The Barnstaple and District Angling Association – REACT TO HEATWAVE

Water Temperatures on the River Taw have hit 20 centigrade and as a result The Barnstaple and District Angling Association have advised angler to cease salmon fishing on the River Taw this advice is suggested acroos the river system to protect these valuable fish from undue stress during these heatwaves.
The Barnstaple and District Angling Association
Due to current low water conditions and the very high temperatures we have been advised to cease all salmon fishing  on the river Taw from today.
To save stocks we, your committee are in full agreement so there will be no further salmon fishing until the situations improves .
We will continue to monitor and advise you when salmon fishing can resume.
Best regards
Committee B&DAA

– The Barnstaple and District Angling Association

 

clubmate.co.uk

West Country Rivers Trust – Shad Survey

The Westcountry Rivers Trust recently  arranged a volunteer workshop at the Fox and Hounds Hotel at Eggesford to train members of local angling clubs to embark on DNA data collection in relation to shad migration in the Taw catchment. Barnstaple & District Angling Association, South Molton & District Angling Club, Taw Fishing Club and the River Taw Fisheries and Conservation Association were all represented and issued with sampling equipment.

Samples have now been taken from selected sites ranging from the estuary in Barnstaple, tributaries on Exmoor’s fringe and the central stem of the river in deepest rural Devon. Exeter University will be analysing the samples to trace where shad have been present in the catchment.

I joined fellow South Molton Club Member and River Taw Fisheries and Conservation Association member Ed Rands to sample various tributaries of the Taw. It was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning visiting various locations including the River Bray and Mole at Meeth Bridge, The Bray at Stags Head, Filleigh, The Mole at Alswear ,the Little Dart at East Worlington and Chulmleigh Bridge. Along with the Taw at Nymet Roland.

Ed’s intimate knowledge of the Devon countryside and its people proved fascinating and his reminiscences of fishing at the various locations was revealing. Devon has countless miles of narrow country lanes and meandering rivers that dissect a rich and varied landscape. Pretty thatched cottages, manor houses and country churches that exude a rural idyl.

Ed Rands takes a sample from the Little Dart

Through this seemingly perfect rural idyl flow the rivers that are the proverbial arteries of this green and pleasant land. If you talk with anyone who has spent time over the years beside our rivers a picture develops of a much degraded eco system. It is tragic that we have allowed this to happen over recent decades as industrial farming and extensive development spreads across the region.

Whilst there is a need for progress and growth in our economy this should be tempered by a respect for the environment. A healthy environment can bring us wealth both spiritually and economically. Healthy rivers with good numbers of fish can provide an escape from urban life as sporting hotels offering fishing and outdoor pursuits prosper. Sustainable farming can produce healthy food. We just need to work with nature not against it.

In addition to this further DNA testing will look for salmon, eels and lamprey. Whilst this testing is not a panacea to extensive knowledge it will start to build a valuable indication of fish migration within the river system. It seems strange that even today we only have limited knowledge of what swims beneath the surface with angling records over decades often the only data available. We have without doubt lost much life in our rivers over recent decades without knowing what we once had.

Shad migrate into rivers in May and June to spawn with the tiny fry returning to the sea in early autumn. There are two species, the allis shad and the twaite shad both of which migrate up a small number of rivers in the West Country and South Wales. The River Severn and Wye are undoubtedly the historic strongholds for the species.

Shad caught from the River Wye several years ago.
Shad caught from the River Wye several years ago.
Shad caught from the River Wye several years ago.

Bideford Angling Club – Coarse Results

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       Bideford Angling Club scored an impressive victory over Plymouth and District Coarse Angling Club totalling a weight of 300lb 9oz to Plymouth’s 114lb 14oz. The top four individuals were all from Bideford with Keith Copland netting 68lb 10oz, Richard Jefferies 49lb 3oz, Martin Turner 34lb 7oz and Ian Sedgewick 25lb 10oz. Top Plymouth rod was Tom Worth with 21lb 3oz.

