and misty conditions. We headed up channel against the strong ebbing tide to the Combe Martin Bay Area. Conditions were perfect allowing us to accurately anchor the boat and fish with some finesse.
Species hunting is often a case of fishing as light as possible but not to the extent that you lose any larger species that are hooked. Various rigs from light 8lb paternosters and one ounce weights to heavy 150lb mono running ledgers for larger species. Anglers brought their own baits which included squid, mackerel, ragworm, king rag, lug, crab, limpet, welks, scad, prawns. Different baits and different rigs need to be utilised to exploit the different feeding characteristics of the fish we were targeting.
The first mark we fished was a shallow reef on the edge of the tide this produced a number of wrasse, pouting, poor cod, rockling and an octopus but not the bream or trigger fish we had hoped for.We moved slightly further out into more tide and slightly deeper water and fished back towards a large rock. Bigger weights and slightly scaled up gear was used to catch a number of conger eels and Huss as the tide eased expectations were high for possible trigger fish and bream but the bites became few and far between and the rain began to fall.
We moved again and tried different tactics of drifting with lures, baits and baited feathers to target bass and pollack. No bass were caught but pollack were taken on baited feathers. Bites were few and far between and after searching around the reef the fish finder confirmed there was very little life on that particular mark today.
We moved further offshore to anchor on an area of mixed ground for slack water. The anchor was set, the boat swang round with the tide and the mist and cloud began to lift unveiling the surrounding cliffs and coastline. As soon as baits went down the bites began and the sun even tried to come out. Over the next two hours we caught smoothhound, conger, Huss, scad, mackerel pouting, poorcod, dogfish and tope.
As the boat swang round and the tide increase we moved again this time further inshore back into an area of reef that had quite a bit of tide on it but this just produced more of the same species we had already caught earlier in the day.
The last hour and a half was spent fishingon clean ground in the sheltered waters inside Combe Martin bay with the hope of ray, flatfish and gurnard. There were a lot of scad over this clean ground and again plenty of poor cod but we did manage some new species which included multiple dragonets and spectacular coloured red mullet and a tub gurnard.
Before we knew it was 15:40 and time to head home, species were tallied up and the winner for the day was Clive Baddick with 15points second was Rob Pearson with 8 points.
Clive took the first place prize which was a £70 voucher for future trips on predator.In total there was a modest but respectable 16 species different caught and an octopus.
We are holding another species hunt on Monday the 16th of September if you fancy giving it a go please make contact.
Hard to believe that its Autumn and yet another CMSAC Fun Fish is over. Twenty three anglers braved the initially inclement weather to join the fun of fishing. The forecast gave a warm calm morning with the slight chance of a shower! Wrong; the fishing that commenced at 10:30am was greeted by heavy rain, grey sky and a gusty east wind. Many like myself had looked at the forecast and not even packed a waterproof! After forty odd years of fishing I really should know better!
Despite the weather there were broad smiles as anglers of all ages cast their lines into the harbour from the landing stages of the old pier. The Fun Fishing Competition was run on a simple points basis with 3 points for the first of each species, 2 for the second and 1 for the third. There were also prizes for heaviest fish, longest fish and family with most points.
Mat Mander and Club Secretary Nick Philips
Combe Martin Sea Angling Club give grateful thanks to the events sponsors, High Street Tackle, Barnstaple Bait and Tackle and Ilfracombe Aquarium. Our guest Mat Mander Chief Officer of Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority once again made the long journey from South Devon to join us all on the pier. Mat gave valuable advice to young anglers and was on hand to take any questions about the sterling work undertaken by D & S IFCA.
There were good numbers of fish caught from the start with ballan wrasse, pouting, poor cod, pollock and small red bream among the catch’s. The stars of the day were the young anglers who delighted in catching the fish with some catching their first ever fish!
I was asked by several about what tackle and tactics to employ for starting off and my advice is to start off with a cheap LRF outfit and target the small fish that abound close to pier. It is possible to get set up with a serviceable outfit for less than £100. I will try and put together a short feature on this in the near future.
Our local tackle shops High Street Tackle and Barnstaple Bait & Tackle are great places to call in for advice with a wide range of suitable tackle and bait in stock.
The exciting thing about the fun fish is seeing what each year produces. This year the appearance of small red bream was a first for the event. There were no mackerel or garfish caught which was a surprise as this summer has been quite good. One year a big fish will undoubtedly show!
Ilfracombe Aquarium donated a family entry to the event and were delighted to receive red bream and corkwing wrasse to house in the aquarium.
Hopefully Nick and I will be dashing around the pier again next Sea-Ilfracombe Festival with camera and clip board. Thank you to all who joined in to make this year another success.
An Array of prizes from High Street Tackle & Barnstaple Bait and Tackle.
Winning Family – Stanway Family – 46 points
Heaviest Fish – Jake Stanway – Ballan Wrasse 9oz
Longest Fish – Ted Childs – Corkwing wrasse – 20.5 cm
Ilfracombe Harbour an oasis of calm as a glow appears to the East as the sun starts to climb from its overnight absence. The sounds of voices drift across the calm waters of the harbour as boats are readied for the day ahead.
