STORM KATHLEEN – Results in postponing of Trevor Telling Memorial Competition

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The relentless bad weather is playing havoc with fishing and all country pursuits.

Trevor’s memorial Competition – Cancelled

Storm Kathleen is forecast to bring 40 to 50 mph winds over Wimbleball this weekend, therefore we have taken the difficult decision to cancel Trevor’s memorial competition.
We have rescheduled the competition to Sunday 7th July, Jeff will be in touch with all those who have booked online for boats over this weekend & will happily transfer bookings to the new date.

Bank fishing will still be available over the weekend…

CMSAC – ILFRACOMBE FUN AND SPECIES- Latest

 

Close to half a dozen members of Combe Martin SAC met up at Ilfracombe Pier for the second pop up fishing session of the Ilfracombe Harbour and Fun Species League. The ongoing dismal Spring weather failed to dent members enthusiasm and I was delighted to find a good number of Junior anglers amongst members attending.

The new format has proved a great success with club members registering an amazing 32 species of fish since February 1st. As this period coincides with what many consider to be the worst time of year for sea fishing off the North Devon coast this is very encouraging.

The leading club members at present are Toby Bassett on 24 species with Daniel Welch and Ross Stanway  22 species each. Gary Prout and Solly Welch are currently joint third on 12. Though this is changing daily and I am struggling to keep up!

With heavy rain pending I was keen to present the prizes for the February and March competitions kindly donated by Danny Watson at High Street Tackle Ilfracombe. The February prize for most species went to Daniel Welch with 22 species and the prize for the best picture also went to Daniel Welch with his stunning picture of a scorpion fish.

 

Daniel Welch winner in February and March.

The monthly raffle prize kindly donated by Quay Sports was won by Toby Bassett.

 

Toby Bassett

The water clarity was excellent and as the tide ebbed an abundance of fish were swung onto the pier. Several dogfish were caught by Lenny Lake who has taken an early lead in the April competition which is for the longest fish.

Ross Stanway carefully measures Lenny lakes doggie.

Young Solly Welch caught a number of fish adding a shore rockling to his growing species tally that includes a rare topknot and clingfish.

Andrew Laramy caught a plaice.

Solly Welch with a shore rockling

Ted Childs caught several blenny’s fishing from the Piers inner basin. Inspired by young Ted I added a common blenny to my modest tally of species.

I was pleased to add a common blenny to my tally. As the tide ebbed and the light faded the catch rate dropped and members slowly returned home to dry out.

The gig rowers and Lifeboat exercise added life to the Maritime scene.

It had been an enjoyable evening and I look forward to the next event that will probably be held on a Sunday morning the plan being to alternate monthly between morning and evening.

Stafford Moor Carp Catches

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(Below)Dennis Keith  fished from Silver birch lodge last week banking several carp the  biggest fish was 30lb 15oz. He was fishing with Hinders 15mm tutti fruity boilies and mixed sized pellets.

(Below) Scott Allan  had 13 fish out from lodge lake up to 35lb , 9 of Scott’s catches were between 20-27lb all caught in Mainline cell boilies.

(Below)Nick Dabney  fished up on lodge lake and caught his new pb of 35lb 2oz

Stafford Moor Match Fishing Latest

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 Winner of Stafford Moors first Open of the New season was Colin Horwood who bagged 241lb 3oz from peg 1 on Tanners.
In 2nd place was Steve Hayman with 209lb 6oz from peg 12 on Woodpecker lake
In 3rd place was Steve Shaw with 167lb 1oz from peg 16 on Tanners lake
In 4th place was lodge guest Paul Golding with 198lb 14oz from peg 11 on Woodpecker lake.

Fluff Chucker’s /SWLT Brown Trout Masters Heat one – Colliford

Round one of the SWLT / FLUFF CHUCKERS Brown trout masters at Colliford lake on Bodmin Moor.
A good turnout of anglers from all over the South West met up for a 9am start on a cold, wet and very windy morning.
But the conditions suited the browns with Roger Truscott netting the most fish with 12 lovely browns.
Runner up for most fish was Keith Burnett  with 4 good fish to the net.
The largest fish of the day went to Kevin Sellar with a fantastic 44cm fish with similar markings to a spartic trout .
Runner up largest fish went to Philip Hoskin with another lovely fish of 40cm.
A big thank you to all the anglers that supported todays event in not so great conditions
And a massive thank you to #yetiuk and #lakedownbrewingco for supplying some really fantastic prizes for the winners and your continued support of Fluff Chuckers – Fly Fishing Fanatics.
All the total lengths of each anglers fish today will be added up and added to the next two rounds to find the 2024 SWLT / Fluff Chuckers Brown trout master .
BROWN TROUT MASTERS STANDING AFTER ROUND ONE.

