Nick Job landed this fine specimen bull huss of 12lb 2oz whilst fishing from a North Devon Shore mark. There are still a few spurdog showing along with whiting and dogfish. Over the next few days a bitter East Wind is set to make temperatures plummet so wrap up warm.
Ian Laird landed this 9lb 15oz bull huss whilst fishing a local rock mark. The fish was part of a haul that consisted of smoothound, dogfish and pollock.
(Above) This 3lb 6oz codling was tempted by Chay Boggis from a local beach whilst targetting bass.
Ali Laird fished the estuary to land nine flounder to 1lb 9oz. Flounder fishing should be good for the next few weeks with heavy rain flushing out the river.
(Above) Ollie Passmore with a grey mullet of almost 3lb.
(Above) Ollie Passmore with a bull huss of 10lb 4oz.
November can be an exciting time for sea anglers with a vast range of species to target. A big squid or mackerel bait presented on a pennel rig is likely to bring rewards from deep water marks all along the coast. Make sure you use a substantial hook length to withstand sharp teeth. I use a minimum of 80lb b.s mono or fluorocarbon for my shore fishing with a heavy wire trace if tope are a possibility, contrary to popular opinion.
Josh Atkinson put in the effort to make several trips throughout the back end of October and he was rewarded with 2 decent specimens, these were a locally caught Bull Huss of 13-7-8 and an Undulate Ray of 11-12-8 from Dorset’s chesil Beach. Josh was not sure he would have landed the Huss if it wasn’t for the strength and quality of the Cox & Rawle meat hooks as most hooks would probably have bent out when lifting a fish of that size. The fish was lifted as it was too rough to get to the shoreline with the net. Both fish were also released to fight another day.
Bull huss have to be one of sea angling s most photogenic fish with their Leopard like spots. Chay Boggis landed this beauty from a local rock mark. It pulled the scales down to 9lb 5oz.
Quality fish like this are out there to be caught but there are also plenty of small eels and dogfish about that tend to get to the baits first as I found out on a session at a local rock mark last night, Its good to get out though and with settled conditions its good to just be there waiting.
Autumn is a prime time for the sea angler with a wide variety of species to target. The past week has seen local anglers enjoy success along North Devon’s rocky coast. Dan Spearman (Below) was among these anglers landing a bull huss of 9lb 3oz and a conger of 18lb.
Fellow Combe Martin SAC member James Thomas landed good pollock of 2lb 13oz along with numerous conger whilst fishing a rock mark near Ilfracombe. (Below)
Kody Chugg landed a small eyed ray (Below)
I targetted grey mullet that are one of my favourite sea fish and tempted a specimen of 4lb 13oz using quiver-tipped bread flake.
Combe Martin SAC Dan Miles Redmore landed this fine bull huss scaling 12lb 10oz whilst fishing a Somerset shore mark.
Combe Martin SAC member Ali Laird fished a local rock mark and was rewarded with a fine 11lb3oz smoothound and a 10lb 5oz Bull Huss.
October and November are in my view the best two months of the sea angling year with a wealth of species to target before the real chill of winter descends. Smoothound have been a welcome addition to autumn sport in recent seasons with specimens showing right up until Christmas and beyond.
Paul Lorrimore had a short session after work hoping for a bass and hooked a hard fighting smoothound of around 5lb. It was his first of the species and put a good bend in his light weight bass rod.
Grey mullet are one of my favourite species and provide some exciting sport. I used to think that after dark mullet fishing was unproductive but I have learned this to be untrue with several sessions in recent seasons proving this to be wrong. This hard fighting 2lb + mullet was tempted from an Ilfracombe mark two hours after high water. Many marks produce their best results on the ebbing tide well after many have packed away their rods believing the water to be too shallow. Bass and mullet will feed in very shallow water.
(Above) Even small mullet can give a good account on light tackle. (CMSAC member James Thomas)
The estuary will soon start to come into form for flounder fishing though there is also every chance of a big bass. The lower estuary could also throw up a surprise gilthead bream if any is prepared to try something different.
Rob Wheaton has just landed a potential British Record gilthead bream of 12lb 3oz whilst fishing a South Coast Mark.
Bull huss are on the prowl along the coast as Ali Laird found out when he landed a brace weighing 10lb 1oz and 7lb 13oz.
Rick Blackmore landed a fine bull huss of 13lb 9oz.
Spring time is the best time to head out and catch a big bull huss as Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge did recently catching this handsome huss of 10lb 1oz during one of his recent sessions.
Huss are a far more welcome catch than their relative the Lesser spotted dogfish that devour anglers baits spoiling the chance of something better. Huss can be tempted on a wide range of baits with big squid or mackerel baits favorite. In the murky waters along the Somerset coast near Porlock and Minehead these fish can be caught throughout the day. In North Devon’s clearer waters night time is undoubtedly best with rough ground more likely to bring results.
Rick Blackmore (Below) also targetted the species landing several in recent weeks topped by this specimen of 12lb 13oz.
Combe Martin Sea Angling Club Members Kevin Legge and Derek Ferret have a knack of finding quality fish from the North Devon shoreline throughout the year. their latest catches include a 9lb 10oz bull huss to Kev and a 7lb 4oz bass for Derek!
