North Devon’s anglers will be shocked and saddened by the closure of Quay Sports. The shop has been a real boon to angling in North Devon over the past three years and its closure will certainly have a detrimental impact. I wish all at the Quay Sports the best for the future.
Due to rising costs and diminishing brand supplier margins the Quay Sports Fishing Tackle store will be closing permanently on Friday 5th July 2024.
The import, retail and wholesale side of the business will continue as normal as we have done for many years and we will look to expand this side of the business.
Gift cards will need to be redeemed in store prior to end of day Friday 5th of July 2024.
We will continue to stock bait up until this date.
We will be discounting ALL of the stock as from today by 10% so please pop in for a bargain.
Shop opening hours will be Monday to Friday 9am till 5pm until closure.
We would like to thank all of our customers for their support over the last 3 years.
3rd Graham Snow Thicklipped Mullet 3lb 4oz 81.250%
Bull huss from Ilfracombe
Combe Martin SAC member Paul Lorrimore landed a personal best bull huss of 12lb 5oz whilst fishingf an Ilfracombe shore mark.
Combe Martin SAC Junior member Lenny Lake fished from John Barbeary’s Bluefin out of ilfracombe to boat a fine bull huss of 12lb 2oz.
Billy Evans won Appledore Shipbuilders league competition with a smoothound of 9lb 6oz. Andrew Atkinson was runner up with a smoothound of 9lb 0.25oz and Graham Snow third with a thick lipped grey mullet of 3lb 6oz.
Combe Martin SAC are holding a pop up fishing event at Ilfracombe Pier on Saturday March 23rd. Whilst it is a club members only event prospective new members are welcome to come along for a chat and perhaps enter into the Fun and species league.
With the eagerly awaited book launching next week, you are invited to come along to the signing event by the author, Ian Harbage, which will be followed by a presentation and a Q&A on mako sharks by marine biologist, Dr Simon Thomas.
The event will be held at ( ), , at on
It’ll be an open house and anyone is welcome to join. The Heritage Centre cafe will be open for anyone that would like teas, coffees, or perhaps even something a little stronger! While there are not many copies of the book left, a few will made available for the event for anyone still wishing to purchase a copy
Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge enjoyed success from North Devon rock marks landing this double figure bull huss of 11lb 3oz and a specimen conger of 26lb 9oz.
Bideford and District Angling Club held their presentation night at Bideford Conservative Club Friday February 23rd with close to forty members attending. I was privileged to join in presenting several awards along with Simon McCarthy from Summerlands Tackle. The evening was very enjoyable and a very positive vibe was apparent as members cheered the winners and added the occasional good natured banter to proceedings. It was very encouraging to hear of a very healthy number of Junior anglers taking part during the summer Coarse series. Many thanks to Adam Wheeler for taking some excellent pictures of the evening.
Bideford’s Triumphant Coarse Fishing Team who beat Plymouth in their annual inter-club Match
Season 2023 / 24
Matchmans Cup
Nathan Underwood
126 points
Runner-up
Kevin Shears
115 points.
Junior winner
Brodie Allin
57 points
Junior runner-up
Ted Blight
48 points
Evening series
Winner
Nathan Underwood
119 points
Evening Runner-up
Richard Jefferies
107 points
Pairs trophy winners
Roger Ackroyd
Craig Lamey
Top weight in competition
Darren Polden 71lbs
Stephen Found 55 pts
Valentine bowl – most points in the monthly Rover.
Nathan Clements Gilthead bream 8lb 2 1/4 203.515%
Stephanie Vanstone– Best specimen caught from the shore.
Stephen Found Thornback Ray 13lb 10 151.388%
Jason Talbot Memorial plate – Best specimen ray caught from the shore.
Tony Gussin Conger 14lb 5 71.562%
Snake plate – best specimen Conger caught from the shore.
Nathan Clements Gilthead bream 8lb 2 1/4oz
Best round fish from the shore
Stephen Found Flounder 2lb 4oz 112.5%
Best specimen flat fish caught from the shore
Stephen Found Smoothhound 14lb 5oz 143.125%
Best specimen shark from the shore.
Nathan Clements Small-eyed Ray 10lb 4oz 1/2 114.236%
Winner of end of season competition
Paul Ackland 4lb 1oz
Big Mike Memorial vase
Stephen Found total of 1160.118%
Species challenge cup
In the game fishing section John Mc Cullam and Terry Dymond dominated the results collecting five awards between them.
Kevin Legge won Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs end of winter rover with a specimen spurdog scaling 14lb 15oz. Ross Stanway was runner up with a spurdog of 9lb 9oz.
There has a been a late surge in spurdog sport with good numbers of spurdog landed from North Devon shore marks. Combe Martin SAC member Kyle Bishop has caught numerous spurdog including specimens to 15lb 3oz.
Combe Martin SAC have launched a new fishing community project with the help of keen species enthusiast Toby Bassett. The new fun fishing event was launched on February 1st on Ilfracombe Pier with local anglers starting an 11 month long species hunt that encourages anglers to catch as many species as possible from Ilfracombe Harbour area.
The essence of the fun fishing league is to encourage local anglers to socialise and share knowledge. Local business are supporting the event with prizes already pledged from Ilfracombe Aquarium, High Street Tackle, Turton’s Butchers and Quay Sports.
A pop up fishing event to get the event started was attended by a mixture of old and new club members. The weather was kind with a clear sky and a calm sea. Nine species of fish were caught during the three hours including; common shanny, rock goby, pouting, whiting, conger, dogfish, ballan wrasse, plaice, pollock and shore rockling. Prizes donated by High Street Tackle were awarded to Ross Stanway who caught the most species on the day. To Zephyr Laramy the most fish caught by a Junior and the smallest fish prize was awarded to Toby Bassett who caught a tiny common shanny using a size 16 hook!
Ross Stanway caught 7 species during the launch day event
The smallest fish of the night to Toby BassettTop junior Zephyr Laramy
The intention is to hold a pop up event once a month that will be picked to coincide with a suitable tide and hopefully good weather. Notice will be sent to club members seven days prior to the event. The competition runs until December 31st 2024 with major prizes to be presented early in 2025. Sponsors will be donating prizes with High Street Tackle providing a small prize each month for a category to be decided each month. February prize will be for the most species registered. March will be for the best photograph.
Rock Goby
Nickki Laramy with a whitingRoss StanwayJames Thomas with a whitingA whiting was my first fish of the event.Plaice for Ross Stanway
Even this tackle twisting conger brought a smile as every species counts!
Whats coming up next?
This is not a pure LRF competition as all accepted angling methods are encouraged with bait as well as lures. The use of LRF tactics is a branch of angling that undoubtedly opens an entirely new dimension to sea angling with some becoming totally addicted to the pursuit of the range of species available. It is going to be fascinating to explore the vast range of species that dwell within Ilfracombe waters. We will be sharing our results with the local Aquarium and hope to provide a few exhibits for their extensive display tanks.
We packed away as the flooding tide pushed us off the lower landings. James and I headed to the Bay-side Burger Bar to round off an enjoyable session savouring our spicy chicken and fries in the shadow of Verity.