Roger Truscott 363CM
Keith Burnett 126CM
Wayne Thomas 98CM
Richard Adeney 96CM
Philip Hoskin 93CM
Kevin Sellar 74CM
Matt Rodwell 67CM
Ben Elliott 64CM
Dave Perks 64CM
Rodney Wevill 56CM
Sławomir Olaf Pilecki 32CM
Jack Welshman 30CM
Pete Williams 28CM
Peter Finnis ——

My day at Colliford – A cunning plan

Colliford Reservoir high on Bodmin Moor was the venue for the first leg of the Fluff Chucker’s and SWLT Brown Trout Masters. With a favourable weather forecast I was looking forward to a Spring day targeting the brown trout for which this venue is renowned.

I arrived at the assembly point to meet fellow Fluff Chucker’s and on stepping out of the car I was pleased that I had dressed up for temperatures were far lower than forecast. Whilst the wind was Southerly it felt particularly Baltic as the wind swept across the 900 acres of water.

 

The atmosphere was cheerful and friendly as angler’s swapped tales and talked of prospects for the day ahead. The rules were carefully explained by head Fluff Chucker Rodney Wevill. At 9.00am suited and booted up, the go fishing call was made and we all set off for our chosen areas.

I had only fished the venue on one previous occasion so headed for the area I had fished before two years ago. Like Baldrick of Black Adder fame I had a cunning plan! Basically I would wander the shoreline casting a black woolly bugger on the point and a  small black spider on the dropper. I would cast and take a step covering plenty of water.

I had every confidence in my cunning plan and persisted throughout the morning. After two hours I had not had a pull but surely persistence would pay off? Dark clouds crept ominously closer and the chill wind showed no sign of relenting. An angler fishing further along the bank caught a trout which gave me hope but also made me wonder if my lack of success was unique to me?

As heavy rain started to fall I thought of breaking for a drink and snack but all thoughts of this were put on hold as  the line zipped tight and a lovely brown trout gave a pleasing account before slipping into the waiting net. After slipping the hook out and recording the fish I resumed  fishing confidence fully restored. A few casts later and a savage tug a big swirl at the fly. Looked like a good fish and a chance gone. I fished on down through the bay and then retraced my steps fishing over the successful section again.

 

Heavy rain on the camera lens made focussing nigh on impossible plus the fish kept leaping out of the guttering !

 

Two more trout followed in the next twenty minutes before all seemed to go quiet. I decided to try a new area and walked to a new section of bank. After half a dozen casts I hooked another trout that came off after 30 seconds.

With a few hours left in the day I decided to try the hotspot one more time before working my way slowly back to where I had started the day. I bumped into a couple of fellow fluff chucker’s on route and compared notes to find that whilst most had caught no one seemed to have bagged up big time.

The cold wind persisted but at least the cold rain had stopped falling. I heard sky-larks song drifting in the breeze. I looked out for early spring migrants hoping to see my first swallow or sand martin but the skies remained devoid of these harbingers of Spring and summer. At least the lake was brim full after an exceptionally wet winter.

I found some quieter water at the top of the lake and climbed out onto an old bank that allowed a nice long cast parallel to the reed fringed shore line. A trout rose within casting range and I instinctively changed my tip fly to a small tungsten headed black spider.

The cast landed perfectly and within seconds of touching down the line zipped tight and there was a boil on the surface. B***er another chance gone.

            I fished on for the next half an hour without a pull and eventually called it a day with a couple of minutes before competition end.

            I walked back to see what had been caught and found that I had done Ok. A couple of big trout had been tempted the best a beauty of 44cm. Venue regular Roger Truscott recorded twelve browns and had been favourite to win from the start.

            Reflecting on my day I was pleased to finish third one more fish would have resulted in runner up spot. I should perhaps have persisted in the area I had caught in but the general consensus seems to be that roving works best. A classic case of should I stay or should I go?

            I reality it really doesn’t matter for I had enjoyed the day immensely despite the cold wind and chilled fingers. I look forward to heat two in June when it will surely be warmer?

            Many thanks to Rodney Wevill for all his efforts in putting the series together and of course to SWLT, Yeti, Lakedown Brewing co and for their generous support.

