Bingo Time!
Team working
BIDEFORD SECURE IMPRESSIVE WIN OVER PLYMOUTH
Bideford & District Angling Club secured an impressive victory against Plymouth and District Angling Club at Bake Lakes. Bideford totalled weight was 147lb 6oz with Plymouth only managing 35lb 14oz. The individual winner on the day was Bideford’s Craig Lamey. The combined weight totals after the two legs were Bideford 447lb15oz to Plymouth’s 150lb 12oz.
42lb carp – Stafford Moor
Scott Cowling banked a fine mirror carp of 42lb whilst fishing Stafford Moor’s Lodge Lake. The venue also produced eight fish for Rob Gibbon and his friends the biggest 36lb.
Smoothound Dominate
Smoothound dominated Bideford Angling Clubs monthly sea rover with Stephen Found landing a fine specimen of 14lb 10oz. Andrew Clements was runner up with a thornback ray of 9lb 2oz. Dale Kiff and Jenson Kiff took the remaining places with smoothound scaling 9lb 11oz, 9lb 9oz, 8lb 1oz and 7lb 4oz.
Bass Wins Appledore Rover
Michael Hammett took top spot in Appledore Shipbuilders rover with a bass of 4lb 5oz.
Triggerfish wins CMSAC Competition
Kevin Legge won Combe Martin SAC’s rover with a specimen triggerfish scaling 3lb 15oz. I took second and third place with thick lipped grey mullet of 4lb 14oz and 4lb 1oz.
Trevor Telling Memorial 2025
The Annual Trevor Telling Memorial Competition at Wimbleball was won by Colin Combe who boated five trout for a total weight of 12lb 8.5oz. The bank trophy was won by Roger Truscott who banked three trout for 5lb 12oz. The prizes were presented by well- known and respected fly fishing writer and instructor Peter Cockwill. All monies raised go to the Exeter Hospice Care Team.
As water levels at local reservoirs recover and water temperatures drop trout sport is expected to improve with late September and October often providing some of the seasons best sport.
RAIN BRINGS HOPE OF SILVER
Heavy rain showers have brought hope that salmon will move into North Devon’s rivers bring a late flourish to what has been a poor season with drought conditions dominating throughout the summer.
FLOUNDER FISHING SEASON
Late September is the traditional start of the flounder fishing season and competitions are already planned for the coming months. The Barnstaple Bait & Tackle Dan Miles Memorial Open Competition is on Sunday November 30th and is proving a popular event with over 100 entrants in last year’s event. All proceeds go to Children’s Hospice South West Little Bridge House, Fremington.
Members of Combe Martin SAC spent a day off Ilfracombe fishing on Daniel Welch’s boat Predator 2. Whilst the hoped for tope failed to show members found ten different species fishing on the seabed as cloudy water hampered lure fishing. The species caught included mackerel, scad, black bream, bull huss, smoothound, gurnard, conger, pollock, bass and dogfish.
Combe Martin SAC host their annual fun fishing event this Sunday on Ilfracombe Pier with fishing starting at 2.30pm and ending at 4.30pm. This easy going event has been running for several years in conjunction with the Sea-Ilfracombe Festival. All young anglers should be accompanied by a responsible adult. The club would like to thank the ongoing support of High Street Tackle, Barnstaple Bait and Tackle and Ilfracombe Aquarium. Prizes are awarded for anglers under 16 who catch the most species and longest fish. The heaviest fish caught by and the top family points total.
Late summer and early Autumn offer a wide range of species to target in saltwater as the seasons transition. All tactics can work at this time of year with both bait and lure tactics proving effective dependant on the prevailing conditions. An increasing number of anglers are now compiling records of the fish species they catch. A branch of angling I would compare to keen birdwatchers often referred to as twitchers. This can become very addictive with anglers traveling long distances and adapting tackle to target species not caught on standard sea tackle. Some mini sea species are caught using tiny hooks and gossamer thin lines paired with miniature rods. I recently bought Jack Perks excellent book “Field Guide to British Fish- Freshwater and Marine”. The book contains information and quality photo’s of 200 species found in UK waters. It has a useful tick list in the back of the book to record your own tally of species.
The book is a perfect companion to Alwynne Wheeler’s Key to the Fishes of Northern Europe that was first published in 1978. It is fascinating to compare the two books that illustrate the significant changes that are happening in both marine and freshwater eco systems.
Ben Evenden won Stafford Moor’s Sunday Open with 197lb 9oz.
Stafford Moor’s Carp Lakes are in fine form with plenty of multiple hauls. Dan Hoskin and his son fished Beattie’s Lake to bank sixteen carp twelve of which were over twenty pounds with the best a fine fish of 28lb. Martin Burton banked four carp to 32lb and Owen Thrumble banked forty carp over five days to 30lb 5oz.
