Jon Stevens sent me this stunning image from Woolacombe Beach;
Searching for a Spring ray -without any luck. But always worth it on evenings like those
A few fish about!
March and April are generally quiet months out on the coast but there are always a few fish to be found and its often good to just be out there in the fresh air. Combe Martin SAC member Ross Stanway fished an Ilfracombe Rock mark with his young son Charlie and they both tempted shore rockling with Ross landing a new personal best of 13.5oz. Between them they landed pollock, dogfish and rockling.
There should be very chance of bull huss from rough ground marks and the fisrt ray should be showing from local surf beaches.
Sea Angling News and prospects
Sea anglers are certainly having a lean time with just three fish weighed into Bideford Angling Clubs Monthly Rover. Dick Talbot dominated the results with a brace of wrasse for first and second weighing 3lb 13oz and 3lb 6oz. Andrew Clements took third spot with a spotted ray of 3lb 1/4oz. In Appledore Shipbuilders Rover the eighteen competing anglers failed to find a fish big enough to bother the scales. Several members of the club ventured to south coast venues in search of plaice where they enjoyed some success but none above the qualifying weight for the scales.
As temperatures start to creep up fishing should improve and the first bass should soon be caught from the lower estuary. The local surf beaches will produce ray that move inshore to feed on sandeel in the surf. Grey mullet are already present along the coast and the first thin-lipps should be in the estuary’s as soon as the flood water subsides. Rough ground marks on the coast will yield bull huss and the occasional conger.
Anglers fishing Ilfracombe Pier with small worm baits can expect plaice and dabs.
Dogfish will provide plenty of rattles on the rod tips.
In search of spring ray
As spring sets in there is a good chance of catching an early ray from our local surf beaches. Steve Dawe shared these fine images of the sun setting as he waited the onset of darkness and chance of a ray. Whilst he blanked on this occasion the scene certainly illustrates that there is more to this fishing than just catching fish. You can catch up more of Steve adventures by visiting his blog in which he describes his adventures whilst aiming to catch fifty species in a year for charity :- https://stevedawe189.wixsite.com/fishtytwochallenge
Combe Martin SAC member Jonathon Stanway also targetted ray from a local rock mark and was rewarded with a personal best small eyed ray of 11lb 2oz. ( Below)
SEA ANGLING RESULTS
After a very quiet few weeks its good to get a bit of sea angling news coming in. The two cold blasts from the east have certainly impacted upon both fish and fishing effort. Lets hope things start to improve over the next few weeks.
Bideford 24 hour results
1st Andrew Clements Thornback 7lb 14 1/2oz 80.902%
2nd Nathan Clements Thornback 6lb 12 1/2oz 75.173%
3rd kyle Blackmore pouting 1 lb 2oz 75%
Triple Hook Club – Derek Philiips Memorial
1st Dennis Toleman – dogfish 2lb 3oz
Sea Angling Club Results
Barnstaple Triple Hook Club – Windy Shield Trophy competition was won by Mark Hancock with a dogfish of 2lb 13/4oz. In runner up spot was Dennis Toleman with a dogfish of 2lb 3/4oz. Dennis also told me that he caught a tasty codling of around 3lb 8oz.
Bideford Angling Clubs 24 Hour Rover
1st Dick Talbot Thornback ray 9 lb 6oz 104.166%
2nd Nathan Clements small-eyed ray 9lb 5 103.472%
3rd kyle Blackmore spur 9lb 14oz 98.750%
Appledore Shipbuilders Winter League
Graham Snow specializes in catching grey mullet and proves that they are now an all round year round species to target.
1st – Graham Snow – grey mullet 3lb 47/8oz
2nd – Graham Snow – Grey Mullet 3lb 41/2oz
3rd Cameron Atkinson – whiting 151/8oz
Sea Angling News Round Up.
Shore sport seems to have slowed down with the weather undoubtedly deterring a few anglers from venturing out. There are a few whiting, dabs and dogfish being tempted. There is still an excellent chance of catching ray, conger, huss and spurdog from deep water marks.
If the weather permits boat sport should be good off Ilfracombe with Bluefin taking trips out after spurdog and conger.
Bideford 24 hour Rover
Nathan Clements took the top spot in Bideford Angling Clubs twenty four hour rover with a fine pollock of 4lb 3oz.
In runner up spot was Andrew Clements with a pouting 1lb 1 1/2 and in third Antony Smith with a rockling 14 1/2 oz.
In Appledore Shipbuilders Rover Josh Atkinson secured victory with a spotted ray weighing 3lb 10oz.
Sea Angling Results – Bideford, Appledore-Shipbuilder’s & Triple Hook
Antony Smith landed the only two fish in Bideford Angling Clubs Monthly Rover a fine specimen spurdog of 12lb 81/2oz and a whiting of 1lb.
Dennis Toleman won Triple Hook Clubs first competition of the New Year winning the Sportsman’s Cup with a flounder of 1lb 3oz. In runner up spot was Rob Hancock with a flounder of 1lb 21/2oz.
In Appledore Shipbuilders Rover eighteen senior anglers failed to catch a fish big enough to bring to the scales. Jack Pike secured victory in the Junior section with a whiting of 101/2oz.
New Years Eve – Success
Kevin Legge closed 2017 with a specimen spurdog of 11lb 15oz that was tempted just ten minutes before midnight on New Years Eve with celebratory fireworks lighting the night sky as his angling companion Dave Brooke took the pictures. Four hours later Kevin started the New Year with a spurdog of 9lb 9oz.
Sea Angling Prospects
Looks like we could be getting some stormy conditions early tomorrow which will hopefully stir up the coastal waters and ensure some good fishing during the coming week. I would expect to see a few decent conger, huss and spurdog caught along with the chance of a big blonde or small eyed ray. Probably wise to use a wire trace to present that big chunk of fish or squid always the chance of a tope plus those spurdog have some sharp teeth.
Weather Warning from Met office (Below)
Between 04:00 Sun 10th and 15:00 Sun 10th
A spell of strong winds is expected affect the far south of England and Wales on Sunday morning and early afternoon with the highest winds expected in Bristol Channel coastal areas. Some short term loss of power and other services is possible, as well as some delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges. It is likely that some coastal routes, sea front and coastal communities affected by spray and/or large waves.