Angling Trust – Marine – Wyvern Region Open Shore Slapton



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.
A Winter Day – Pike
The cold light of dawn brought with it frosted car windows and icy roads. It seemed the traditional day for pike fishing sat beside the calm waters of a lake. My good friend Paul Blake joined me for a day at Lower Slade reservoir where our alarms bleeped out as a few jacks graced our nets.
South West Lakes Trust have updated their pike fishing regulations for Slade and other stocked pike waters. Treble hooks are now allowed in conjunction with wire traces. Braided line with a minimum breaking strain of 40lb breaking strain is now compulsory. These measures are in-line with good practice across the pike fishing community, the strong braided line reduces the chance of losing fish and improves bite indication reducing the risk of deep hooking.
North Devon Quay Sports- Christmas Match
SOUTH WEST FLY FAIR
SEA ANGLING RESULTS
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.
Specimen Small Eyed Ray


Sea Angling Catches –
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
Stafford Moor Carp Catch
Jim Dean banked two carp out up to 29lb 2oz from swim 2 up on lodge lake, Jim caught on CC Moore live system and washed out pink carp freaks pop ups.
Bideford Coarse Match Results














