Combe Martin SAC member Ross Stanway enjoyed a short session at a North Devon mark where he landed four ray the best a small eyed ray of 9lb 1oz. He also caught dogfish and whiting.
Merry Christmas & Happy Fishes for 2023
I would like to thank all those who have followed North Devon Angling News throughout 2022 and to those who have contributed news stories and pictures. A special thanks to those who have sponsored the site over past years.
I welcome new sponsors for 2023 at very reasonable rates. Contact – [email protected]
Message from Dil Game Fishing Lead – South West Lakes
Dear fellow anglers
With Christmas and New Year almost upon us, the 2022 fishing season is also drawing to a close, with the extended rainbow trout fishing ending on 31 December. We would like to thank the many anglers who have visited our waters this year. We have seen some fantastic fishing followed by very challenging conditions as the water dropped to unprecedented levels all over the UK and we have enjoyed meeting many of you on the bankside, at the Roadford Fly Fair and at the Fly Fishing Taster Day.
Your support during the season has been much appreciated as well as the all-important catch reports and written accounts of your fishing trips that are submitted – we find these immensely helpful for planning stockings, ensuring we focus efforts and resources where needed, and in encouraging new anglers to our sport.
Looking ahead to the opening of the 2023 season, plans are already well under way for the Roadford Fly Fair. This year saw a record number of visitors at the event who gave very positive feedback and enjoyed the day. It was a fantastic opportunity for the angling community to get together as well as stock up on supplies – a great way to kick off the new season! The date for next year’s Fly Fair is confirmed as Sunday 26 February. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
Here are some more dates to look forward to – more details will follow but do put them in the diary:
26 February 2023 – Roadford Fly Fair
5 March 2023 – Kennick Fly Fishing Taster Day
9 March 2023 – Season Permit Preview day Kennick & Stithians
10 March 2023 – Season Permit Preview day Burrator & Siblyback
11 March 2023 – All Rainbow Trout waters open fully
2 April 2023 – Siblyback Team of 4 Competition (sponsored by Snowbee)
22 April 2023 – Stithians Fly Fishing Taster Day
14 May 2023 – Kennick Bank Pairs Competition
25 June 2023 – Kennick Peninsula Classic Competition
5 August 2023 – Kennick Fly Fishing Taster Day (National Angling Month)
Angling season tickets for 2023 will be available to purchase shortly before Christmas onwards if you are looking to get prepared in good time, or would even make an ideal gift.
We hope you have a happy and peaceful festive season and look forward to seeing more of you out on the water next year.
Tight Lines.
Message from Ashley Bunning – SWLT
Another year passes and we say goodbye to 2022! It has been a hard year for the reservoirs, not only in the South West, but all over the UK. Low water levels and lake closures have been a frustrating factor to fishing through the summer, and we thank all of you for being understanding through these testing times. Having started my role in September, I would personally like to thank all of you for your kind words of support and I hope we can now push forward and continue the great work South West Lakes has been doing to improve the fishing on the waters.
There have been some great catches through the year with many great bags of silvers from many of the reservoirs to some special carp being caught.
Sadly, the lakes have lost two of its ‘A-team’, with Arnie from Porth and The Big Fully from Argal passing. These fish put many smiles on anglers’ faces, they will be missed!
Looking towards the future of the lakes, in November we stocked 39 new carp into Argal. These fished ranged between 13lb and 17lb, with 34 mirrors and 5 commons. Next year we are planning to stock other waters in the region to continue our work to improve all our waters. There has been some great swim building projects carried out on the lakes also, I would like to thank all the volunteers who have given up their time to help and make improvements on the lakes.
I am pleased to announce that we will be running the Mainline Pairs competitions again for next year the dates for this will be March 24-26, June 30-July 2 and September 29-October 1. We are looking forward to seeing all the familiar faces and welcoming new anglers to the competitions.
Also we will be having two event days in August, which will be part of the Angling Trust’s National Fishing Month, with the emphasis to get as many kids fishing as possible. The dates and places for this are the Royalty Fishery on August 5 and Upper Tamar Lakes on August 19. Please keep your eyes peeled for these events on the website, so you don’t miss out.
Once again thank you for all your support through this last year, may you all have a great Christmas and happy New Year. Look forward to seeing you all out on the bank in 2023.