Midweek evening competition No. 8
Results:
1st Martin Turner 34lb 13oz
2nd Nathan Underwood  34lb 9oz
3rd Darren Polden  29lb 15oz
4th Kevin Shears 29lb 6oz
5th Antony Bentley  28lb 10oz
6t Ian Croxton 21lb 11oz
13 fished.
Tonight’s 3 hour competition was held on George’s lake in a brisk westerly breeze .
Martin won on peg 19 mostly using paste in the margins, his net included some good tench and bream.
Nathan came a very close 2nd on peg 13 , again using paste and meat in the margins .
Darren was third on peg 14.

SEA ANGLING RESULTS

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July’s Rover results

1st Stephen Found – Thicklipped Mullet 4lb 4oz 107.812%
2nd Andrew Clements  Thicklipped Mullet 4lb 100%
3rd Dale Kiff Smoothhound 8lb 11oz 86.875%
4th Tony Gussin Smoothound 8lb 0oz 1/2 80.312%
5th Dale Kiff Bass 5lb 3 74.107%
6th Tony Gussin Smoothound 7lb 1 70.652%
APPLEDORE MONTHLY ROVER
Challenging conditions for the July rover today with the fresh WNW wind.
Josh Atkinson took top spot with a Smoothound of 10lb 15ozs. Michael Hammett had the next best fish with another Smoothound 9lb 15ozs. Josh also picked up 3rd place with another hound of 9lb 3ozs.

Combe Martin SAC – Lure Fishing Competitions

Combe Martin SAC’s Lure Fishing league is shaping up to be a competitive one this year with good numbers of bass being caught from boat and shore. Club member Wayne Thomas enjoyed a good session landing eight bass including fish of 72cm and 65cm  to put him into third place in the competition. All fish fell to a Savage Gear- White paddle tail lure. Such hectic sessions are few and far between with several blanks preceding this trip.

1st Mark Brewer – Five bass – 344.5 cm

2nd – Seth Tuson – Five bass – 330.5 cm

3rd – Wayne Thomas – Five bass – 295 cm

4th – Reece Woolgar – Four  bass – 263cm

5th – Ross Stanway – Three bass – 176 cm

6th – Robert Hurst – Two bass – 121.5cm

The club are hosting a members only lure fishing competition next weekend so prospects are excellent for this event.

 

 

PREDATOR 2 – LUNDY ISLAND

I joined fellow Combe Martin SAC members on a trip on Predator 2 out of Ilfracombe. With a promising weather forecast and a good tide Lundy Island was our destination with many options on the days agenda including lure fishing, drifting the sandbanks and anchoring for tope.

It was a civilised 9:30am sailing from Ilfracombe harbour to coincide with the morning tide and it was a cheerful and optimistic group of anglers who watched Ilfracombe slip into the distance as we sailed down the coast passing the spectacular cliffs West of the port. The sea was lively off Morte Point as the ebbing tide pushed over the rocky strata.

Skipper Dan suggested stopping off to drift lures over a wreck a few miles off Baggy Point. We dropped a variety of lures to seek fish over the rusting hulk 100ft or so beneath. Rods were soon hooped over as powerful pollock with olive and silvery flanks seized our offerings in the clear water.

After several drifts the sport slowed as it often does and Lundy Island beckoned far out at the mouth of the Bristol Channel.

Despite a forecast of high temperatures and sunshine the grey cloud still shrouded the sky and Lundy was hidden by a misty haze. We steamed across smooth waters and watched as Lundy slowly appeared as warm sunshine burned away the cloud.

A trip out to Lundy is always special the granite outcrop towering above the sea always seems to have a hint of Jurassic park or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Lost World’. Those fabulous tales that have enthralled the young at heart.

