Spurdog Specimens

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Combe Martin SAC members Martin Huntingdon and Stef Jones enjoyed some exciting spurdog fishing on a Private boat off the North Devon Coast. The best at 16lb 8oz fell to Stef with Martins best scaling 15lb 8oz.

Stefan also enjoyed some excellant pollock sport off Beer aboard Orca Charters boating a pollock of 9lb 2oz.

ESTUARY BASS

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Lee Mutter fished the Taw estuary offering worm baits purchased at Quay Sports. He was delighted to catch and return a fine bass of close to 6lb.

Bass are present in the estuary throughout the season but are strictly catch and release until March 1st when two bass per day can be retained.

SEA ANGLING ROUND UP

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Calmer conditions have resulted in a down turn in sea angling sport with specimen fish hard to find over the past week. Despite this some good fish were recorded by anglers fishing the first week of February a time of year when catches traditionally start to decline. The seasons and the migration of fish in our waters is without doubt under going change with reports of mackerel from Ilfracombe in the past week and the presence of grey mullet throughout the calendar year.

Appledore Shipbuilders

Thirteen Anglers fished the February rover today. It made a change to have nice weather for the rover after the last few competitions.
Although there was an easterly wind!
Kevin Pike was victorious with a fabulous Bull Huss of 11lb 7ozs. James Atkinson was second catching a fine Small Eyed Ray of 7lb 5 1/2ozs and 3rd was Chris Boon with a big Dogfish of 2lb 11 1/2ozs.

Bideford Angling Club  -February Rover Results 

1st Antony Smith Bull Huss 7lb 9oz 75.625%

2nd Andrew Clements Dog 2lb 3oz 72.916%

Combe Martin Sea Angling Club – Winter Rover 2 Results

Club seceretary Nick Phillips won with a specimen whiting scaling 1lb 10oz. Runner up was Wayne Thomas with dogfish of 2lb 8oz.

Whiting, dogfish, spotted ray and conger were also caught by members who fished marks across North Devon.

Combe Martin SAC AGM & Presentation Night Report

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Combe Martin SAC held their AGM and Presentation night at the White Lion, Braunton. A brief outline of proceedings follows :-

AGM  Chairmans Report – Wayne Thomas

I thought I should jot down a few notes this year instead of freewheeling through the Chairmans report as has been my way in recent years.

These  seem to be strange times with much happening across the world and society that isn’t inspiring. Perhaps that perspective is an age thing as I get old with the prospect of becoming a grandad this year. Fortunately, one thing that hasn’t changed for me is my ongoing passion for angling and the outdoors. To this end Combe Martin SAC has been a part of my life for close to fifty years along with Nick we have swapped roles along the years.  We must have been doing somethings right as the club is still going and if we compare with other local sea angling clubs we are probably the most active club and with a good reputation.

It would be really good to see a younger generation emerge to kick us old gits out and overhaul the club into a new vibrant force reflecting what today’s angler wants.

In the mean time we soldier on attempting to provide the club membership with a club structure that provides. A social function,  a reward for fishing effort, pooling of knowledge, and a sense of belonging to something positive.

To this end we continue to try and provide a calendar of events and work with local tackle shops and businesses to provide prizes and recognition. It is also  I feel important to support all  local tackle shops and charter boats etc as without them angling will fade away.

This is the clubs 61st year an age I share at the moment. Tonight, is an opportunity to decide what you want from the club and how you can contribute to the clubs, success?

Looking towards next year we need to decide on a potential club adventure. In past years we have visited Sark,  Alderney and Ireland. Whilst travel has become expensive there is an interest in a skate fishing foray to Scotland with  perhaps two days boat fishing and a little shore fishing. 

I attended the Wyvern Shore Fishing competition at Slapton a couple of weeks back and would like to enter a team of four from Combe Martin SAC next January. It may not be tremendous fishing but I found it an  enjoyable event to be involved in. As it’s a fair trek perhaps a night’s B & B on the Saturday night would be an option.

I would like to thank Pete Robinson for offering to help with boat trips this year. I think the best way forward with this is that members booking a trip pay a deposit in advance. In the event that member cannot make the trip they should contact the club a month before to allow a replacement to be found.  In the event of a member dropping out of  a trip at the last moment  then they shall be responsible for the financial burden if others not prepared to share the this.  If the numbers are short two weeks prior to the trip then it is thrown open to non-members and to the charter boat skipper who might have anglers wanting a chance to get out.

