Jon Patten fished a local rock mark to tempt this fine double figure spurdog.
Dan gets his spurs
Dan Spearman tempted a fine brace of spur dog during a recent session on the North Devon coast. The spurs scaling 11lb 4oz and 11lb 2oz are reward for many hours spent on the dark rocks waiting for that distinctive rattle of the rod top.
Specimen Shore Spurdog
Ollie Passmore landed this specimen 13lb Spurdogs from a popular North Devon shore mark. The fish was returned after a couple of pictures and swam away strongly.
Spurdog, Conger and huss from Rocky shores,
Shore anglers have been finding a few fish over recent high tides with conger, huss and spurdog for those putting in the hours. There is every chance of an outsize conger from deep water rock marks with thirty pound plus specimens likely.
Five Spur Haul
Combe Martin SAC member David Jenkin’s fished a popular North Devon shore mark to tempt five spurdog to 13lb 19oz. Spurdog packs have been few and far between close to the shoreline this winter but if you find a hunting pack sport can be fast furious. Wire traces are essential to stand a good chance of landing the fish that have razor sharp teeth.
Spurdog on a tiny dab bait
Nick Job and Ian Hooper enjoyed a great night fishing at a popular North Devon Mark landing more than they bargained for a when a 9lb 4oz Spurdog seized a tiny strip of squid on a size 4 hook intended for dabs. Nick hooked the spur towards the end of the session and Ian was able to scramble down to the waters edge to secure the fish.
They also caught several tasty dabs.
BLUEFIN – SPORT FROM THE DEEPS
Each Winter anglers take advantage of the great sport available in the deep water off Ilfracombe where huge packs of spurdog prowl hunting whiting and herring. Catches of over a hundred spurdog a day are not uncommon with double figure Bull Huss and big conger also testing anglers tackle to the limit. This Winter has once again seen John Barbeary take anglers to fishing grounds that have provided some excellent catches as illustrated below. For details of Bluefin click on the above link.
Big Spurs and Huss showing off Ilfracombe
Spurdog to 18lb and double figure bull huss are featuring in catches off Ilfracombe with John Barbeary’s ‘Bluefin’ taking anglers to the proven marks.
Off Shore Sport On Bluefin
Calm weather has enabled John Barbeary to take anglers off Ilfracombe to enjoy some frantic sport with spurdog and bull huss. Each winter huge packs of spurdog prowl the Bristol Channel hunting for whiting, herring and sprats. The commercial ban on fishing for these members of the shark family has resulted in a population explosion that is generally welcomed by anglers who return the fish to the water.
Spurdog off Ilfracombe – Bluefin Charters
Keith Armishaw enjoyed a Red letter day off Ilfracombe on Bluefin . Thanks to Keith for this report .. I had the chance to escape for days fishing with son Lee who had never caught a spurdog – so we got on board Bluefin out of Ilfracombe with John Barbeary. I took plenty of muppets seeing the difference they made to the catch rate last time out. We started trying for bass but only had a couple on the flood tide, so it was on to the spurdog. Lee had a two bait rig and I used a single bait and what a trip it turned out to be, we had around 90 on the boat between 7 of us with Lee catching 30 up to 14lbs against my meagre 18. Jonathan weighed in with a couple of good huss and a conger but what a session. We then tried for bass on the return trip catching around around 30, and only 5 dogfish caught all day. We even headed in early as we were all fished out and didn’t fancy an inshore mark after the bass as this is where the dogs were taken. An unbelievable day…