There were no dinosaurs as we drifted the North of the Island though several puffins bobbed cheerfully upon the water. A large swell caressed the base of towering granite cliffs. The white water, aqua marine and blue sky of a perfect hot summers days lifted the spirits. A few wrasse and the occasional pollock succumbed to our lures but fishing was slow. Dan tried several marks before moving to the tidal race off the North end. Again fish proved hard to find and all soon agreed it was time to move to the sand banks and drop the anchor for a go at the tope.

After  several hours steaming about and drifting it was good to relish the silence as the boats engines were cut and the boat settled at anchor. The tide was still running but 1lb of lead was adequate to keep the baits on the sea bed. We all opted for large offerings of fresh pollock or mackerel mounted on large strong hooks. My own choice being Sakuma 8/0 465 Kong hooks crimped to Sakuma 130lb B.S 49  Strand stainless steel wire. On the way out I discussed the pros and cons of wire versus heavy mono when fishing for tope. Dan showed me a couple of his tope rigs that he had based upon carp fishers hair rigs. The use of circle hooks and a 250lb plus mono trace could indeed have an edge over the traditional heavy wire trace from both a number of fish hooked and fish care?

It often takes a while for the scent trail to build but on this occasion it was only ten minutes before I had a powerful take from a tope that shed the hook after a few moments. This signalled a flurry of activity as several rods took on fighting curves as tope ripped into baits.  Several were soon boated with Peter Robinson boating a beauty of 37lb. This pattern followed throughout our time at anchor with flurries of activity resulting in eight tope to the boat with several close to thirty pounds.

As late afternoon approached the tide turned and action slowed. Dan suggested we head back and stop off for a short lure session in the racing turbulent waters off Morte Point.

Lundy slowly faded majestically away into a bank of mist as we steamed towards the North Devon coast .

It was early evening when we started to cast our lures close to the maelstrom of Morte race. It wasn’t long before rods were hooped over as silver flanked bass seized the lures along with a few mackerel. The best bass topped five pounds for Peter Robinson and Bruce Elston with several fish in the 3lb to 4lb size range.

After enjoying a thrilling session to end the day it was time to head back to Ilfracombe and the bustling harbour on a warm summers evening. We thanked Dan for a great day afloat and all look forward to the next adventure on Predator 2.

Bideford Angling Club – Coarse ~Fishing Results

Midweek evening competition No 7
Results:
1st Craig Crash Lamey 49lb 10oz
2nd Kevin Shears 37lb 7oz
3rd Keith Copland 35lb 6oz
4th Keith Mountjoy 30lb 2oz
5th Les Polden 26lb
14 members fished.
Light drizzle and still muggy conditions seemed to switch the carp off, but the bream certainly had a good feed .
There appears to be no stopping Craig,who chalked up his 4th victory in a row. This is quite remarkable, as he has done this from all areas around the lake.
This time off of peg 10 , again on luncheon meat.
Kevin’s bag of mainly good sized skimmer bream was taken on corn fished in the margins on peg 6.
Keith has come third on peg 17.

B.D.A.C Rod and Reel match results date 22.6.25 at Tarka.
Today was a bit windy with some light rain at times making fishing a bit awkward at times for some. All anglers caught fish and some good weights weighed in. First place today went to Martin Turner on peg 19 with an excellent catch of silvers and some fine carp for a great weight of 50lbs 14oz ,2nd place was Paul Whitehead on peg 24 with 43lbs 3oz, 3rd place was Richard Jefferies on peg 16 with 41lbs 1oz and 4th place went to Dave wilkins on peg 14 with 29lbs 3oz next Rod and Reel match will be on the 27.7.25 at Tarka. Well done to Martin Turner on your great catch and your win today.

FINE LURE CAUGHT BASS

Seth Tuson tempted this fine bass of 72cm using a 4″ Easy Shiner lure. It is Seth’s best bass caught on a lure and boosts his total in Combe Martin SAC’s lure fishing league.