Thank you for attending tonight; I look forward to a good year with the club and meeting with you at the water’s edge.             

Wayne Thomas

Many thanks to Quay Sports,  Braunton Baits and to Club members who donated prizes for the raffle held at the AGM & Presentation evening.

The club are pleased to announce a new award for club members including the predator award sponsored by Daniel Welch who will donating a megalodon fossilised sharks tooth.

The top six shore species and top four boat species awards are kindly sponsored by Ross Stanway Art.

Exciting plans for 2023 include an Open Lure Fishing Festival in conjunction with High Street Tackle.

Club membership entitles members to fish of the season awards £25.00 Tackle Vouchers for High Street Tackle.

A summer lure fishing league sponsored by High Street Tackle.

Summer Species Specimen Awards sponsored by Braunton Baits and High Street Tackle.

The club is also a member of the Angling Trust and Wyvern Division.

Follow the clubs facebook page for the latest updates and news.

 

AWARD WINNERS 2022 

Cod Trophy           Chris Bonds – 16lb 9oz    B

Bass Trophy       Shane Hookway. 7lb 10oz

Mullet Cup           Daniel Welch –    Thick Lipped grey mullet 5lb 5oz

Conger Cup       Kyle Bishop   25lb 11oz S

Flatfish Cup       Solly welch  Flounder 2lb

Shore Shield       Ali Laird –   gilt head bream – 7lb 4oz

Medway Cup     Mark Jones – Porbeagle 280lb

Ray Shield        Kyle Bishop   blonde ray 13lb 8oz

Specimen League –

Ali Laird
tope 36lb 6oz 121.25 S
bull huss 12lb 9oz 125.625 S
spurdog 8lb 10oz 90.789 S
glithead bream 7lb 4oz 241.667 S
smoothound 13lb 9oz 135.625 S
rockling 1lb 8oz
85.714
S
800.67
Kyle Bishop
tope 40lb 4oz 134.167 S
bull huss 13lb 9oz 135.625 S
conger 25lb 11oz 128.437 S
spurdog 18lb 1oz 180.625 S
smoothound 14lb 140 S
blonde ray 13lb 8oz 112.5 S
831.354

Top four boat specimens

Dan Welch

Daniel Welch Pollock 12lb 15oz 129.375 B
Daniel Welch mackerel 1lb 8oz 100 B
Daniel Welch smoothound 13lb 14oz 92.5 B

                                                                                                           321.875

Burgess Trophy     Solly Welch – tope boat 42lb 4oz & Flounder 2lb

Wrasse Trophy     Kyle Bishop ballan wrasse  4lb 3oz

Scouse Shield    Alec McCleish    rockling 1lb 9oz

D Kyte Award

Daniel Welch           Thick lipped grey mullet     5lb 5oz                       125

Daniel Welch Thick lipped grey mullet 5lb 1oz 119.118
Daniel Welch Thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 7oz 104.412
Daniel Welch Thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 94.118
Daniel Welch Thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 4oz 100%
 

 

Out Of Limits      Kyle Bishop – skate  -210lb shore –

Merit Award  –    .Kyle Bishop – outstanding catches local and in Scotland

Thornback Cup     – Mark Jones. Thornback  11lb 2oz

Club Records 

Kyle Bishop – Spurdog 18lb 1oz equal previous record

Ali Laird – gilt head bream – 7lb 4oz

 Fish of the season –

Winter 21/22

Kyle Bishop – Spurdog – 18lb 1oz – 180.625

Spring 22

Kyle Bishop – bull huss – 13lb 9oz – 135.625

Summer  22

Ali Laird – gilthead bream – 7lb 4oz – 241.667

Autumn 22 –

Dave Brook – smoothound – 13lb 6oz – 133.75

 

For further details on AGM visit www.cmsac.co.uk 

 

Combe Martin Sea Angling Club for more details please visit the clubs website:- www.cmsac.co.uk
To recap to pay BACS sort code 51 70 16 and account 79279198. To pay by PayPal please use [email protected] with no gaps. Please put a reference and use family and friends.

