16 Feb 2026

NEW TACKLE SHOP COMING TO BUDE !

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 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make this happen, and we’re finally ready to share the news…

 Bude Bait & Tackle is coming! 🎣

With the recent closure of the tackle shop in Bude, we didn’t want to see local anglers left without easy access to bait and tackle. After a lot of effort and planning, we’re excited to announce that we’ll be opening Bude Bait & Tackle in the coming months.

 For our juniors and local anglers in Barnstaple, Chris will be staying in Barnstaple, and we’ll be making another exciting announcement later this week introducing the manager of our new Bude store.
 We’re aiming to open in April, so please follow our page for updates and progress as we get closer to opening day.

Your support means everything to us — likes, shares, and comments are hugely appreciated, so please help spread the word!

31 Jan 2026

Combe Martin SAC – AGM & Presentation Night

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Combe Martin SAC held their AGM and presentation night at the  Mariner’s Arms in Braunton. Members reflected upon the past years successes and failures as the club strives to remain relevant and positive in this ever changing world.

There were some excellent fish caught throughout the year as is apparent from the list of award winners. How to acknowledge success in angling is increasingly debated. It seems that the appetite for trophies has waned partially due to the cost of prohibitive engraving. At around £10 to engrave a trophy a club with twenty or thirty trophies faces a bill of between £200 and £300 which equates to the total raised via subscriptions. Certificates of merit are the preferred option and sit nicely into a folder but in truth these days a grip and grin photo on Facebook seems to be many anglers preferred option. Those of a cynical nature frown upon this supposed fishing for clicks but I personally accept that most anglers like to share their joy in success.

The clubs annual Puttsborough Open was once again a resounding success with good attendance, plenty of fish and welcome funds for the club. The ongoing support from Sakuma Tackle is very much appreciated.

The clubs lure fishing league proved popular with a dedicated band of club members keen to explore the possibilities of this growing sector of sea angling. Many thanks go to Danny Watson of High Street Tackle for his ongoing sponsorship.

The clubs mullet anglers are very active chasing the species throughout the seasons catching a fish that was once considered a fish of summer throughout the coldest of winter days.

There are also a hard core of club members who seek those big specimen huss, conger and tope from the rugged rocky shoreline.

Daniel Welch has invigorated interest in boat fishing with his Charter boat Predator 2 taking club members to investigate new marks using the latest techniques with considerable success.

The clubs longstanding committee remains unchanged this year. The club has a full and varied diary of events planned for 2026. Details of the club can be found at their website

www.cmsac.co.uk or on their Facebook Page. New members are welcome.

Awards for 2025 Season are as follows:

Trophy winners 2025

Bass Cup       –  Length –   Mark Drewer – 77cm  Weight  Shane Pavis Hookway 4lb 2oz

Grey Mullet Cup –    John Shapland –  Thick Lipped grey mullet – 5lb 7oz

Conger Cup –  Jonathon Stanway – 18lb 10oz

Predator Award – Shane Hookway – Shore Caught tope 43lb 6oz

Flatfish Cup –   Wayne Thomas – Flounder 1lb 6.25oz

Shore Shield – Olli Passmore  – Gilthead Bream – 5lb 10oz – 187.5%

Medway – Boat – Specimen    – David Brooke – gilthead bream- 6lb 4oz –  208.333%

Wrasse Trophy – Ollie Passmore – ballan wrasse     – 5lb 2oz

Ray Shield –            Craig Mc Cloughlin – Small eyed ray 9lb 8oz

Specimen League     – Top Five –    Shane Pavio HookWay       Five fish total 518.349 %

Donald Kyte Award – 6 mullet – John Shapland – 689.463%

Scouse Trophy – Ross Stanway 1lb 1.25oz

Lure Fishing League –

1st Jamie Steward – Five – 354cm

2nd Mark Drewer – Five – 351cm

Biggest bass in lure league – Mark Drewer 77cm

Merit Trophy  was awarded to  Daniel Welch  for his outstanding contribution and support of the club via his Charter Boat enterprise Predator 2 that has invigorated the clubs boat fishing sector.