The latest from Bulldog Fishery

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Below is a post from Bulldog Fisherys near Barnstaple  who appear to have been victim to the scurge of keyboard warriors on Social media. The internet and social media spread gossip and false stories rapidly and those who fail to catch often invent the craziest of tales to explain their lack of success. I once fished a lake where nobody caught and was told that the water had been spiked with soap to put the fish off the feed! There are a thousand and one reasons why fish are not caught and the vast majority are simply bad angling.
Clearing up a few rumuors a post from Nigel Early at Bulldog 

Good morning everyone! It has come to our attention that a couple rumours regarding our carp lake have been circulating the local anglers.  Now, we don’t usually pay any attention to the general gossip/drama that inevitably takes place in the industry. However, we have now received contact from several concerned anglers asking what happened. So to avoid having to explain countless times we’d like to set the record straight…

Word has been spread that whilst we drained/netted the lake to extract the bream last month, we had some sort of disaster resulting in a lot of fish dying or not being returned to the lake. THIS IS TOTAL RUBBISH!
Whilst the work was taking place, the only issue we encountered was that the lake didn’t drain out quite as planned, a definite inconvenience at the time but far from a disaster.
We can say with 100% certainty that every carp removed from our lake was returned with ZERO casualties! With the exception of 5 fish that we decided wasn’t up to the standard we wanted for the lake. These 5 fish are being replaced as of November this year.
Please feel free to share this post as much as possible to help squish these daft rumors that I can only imagine have come from an industrial size game of whispers!
We look forward to the constant progress the fishery is on! And can’t wait to see what the future holds 🎣🎣

🎣 Tight lines everyone

( Above) Ongoing improvements
The latest twenty

(Below) there’s plenty of trout between 2lb and 5lb being caught from the trout lakes.

Defra policy team leading on spurdog management

Announcement

Representatives from the Angling Trust and the Pat Smith Database met today (25th March 2024) with the new Defra policy team leading on spurdog management. During the meeting, we emphasised the importance of large spurdogs to both the recreational sector and the overall sustainability of the stock. 

Having already lived through one population crash, over 80 recreational charter skippers have signed a letter to the Fisheries Minister, Mark Spencer, calling for the government to continue with a precautionary approach to reopening the commercial fishery and maintaining the 100cm slot size. 

In our view, spurdog are worth far more to the recreational sector than to the commercial sector, where they are often fetching a mere 30p/kilo.

We voiced concern over the government seeking to invest in expanding commercial markets and processing infrastructure for spurdog when there seems to be little demand for them. The UK government must not continue with boom-and-bust fisheries management.

We are also calling for Defra to fund a study on the recreational socio-economic value of the spurdog fishery to ensure government can make informed decisions that account for the needs of all stakeholders.

MAKO! The launch of a Fascinating book

The book Mako! A History of encounters in the British Isles; has been a labour of love for Ian Harbage, Vice Chairman of the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain.

Ian Harbage and his wife Loraine now live in Cornwall

Ian Harbage first visited Looe as a six year old boy in 1975 and like many young children of the time was fascinated by the daily weighing of shark at the SACGB’s weighing station on East Looe Quay. Back then conservation was certainly not on the agenda and the shark mostly blues were slaughtered to be hung up, their carcasses dripping blood as their captors posed proudly for a picture. In 1975 the big movie at the cinema was “Jaws”, a film that portrayed sharks as ferocious killing machines. A young Ian was captivated during that decade and like many of that generation saw captain Quint the shark hunter as a true hero.

Fortunately close to fifty years on shark angling has modified its ways and is now focussed upon conservation with all shark released at the side of the boat. Tackle has been refined to reduce damage to the shark and valuable data is recorded to increase scientific knowledge of shark migrations across vast oceans.

Ian’s book is a fascinating tome that records the history of mako shark captures in the British Isles. Ninety-eight mako shark are recorded in the book a culmination of many years of detective work with many anglers and skippers interviewed their exciting tales retold and captured in this superb book.

Entwined within the tales of these mighty fish are glimpses of salty characters who oozed charisma and loved life upon the sea.

         Ian was encouraged to write the book after meeting the Armishaw family who have been publishing fine angling books for several decades. Lee Armishaw of Watersmeet Publications gave his full backing to Ian to write the book after learning of the vast amount of knowledge Ian had gathered during a fifty year obsession with shark and in particular mako.

The book was appropriately launched at the Heritage Centre in Looe on Sunday, March 24th 2024. Pauline and I joined a room full of readers keen to receive their copies of this long awaited book. Ian took centre stage telling of how he had written the book his passion for the work evident for all to see. He read a fascinating and humorous chapter from the book that had the audience entranced. Ian thanked all members of the Watersmeet Publications team for their encouragement and expertise. Ian also thanked his wife Loraine for her support and patience over several years spent working on the book. Ian also gave thanks many others who had helped with the research.