Angling Trust – Marine – Wyvern Region Open Shore Slapton

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Angling Trust – Marine – Wyvern Region Open Shore Slapton, South Devon, On the 15th Jan 2023.
The South West’s first major event in 2023 attracted 130 anglers to the South Hams to fish the annual Angling Trust Wyvern Open Festival, with some competitors traveling from South Wales & the Isle of White, the weather conditions on the day saw a strong to gale force, west / south westerly wind with occasional heavy blustery showers for the five hour event. Whiting, Dogfish, Smoothounds, Spotted Ray & Small Eyed Ray were caught during the event, 52 competitors returned to the scales with fish to record. The results were announced within half an hour of the close of scales at the Festival Headquarters at the Stokeley Farm Shop.
The main sponsor was Julian Shambrook of Anyfish Anywhere Ltd, a major fishing tackle manufacturer, based in Torquay. All of the sponsors for the day were thanked for their continuing support each year, also a big thank you to Stokeley for their hospitality & providing an excellent venue.
The worthy winner, of the event was Tom Travers of Honiton S.A.C., he recorded a Whiting of 1.225lb & a Spotted Ray of 3.25lb giving him a total of (153.89%),he was presented with the top prize of £200 cash and the Brixham Bowl, other tackle prizes to the value of £800 were awarded down to 12th place, these were announced by the Chairman of the Wyvern Region Alex Parker and presented by Julian Shambrook.
It was also very encouraging to see a junior Archie Sweetland from Honiton SAC take 11th place in a competition which attracted 130 anglers.
The Region promotes the Angling Trust “Take Five” anti litter campaign and encourages all anglers to leave the beaches cleaner than they found them.
The first Twelve Places are as follows: –
First: £200 Brixham Bowl
Tom Travers Honiton SAC, Whiting 1.225 lb, Spotted Ray 3.25 lb
Total: 153.89%
Second: Pick of the Prize table & Bideford Cup Cup
Adam Slack Brixham SAC, S E Ray 6.69 lb, Whiting 0.855 lb
Total: 131.31%
Third: Pick of the Prize table & Appledore Cup
Julian Shambrook, Torquay, L.S.D. 1.785 lb, Whiting 0.755 lb
Total: 121.73%
Fourth: Pick of the Prize table & Sidmouth Cup
Rob Marshall, Unattached, Whiting 0.670 lb, L.S.D. 1.845lb
Total: 118.47 %
Fifth: Pick of the Prize table
Liam Teppett, West Bay S.A.C. Whiting 0.805 lb, S. E. Ray 5.75 lb
Total: 117.56%
Sixth: Pick of the Prize table
Matt Werbitzky, West Coast S.A.C. Whiting 0.570 lb, L.S.D. 1.970 lb
Total: 116.80%
Seventh: Pick of the Prize table
Joe Walton,Teignmouth SAS, Whiting 0.590 lb, L.S.D. 1.825lb
Total: 112.33%
Eighth: Pick of the Prize table
Adam Green, Plymouth Sound SAC, Whiting 0.635 lb, L.S.D. 1.670 lb
Total: 109.13%
Ninth: Pick of the Prize table
Gavin Hitchcock, S.W.A.F.S.A.C, Whiting 0.645 lb, L.S.D. 1.565 lb
Total: 105.60%
Tenth: Pick of the Prize table
Paul Rohrabaugh, Sidmouth S.A.C. Whiting 0.685 lb, L.S.D. 1.430 lb
Total: 102.87%
Eleventh: Pick of the Prize table
Archie Sweetland, Honiton SAC, Whiting 0.730 lb, L.S.D. 1.290 lb
Total: 100.27%
Twelfth: Pick of the Prize table
Johnathon Bray, unattached, Whiting 0.830 lb, L.S.D. 1.110 lb
Total: 99,73%
Best Team: Team Shield: (Team of four anglers, Best fish by each angler)
Team: Anyfish Anywhere:
Rob Marshall
Julian Shambrook
Marcus Ward
Pete Hutchins Total 251.87%.
Pool (best individual species)
1/ 50% Alan Hobbs Roving Rods SAC 92%
2/ 30% Tristan Rowe Cormorants SAC 90.33%
3/ 20% Tom Travers Honiton SAC 81.67%
  As a member of the Wyvern committee, I attended the event and was nominated as the end marker at the Strete end of the beach. I also acted as a steward but saw very little action at this end of the beach until the final hour witnessing just 2 dogfish and a couple of whiting. Despite the lack of action, (I blanked) it was a very enjoyable day.

Coming from North Devon it was great to be able to set up on the beach without having to chase the tide up and down. The sight of beach shelters are rare up on the North Devon Coast where the tides make them impractical. And up North we are of course more hardened to the cold weather shunning the need for shelters!

         Slapton is a superb competition venue having plenty of parking and easy access along its 3 miles of course sand. There are a wide range of species caught from the beach throughout the seasons.