1st – Mark Drewer – 344.5cm

2nd – Seth Tuson – 330.5cm

3rd – Reece Woolgar – 263cm

4th – Ross Stanway – 176cm

5th – Robert Hurst – 121.5 cm

6th – Wayne Thomas – 53cm

MOTLEY CREW AND CATS IN PARADISE

Many thanks to my good friend Bruce Elston for sending North Devon & Exmoor Angling News a full report on their trip to Anglers Paradise. Whilst I was unable to attend due to grandad duties I was very much there in spirit and watched developments keenly on our Watts-App group.

It was with much anticipation that a motley crew of like minded anglers assembled at my place for breakfast, prior to annual cat fishing trip on carp and cat 2 at  Elderado. This was to be our fifth year targeting the catfish on this prolific lake and we always have a lot of laughs with a few nice fish thrown in along the way.
Unfortunately Wayne Thomas couldn’t make it this year so Noel Jones readily agreed to take his place.
With the bacon and egg butties and copious amounts of tea and coffee consumed we set about allotting swims by pulling names out of a hat. Unfortunately for Johnny ‘Fat bloke’ Hughes he drew the short straw and had to fish with me!
This year we had been lucky with the weather. With the lake booked months in advance, it is always a worry but with hot and sunny conditions forecast for the 48 hours of fishing we had ahead of us, things looked good. I have always found found this to be good conditions for tempting our whiskered friends.
Arriving at the lake we noticed a few carp spawning which was not ideal. Hopefully our large baits and agricultural tackle needed to tame the large catfish that reside here , would put off any carp fancying a snack after their amorous endeavours.
Barrow loads of gear were quickly deposited in our allotted swims. Well, quickly might be a bit of an exaggeration for this mostly retired and less than spritely bunch of old duffers! Anyway, eventually we were all settled in our swims and sat back in the sunshine awaiting events.
It wasn’t long before I spied a bent rod across the water and Tony Ball was playing the first cat of the session. Only a kitten
at around 8 pounds but it was a good start and fair play to the old fella for thinking outside the box and trying out a float paternoster
fished with worms.


Soon after Alan Palmer also landed a Kitten of a similar size, this was closely followed by a 29 pounder also to Mr Palmer.

Things were looking good and got even better when my alarm sounded and I was suddenly attracted to something that was intent on pulling my arm off. The cats have got bigger and bigger, year on year in this lake and this was definitely one of the bigger ones! Bitter experience of lost fish making it to snags or taking me around islands have meant that I have upgraded the gear I have been using to try and tame these beasts. Despite now using 30lb line, 3 1/2lb test Armorlites and big pit reels the big ones still lead you a merry dance. This one was no exception and decided it wanted to visit Noel in the swim  further up the lake to my left. Eventually it came around to my way of thinking and a nice cat of 40lb 8oz was juggled into
the net by Fatty Hughes.


The action continued with Richard ’Bully’ Bull landing a 20.12.


The cats were definitely on the munch and we were all expecting a busy night but apart from a couple of lost fish and a 15 for Bully it was relatively quiet. Oh, and Fatty Hughes had a micro cat on worms popped up to just under the surface.


As the new day dawned, Noel was woken by lovely looking common carp that took a liking for a half tin of luncheon meat which was soon outgunned on the heavy gear and sent back on its merry way.


Father and son Team, Mitch and Ben Andrews had been quiet (at least fish wise up to this point) but this was about to change. Ben stole the show on day two with two nice fish of 30.08 and 32.14.


As the second night descend on us we could hear the call of a Nightjar nearby but Mitch spoilt the moment by declaring that it was in fact a farting Walrus.
Mitch has had some nice cats in the past but has not had the best of luck on our annual trips so we were all rooting for him as time was starting to run out on the session. Thankfully at 10.45 his bite alarm sounded and this time he wasn’t to be denied and after a spirited battle a 22 pounder was his.

Several other cats were landed in the night including a 28 for Alan, a 27 for Ben and a 24 just before the first light for me.

Fatty contributed to proceedings with another micro cat on worms.