Ian Harbage, his wife Loraine and the Watersmeet Publications Team

Dr Simon Thomas followed Ian delivering a fascinating and informative talk on the mako shark. The mako is built for speed capable of cruising over long distances in search of its prey with the ability to accelerate in ambush reaching speeds of perhaps 50mph. The trademark appearance of a mako shark is its ability to leap high out of the water. This is a sight that has cemented the mako in the many stories told by anglers who have hooked these magnificent fish.

The mako are found in ocean waters with a temperature above 16 degrees centigrade. Their range extending from New Zealand to North West Scotland. The mako can reach a weight of around 1500lb with a 500lb fish likely to be around 20 years old.

The golden era for mako shark catches in UK waters was between 1951 and 1972. The last Cornish mako was caught in 1980. Mako have been caught off Wales and Ireland in recent years and suspected sightings have been made in recent seasons.

I asked Dr Thomas if he believed climate change could result in a potential increase in mako numbers off the UK. He acknowledged that there is rapid and complex change within marine eco systems that may or may not be linked to climate change. The gulf stream influences our weather, climate and fish migrations its flow rate and global warming are complex and not necessarily one and the same.

Below is a link to Dr Simon Thomas’s talk

After Dr Simon Thomas’s talk Ian met with those who had travelled to purchase copies of the book that had virtually sold out its initial print run. Among those collecting their books was Looe Skipper, Phil Dingle, the son of Alan Dingle a family of legendary Looe Skippers who feature extensively in the book.

 

Phil Dingle

The Dingle family

Ian Harbage, Phil Dingle and Dr Simon Thomas

All assembled at the event were privileged to share in a moment of celebration as the book records some of Looe’s rich shark fishing history.

Talking shark

Looe has been the home of the Shark Angling Club Of Great Britain since its formation in 1953. The club’s founder was Brigadier J.A.L. Caunter, C.B.E. , M.C,. C.C. who wrote the book Shark Angling In Great Britain, published in 1961. The cover of the Mako! book comprises of a painting by Caunter that portrays a mighty mako leaping with a red sailed Looe shark boat drifting upon the sea reflecting a blue summer sky.

http://www.sharkanglingclubofgreatbritain.org.uk

My own angling life started in Looe in the 1960’s when my parents visited Looe each autumn. Like Ian I gazed at the shark brought ashore each evening and dreamt of setting out one day to catch these monsters of the deep. I caught mackerel and garfish from the Banjo pier in those formative years and hold those treasured memories in my mind’s eye.

On the distant horizon on those autumn evenings I saw the rhythmic flashing of the Eddystone lighthouse. As a young angler I yearned to fish those mysterious waters where mighty shark swim. Many years later I returned and set out from Looe to catch blue shark and succeeded in catching a blue in excess of the SACGB qualifying weight. To hook a mighty mako must be one of anglings greatest thrills and to read of such battles at sea feeds the dreams.

A blue shark estimated at 100lb by skipper Dave Bond

The recording of history is important and in Ian’s book he tells history as it was warts and all. This is how it should be for times change and we should not look back and judge previous generations too harshly. Whilst I feel a sense of unease as I look at the pictures of shark carcases hung up on the weighing station I know that if I had been there in those days I too would have taken part for it was as it was in those days.

Looking through the many pictures in Ian’s book I recalled the names of many boats I had seen moored upon the quayside. Paula, Our Daddy and Irene amongst names that brought a fond recollection of times long since passed.

Shark angling has moved on and conservation is top of the agenda. The Pat Smith Data base set up by John McMaster and Dr Simon Thomas is recognised as a valuable source of information in learning about shark migration and populations. https://www.patsmithdatabase.com/about

 

The late Pat Smith pictured in 2018
An assembly of those involved in Looe Sharking history in 2018

Whilst writing this feature I researched the inspiration for Captain Quince in Peter Benchley’s ‘Jaws’ book who I believed to be Frank Mundas. Interestingly Mundas who built his reputation as a shark hunter and set a world record when he caught a 3,427lb great white shark off Montauk in the US. Frank Mundas was to become a passionate shark conservationist. There is perhaps a strange irony in this relationship between hunter and prey. Several years ago I attended a fascinating talk by Paul Boote and Jeremy Wade. During the talk about the mighty mahseer of India a book by Jim Corbett was mentioned. ‘Man-Eaters of Kumoan is an enthralling read that tells of Corbett’s tracking and killing of  numerous tigers. Corbett’s books are enthralling  and paint a fascinating picture of the relationship between hunter and prey in far off days. Like Mundas Jim Corbett became a passionate conservationist working tirelessly for the protection of tigers. His name lives on with the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand  named in his honour.

As climate change impacts upon our oceans the future of shark angling is as it should be, a mystery. Who knows what lurks beneath as the boat drifts in the dubby’s oily slick?