12 Sep 2025

WEEKLY ANGLING REPORT – September 14th -2025

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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.

8 Sep 2025

LATEST SEA ANGLING RESULTS – SEPTEMBER 25

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BIDEFORD ANGLING CLUB – September Rover

 Results

1st Stephen Found – Smoothhound 14lb 10oz 146.250%

2nd Andrew Clements – Thornback Ray 9lb 2oz 103.388%

3rd Dale Kiff – Smoothhound 9lb 11 96.876%

4th Jenson kiff – Smoothhound 9lb 9 95.625%

5th Dale Kiff- Smoothhound 8lb 1oz 80.625%

6th Jenson kiff – Smoothhound 7lb 4oz 72.5%

APPLEDORE SHIPBUILDERS –

SEPTEMBER ROVER

Michael Hammett won Appledore Shipbuilders Rover with a bass of 4lb 5oz.

Combe Martin SAC – SEPTEMBER ROVER

1st Kevin Legge – Triggerfish 3lb 15oz – 131.25%

 

2nd – Wayne Thomas – thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 14oz

3rd Wayne Thomas – thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 1oz

 

4 Sep 2025

WEEKLY ANGLING REPORT – September 4th 2025

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NORTH DEVON RIVERS TO FEATURE ON BBC COUNTRYFILE

This Sunday’s forthcoming BBC Countryfile episode features North Devon’s Taw and Torridge the two major rivers that feature in Henry Williamson’s classic tomes, ‘Tarka The Otter’ , ‘Salar the Salmon’ and A Clear Water Stream. The program features interviews with prominent local anglers reflecting upon angling history, the iconic salmon and the efforts to ensure the future of these marvellous fish.

TROUT & SALMON FISHING

Autumn is often a golden spell for anglers as temperatures drop and rain brings a welcome lift to the regions rivers that will encourage salmon and sea trout to enter the river systems. Trout anglers will also enjoy the chance to cast their flies into the rejuvenated streams and onto the regions reservoirs as cooler water encourages fish to the upper layers. Large dry daddy longlegs can provide exciting opportunities and large wild brown trout can also be seen slashing into shoals of fry in the lakes margins.

MATCH FISHING

Bideford Angling Clubs Rod N Reel Coarse Match on their home-water was won by Nathan Underwood with 96lb 3oz. Runner up was Martin Turner with 40lb 7oz and Kevin Shears third with 37lb 14oz.

Nick Jones won Stafford Moor’s Open match last weekend with 172lb 14oz.

The venues specimen carp lakes are in fine form with good carp from Beattie’s and Lodge Lake. Tony Franklin banked fourteen fish during a four day session including a personal best of 42lb.

At Bulldog Fishery a short closure to allow repairs to a water main seemed to result in the lakes resident carp feeding well on reopening with a group of anglers on a group booking banking 42 carp including a mirror carp of 33lb 1oz and a common carp of 32lb 10oz.

Combe Martin SAC hosted their Annual Fun Fishing event on Ilfracombe Pier an event that was enjoyed by over twenty anglers from different generations. Nine species were caught including pollock, conger, blenny, red bream, tompot blenny, smelt, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and poor cod. A good number of red sea bream were donated to Ilfracombe aquarium where they can be seen along with other fish caught on previous fun fishing events over recent years.

The Welch Family won a trip to Ilfracombe Aquarium that they kindly donated to runner up family Jesubaul and Becky Mringer. The longest fish was a 54cm conger caught by Louie Cameron and the heaviest a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz to the rod of Daniel Welch. The top individual points scorer was Ben Clarke with 25 points and Jesubaul runner up with 24 points.

Combe Martin SAC are very appreciative for generous sponsorship of the event from High Street Tackle, Ilfracombe Aquarium and Barnstaple Bait and Tackle.

Combe Martin SAC member David Brooke has set a new club boat record with a fine specimen gilthead bream of 6lb 4oz.

Autumn is often a time of plenty for sea anglers with water temperatures at their peak resulting in a wide range of species being present. Trigger fish, sea bream, red mullet and sole are all possible targets from Ilfracombe Pier along with squid on Autumn nights.

4 Sep 2025

Seth Tuson takes lead in CMSAC lure league

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Seth Tuson is now leading Combe Martin SAC’s Lure Fishing League with five bass for 347.5cm after adding a bass of 67cm to his five fish total.

 

1st – Seth Tuson – Five Bass -347.5cm

2nd -Mark Drewer – Five Bass – 344.5cm

3rd – Wayne Thomas – Five bass – 318cm

4th – Jamie Steward – Four bass – 272cm

5th –  Reece Woolgar – Four Bass – 263cm

6th –  Daniel Welch – Four Bass – 233cm

31 Aug 2025

Combe Martin SAC Fun Fish 2025

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Hard to believe that another Combe Martin SAC Fun Fish has come and gone signalling the end of the Summer season in conjunction with the annual Sea-Ilfracombe Festival.

