Appledore Shipbuilders Easter cup was run this year for the first time as a multi day event .David Atkinson won the trophy with a 2lb 4oz Dogfish. Just pipping a 5lb 14oz Cod which was a nice surprise for Andrew Atkinson at this time of year. “Spring codling are frequently caught at this time of year, but this is the best one I’ve had in a long time”.
Calmer conditions have resulted in a down turn in sea angling sport with specimen fish hard to find over the past week. Despite this some good fish were recorded by anglers fishing the first week of February a time of year when catches traditionally start to decline. The seasons and the migration of fish in our waters is without doubt under going change with reports of mackerel from Ilfracombe in the past week and the presence of grey mullet throughout the calendar year.
1st Antony Smith Bull Huss 7lb 9oz 75.625%
2nd Andrew Clements Dog 2lb 3oz 72.916%
Club seceretary Nick Phillips won with a specimen whiting scaling 1lb 10oz. Runner up was Wayne Thomas with dogfish of 2lb 8oz.
Whiting, dogfish, spotted ray and conger were also caught by members who fished marks across North Devon.
Bideford Sea Rover October rover results
1st Antony Smith Thornback Ray 12lb 8oz 138.888%
2nd Nathan Clements Bull Huss 8lb 14 1/2oz 89.062%
3rd Andrew Clements Thornback Ray 7lb 10oz 84.722%
13 fished 5 fish registered
1st Richard Jefferies smoothhound 12lb 5oz 123.125%
2nd Andrew Clements smoothhound 11lb 6oz 113.750%
3rd Andrew Clements thicklipped mullet 4lb 1 1/2oz 102.344%
4th Terry Dymond smoothhound 9lb 11oz 96.875%
5th Antony Smith thicklipped mullet 3lb 5 1/2oz 83.594%
12 Anglers fished the July Rover today.
Several Smoothounds were caught, weighed and released with the photos and weights presented at the weigh in. In fact only Smoothounds were recorded at the weigh in!
Many anglers reported large catches of Smoothounds today with a lot of fish around the 6lb mark.
First place went to Terry Dymond with one of 9lb 11ozs.
Martyn John was second with another of 9lb 9ozs and Andrew Atkinson 3rd with his best one weighing 9lb 6 1/2ozs.
Bideford Angling Club Monthly rover results 11 angler’s fished
3 fish weighed
1st Antony Smith Smoothhound 10lb 11 1/2oz 107.187%
2nd Andrew Clements Small Eyed Ray 9lb 10oz 106.994%
3rd Jon Stevens Small Eyed Ray 8lb 12 1/2oz 97.569%
Kyle Bishop won Combe Martin Saa Angling Clubs fish of the the season for Spring with a fine bull huss of 13lb 9oz.
David Jenkins was runner up with a gilthead bream of 3lb 9oz.
April Rover results
1st Antony Smith Small Eyed Ray 8lb 1oz 89.583%
2nd Elliot Clements Dogfish 1lb 15 1/4oz 65.104%
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.
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.
