Young Solly Welch aged 8 fished with his father Daniel from their Private boat and caught three fine bass on lures bought from High Street Tackle. The bass of 57cm and two of 58cm put Solly into second place in Combe Martin SAC’s lure fishing competition sponsored by High Street Tackle.
Combe Martin SAC Lure Fishing Competition
1st Daniel Welch three bass – 195cm
2nd Solly Welch three bass 158cm.
3rd James Corner – 2 bass 122cm
It was good to once again stand upon the pebbly foreshore at Beer with five fellow anglers awaiting the arrival of our skipper. It was 7.00am and we had all made an early start to reach this unique East Devon beach. This was my second boat fishing trip to Beer in search of Black Bream and I was looking forward to our day afloat.
I don’t think any of my fellow anglers had fished out of Beer before and I’m sure they all felt that sense of anticipation especially relishing the very special launching protocol on this steep beach. The boats are launched from the beach using a combination of tractors, wooden rollers (logs) winch wires and gravity!
I fished from Orca last October enjoying a fabulous day and was confident that Stuart Pike our skipper would find us a few fish and share a wealth of information gained during his many years at sea.
Stuart greeted us all warmly and helped us to load our abundance of gear onto the boat prior to launching. The morning sun was just rising over the white cliffs, a calm sea awaiting us. Those heat wave days already seemed a distant memory, I was sure I felt a slight chill in the morning air those golden days of autumn awaiting on life’s horizon.
We watched the boat and skipper crash into the calm waters before climbing aboard from the mobile pontoon.
First stop was to try and feather up a few fresh mackerel for bait. The mackerel proved hard to find with just a few succumbing from various marks despite good numbers showing on the fish finder.
We had plenty of frozen mackerel and squid for the bream fishing so Stuart suggested we get out on the bream grounds and catch the tide. The fishing grounds are not too far out and are reached in less than half an hour.
We all had light tackle set ups with only light leads required to send the baits down. Rigs were simple two hook paternoster rigs. I was using size 4 Sakuma Kong Hooks that are sharp, strong and reliable.
Stuart sent down a bait dropper of chum setting up a scent trail that would hopefully entice black bream to our baits. Bites came within minutes sharp rattles on the rod tips. That brought small pouting, scad, mackerel and bream to the boat. Keith was delighted to boat a grey gurnard his first of the species and another milestone in his quest to catch as many species as possible. This gurnard his 200th from fresh and salt-waters across the world.
Banter flowed freely between all on board as friends were re-united and new friendships forged. I had booked this trip last autumn and the final line up had changed several times over the months as potential participants drifted in and out of the plan. Fortunately, I have many angling friends keen to get afloat.
The cast for today’s adventure came from all over the South West. Keith Armishaw runs River Reads bookshop and River Reads Press with his wife Sandy https://www.riverreads.co.uk . Dr Mark Everard http://www.markeverard.uwclub.net is an author, scientist and broadcaster who has a deep passion for angling and the environment. Peter Robinson is a keen sea angler and fellow member of the Combe Martin Sea Angling Club. Mark Dean travelled down with Mark and is an all-round angler based in Somerset.
Bruce Elston is a keen all-round angler who renovates antique furniture from his work shop, Esox Antiques( The title gives a clue as to his favourite species of fish) in mid Devon.
The social aspect of charter boat fishing is a significant part of its charm. The bringing together of anglers into a small often cramped space is a recipe that encourages close cooperation as participants engage in the all to frequent game of knit one pearl one. Fine braided lines, hooks and traces entwining into occasionally challenging puzzles that often prove more fascinating than Rubik Cubes. This challenging team game is spiced up with the addition of twisting congers and a rocking boat. Fortunately, Stuart Pike our patient skipper is an expert in this pastime and assists frequently in addition to offering constant advice in reducing the frequency of the tangling game.
Tangles are of course an inevitable occurrence made worse by our reluctance to fully focus upon one fish species. The fishing grounds host a wide variety of species in addition to the bream that we were targeting with our light tackle. Undulate ray, thornback ray, blonde ray, spotted ray and small eyed ray were all likely along with conger. A second heavier rod and line gave the chance of these larger species. We would of course have been better advised to focus on one rod and fish it well rather than fish two and compromise our chances.
In between marks Stuart spied a vast ball of whitebait breaking the calm sea. We motored over and drifted strings of shining feathers into a shimmering mass. It was mesmerizing to glimpse the tiny fish twisting and turning in the clear waters. The thousands of fry could be heard like rain beating upon the water. We knew that some predator was working below to create this mass. Whilst we suspected mackerel we failed to tempt any number. Stuart suggested that it could be the first tuna of the season and we had our cameras at the ready just in case.
The main mark for the day was a muddy depression set close to a reef. Fishing proved to be steady throughout the day. Bruce added several black bream to his first of the species caught during the morning of the trip. Big channel mackerel gave spirited battles on light tackle. Numerous scad were kept for use as winter pike baits. Conger were frequent visitors to the boat side tempted with large fresh fish baits intended for ray. Keith boated the days only ray a small well marked thornback. The unusual catch of coral frequently referred to as dead man’s fingers providing a glimpse at the wonders of the seabed far below.
