Martin Turner earned victory in North Devon Match Groups Championship heat on Upper Tamar Lakes’s Cornish Bank compiling a fine net of fish scaling 34lb 6oz. Christoper Morris was runner up with 30lb 4oz and Wayne Michell third with 26lb 9oz. Competitors landed some quality perch and bream from this prolific water run by South West Lakes Trust.
Dan Hawkins Charter Boat Reel Deal arrived in Ilfracombe early this summer and after much effort made the headlines with the boating of a huge porbeagle estimated at 450lb. Since then the shark have proved elusive and a move to deeper water resulted in a blue shark estimated at 80lb being brought to the side of the boat.
Dan informed me that the general fishing has now improved with the arrival of mackerel in greater numbers. Fishing marks off the North Devon coast has resulted in turbot, gurnard, whiting, haddock, codling, tope, smoothound, huss and of course the ever plentiful dogfish.
After an exceptionally dry April and May local rivers have been at uncomfortably low levels with migratory fish reluctant or unable to progress upriver. As a result both salmon and sea trout fishing had virtually ground to a halt. The recent rainfall though often very localized brought a significant rise to the River Torridge that has brought several salmon into the system with salmon caught from beats throughout the river. Richard Jewell was among those successful landing a fresh run grilse with sea liced flanks. I fished a mid river Beat of the Torridge and whilst I failed to connect with a salmon I did catch a pleasing brown trout of almost around 1lb.
Taw regular Len Francis was one of the first to benefit from a slight rise in the Taw landing a salmon from a mid river beat. Heavy rain is falling as I type this so hopefully the rivers will rise further bringing a good run of fish over coming days.
Chrissy Waring and husband Geoff Waring 2 of the ‘Carp busters’ landed 50 fish up to 30lb 6oz in 48 hours ! They used the ever popular frozen mainline cell from the beach swim on Stafford Moor’s Beattie’s Lake. The cooler damp weather should ensure good sport over the coming days.
Thomas Atkinson earned top spot in Appledore Shipbuilders boat match landing a bull huss scaling 13lb 2oz. Andrew Atkinson took second and third with a bull huss of 11lb 14oz and a colorful cuckoo wrasse of 151/2oz. After a week of brisk West to North West Winds boats have been able to venture out and with the algae bloom now clearing I am hearing reports of few mackerel from boats between Hartland and Minehead.
BRATTON WATER
Bratton Water is nestled in a sheltered valley beside Bratton Stream and offers fine sport with free rising brown and rainbow trout. Eddy Hazeldon enjoyed a four-hour session at the water with his sixteen-year-old daughter Charlotte and landed a brace of trout each averaging 3lb.
Long time member of Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club Bob Gooding fished the water to land a stunning brown trout of 8lb.
Small imitative patterns tend to work well at this water with dry flies always worth a try especially during warm summer evening’s.
Bideford & District Angling Club members have been enjoying summer evenings fishing their mid week matches on home water Tarka Swims. Kevin Shears won the latest on June 15th with a 12lb 4oz net of carp. Martin Turner was runner up with 10lb 4oz and David Bailey third with 4lb 9oz in forth was John Lovell with 3lb 10oz.
Whilst many will be grumbling about recent rain in localized areas salmon and sea trout anglers will have a little hope in their hearts. After an exceptionally dry April and May local rivers have been at uncomfortably low levels with migratory fish reluctant or unable to progress upriver. Both salmon and sea trout fishing have virtually ground to a halt. A quick look at the Environment Agency gauging stations indicates a substantial rise in the Upper and middle Torridge that should give encouragement that a few fish will move over Beam Weir. The initial flush of water after a prolonged drought is often very dirty and this can deter fish from moving into the system. As the water clears fish should run giving anglers a chance of sport. Ideally we need a sustained period of rain to maintain the river level for a few weeks.
The Taw does not seem to have benefited to the same extent as the Torridge but even here a small rise could bring a few sea trout and salmon into the Lower reaches.
The Lyn seems to missed out on the rainfall and is still exceptionally low.
Where are the mackerel?
Summer should herald the arrival of mackerel along the North Devon coast a migration that once seemed as routine as the arrival of the swallows, martins and swifts. So far this year numbers have been very patchy as they were last year when many local boats suspended the traditional tourist trips in search of the species in embarrassment at a lack of fish.
This apparent decline in stocks is cause for grave concern for the mackerel are an essential part of the food chain. In addition to bass, tope, shark and other predatory sea fish the mackerel is also food for gannets and dolphins creatures the sighting of which often provide the highlight of a day on the water.
Catches of mackerel are not always entirely representative of stocks as water clarity can impact on the mackerel being able to see the lures. Populations can also vary greatly from local regions and I well remember just two years ago when huge catches were being made from many marks on the South Coast. I will never forget one evening when walking beside the water in Penzance seeing vast shoals of mackerel harassing whitebait within the harbour. The site of thousands of mackerel shimmering in the night and sound of water boiling as they feasted will live with me till I die.
I remember well looking out over a calm summer sea back in the seventies to see mackerel shoals erupting from the water.
It is easy to blame overfishing on the mackerel’s demise and the plundering of stocks by ocean going factory ships has without doubt caused mass casualties. Another factor could be global warming with reports of mackerel being abundant far further North than historically documented.
We once took the humble mackerel for granted but it is one of our most beautiful fish and a symbol of the health of our waters. Its demise could be a barometer of the health of our coastal waters. Where should we look for its salvation? Does the European Union offer the fish protection? Do we trust the UK government to put the survival of the mackerel high on its agenda?
It would be a tragedy for sea angling if the mackerel were to disappear from our waters. The ease of catching has spawned many an angler; from glimmering twisting fish upon a string of feathers to the pleasing plunge of a brightly tipped float followed by the pulsing fight of a mackerel on light tackle. We once commented if only mackerel grew larger they would be the most sort after fish in the sea. Today we may well comment; “If only we could catch a mackerel!”
And finally is there a better tasting fish fresh from the sea; fried in butter with a sprinkling of pepper?
Zyg Gregorek continued his winning streak at his own water and sent me this report… Our June 5’C’S Syndicate match held on the match lake saw my creaky split cane tackle called into action once again catching this nice 14lb 12ozs Mirror Carp. The winnings were once again donated to charity. A different fish smaller than the last one, you can see from the marks the fish had been engaged in amorous activities (that’s why it lost some weight) so I had to give it a kiss before putting it back.
