23 Oct 2025

Weekly Angling Report -October 23rd 2025

by | posted in: Articles, At the Waters Edge, Casting around North Devon, Coarse Fishing, Game Fishing, Lure Fishing, Match Fishing, Sea Angling, Sidebar | 0

UNDERWOOD SECURES WIN AT BIDEFORD CLUB WATER

Bideford Angling Clubs monthly Coarse Match on their home water was won by Nathan Underwood with 84lb 2oz. Runner up was Darren Polden with 52lb 12oz and third Keith Mountjoy with 39lb 14oz.

Jamie Steward caught a stunning lure caught bass of 71cm to give him a narrow lead in Combe Martin SAC’s lure fishing league sponsored by High Street Tackle, Ilfracombe with five bass for 353cm. The league ends on October 31st with several members in contention. Runner up spot is currently held by Mark Drewer with five bass for 351cm and Seth Tuson third with five bass for. 347.5cm.

Combe Martin SAC members have been catching specimen mullet from the North Devon Coastline with Daniel Welch catching a 4lb 2oz specimen and Graham Snow a specimen of 4lb 1.5oz.

 

The Fluff Chucker’s Fly Fishing Group followed up on a successful Brown Trout Masters series with a West Country Grayling Cup hosted by the Arundell on the Devon and Cornwall border. Roger Truscott once again demonstrated his skill with the Fly Rod winning the event with a fine grayling of 45cm. Runner up was Rodney Wevill. Winner of the morning session was Gary Brazier and Ozzie Gough winner of the afternoon session.

Grayling offer winter sport on a limited number of rivers across Devon with the Arundell waters offering fishing on the Tamar and its tributaries. The Upper Exe waters controlled by the Dulverton Anglers Association offer several miles of fishing for these ladies of the stream.

Bulldog Fishery is in fine form with big brown trout, spartic’s and rainbows being caught. The venue is launching its winter competition program of events with the first competition this Sunday.

Several North Devon based anglers have travelled to Cornwall and South Devon ports to sample the exciting tuna fishing that is currently thriving to bring a welcome boost to local economies. I joined four good friends out of Looe to share an awesome angling adventure that saw us bring nine tuna to the boats side all between 200lb and 300lb. The power of these fish is immense and a true test of an anglers stamina. It is truly amazing to witness such an abundance of life as these magnificent fish feast upon a shoal of fish along with dolphins and sea birds. It is to be hoped that this valuable catch and release big game fishery can thrive and focus minds on the long term conservation of our coastal waters.

23 Oct 2025

MATCH FISHING RESULTS

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Bideford & District Angling Club –

B.D.A.C.ROD AND REEL MATCH RESULTS date 19.10.25 at Tarka.

 A very wet and windy match with only 7 anglers fished, all anglers caught fish although fishing was hard. 1st place today went to Richard jefferies on peg 16 with 31lbs 1oz manly carp,2nd place was Reg Sutton on peg 6 with 29lbs 1oz and 3rd place went to Keith Copland on peg 10 with 23lbs 14oz. Next Rod and Reel match date 23.11.25 at Tarka. 

NORTH DEVON MATCH GROUP

North Devon Match Groups latest Match at Stafford Moor on Willow and Oak and some tight weights separated the winners on both lakes . Winners on the day were….
Willow.
1st Nathan Underwood  132lb 08oz
2nd Tom Downing  123lb 4oz
3rd Dave Johnson 89lb 1oz
Oak.
1st Paul Morris 106lb 11oz
2nd Dave Stockton 92lb 1oz
3rd Mark Lynch 74lb14oz

 

22 Oct 2025

NORTH DEVON – AUTUMN BASS

by | posted in: Lure Fishing, Sea Angling, Sidebar | 0

Many thanks to Jason Hayes for sending me this exciting report….

🎣 What an afternoon on the North Devon coast!

I headed out for a quick bass session with a mate who’s just getting into fishing, targeting sea bass along our local marks. Not long in, his rod bent over and after an awesome fight, he landed a stunning 72cm bass! The excitement on his face said it all — his first real specimen fish, and what a one to start with!

He had to head off shortly after, absolutely buzzing… I stayed on for another half hour, and unbelievably, my rod went solid too — another beautiful 72cm fish!

Two cracking bass, same mark, within half an hour. Couldn’t have scripted it better.
North Devon doing what it does best. 🌊🐟

 

21 Oct 2025

Fluff Chuckers / Arundell Grayling Cup 2025

by | posted in: Article, Articles, Coarse Fishing, Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

Overall Winner of the West Country Grayling cup was Roger Truscott and also winner of the biggest fish of the day with a fine 45cm fish

Overall winner Roger Truscott

Biggest fish of the day. Roger Truscott

Winner of Morning Session Gary Brazier

Runner up Rodney Wevill

Winner of afternoon session Ozzie Gough

Runner up. Graham Alcock Smith

Many thanks to Ozzie Gough for his account of the competition below :-

 