Club Records

 David Brooke  – Gilthead Bream – 6lb 4oz

Fish of the Season awards – £25 Voucher for High Street Tackle

January February March  – Shane Pavio Hookway – Tope Shore 43lb 6oz

April May June  – Ollie Passmore – Gilthead bream – 5lb 10oz

July August September – David Brooke – Gilthead bream 6lb 4oz

October November December – John Shapland – Thick lipped grey mullet 5lb 7oz

Combe Martin Sea Angling Club
Calendar Of Events 2026

February 6th to February 8th Winter Rover
Meet The Mariners Arms, Braunton 6.30pm

March 6th to March 8th Spring Rover & Mullet Meet
Mullet Fish & Meet Breakfast at Lynmouth Sunday 10.00am
Rover Meet The Mariners Arms, Braunton 6.30pm

March Saturday 21st Portishead

Lure League April 1st to October 31st
Best Five Bass sponsored by High Street Tackle, Ilfracombe

April Sunday 5th Minehead Boat Trip

May 1st to May 3rd Late Spring Rover

Meet up The Mariners Arms, Braunton 6.30pm and Committee Meeting

May Sunday 17th Boat Trip Predator 2

May Sunday 24th Greysands Social Fish 9.00am to 3.00pm

June Saturday 13th Putsborough Open 9.30pm to 1.30am

June Sunday 28th Boat Trip Predator 2

July Sunday 19th Boat Trip Predator 2

July 24th to July 26th Lure Fishing Weekend
Meet up Ilfracombe Pier 6.00pm

August Sunday 30th Boat Trip Predator 2

September 1st to December 13th Autumn / Winter League
Best of Four Specimen fish of different species ( Boat & Shore )
September Sunday 6th Fun Fish Ilfracombe Pier

Committee Meeting The Mariners Arms, Braunton 6.30pm

September Sunday 27th Boat Trip Predator 2

October Saturday 17th Portishead

October 30th to November 1st Mullet Weekend
Meet up for breakfast Lynmouth Sunday 10.30am

December 11th to December 13th Christmas Rover
Meet The Mariners Arms, Braunton 6.30 Committee Meeting ( Calendar 2027 )

December 26th to January 3rd 2027 Festive & New Year Fish
Meet up The Mariners, Braunton 6.30pm

January Friday 29th 2027 AGM & Presentation Night

All three day competitions run from Friday 6.00am to Sunday 6.00pm. Entry £10
In addition to the calendar we may hold pop up events throughout the year.
Members can suggest venues, etc at short notice. Then advertised on Whats App or
Facebook

 

 

 

22 Nov 2025

Barnstaple & District Angling Club – 2025 Report

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Well the game catch report speaks for itself but as ever there were still enjoyable days to be had with our resident brownies. There were a few fish showing early in the year but only one good salmon landed to our knowledge. There were a few reports of the one that got away (and mine was obviously the biggest) but once again we had such low levels and high water temperature that on a couple of occasions we took the advice and asked for a cessation from fishing. We measured the temperature at 5 sites from Kingford bridge to Barnstaple and the further down we tested the higher the temperature we actually had a range from 18 +degrees at Kingford bridge to a peak of 24 degrees at Barnstaple bridge. This testing was part of the sampling of DNA for the Shad project run by West country rivers trust and hopefully it may even indicate what else is in the river. When the rain did come in late summer, much to every one’s amazement ,over 40 good size fish were landed upstream from the bridge during September. They were seen in bridge pool after the 3 day spate in late August and settled a little further up. They were all heavily coloured and had clearly been around a while but it was heartening to know they were there at all. These quantities landed were due to the beat above the bridge being fished by many anglers every day for a month! There is a suggestion the fish may be spawning in the streams further down rather than going way up to the traditional redds but there isn’t any hard evidence at the moment. There was enough water and they could have gone further up but chose not to so that might be worth further investigation . The WRT told me the netting count up at the known redds was very encouraging with more than expected so hopefully we’ll see the results of that in future years.

For yet another season we haven’t seen any sea trout of any size and nobody seems to have an answer to that. As the Brownies get bigger I’ve heard a suggestion they didn’t go to sea in the first place but there are lots of theories to contemplate.

We have had a few poaching reports and have chucked out a few people spinning but it seems we have got on top of that . As you may know we have trail cameras up, mainly for litter and fly tipping and we know the word is out. There have been quite a few successful fly tipping prosecutions due to the footage sent to the council and it has reduced substantially so that has been a great result .

Dave and Adi built a useful bridge at Newbridge to access the track up to the car park and they managed to get a steel fire escape across the river at Gandys to improve access and Handrails are to follow.

Once again our first day meet/BBQ at the club hut was really well attended with some coming from many miles away but they all said it was worth it as game fishing can be a solitary affair and it’s lovely social day to swop stories/lies of past achievements. We’ll do it again next season for sure and with a bit of luck may even see a fish. As you know we have volunteers strimming and clearing most of the year but it can be hard going and it would be helpful if we called for working parties on specific dates. We haven’t really sorted that out before but next season we will call for help before it gets out of hand. Assume it would be weekends and any help would be much appreciated. I know people are looking after Aller too and that is appreciated by the course anglers .