MAINLINE CARP PAIRS RESULT
South West Lakes Trust’ Mainline Carp Baits Open Pairs Competition at Upper Tamar Lake has been won by Terry Vincent and Ben Combes with three fish totalling 63lb 7oz. The pair take home a prize of £2000 plus trophies. Runners up receiving £1000 were Jason McEvoy and Paul Thomas with three carp for 61lb 15oz. In third place was Nigel Woods with 57lb 1oz. Over thirty carp were registered in the popular event held on South West Lakes Trusts premier carp water on the Devon and Cornish border.
Zenia Drury-Gregorek of Angler’s Paradise took a break from her busy schedule to celebrate her birthday and a enjoy fishing session with her husband Joe on the complex’s new Nirvana Syndicate Lake. The session proved very successful with Zenia banking a complex record common carp of 44lb, a 45lb mirror carp along with grass carp to 32lb and a 29lb mirror carp.
Bideford & District Angling Clubs Rod N Reel match at Tarka Swims was won by Kevin Shears with 67lb 14oz. Runner up was Keith Copland with 61lb 14oz and Paul Elworthy third with 45lb 10oz.
Andy Edge won the latest Open Match at Stafford Moor with 255lb 14oz.
Boat anglers are enjoying some fine bass sport off Ilfracombe with Predator 2 Charters putting anglers amongst some large shoals of feeding bass, Skipper Dan Welch took time out for a bit of fishing himself and registered a brace of 58cm bass and one of 55cm.
Combe Martin SAC’s Lure Fishing League Sponsored by High Street Tackle is attracting a good number of entries from club members reflecting an excellent year for the species. Mark Drewer and Seth Tuson are currently joint first with five bass for 344.5cm. In runner up spot at present is myself with five bass for 313cm and in third place Reece Woolgar with four bass for 263cm.
Reel Deal Charters has taken anglers to the North Cornish Coast where several porbeagle shark have been brought boat-side.
The regions rivers are continuing to suffer from a lack of significant rain and warm temperatures. Barnstaple and District Angling Club control fishing on two beats on the River Taw and have closed both beats after recording water temperatures in excess of 24 centigrade. Water temperatures this warm are very concerning and can cause stress for both salmon and trout. The advice of the West Country Rivers Trust is to cease fishing above 20 degrees C.
Andrew Clements secured top spot in Bideford Angling Clubs forty eight hour rover with a specimen smoothound scaling 11lb 14oz. Tony Gussin was runner up with a smoothound of 11lb 1.5oz and Stephen Found third with a bass of 7lb 11oz.
Bideford Club have recently acquired fishing rights for club members at Higher Shorston Lakes near Holsworthy. Full details can be found via the clubs website. Access to these waters adds extra value to membership of this thriving and long established angling club.
Bideford Clubs Junior competition is proving very popular and is fully subscribed most weeks with twenty three participants in last weekend’s event which is very encouraging to see as it bodes well for the future. Hallie Osbourne won the latest match with 7.105 kilo. Runner up was Bailey Bramley with 6.935 kilo and Jenson Kiff third with 4.925 kilo.
This weekend is the first weekend of the summer holidays and I still relish the memories of those distant times when I fished the River Umber in Combe Martin to catch small brown trout and eels that were abundant in those days. The open coast and local ponds were also visited and our generation seemed to enjoy a greater freedom than todays. Angling is undoubtedly a pastime that is beneficial to mental health and connecting with nature and it is to be hoped that the joys are discovered by a few more young people this summer.
Predator 2 Charters operate out of Ilfracombe and in this their first full season of operation they are gaining a reputation for putting anglers amongst the fish. Skipper Dan Welch has fished the North Devon coast for many years and is putting that experience to good use having considerable success targeting bass and wrasse using the latest lure fishing techniques.
Good numbers of tope are also being tempted from waters off Ilfracombe with plenty of fish over 30lb boated.
High water temperatures have eased on many local rivers enabling angling to resume though extra care should be taken to ensure all fish are returned as soon as possible preferably unhooked in the water. During hot summer days fly fishing enthusiasts can enjoy some superb and at times challenging sport targeting bass and mullet in saltwater. Mullet have become something of a cult species to target with their wily reputation and powerful fights sometimes compared to the bonefish of tropical waters. On a warm summers day it is undoubtedly a joy to stand ankle deep in the cool waters as bass and mullet swirl close by in the flooding tide.
Stuart Kennedy won Stafford Moor’s latest residents Match with 269lb 10oz. This followed success for Stuart in the venues Open match when he put together a net of 262lb 15oz. On the venues Lodge Lake Zack Skinner banked a personal best carp of 32lb.
