Ali Laird followed up his recent success with this fine specimen smoothound weighing 13lb 1oz he also landed a bull huss of 8lb 14oz. The next couple of months are potentially the best of the year for a wide range of species. Fishing can be excellent after the storm but take care as there are going to be some big seas over the next few days.
A fine specimen grey mullet scaling 5lb 1oz took top spot in Combe Martin SAC’s and Lynton C of E Primary School PTFA Open Fishing Competition. The event fished between Minehead Harbour and Clovelly Harbour resulted in success for several anglers who landed a variety of specimens from both boat and shore over the two days. The event and the raffle held at The Rising Sun, Lynmouth raised over £120 for Lynton Primary School Funds. The competition received generous sponsorship from Sakuma Tackle.
Full Results –
1st – Dan Welch – thick Lipped grey Mullet – 5lb 1oz
2nd- Ross Stanway – smoothound – 11lb 2oz
3rd -James Gubb Fradgley – conger (boat) 32lb 4oz
4th – James Gubb Fradgley – conger (boat) 29lb 1oz
5th – Wayne Thomas – thick lipped grey mullet – 3lb 7oz
6th – Matt Jeffery – bass -6lb 7oz
7th – Nick Phillips – thick lipped grey mullet – 3lb
8th – Rob Scoines – thick lipped grey mullet – 2lb 10oz
9th – Ross Stanway – ballan wrasse – 3lb 3.5oz
10th – Wayne Thomas – thick lipped grey mullet – 2lb 9oz
The competition was fished on a catch and release basis with witnesses and photographs submitted at the end of the day.
(Above) Ross Stanway smoothound 11lb 2oz
(Above) James Gubb Fradgley – conger (boat) 32lb 4oz
(Above) Wayne Thomas – Thick lipped grey mullet 3lb 7oz
(Above) Rob Scoines – thick lipped grey mullet 2lb 10oz
(Above)The top three outside of The Rising Sun.
Many thanks to Tony and all at the Rising Sun for a delicious buffet at the presentation and raffle following the competition.
Special thanks also to those who generously donated raffle prizes.
Two club members have taken a virtually unbeatable lead in Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Species Competition. John Shapland has a slender lead with 36 species. Just one species behind is Dan Welch with 35 species. With just two weeks remaining it will be fascinating to see if either member can break through the forty fish barrier.
The competition has certainly demonstrated the vast range of species that can be caught along the North Devon Coast if a wide range of tactics are used.
Ross Stanway is currently in third place with a commendable 22 species.
The competition ends with the Clubs fun-fishing event on Saturday September 2nd. High Street Tackle are sponsoring both the Species Competition and the Fun Fishing Event.
Graham Snow secured first and second in Bideford Angling Clubs Monthly Rover landing a fine brace of mullet. A thick lip of 5lb 21/4oz and a thin lip of 4lb 53/8oz. He also took first in Appledore Shipbuilders Monthly Rover with the thick lipped mullet of 5lb 21/4oz Jazza John took runner up spot in Appledore Shipbuilders Rover with a smoothound scaling 11lb 15/8oz and Graham took third with his thin lipped mullet of 4lb 53/8oz.. Jack Pike dominated the Junior section with ballan wrasse scaling 3lb 13oz, 3lb 8oz and 2lb 14oz.
Combe Martin SAC members continue to compete in their two month long species competition. John Shapland is currently leading with 31 species with Dan Welch very close behind of 30 species.
I have had a couple of visits to the coast to try and add a couple of species to my own tally but have struggled to catch a fish let alone species and those that I have caught tended to be those few I have already caught. Bit of a reality check after a week in Norway catching big fish!
Ross Stanway got among the spotted ray at Ilfracombe landing five in a short session.
Combe Martin SAC’s Fun Fishing Event has been rescheduled to Saturday September 2nd as a result of boat landings on the Sunday. Full details of this event will follow shortly.
Combe Martin SAC are holding a species Hunt between July 1st and September 3rd with the prizes to be presented at the clubs annual Fun Fishing Event. The event is sponsored by High Street Tackle Ilfracombe.
After the first week of the event numerous species have been caught from both boat and shore. The leader after one week is Daniel Welch with 11 species.
1st – Daniel Welch – 11 Species
2nd = John Shapland – 8 species Rob Scoines – 8 species
3rd – Louis Rooke – 6 species
4th – Ross Stanway – 5 species
5th -Wayne Thomas – 4 species
6th Lee Holden – 3 species
7th = Ali Laird – 2 species James Thomas – 2 species
Of course getting out fishing on these summer nights is a pleasure in itself with an extra incentive to hunt down the many species that swim off our coast. Image above courtesy of James Thomas.