The AGM was well attended as ever and an interesting talk from WRT regarding Shad survey and other river issues held every ones attention. Tony Watkins held an auction of a few items with the proceeds going to the air ambulance charity as due to the remote places we find ourselves in we might well need them one day. Thanks to those who attended and we can but wish you all tight lines for 2026. To close the meeting Our president, Colin Ashby, awarded the following trophies:

Committee cup for his archive work – Nick Mcmurtrie 

Les Hewitt shield best game fish – Scott Bowden

Bass on a fly – Dave Winter 

Best Junior – Spike Fairchild

31 Oct 2025

Bude canal angling club V Bideford and District Angling Club

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Bude canal angling club V Bideford and District Angling Club

Bideford’s team of 15 ventured across the border to take on the Cornish on their canal and the outcome was very close. Bude scored 234 points to Bidefords 230,.
Our club carried a 30 point lead from the first leg on Tarka swims therefore won overall by 26 points
Conditions on the canal were cold and windy with North Westerly squally showers.
The Bude captain led his team home with a terrific bag of 20lb of bream and skimmers on the second basin.
Our top performance was Keith Copland on the bottom basin.
Big thanks to the lads representing Bideford and a special thank you to Tom Wade Anglers Heaven for supporting the team with a generous bait sponsorships and the Brendon Arms for a great breakfast and a fine after match spread.
8 Sep 2025

LATEST SEA ANGLING RESULTS – SEPTEMBER 25

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BIDEFORD ANGLING CLUB – September Rover

 Results

1st Stephen Found – Smoothhound 14lb 10oz 146.250%

2nd Andrew Clements – Thornback Ray 9lb 2oz 103.388%

3rd Dale Kiff – Smoothhound 9lb 11 96.876%

4th Jenson kiff – Smoothhound 9lb 9 95.625%

5th Dale Kiff- Smoothhound 8lb 1oz 80.625%

6th Jenson kiff – Smoothhound 7lb 4oz 72.5%

APPLEDORE SHIPBUILDERS –

SEPTEMBER ROVER

Michael Hammett won Appledore Shipbuilders Rover with a bass of 4lb 5oz.

Combe Martin SAC – SEPTEMBER ROVER

1st Kevin Legge – Triggerfish 3lb 15oz – 131.25%

 

2nd – Wayne Thomas – thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 14oz

3rd Wayne Thomas – thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 1oz

 

31 Aug 2025

Combe Martin SAC Fun Fish 2025

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Hard to believe that another Combe Martin SAC Fun Fish has come and gone signalling the end of the Summer season in conjunction with the annual Sea-Ilfracombe Festival.

This popular event is very much what it says on the tin so to speak; a fun fishing event with few rules and the focus very much on family fun. Once again a big thank you from Combe Martin SAC for generous sponsorship from High Street Tackle, Ilfracombe Aquarium and Barnstaple Bait and Tackle.

This year’s event saw over twenty taking part with several young anglers catching or seeing their very first fish. The move to use lighter tackle and small barbless hooks has certainly boosted the catch rate ensuring that plenty of fish were tempted.

Nine species were caught including pollock, conger, blenny, red bream, tompot blenny, smelt, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and poor cod. A good number of red sea bream were donated to Ilfracombe aquarium where they can be seen along with other fish caught on previous fun fishing events over recent years.

The Welch Family won a trip to Ilfracombe Aquarium that they kindly donated to runner up family Jesubaul and Becky Mringer. The longest fish was a 54cm conger caught by Louie Cameron and the heaviest a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz to the rod of Daniel Welch. The top individual points scorer was Ben Clarke with 25 points and Jesubaul runner up with 24 points.

Daniel Welch with the heaviest fish a ballan wrasse of 1lb 1oz
The Cameron Family with Archie (right) holding his brothers conger

The event cast off at 2.30pm as a strong swell surged close to the pier landings and a heavy shower threatened to dampen the spirits.

Fortunately the storm clouds soon drifted past and a vivid rainbow appeared off Hillsborough as bright blue skies brightened the rest of the afternoon.

Fish were caught from the start despite the murky water stirred up by heavy swells throughout the previous week. Four or five lobster were caught which is far more than any previous Fun fish. Another interesting feature was the large number of small red bream caught throughout the two hour long event.

Apologies if I have spelt any names wrong, a strong breeze, aging ears and a rain smeared score sheet undoubtedly contribute to any errors. Everyone who registered a fish took home a prize from our sponsors and in my view everyone who took part was a winner. I hope that those smiles convert just a few to enjoy the marvellous pastime that can forge a deep and lasting connection with the natural world.

