12 members in 6 different boats fished in Appledore Shipbuilders June Boat Competition.
It was always likely to be a challenging days fishing with a hot sunny day forecast requiring the packing of sun cream and plenty of water. The drive to Wimbleball was a delight with Exmoor in full summer splendour. Bright yellow buttercups and the delicate white flowers of cow parsley lined the roadside and the trees were close to being in full leaf.
I met up with Matt Kingdon at Wimbleball’s boat jetty at 9.00am, we were fishing in South Molton Angling Clubs annual visit to the fishery where members hoped to catch a fish that could win the Mac Trophy.
Matt had fished the venue a few days earlier and enjoyed good sport using sinking lines and brightly coloured blobs and boobies. With warm sunshine we hoped that the fish might start to feast upon the brown beetles that were present in good numbers.
During early season I am happy to fish Wimbleball from the bank where fish can generally be tempted using buzzer tactics or lures on long leaders. As summer progresses access to deeper water can be beneficial and the ability to search the vast acreage becomes a distinct advantage.
We headed to Cowmoor for our first drifts searching previously productive areas with bright blobs and boobies. The first half an hour brought no action despite covering plenty of water as we set up different drifts.
We moved to the far end of the bay and found a few fish rising prompting a change to floating lines. Half an hour casting beetle patterns at rising fish resulted in a handsome wild brown trout of around 1lb.
With fish hard to find and less fish rising we decided to head for the tree shrouded Upton Arm. We pushed up into the far end of the Upton Arm with its steep wooded banks giving an almost Amazon jungle atmosphere as a hot sun beat down and thousands of small roach massed in amongst the tree branches.
We worked our way out through the Upton Arm at times frustrated by the cyclonic wind that dropped away and veered frequently in direction. Matt was first to succeed hooking a rainbow of around 3lb that as always gave a spirited tussle.
We persevered in the Upton Arm and Matt had a few follows and added another rainbow to his tally. My flies remained untouched as I fished hard and expectantly, a rainbow did follow my flies to the surface actually leaving the water as I lifted and taking a nip at the point fly as it dived back into the depths.
Perhaps we should have stayed in the Upton Arm instead of moving on? But move we did, back to Cowmoor and then to search Rugg’s and Bessom’s for a while before returning to Cowmoor for the Final effort.
We found fellow club members Ed Rands and Steve Bendle anchored up and reporting that they had found a few fish including a stunning 6lb 8oz rainbow to Steve’s rod.
We commenced a search close by and once again Matt was in action with hard fighting rainbows and a beautiful wild brown trout.
Suddenly my line zipped delightfully tight as a 3lb rainbow hit my yellow blob to give a hard battle before succumbing.
We fished on for a while having several last drifts before eventually deciding we had had enough.
It had been a hard day’s fishing beneath a cloudless sky. Sunseekers and water-sports enthusiasts were present in large numbers but there is room for all on Wimbleballs vast acreage.
We observed how natures calendar seems to be running slightly late with may blossom still in full flower in mid-June as foxgloves bloom. Sometimes a hard day’s fishing such as this is just as enjoyable as an action filled day when the fish come easy. Is there a better place to be than bobbing about in a boat beneath a blue sky amidst Exmoor’s pristine summer landscape?
Many thanks to Andy Sanders who sent me this stunning image of his first double figure smoothound scaling 10lb 3oz. Really sums up summer beach fishing.
Bideford and District Angling Club Monthly competition results:
1st Nathan Underwood 36lb 2oz
2nd Steve Johnson 23lb 3oz
3rd Kevin Shears 21lb 6oz
4th Richard Jefferies 18lb 9oz
5th Stephen Sheller 18lb 2oz
6th Stephen Craker 17lb 4oz
Conditions very hot light southerly , Georges lake at Tarka swims produced another good match Nathan drew peg 26 in the shallow end and put a terrific net of smaller carp ,tench and a couple of larger bonus carp ,on the scales for a convincing victory. All caught on the pole to corn. Steve’s net of silver fish from peg 20 secured second place. Kevin fished the pole with maggot from peg 12 for third. These 3 anglers now dominate the league after 2 matches .
Jon Dickman fished a middle Torridge beat and tempted a fine salmon estimated at 13lb. The fish took a holo silver cascade on a size 10 double. The fish was the reward of a six hour car journey and was the result of the first cast of the session.
Results 1st Steve Johnson 31lb 4oz
2nd Steve Ashton 18lb 9oz
3rd NathanUnderwood 15lb 7oz
4th Richard Jefferies 13lb 1oz
5th Kevin Shears 12lb 14oz
6th Antony Bentley 12lb 4oz
19 fished.