Thirteen club members fished all along the North Devon and Somerset Coast Line in this Summer Rover and it was thin lipped mullet that dominated the prize table at the Rising Sun Lynmouth. James Hunter took the top two places in the event with thin Lipped grey mullet of 4lb 1oz and 3lb 12oz. In third place was John Shapland with a thin-lipped mullet of 3lb 11/2oz.
Daniel Welch tempted a thick lipped grey mullet of 3lb 7oz and a colourful wrasse.
Kevin Legge landed a brace of small eyed ray the best scaling 8lb 2oz and Rob Scoines a brace of small eyed each weighing 7lb 11oz.
The roving competition as with all Combe Martin SAC competitions was a catch and release event. Far better than the old days when the carcasses of fish were brought back to the scales. Fortunately we are still managing to meet up for a chat and pint afterwards. Many thanks to the Rising Sun for a delicious spread of sandwiches and hot chips. Much appreciated after a hard days fishing.
Dan Miles Redmore enjoyed a trip up over the border and landed a fine brace of small eyed ray scaling 12lb 4oz and 9lb 14oz.
Fifty eight anglers descended upon Putsborough beach for the annual Combe Martin Sea Angling Club Open and they met with ideal conditions. The east wind that had blown for several days had abated and the sea was calm as everyone gathered in the car park to book in.
It was good to chat with a few anglers who I had reported on over the past twelve months on this website. The nice thing about this competition is that it has a really friendly vibe with anglers meeting up, sharing tales and making plans.
Combe Martin SAC give special thanks to their sponsors; Sakuma, High Street Tackle, Veal Mail Order and Kevin Legge. Thanks also to Putsborough Sands for allowing the use their venue once again. The club also wish to thank all who took part with many anglers travelling a considerable distance to fish the event. Really pleased to hear several cheery “see you next year” as anglers sped off into the night at the end.
The fishing proved to be pretty good as well with most anglers catching fish and more than enough to match the impressive array of prizes on offer at the end. Over thirty small eyed ray were caught, one blonde ray, several smoothound to 5lb 8oz and of course plenty of dogfish.
1st – Matt Druce – blonde ray -11lb 41/4oz
2nd -Dale Kiff – small eyed ray – 7lb 14oz
3rd – Gareth Pike- dogfish – 2lb 5oz
4th – Garry Andrews – small eyed ray – 7lb 1/2oz
5th – Matt Druce – smell eyed ray – 6lb 151/2oz
6th – Dan Welch – small eyed ray – 6lb 15oz
7th – Dan Redmore – small eyed ray – 6lb 12oz
8th – Colin Emery – dogfish 2lb
9th – Lee Holden – dogfish 1lb 15oz
10th – Gareth Pike – dodfish 1lb 14oz
Nick Smith – dogfish 1lb 14oz
Ben Putman – dogfish 1lb 14oz
11th – Ross Stanway – small eyed ray – 6lb 21/2oz
12th – Ben Putman – small eyed ray – 6lb 10z
Colin Tanton – small eyed ray 6lb 1oz
Junior prize – Ollie Laird dogfish – 1lb 15oz
Best Brace -Matt Druce – Blonde Ray 11lb 41/2oz & small eyed ray 6lb 151/2oz Total = 163.4%
Below are a few pictures and comments from the night I will add as I get more so please feel free to send images and comments I try to make this a site for the angling community.
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(above ) Dale Kiff
(Above) Nick Phillips
Mike Seatherton ( Above) – Fished Putsborough competition last night, really enjoyed it, managed to catch a few fish, smooth hound, small eyed ray and plenty of dog fish, biggest ray 4lbs 10oz,
Congratulations to all who got on the prize table!
(Above) Rob Scoines
(Below) Matt Druce and his winning fish , great turn out and thank you to all the sponsors and the usual suspects for a well organized event
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!
James Thomas won Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Spring Rover with a specimen small eyed ray weighing 11lb 13oz. James father Wayne Thomas took second and third places with a small eyed ray scaling 9lb 10oz and blonde ray of 14lb 2oz. The fish were all caught off Minehead aboard Steve Webber’s boat Osprey. The clubs party landed around 25 ray, small eyed, thornback and blonde ray. They also landed smoothound, bull huss and dogfish.
Shore anglers in the competition landed several quality fish the best and fourth place in the competition went to Daniel Welch who landed a small ray of 9lb 5oz. This bodes well for the clubs open competition at Putsborough beach next month.