Dan Welch and Ross Stanway are already on board Predator 2 readying the boat for another mates trip to continue the exploration of the Bristol Channels potential.
As I arrive at the Quay I speak to three anglers sat waiting to board Dan Hawkins Reel Deal. They have driven overnight from Oxford and are hoping to connect with the porbeagle that prowl the waters at the mouth of the Bristol Channel.
We are heading out to fish with lures hopping from wreck to reef and watching for signs of feeding birds that could indicate shoals of silver bass. Dan Hawkins on Reel Deal had found some quality bass the previous day whilst travelling back from an unsuccessful foray to the shaking grounds.
Todays friends group consisted of Skipper Dan Welch, Ross Stanway, Shaun Quartly, Shane Murch, Paul Lorrimore, Callun Gove and myself. Dan is keen to continue to explore the lure fishing potential and today we are heading West to fish marks off Baggy Point and Bideford Bay.
There is a still a bit of chop on the sea, residue from the previous days stronger winds. We were all full of hope and optimism for the adventure that lay ahead as we bounced over water watching the spectacular sunrise above towering cliffs up channel from Ilfracombe.
We passed the familiar rock outcrops of Bull Point and Morte Point before reaching the first mark a good distance off Baggy Point. By now the sun was higher in the sky its warm rays illuminating the seascape.
We all tied on the lures that we had confidence in sending them down into the deep clear water to connect with the fish that lurk around the rusting wreck.
There are surprisingly many wrecks scattered around the Bristol Channel, symptoms I guess from an era when navigational equipment and modern safety was less advanced. Wrecks provide shelter and food for many fish and I ponder if we could create artificial reefs to improve upon fish populations. Perhaps the new seaweed farms, and off- shore windfarms will create some protected habitat that will benefit fish populations?
Within seconds of the lures reaching their destination rods hooped over as hard fighting pollock smashed into the lures diving for sanctuary within the rusting hulk. The first drift produced some stunning pollock to around 4lb and bass to 3lb.
There is a great deal of skill involved in manoeuvring a boat into position so that the anglers lures can be presented to the fish. The wreck or reef is shown on the boats navigation system, but the strength and direction of tide has to be factored in with the wind direction as to the boats starting position that is calculated to give maximum time drifting over the structure.
It is noticeable that each drift tends to bring diminishing returns as the fish seem to wise up quickly. Changing lures sometimes seems to bring increased success though I’m not sure if this is my perception or simply luck on the day? I change to a Seadra slow jig decorated with a stunning mackerel flank. It looks good to me and I work the lure with confidence catching several bass and pollock.
Ross Stanway hooks a very powerful fish that powers off testing his light spinning tackle to the limit. Dan assisted by following the fish whilst we all pulled in our lines to watch the drama unfold. We all speculated upon what Ross has hooked hoping that we would at the very least get a glimpse before the gossamer thin braid parted. My guess was a tope as Shaun had had a pollock bitten in half by a hungry tope a few minutes before the fish appearing with the pollock within its jaws before swimming free after shaking its head to tear the fish in half.
We all peered into the clear aqua water, suddenly a shape appeared below the boat. A sleek and powerful tope of around thirty pounds hooked foul hooked in the tail! Dan scooped the fish into the net and swung the fish aboard. Ross wrestled with the powerful fish and held it aloft for a quick photo before dropping it back over the side where it disappeared back into the mysterious depths with a flick of its tail.
After a couple more drifts sport eased off and Dan suggested a move to a rocky pinnacle in Bideford Bay. Half an hour steam away we chatted and watched for birds working that could indicate bait fish.
There is always anticipation on arriving at each new mark asking the question with our lures. Sadly this mark proved to be a pouting haven with these plump fish seizing our lures. Whilst these fish have little sporting value they are a valuable source of food for many predatory fish and their flanks of pearl and beige have a rich beauty in life. Sadly they often perish as their swim bladders are unable to cope with the pressure change as they are brought to the surface. They can be kept for bait or at worst provide a welcome meal for the sea birds that always follow fishing boats.
The light breeze from earlier in the day had by now dropped off leaving the sea a tranquil calm that seems so rare this summer. A commotion a few hundred yards away caught our attention. Was that a huge tail slashing the water amongst a pod of dolphins? A thresher shark perhaps? There have been several sightings recently.
We moved closer, the dolphins swam gracefully rolling in the calm sea. We put out lures hoping for a bass whilst we enjoyed the marvellous spectacle of the dolphins.
After the hectic sport at the start of the day we were now struggling to find feeding fish. We headed back to the wreck where we had started the day. Part way across Bideford Bay we spotted a mass of birds a sure indication along with a couple of fishing boats that bass were in the area.
Indications on the fish finder confirmed the presence of fish and so we sent down our lures. I hooked a hard fighting bass of around 5lb and several other smaller fish were added to the days tally before the birds dispersed and the fish disappeared.
By now a brisk east wind was sweeping down the Bristol Channel creating white caps on the waves. Judging by the Beaufort scale it was indeed a fresh breeze.
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.