24 Aug 2025

Combe Martin SAC – Predator 2 Boat Trip

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Combe Martin SAC’s Boat trip on Predator 2 was a trip we had been anticipating eagerly and with a fine day forecast optimism was high as we set out of Ilfracombe harbour on a calm morning.

As expected Skipper Dan Welch had a plan and it was to be a down channel day. Buoyed by stories of bass and tope we bounced over the calm waters and were overtaken by ever speedy Dan Hawkins on Reel Deal who was destined for the reefs of the North Cornish coast.

First stop was the turbulent tide race off Morte Point where bass and wrasse were targeted with lures. The water clarity was disappointing and after a short drift it was decided to head to mixed ground a short distance off the headland and drop the anchor. I opted to fish my light rod with a two hook paternoster baited with small strips of squid on size 4 Sakumu Chinu hooks. The rod tip was soon rattling as scad hit the baits, these were kept fresh as they would surely prove good baits for tope later in the day.

A steady trickle of species were caught including a bass, red gurnard, pollock, smoothound, dogfish, small conger and scad. As the tide eased Dan suggested we move out into deeper water with more tide flow.

 

“Peter the conger charmer”

This was big bait territory and large fish baits were sent to rest on the sea bed. Peter Robinson proved to be the conger charmer tempting a good fish of around 20lb along with others throughout the day. A few bull huss seized our baits and bent the rods. The tope proved elusive and we moved again further out to an area that had been producing some good tope in recent weeks.

The water was very murky and Dan thought this was the result of algae blooms and the dead algae being stirred up by the big tides. Bideford Bay had been alive with bait fish, bass, dolphins and birds a few days before this trip. It seemed devoid of life today with no signs of activity and little or no action as we dropped our baits to the seabed.

An increasingly frustrated Dan could only suggest we head back to where we had started the day and resume sport with the multitude of species that lurk close inshore.

We enjoyed the last couple of hours fishing off the spectacular headland of Morte point. Black bream, bull huss, conger, mackerel and pollock were brought to the boat with Peter Robinson catching a good number of fish from the boats stern.

Dan said it had been one of the toughest days of the season. But we all had a very enjoyable day boating ten different species of fish without actually focussing on amassing a large tally. The next few months will offer an array of opportunities and when the water clarity improves I feel sure sport will take off as it so often does in early autumn.

6 Jul 2025

Combe Martin SAC – Lure Fishing Competitions

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Combe Martin SAC’s Lure Fishing league is shaping up to be a competitive one this year with good numbers of bass being caught from boat and shore. Club member Wayne Thomas enjoyed a good session landing eight bass including fish of 72cm and 65cm  to put him into third place in the competition. All fish fell to a Savage Gear- White paddle tail lure. Such hectic sessions are few and far between with several blanks preceding this trip.

1st Mark Brewer – Five bass – 344.5 cm

2nd – Seth Tuson – Five bass – 330.5 cm

3rd – Wayne Thomas – Five bass – 295 cm

4th – Reece Woolgar – Four  bass – 263cm

5th – Ross Stanway – Three bass – 176 cm

6th – Robert Hurst – Two bass – 121.5cm

The club are hosting a members only lure fishing competition next weekend so prospects are excellent for this event.

 

 

30 Jun 2025

Bideford Angling Club – Coarse ~Fishing Results

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Midweek evening competition No 7
Results:
1st Craig Crash Lamey 49lb 10oz
2nd Kevin Shears 37lb 7oz
3rd Keith Copland 35lb 6oz
4th Keith Mountjoy 30lb 2oz
5th Les Polden 26lb
14 members fished.
Light drizzle and still muggy conditions seemed to switch the carp off, but the bream certainly had a good feed .
There appears to be no stopping Craig,who chalked up his 4th victory in a row. This is quite remarkable, as he has done this from all areas around the lake.
This time off of peg 10 , again on luncheon meat.
Kevin’s bag of mainly good sized skimmer bream was taken on corn fished in the margins on peg 6.
Keith has come third on peg 17.

B.D.A.C Rod and Reel match results date 22.6.25 at Tarka.
Today was a bit windy with some light rain at times making fishing a bit awkward at times for some. All anglers caught fish and some good weights weighed in. First place today went to Martin Turner on peg 19 with an excellent catch of silvers and some fine carp for a great weight of 50lbs 14oz ,2nd place was Paul Whitehead on peg 24 with 43lbs 3oz, 3rd place was Richard Jefferies on peg 16 with 41lbs 1oz and 4th place went to Dave wilkins on peg 14 with 29lbs 3oz next Rod and Reel match will be on the 27.7.25 at Tarka. Well done to Martin Turner on your great catch and your win today.