Cheers
Ashley Bunning
Sea Angling Results
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
DAN MILES REDMORE MEMORIAL
Thirty seven anglers braved a cold wet and windy River Taw to fish for the Dan Miles Redmore Memorial Trophy
19 fish were weighed with the event raising over £300 for Childrens Hospice South West.
Results were
1st Julian Stainer 1lb 6.8oz
2nd Julian Stainer 1lb 4.8oz
3rd Wayne Hill 1lb 3oz
4th Kirk Thorne 1lb 2.7oz
5th Nigel Gullen 1lb 2oz
6th Nigel Gullen 1lb 2oz
Thanks to the generous sponsors :=
Summerlands
Quay Sports
Riot Baits
Bullet bait and tackle
Ebberley arms
Royal exchange
Mattys Barbers
Blackmore Barbets
Fremington Quay Cafe
The Techout
Grattons Butchers
Tesco
Dan was a very popular and succesful North Devon based angler who loved his fishing joining many local clubs and catching a wide range of specimen fish from boat and shore. He also enjoyed trips to local still waters catching some superb rainbow trout. His passing in 2022 brought much sadness to those who knew him who will remember his passion for life and angling.
Merry Christmas – From Snowbee + End Of Season Clearance
Christmas Gift Ideas
posted in: Article, Articles, At the Waters Edge, Carp Fishing, Coarse Fishing, Game Fishing, Match Fishing, Sea Angling, Sidebar |
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Christmas looms ever closer and if you have not purchased all those Christmas gifts yet why not visit your local tackle shop.
We are very fortunate to have several superb fishing tackle shops in North Devon all offering a vast array of quality tackle and bait. The local tackle shop is of course more than just a shop its also a social hub where anglers meet and talk fishing an essential ingredient for the future of angling. I always try and do a short piece each year to highlight North Devons tackle outlets.
Quay sports has a friendly team of local anglers behind the counter willing to offer useful advice on all disciplines of angling.
(Above) The superb FoxArt limited edition prints are now available in store, only four of each print available
Will make lovely Christmas gift. all prints signed and numbered. More designs coming soon.
Summerlands Tackle in Westward Ho! is a long established family run tackle shop that carrys a vast range of tackle. A warm greeting is always given and it is rare to walk into the shop without meeting a fellow of the angle.
Anglers Heaven is conveniently situated adjacent to Bideford’s Pannier Market. Owner Tom Wade is extending the shop with a grand opening of the extension in the New Year. The shop carry’s a large stock of sea and Coarse tackle and works closely with Bideford Angling Club to promote local fishing.They also carry a wide selection of air rifles.
High Street Tackle in Ilfracombe offers one of the largest selections of lures in North Devon and is the domain of Danny Watson and Pauline Chard. Danny is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to the latest lures for bass fishing and has many contacts throughout the lure fishing community. The shop also stocks a range of essential tackles and baits for coarse and sea angling.
Danny is a keen supporter of Combe Martin SAC and plans to co host an open Lure Fishing competition in the summer of 2023. Danny is also a supplier of tackle for Reel Deal
Braunton based Chillcheater supply high quality clothing for outdoor enthuiasts with warm under layers and tough, wind and water repellent outers.
Christmas Flounder Competitions on the Taw
Triple Hook Fishing Club 2022
Xmas Open Flounder
Sunday 18th December
8am – 1pm
£5 entry
Book in with Dennis Toleman tel.07815009260 or any committee member together with the entry fee before the event.
Must be back and present fish at weigh in by 2pm at rear of Barnstaple Social Club (formerly Royal British Legion), St.Georges Road, Barnstaple
Boundaries – Iron Bridge at Rock Park, Barnstaple to The White House, Crow on either side of the River Taw
Flounder must be at least 12” with prizes for the heaviest fish weighed in, only heaviest fish per angler counts
Maximum 2 rods per angler with total of 3 hooks. Juniors (6 – 16 years) must be accompanied by an adult
Decision of the Weighmaster is final
Please call Mark Beer 07796230674 if you have any queries
South Molton Angling Club – Blakewell
South Molton Angling Club members fished Blakewell on a cold and frosty morning to fish for their Mac Trophy. All members managed to tempt rainbow trout from the chill waters but none were big enough to beat Steve Bendles rainbow trout of 5lb caught earlier in the season.