The days fishing passed by all too quickly as fishing days tend to do. The sounds of gulls, the sights of soaring gannets. Boats viewed on distant horizons the dark outlines of of the Jurassic coast seemingly sketched as a break between land and sea.
Orca crashed into the shingle of busy Beer Beach. The hustle and bustle of beach life a contrast to the tranquillity of the day afloat. The boat was winched slowly up the steep beach to rest above the tide line. We offloaded and trudged over the pebbles to our cars.
The general vibe was that it had been a good day with all keen to do it again next year.
We assembled for a coffee in the Anchor Inn, a welcome shot of caffeine to keep us awake on the long drive home.
Troy Laing joined a group of friends for a great days fishing with John Barbeary on the Bluefin..Plenty of fish all day long. Plenty of scads. Bass dogs and huss. Weather was perfect.., and sea was calm..with plenty of bright sunshine..Big thanks to john barbeary.
Mike Spiller boated this fine 30lb tope whilst fishing off North Devons spectacular coast aboard Ilfracombe Charter Boat Bluefin Skippered by John Barbeary.
Combe Martin SAC member Daniel Welch was rewarded for an early start boating this fine specimen pollock of 12lb 15oz.
“This one makes it worth getting up at 04:00am 12lb15oz what a beast for North Devon, caught on a 30g spinning rod and fissh black minnow.”
Reel Deal Charters have the big game, Lundy, tope and bass,The 1k tope competition on predator and the Cornish reefs as well as over the Easter holidays we will be running 2 hour local reef (Mini deep sea) and half day (4hr) deep sea trips on predator every day from the 11th April until the 22nd if you looking for things to do with the kids perfect time to get out for a taster session hope to see you all soon all trips available online at www.reeldealcharters.co.uk or call 07850984933 message me and for half term trips go to www.ilfracombeseasafari.co.uk to book.
With a Combe Martin Club Competition over the weekend, I was looking at a plan when Rob Scoines suggested a trip out on Steve Webbers Osprey. There were two places available and the weather forecast was spot on. It took a few moments to come to a decision and within five minutes the trip was secure and plans in place.
The boat was due to sail at 10:00am so there was no crack of dawn rise. I picked Rob up at 07:30am and enjoyed a scenic drive across Exmoor arriving at Minehead Mc Donald’s for a Breakfast roll and coffee before grabbing some bait from Speedbait the new fishing tackle and bait outlet situated close by on the Industrial estate.
We climbed aboard Osprey shortly before 10:00am and met with our fellow anglers, Colin Shepard, Rich Leonard, Lee Buck and Joe Woodward who had travelled down from the Bristol area.
It was one of those rare days with a mirror calm sea and a bright sky. There was a chill in the air after a few days of cold North East winds with overnight frosts. Anticipation was high as we headed off down channel.
First stop was in Porlock Bay hoping for an early smoothound. Within minutes dogfish were swung aboard in profusion.
After our first brew of the day from Steve’s son Will it was a unanimous decision to up anchor and head down to a well-known huss mark beneath the spectacular cliffs of the Exmoor coast.
After a few moments rod tips were nodding as scavenging predators below located our baits. I hooked into what felt a reasonable fish that plodded about at the end of the line as I persuaded it towards the boat. The head of a very large bull huss appeared ten yards behind the boat as Will stood ready with the net. Skipper Steve commented that it was a very good huss or words to that effect. At that moment the huss opened its mouth and spat out the bait, the terminal tackle flying back towards the boat. B******** or words to that effect. These nearly moments often seem to stick in the mind longer than success stories.
A flurry of huss to around 10lb followed along with strap eels and the occasional dogfish. As the tide began to ease the catch rate slowed and the decision was made to head back up channel in search of ray.
We dropped anchor a short distance off Selworthy and put out our baits into what was very shallow water. A small eyed ray was brought to the boat by Lee Buck within a minute or so of settling at anchor.
A good start that was to prove a false promise as just one other small eyed was tempted from the location. All remaining very quiet with just the occasional dogfish showing and a solitary conger of perhaps five pounds to my rod.
A move of a few hundred yards to a new position brought a few more dogfish and a small thornback ray.
As the day ticked past all to quickly it was very apparent that the fish were not feeding, perhaps as a result of the easterly air flow and high pressure?
Steve as ever kept trying and moved to another mark a mile closer to Minehead. The rod tips remained frustratingly still with even the dogfish scarce. As Steve called time my rod tip nodded and I lifted into a small eyed ray of 7lb. A reminder that success can come at the very last moment.
It had been an enjoyable day afloat with good company and the spectacular scenery of the Exmoor coast. Results had not lived up to expectations but this was no reflection on the skill of the skipper for we all knew that on another day these same marks would have brought a steady stream of quality fish.
Boat anglers are enjoying some great sport off Ilfracombe aboard Predator 2 Skippered by Archie Porter. Spurdog, bull huss and conger are putting some healthy bends in the rods.