5
Fresh Breeze
29-38
19-24
17-21
Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters. Moderate waves, many white horses
2.0
2.5
4
The Beaufort Scale like the shipping forecast holds a certain resonance and connection with maritime history. That provides me with sense of historical enchantment and fascination with Great Britain’s connection the sea.
Connection with fish seemed harder to find now as the flood tide pushed against the wind. Natures roulette spins continually and we fished the shallow waters off Morte Point in our last roll of the dice. Shaun foul hooked a specimen mullet that fought hard in the tide. Dan tempted a ballan wrasse before declaring time to head back to Ilfracombe.
Ilfracombe on a warm summers day at Summers end was a stark contrast to the peace and tranquillity of the early dawn. Hundreds of tourists rested on the beach, strolled around the shops, licked ice creams and savoured those last few days of the tourist season. How quick this summer has flown. Our son James plays his last game of league cricket as I type this, it is hard to believe, its seems such a short time since he was wielding his bat for the first game of the season.
September brings much expectation for the sea angler of North Devon with so much promise if natures roulette wheel obliges and we play our hands wisely.
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.
B.D.A.C.Rod and Reel match results date 25,8,24 at Tarka.
Today the weather was dry but windy making fishing difficult for some anglers. 15 anglers fished the match today and most caught fish, 1st place today went to Stephen Paul Sheller with a magnificent weight of fish for 50lbs 11oz on peg 22 he fished a feeder up to the island, 2nd place was Martin Turner on peg 8 with a nice mixed bag of fish for 25lbs 15oz, 3rd place went to Keith Mountjoy on peg 19 with 23lbs 12oz and 4th place went to Richard jefferies on peg 14 with 22lbs 3oz. Next Rod and Reel match will be on the 22.9.24 at Tarka, very well done to Stephen Paul Sheller on your win today.
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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We have had a long period with no communication as a result of technical problems with our website. The problem has finally been resolved. Richard Nickell gripped it and commissioned a new website with a new address: www.rtfca.co.uk:. This modernised, cleaner, sharper website has been launched to allow us to communicate again. I would like to thank Richard and our web designer Elizabeth Walsh (www.elizabeth-walsh.co.uk), who collaborated so effectively. Liz will hopefully boss us into more regular communications.
Click on image below for website :-
Landscape Recovery Scheme – Thoughts
We are working on the idea presented at the AGM and, steadily in the background, on a thoughts document. Ian Blewett’s continuing involvement in the North Devon Catchment Partnership helps us stay engaged with other stakeholders. Landscape Recovery projects require an energetic and enthusiastic farmer as a starting point; one has emerged. Large acreages need to be signed up to enable funding to be applied for. This appears to be happening. We are in discussions with the right partners to keep this ambitious and long-term opportunity in our sights. An overview of the Landscape Recovery Scheme is shown as an addendum to this letter.
Our river has many critical Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species, from our salmon and sea trout through to freshwater pearl mussels as well as increasing numbers of rarer species like shad and otters. There will be more and for those with time on their hands, do look at https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-bap-priority-species/and see if you can identify all the species we host in, on and above our catchment’s rivers. As regards UK fish species, it is likely we have 7 of the15 listed. These BAP species add weight to our application.
Sewage Treatment Works (STWs)
Alex Gibson has been waging war on South West Water because of the inadequate STW system in our catchment which is in part responsible for our water quality problems. We all know that the expansion of our towns and villages town puts additional pressure on already inadequate \\\\|\|||||AASTWs. Alex continues to harass SWW ,trying to hold them to account and pressurise them into cleaning up their act. South Molton and Chittlehamholt STWs appear to be the most problematic STWs at the moment, but there are shortcomings all across the Taw catchment which contains about 35 STWs. All these outflow into the Taw and its tributaries. Alex is putting together a table to show the sewage discharges in our catchment. This will be put on the website when finished. To see how the STW in your area has been performing go to The Rivers Trust website –
As referred to earlier, shad are returning to our river and are useful as a lever to acquire funding and bring pressure to bear on improving the water quality in our river. You cannot legally target this rare species when you fish, but if you do by chance catch a shad please return it to the river as quickly as possible. If you keep catching them, I suggest you fish elsewhere on your beat. They won’t be there for long. Please report their presence and recover any dead shad you find for post mortem analysis as we need to prove they are spawning and demonstrate which species we have. We are confident we have the Allis shad; we may have Twaite shad as well.
Addendum
Landscape Recovery Scheme – Overview
There are 4 main distinguishing features of the Landscape Recovery Scheme:
Large scale projects: the scheme is designed to deliver outcomes that require collaborative action across a big area, such as restoring ecological or hydrological function across a landscape.
Long-term public funding (for example for 20years or longer); the scheme will support outcomes that take a long time to deliver, such as peatland restoration, woodland management or habitat restoration.
Bespoke agreements: the scheme can fund activities that contribute to priority outcomes but are specific to the locality and so difficult to facilitate through other schemes.
Blended funding: the features above and the provision of development funding should enable projects to attract private investment
Landscape Recovery projects will be selected in rounds, which will involve a competitive application process.