We had an early meet at The Arundell hotel on a cold but thankfully dry autumn day. Meeting with both new and old faces, who had the same keen expression upon their faces. And after a lovely bap we split into groups and sessions, Everyone geared up and hit the river. I pulled home beat for the afternoon session and was paired with a lovely chap named Philip Hoskins. After conducting Philip for his AM session I quickly realised it wasn’t going to be an easy session at all with Phil covering the water thoroughly and only managing a few small par and a lovely but out of season brownie of about 25cm. I geared my self up with 2 methods-euro nymph and Clink’n’dink. After covering water with reasonable efficiency and missing a few bites and with the clock running down. I dialled down my gear for simplicity and with the goal of 1 good grayling I put on a heavier self tied nymph to try get down to the bottom of the pool and after a few casts I got into my first scorable fish which was a lovely 30cm grayling which massively boosted my confidence after a lost grayling and an OOS trouts. After that with not long to go I covered a few more pools but to no avail. We headed up to the hotel as the rain began to come down and met with other anglers and realised the day had been a real struggle for the majority catching a fish or unfortunately blanking. However 1 man did extremely well and landed a 45cm grayling on his first ever session targeting them, so well done Roger and congratulations on winning the event . I was extremely pleased to get second place and was privileged to be a part of the event. A massive thanks to Rodney Wevill for all his hard work setting up such an incredible event. And I cannot wait for the next one.

 

(Above) Ozzie searching the water during the summer months.

19 Oct 2025

Adventure on the high seas as a childhood dream is realised.

by | posted in: Articles, At the Waters Edge, Sea Angling, Sidebar | 0
Bruce Elston enjoys tuna action as the rays of a new day dawn.

It was the perfect fishing adventure even though in a way I didn’t actually catch a fish!

A tuna fishing trip is very much a team effort all the work in locating the fish and setting up the tackle is done by the Skipper and his crew. The anglers reel in the fish sharing an exciting adventure on the high seas that will linger in the minds eye for a lifetime. It is a true joy to witness nature close at hand and connect with the immense power of these awesome hunters of the ocean depths.

It is to be hoped that this catch and release big game fishery can thrive to support a local economy and focus minds on the long term conservation of our coastal waters.

 My angling Journey began close to 60 years ago at the Cornish seaside town of Looe. As a young angler I would fish from the Banjo Pier on Autumn evenings gazing out at the flashing light of the Eddystone Lighthouse thirteen or so miles off the coast. I dreamt of venturing out to sea in search of big fish and on a trip out of Looe this Autumn those dreams came true. At some point I will put together a full account of the  trip shared with six good friends when as a team we brought nine tuna the largest estimated up to 300lb to the boats side where they were carefully revived before being released back into the clear waters.

Feeling the strain
winning ways
Taking the strain

http://www.sakuma.co.uk

A feeding frenzy

Well and truly …………
The magnificant seven
A well deserved pint for Dan Margetts and John McMaster – Sowenna Fishing Trips

 

19 Oct 2025

Combe Martin SAC Lure Fishing League latest

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Combe Martin SAC member Jamie Steward caught this stunning 71cm bass to take him into pole position in the clubs Lure Fushing league sponsored by High Street Tackle Ilfracombe.

Current standings are :-

1st – Jamie Steward – Five bass – 353 cm

2nd – Mark Drewer – Five bass – 351 cm

3rd –  Seth Tuson – Five bass – 347.5 cm

4th – Wayne Thomas – Five bass – five bass – 318 cm

5th – Daniel Welch – Five bass -302cm

13 Oct 2025

Bideford and District Angling Club Coarse Section Monthly Competition.

by | posted in: Match Fishing, Sidebar | 0
Bideford and District Angling Club
Coarse section monthly competition.
Results, :
1st Nathan Underwood 84lb 2oz
2nd Darren Polden 52lb 12oz
3rd Keith Mountjoy 39lb 14oz
4th Craig Lamey 32lb 10oz
5th Keith Copland 27lb 1oz
6t Dave Wilkins 26lb 10oz
7th Paul Elworthy 26lb 9oz
22 members fished.
The largest residents of George’s lake ,Tarka swims have shown this month . Nathan straight off a week long festival at Stafford Moor, has caught a fantastic net including some large carp on unfancied peg 7 .Maggot over groundbait on the pole in open water was the successful technique.
Second in the match was Darren on peg 9
moving him up to 5th in the yearly league table.
Keith retains third place in the league with his third position off of peg 13.
Craig found the only carp caught in the shallower end to secure 4th place on peg 24..
13 Oct 2025

Mainline Baits Pairs Competition – 10th 11th 12th October

by | posted in: Carp Fishing, Sidebar | 0
26 Pairs competed for the October Mainline Pairs Competition.
Here are the complete photo’s of the competition, plus the result sheet and map.
Full report will be published on SWLT website.
Big thank you to Mainline Baits and John Kneebone, who once again sponsored our event.
Big thank you to our volunteer marshal’s, Gary, Bob, Laura, Ken, Wayne, Ian and our head of fisheries Leon, without their support these competitions would not run.
Also a big thank you to the anglers, who took part, you certainly made it another exciting competition. Hopefully see you all March 2026.