Mild evening with rain showers , has produced some good weights , the best was Steve’s superb bag of silver fish on caster over groundbait on peg 21, Steve’s maggot on pole catch included several good bream from the margins on peg 16 took 2nd place , Nathan’s peg 6 catch of skimmers was third and ensures, that approaching the halfway point , he retains his league lead. Richard has caught late on the method feeder for 4th.
Dan Spearman is dedicated thin lipped mullet angler and landed this fine 4lb 1oz specimen on his seventh trip of the season.
Dan Followed by landing this fine thick lipped mullet of 4lb 4oz that also took a baited spinner showing that fish do not always follow the text book approach.
Dan Hawkins has been operating his charter boat Reel Deal out of Ilfracombe for several years and has built a deserved reputation for putting anglers on the fish especially porbeagle shark. Dan has expanded on the waters fished out of Ilfracombe making the most of the boats capability to explore waters far to the West of Ilfracombe even venturing out into the Celtic deeps to catch blue shark.
Good news for anglers is that the Reel Deal experience has been expanded with Archie Porter joining Dan to skipper sister boat “Predator 2”. Seventeen year old Archie Pike has been assisting as deck hand for close to five years during which time he has undoubtedly been tutored well. I first met Archie as a keen junior angler participating in one of Combe Martin SAC’s popular fun fishing events. It was apparent then that he had a keen interest in sea angling and I am delighted that he has takin this opportunity to help ensure Ilfracombe’s long term future as a charter boat destination.
I was due to join Dan on Reel Deal for a day with my camera capturing a few images for features. As is often the case circumstances dictate a change of plan and the need to fit a new engine into Predator 2 meant that young Archie was to skipper Reel Deal and was lumbered with me for the day.
On arrival at a busy Ilfracombe harbour, I was greeted by Dan and Archie who were chatting with Ilfracombe Sea Safaris the hot topic of the day being an invasion of Twitters eager to reach Lundy and tick off a rare warbler that had been sighted. Ilfracombe harbour is becoming increasingly popular as a destination for Wildlife watching and diving, operating as the stepping stone to Lundy.
Archie was taking myself and a party of anglers from the Weston-Super-Mare area. Chatting with them I found that they ranged from experienced boat anglers to relative newcomers to the sport. Jerry Day, Raymond Galivlins, Igor Fursous, Matt Burns, Alec Hughs and Alec Gelasvili immediately made me very welcome.
As luck would have it the weather forecast was a bit iffy offering strengthening winds later in the day and low cloud. We set out from Ilfracombe and I was impressed as Reel Deal bounced across a moderate sea powered by twin Suzuki 325 engines that can push Reel Deal at a top speed of 45 knots cruising comfortably at 30 knots.
The familiar coastline West of Ilfracombe passed by quickly the cliff tops shrouded in mist. The first mark was a rocky reef close to Baggy Point where pollock and bass were on the wanted list. After several unproductive drifts it was clear that the fish were either absent or not feeding.
I could sense that Archie was frustrated by this lack of action and overheard his enquiries as to conditions further afield. We were soon heading towards Lundy Island where we could drop anchor and target the tope that had been showing in good numbers.
https://www.northdevonanglingnews.co.uk/2021/06/07/tope-feeding-frenzy/
We spent an hour drifting with lures with a few wrasse and small pollock getting the fish count underway. The steep granite cliffs shrouded in mist created an exciting Jurassic park feeling to the vista. Guillemots were abundant along with a few puffins.
As the tide eased towards low water it was time to embark upon the days main event and target the tope. We anchored at the favoured mark with a mixture of sand and broken ground. Large frozen mackerel baits were favoured by most and were sent to the sea bed. The rods set up in holders in anticipation of rod bending tope.
After a few minutes rod tips started to nod as a succession of bull huss and dogfish found the baits. A whiting tempted on baited feathers was attacked on the retrieve by what was undoubtedly the target species. The encounter being all too brief with the whiting showing deep lacerations on its flanks where the topes teeth had cut into the flesh.
As the tide eased towards low water bull huss came frequently each one boasting an impressive pattern of leopard like spots.
By now there were only five anglers participating in the day as one had been struck down by a particularly bad bout of sea sickness.
As the tide began to flood the fish once again went off the feed and we headed closer to the misty cliffs once again for the last session of the day. With a few small pollock added to the tally it was time to steam back to Ilfracombe.
It had been a hard day’s fishing as is sometimes the case. Despite this spirits were surprisingly high as future trips were planned with those on board eager to replicate their previous success on Reel Deal a few weeks prior to this trip when they had found the pollock in a cooperative mood smashing into their lures to result in a bulging fish box to take home for the freezer.
Lets hope my next venture out with the camera coincides with good light and plenty of fish.
