With sport dropping off on the coast there was a low turnout for this club event with just seven members fishing marks all along the coast. Bites were few and far between for some members with small conger and dogfish providing most sport. Rob Scoines fished small baits close in to successfully target rockling landing close to a dozen the best three weighing 1lb 2oz, 1lb 1oz and 15oz to take the top three places.
Combe Martin SAC member Ross Stanway fished a rock mark near Ilfracombe and hooked a specimen conger weighing 22lb 8.5oz after carefully weighing the eel in a weigh sack it was time for a photo. The eel proved camera shy and took its opportunity upon being released from the weigh sack and in Ross’s words; “Took off like a Bob sleigh team down over the rocks.”
The eel was one of twelve eels caught with four of them over 10lb.
(Above) 10lb eel that posed for the camera!
Ilfracombe shore marks are producing conger, whiting, dogfish and occasional ray. Proceed with caution particular if fishing at Capstone one of North Devon’s most productive marks but also one with many dangers.
There is still time to hook into a spurdog from shore marks all along the North Devon Coast and with things roughing up this week and evening tides and expect to get a few reports. Kevin Pike rose early at the weekend to tempt a fine spurdog of 10lb 4oz. Many thanks to Kevin for letting me use this excellent image.
Combe Martin SAC members fished their roving match at Clovelly on Saturday 28th January and it was Matt Jeffery who won the mixed brace competition with a plump dab of 11.5oz and a whiting of 1lb. The hoped for spurdog failed to materialize though Matt confided that something grabbed a whiting on his last cast of the night.
Combe Martin SAC Member and shore caught stingray record holder Guy Spriggs ended 2016 in style landed a fine brace of blonde ray scaling 12lb 4oz and 16lb. The fish were landed on 30th 31st December.
Thirteen members of Combe Martin Sea Angling Club set forth to fish as an icy cold North Easterly Wind lashed the coast. Fishing was hard going for most but Colin Emery and Liam Stevens consulted Google Maps to find a sheltered mark where they found some sport. Colin secured the top three spots with a specimen bull huss scaling 10lb 12oz and a plump dogfish of 3lb 2oz and a conger of 17lb 4oz.
Eighteen club members fished in Combe Martin SAC’s Christmas Rover and it was a grey mullet caught by Daniel Welch that took top spot.
A few years ago few would have considered fishing for grey mullet at the end of December but times are changing and five members targetted the species. Dan’s mullet of 3lb 7oz was the only one landed though despite several bites.
The local rock marks produced a variety of species including whiting, pollock, dogfish, huss and conger. Larger species were hard to find though and it was Rob Scoines who took runner up spot with a rockling of 1lb 6oz. In third was Dan Spearman with a bull huss of 7lb 10oz and in forth Rob Scoines with a bass of 3lb 15oz.
A bitter North East wind blew down through the Bristol Channel making fishing conditions difficult for the dozen who booked into Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Lee to Lee Competition on Sunday 27th November. I was fortunate to take top spot with a specimen bull huss weighing 10lb 9oz that was tempted on high water using an Ammo Bluey, mackerel and squid cocktail presented on a pennel rig using 6/0 Sakuma Manta Extras. Thanks to Rob Scoines who got soaked through whilst netting the fish amidst a torrent of spray.
Wayne Thomas – bull huss 10lb 9oz
Daniel Welch took second spot in the competition with a pouting of 15oz and Ross Stanway third with a dogfish of 1lb 11oz. Daniel Welch also landed a pleasing pollock of 2lb 10.5oz. A few other dogfish, rockling and small conger were landed.
Wayne Thomas took top spot in Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Fish of the Month Competition with a thick lipped grey mullet scaling 5lb 2oz.
In runner up spot was Daniel Welch with another thick lipped grey mullet of 5lb 1oz and in third Ross Stanway with a tope scaling 34lb 1oz.
November has already got a few good fish on the board and if weather permits I feel sure there will be some quality fish caught with November historically one of the best months of the year for specimen fish.
A few years ago Combe Martin SAC member John Shapland set out to catch fifty sea species in a season and succeeded. Knowing Johns keenness on species hunting I felt sure he would excel in a one day species competition and so it proved on Sunday November 6th. The bitterly cold North Wind that was forecast deterred the vast majority of club members who had shown an interest in the event with just four of us eventually venturing out. John elected to fish an estuary mark and Ilfracombe Pier and from the two venues caught an amazing eleven species including bass, sand goby, flounder, common blenny, scorpion fish, pollock, sand smelt, ballan wrasse, pouting, poor cod, rock goby and poor cod. His fishing partner for the day was Louis Rooke who managed four species;pollock, pouting, ballan wrasse and rockling.
I fished a mark in Combe Martin Bay with Rob Sciones where we landed 7 species between us, whiting,pollock, ballan wrasse,conger, corkwing wrasse, tub gurnard and a pleasing grey mullet to my rod that weighed 4lb 14oz.
Despite the icy wind Rob and I did manage to find a little shelter from the wind and was rewarded with the sight of a pod of porpoise showing a few hundred yards from the shoreline.
Combe Martin SAC member Ian Laird – 9lb 15oz smoothound
Smoothound have been a regular feature of sea angling catches during the autumn months in recent seasons with hounds landed right through into December. This could be a result of numerous factors including climate change? It is however difficult to speculate. Trigger fish became common for several seasons and this was seen as a clear sign of global warming; they have been virtually non existent this year though?