  Slapton sands has an interesting history with a very moving story attached to it. In 1943, the beach was used by the allied forces as a rehearsal area for the D-Day Landings. Unfortunately, a combination of live ammunition and poor visibility resulted in the deaths of 749 American servicemen. You can visit a stone monument which was set in place on Slapton Sands to commemorate the ill-fated.

        Whilst I had never fished the beach at Slapton I have fond memories of pike fishing in Slapton Ley before angling ceased under the stewardship of the Slapton Ley Field Centre. The Ley once held huge shoals of rudd and pike to twenty pounds. Its reed fringed waters provided a fascinating and atmospheric venue.

            As is often the case in large sea angling competitions the weigh in reveals plenty of fish at the scales with dogfish and whiting dominating. The introduction of catch and release for ray, smoothound and spurdog was in my view a positive step towards conservation. I intend to fish again next year and hopefully tempt a brace for the weigh in.

            Congratulations to all those who won prizes. And big thanks to those who organised the event and to the generous sponsors.

SEA ANGLING RESULTS

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Combe Martin SAC members braved rough weather over the weekend in their search for specimen fish. Ross Stanway won the competition with a specimen small eyed ray scaling 10lb 15.5oz. (109 %) Shane Hookway was runner up with a conger of 19lb 14oz (99%).

Bideford Angling Clubs January 48-hour Rover results 

7 angler’s fished 

1 fish weighed 

1st Stephen Found  Small-eyed ray 9lb 4oz  102.777%

 

The WYVERN  REGION OPEN SHORE MATCH was held at Slapton Sands in South Devon and attracted 130 entrants. I will post a full report on the match later this week when I have the full results.

 

Sea Angling Catches –

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Sea Anglers are catching some good fish from the North Devon shore line with huss, spurdog and conger amongst catches.

Prospects for the coming month are excellent if the Westerly winds persist.

Combe Martin SAC member Ross Stanway enjoyed a session at a local shore mark to land several ray including three small eyed ray of 8lb 8oz and a brace of spotted ray.

Bideford Angling Club Monthly Sea Rover

January Rover results 

9 angler’s fished 

1 fished weighed 

1st Stephen Found Dog 2lb 3 1/2oz

Sea Angling Results

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The sea angling calendar was dominated by flounder this weekend with The Dan Miles Redmore Memorial Competition and Triple Hook Clubs popular Christmas Turkey Open both coinciding on Sunday 18th December. These competitions tend to signify the end of the flounder season on the Taw and Torridge Estuary. It has not been a particuarly productive flounder season this year with very few large flounder tempted. Flounder fishing tends to be cyclical and after last years bumper season it is no surprise that this year has been slower.

Good news has been a significant number of codling in the lower estuary with catches close to those of past decades. It will be interesting to see if there is any improvement of cod numbers on the open coast.

The seasons on the coast seem to so hard to predict, I would suggest anglers try and think out of the box and try different things. In last weeks bitter cold weather good numbers of garfish were being caught from Ilfracombe Pier. Garfish were once thought of as summer fish now they seem to be caught more often in late autumn into winter. Bass are present all year along with grey mullet and ray can be caught from beaches all year.

Bidefords 48 hour results

1st Nathan Clements Flounder 1lb 7 1/4oz

2nd Julien Stainer Flounder 1lb 6 7/8oz

3rd Stephen Found Flounder 1lb 6 5/8oz

Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Christmas Competition was won by David Brooke who caught a small eyed ray scaling 7lb 13oz. Daniel Welch took second and third with  a dogfish of 1lb 15oz and a bull huss of 5lb 11oz. Fourth was Ross Stanway with a dogfish of 1lb 10oz.


TRIPLE HOOK CLUB -CHRISTMAS  TURKEY OPEN

Thirty-Three anglers fished the ever popular Christmas Open Competition with the top ten winning their Christmas Turkey.

1st – Nathan Clements – Flounder 1lb 7.25oz

2nd – Julian Stainer – Flounder 1lb 67/8oz

3rd Stephen Found – Flounder 1lb 65/8oz

4th Dennis Toleman – Flounder  1lb 63/8oz

5th Kevin Hancock – Flounder  1lb 51/4oz

6th Mark Beer – Flounder 1lb 5oz

7th  Christine Hancock – flounder 1lb 4oz

8th  Nigel Gullon – flounder 1lb 21/2oz

9th  Andrew Smith – flounder 1lb 11/2oz

10th – Robbie Hancock – flounder 1lb 11/4oz