As the new day dawned with mist rising off the water my Alarm sounded for the last time and I was blessed with another 40 pounder to cap off what had been a fabulous trip. Unfortunately Elderado had a sting in its tail for poor Noel as despite the heavy gear he was using and not fishing too close to the snags a big fish managed to get into some sunken branches on the far bank just as he was about to pack up.
Still it was a great trip and fun was had by the old fogeys and a fitting end to our Elderado adventures. I say end as it is rumoured that it will not be available for day tickets next year. I had better make hay…

Anglers Paradise

RIVER HEALTH – OPPORTUNITES TO RAISE AWARENESS

There are numerous threats to the complex life systems within our rivers and it is imperative that we all try and do what we can to give life a chance. Whilst salmon are perhaps the most iconic of fish they are perhaps the proverbial canary in the coal mine and their plight is an indication of the overall health of our planet. See below issues sent to me by James at Lance Nicholson’s.

The Issue

🐾  MILLIONS of doses of pet flea and tick treatments containing imidacloprid and fipronil are sold without prescription in the UK every year. These powerful insecticides — which have been restricted in farming for the past 7 years — are freely available in supermarkets and online to  use on pets and are contaminating our rivers, harming wildlife – and us.

Recent studies show they’re found in 100% of tested UK urban streams, harming the very species our ecosystems rely on — mayflies, dragonflies, beetles, and the birds and fish that depend on them.

This is chemical pollution on a national scale, and it could be stopped now…

✍️   PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

To: Baroness Hayman, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Call on the UK Government to end the non-veterinary sale of imidacloprid and fipronil pet flea and tick treatments

❗ THE PROBLEM

– Imidacloprid and fipronil are deadly to aquatic invertebrates even in minute quantities.

– These pesticides enter water systems when washed from treated pets, from their bedding, or even our hands

– One treated dog can contaminate 5 million litres of water above safe levels.

– Yet these treatments are sold without guidance, warning, or oversight.

🚫 WHAT WE’RE ASKING

We urge the UK Government to:

1. Ban the sale of imidacloprid and fipronil-based pet parasite treatments except by veterinary prescription

2. Immediately improve warning labels to highlight the environmental harm of these products

3. Support research into safer, eco-friendly alternatives for parasite control

✍️ PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND SHARE THIS WITH AS MANY OTHERS AS POSSIBLE

 

Let’s protect our rivers, wildlife, and national parks!

________________________________________________________________

About the Exmoor Society

The Exmoor Society is a registered charity working to protect and promote the unique landscape, wildlife and communities of Exmoor. We believe the environment and the economy must go hand in hand — and that protecting nature starts with knowledge, action and partnership.

See Petition Link Below :-
PREDATION 
Dear Member,
There is growing recognition by environmental regulatory bodies that fish-eating birds,
Goosanders and cormorants, may have a debilitating impact on the population of salmonids in our rivers.
Natural England agree that simply scaring birds is likely insufficient to reduce the predation of our fish populations.
But it is essential to establish the population size in any given river system before any positive action could be considered.
There is now a real opportunity for fisherman and any other persons enjoying the river to be alert to the population of piscavores and take it in hand to report sightings. Adults have now had their chicks, and they are very successful breeders, and will stay on location in the early months.
We have designed a form that you can download to record sightings. The more detail you can provide the greater the validity of our evidence.
Tom Watts, our Fisheries officer / SEW Project Officer at WRT (Westcountry Rivers Trust ) will act as the co-ordinator of  reported sightings
He has designed a google form that auto populates a spreadsheet in the form of an easy questionnaire.
This can be shared through the website, email, newsletter, social media etc. 
You have a sighting? Just click on the following link. Please save the link to apply to each sighting 
Please pass this on to any friend / interested party.
You may also wish to keep a record of your sightings so you can download the attached spreadsheet
and send it in to Tom at the end of September. Try the link first.
Thank you very much for your help
With best regards
Bruce Pearson, Secretary RETA