This popular event is very much what it says on the tin so to speak; a fun fishing event with few rules and the focus very much on family fun. Once again a big thank you from Combe Martin SAC for generous sponsorship from High Street Tackle, Ilfracombe Aquarium and Barnstaple Bait and Tackle.

This year’s event saw over twenty taking part with several young anglers catching or seeing their very first fish. The move to use lighter tackle and small barbless hooks has certainly boosted the catch rate ensuring that plenty of fish were tempted.

Nine species were caught including pollock, conger, blenny, red bream, tompot blenny, smelt, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and poor cod. A good number of red sea bream were donated to Ilfracombe aquarium where they can be seen along with other fish caught on previous fun fishing events over recent years.

The Welch Family won a trip to Ilfracombe Aquarium that they kindly donated to runner up family Jesubaul and Becky Mringer. The longest fish was a 54cm conger caught by Louie Cameron and the heaviest a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz to the rod of Daniel Welch. The top individual points scorer was Ben Clarke with 25 points and Jesubaul runner up with 24 points.

Daniel Welch with the heaviest fish a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz
The Cameron Family with Archie (right) holding his brothers conger

The event cast off at 2.30pm as a strong swell surged close to the pier landings and a heavy shower threatened to dampen the spirits.

Fortunately the storm clouds soon drifted past and a vivid rainbow appeared off Hillsborough as bright blue skies brightened the rest of the afternoon.

Fish were caught from the start despite the murky water stirred up by heavy swells throughout the previous week. Four or five lobster were caught which is far more than any previous Fun fish. Another interesting feature was the large number of small red bream caught throughout the two hour long event.

Apologies if I have spelt any names wrong, a strong breeze, aging ears and a rain smeared score sheet undoubtedly contribute to any errors. Everyone who registered a fish took home a prize from our sponsors and in my view everyone who took part was a winner. I hope that those smiles convert just a few to enjoy the marvellous pastime that can forge a deep and lasting connection with the natural world.

28 Aug 2025

WEEKLY ANGLING REPORT – August 28th 2025

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            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.

24 Aug 2025

Combe Martin SAC – Predator 2 Boat Trip

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Combe Martin SAC’s Boat trip on Predator 2 was a trip we had been anticipating eagerly and with a fine day forecast optimism was high as we set out of Ilfracombe harbour on a calm morning.

As expected Skipper Dan Welch had a plan and it was to be a down channel day. Buoyed by stories of bass and tope we bounced over the calm waters and were overtaken by ever speedy Dan Hawkins on Reel Deal who was destined for the reefs of the North Cornish coast.

First stop was the turbulent tide race off Morte Point where bass and wrasse were targeted with lures. The water clarity was disappointing and after a short drift it was decided to head to mixed ground a short distance off the headland and drop the anchor. I opted to fish my light rod with a two hook paternoster baited with small strips of squid on size 4 Sakumu Chinu hooks. The rod tip was soon rattling as scad hit the baits, these were kept fresh as they would surely prove good baits for tope later in the day.

A steady trickle of species were caught including a bass, red gurnard, pollock, smoothound, dogfish, small conger and scad. As the tide eased Dan suggested we move out into deeper water with more tide flow.

 

“Peter the conger charmer”

This was big bait territory and large fish baits were sent to rest on the sea bed. Peter Robinson proved to be the conger charmer tempting a good fish of around 20lb along with others throughout the day. A few bull huss seized our baits and bent the rods. The tope proved elusive and we moved again further out to an area that had been producing some good tope in recent weeks.

The water was very murky and Dan thought this was the result of algae blooms and the dead algae being stirred up by the big tides. Bideford Bay had been alive with bait fish, bass, dolphins and birds a few days before this trip. It seemed devoid of life today with no signs of activity and little or no action as we dropped our baits to the seabed.

An increasingly frustrated Dan could only suggest we head back to where we had started the day and resume sport with the multitude of species that lurk close inshore.

We enjoyed the last couple of hours fishing off the spectacular headland of Morte point. Black bream, bull huss, conger, mackerel and pollock were brought to the boat with Peter Robinson catching a good number of fish from the boats stern.

Dan said it had been one of the toughest days of the season. But we all had a very enjoyable day boating ten different species of fish without actually focussing on amassing a large tally. The next few months will offer an array of opportunities and when the water clarity improves I feel sure sport will take off as it so often does in early autumn.