Graham Snow secured the top two places in Bideford Angling Clubs 24 hour Rover landing a fine brace of thick lipped mullet scaling 5lb 43/4oz and 5lb 33/4oz.
Nathan Clements took third place with a flounder of 1lb 14oz.
Dick Talbot landed a club record tub gurnard of 1lb 10oz.
Anglers enjoyed a top day out of Ilfracombe aboard charter Boat Bluefin skippered by John Barbeary. Several bass were landed including this beauty to the rod of Toby Bassett. Lures accounted for several of the bass and were supplied by High Street Tackle Ilfracombe.
The tranquil Taw estuary bathed in the light of a setting sun. An awesome back drop to a spot of fishing for the humble and obliging flounder. Many thanks to Kyle Blackmore for allowing me to use his pictures. On light tackle flounder can give great sport and are ideal species for junior anglers to target over the coming half term. There is also every chance of a bass with a few good sized fish present.
Sea anglers are enjoying sport with lingering summer species with several good smoothound brought to the shore. Rob Scoines enjoyed two successful session from a local rock mark with three hounds topped by a fine specimen of 12lb 6oz.
I would expect sport to continue especially if this mild weather continues. Big bass are high on many anglers wish list and I am sure someone will hook into big double in the next two months. Whilst the open coast is probably the best chance don’t ignore the estuary as big bass are undoubtedly hunting the estuary and could fall to anglers willing to experiment with lure tactics after dark.
Ollie Passmore enjoyed some late estuary sport with thin lipped mullet landing several to 4lb 1oz in recent sessions.
Combe Martin SAC Dan Miles Redmore landed this fine bull huss scaling 12lb 10oz whilst fishing a Somerset shore mark.
Combe Martin SAC member Ali Laird fished a local rock mark and was rewarded with a fine 11lb3oz smoothound and a 10lb 5oz Bull Huss.
October and November are in my view the best two months of the sea angling year with a wealth of species to target before the real chill of winter descends. Smoothound have been a welcome addition to autumn sport in recent seasons with specimens showing right up until Christmas and beyond.
Paul Lorrimore had a short session after work hoping for a bass and hooked a hard fighting smoothound of around 5lb. It was his first of the species and put a good bend in his light weight bass rod.
Grey mullet are one of my favourite species and provide some exciting sport. I used to think that after dark mullet fishing was unproductive but I have learned this to be untrue with several sessions in recent seasons proving this to be wrong. This hard fighting 2lb + mullet was tempted from an Ilfracombe mark two hours after high water. Many marks produce their best results on the ebbing tide well after many have packed away their rods believing the water to be too shallow. Bass and mullet will feed in very shallow water.
(Above) Even small mullet can give a good account on light tackle. (CMSAC member James Thomas)
The estuary will soon start to come into form for flounder fishing though there is also every chance of a big bass. The lower estuary could also throw up a surprise gilthead bream if any is prepared to try something different.
Rob Wheaton has just landed a potential British Record gilthead bream of 12lb 3oz whilst fishing a South Coast Mark.
Autumn is one of the best months for the shore angler with plenty of species to target from both the open coast and estuary. Several ray have been landed from Ilfracombe Pier so I suspect local beaches could bring excellent results. Big bass and conger could also show on many beaches at this time of year with the outside chance of a tope. Below are a few recent catches from the North Devon Coast.
(Above) Ollie Passmore landed this fine small eyed ray of 9lb 13oz whilst fishing from Ilfracombe Pier a mark that can throw up a wide variety of species during the Autumn months.
(Above) James Thomas with a small eyed ray of 6lb 15oz also caught from Ilfracombe Pier.
Above – Brad Munden landed this small eyed ray of 10lb 8oz.
Above -John Shapland landed this stunning red mullet from a local shore mark.
Above -Rob Scoines fished the Taw estuary and found the flounder on the feed landing several to 1lb 6oz.
Graham Snow won Appledore Shipbuilders Monthly Rover with a thick lipped grey mullet of 3lb 6oz. Jazza John was runner up with a flounder weighing 1lb 107/8oz and Graham Snow third with a thin lipped mullet of 3lb 51/4oz. This success for Graham Snow seals victory for him as this years club shore champion with 46 points. James Atkinson and Andrew Atkinson are runners up with 24 points each.
Graham Snow also dominated Bideford Angling Clubs monthly sea match landing thick lipped mullet of 3lb 6oz and 3lb 5/7oz to take first and second and thin lips of 3lb 51/4oz and 3lb 5oz for third and forth. Dick Talbot took fifth with whiting of 1lb 3oz.
Last year I joined with IFCA and Wiseman Productions to make a short film on fishing on the North Devon Coast. The date coincided with a bitter East Wind but with help from fellow CMSAC members Kevin Legge, Callum Gove and James Hunter we managed some success. The project was funded by the EU COSME programme and D&S IFCA who promote a conservation-minded approach to angling.
To view visit the link below.
http://fishtrail.org/video-gallery/
Well pleased to see this front cover from our trip to Norway back in July. The full story is within the magazine available from WH Smiths and other outlets.
Many thanks to Combe Martin SAC member Daniel Welch who sent me this excellent article about his challenge to land a mullet in every month of the year.
5lb 2oz mullet October 2016
In October last year I had a great session on the mullet some of the best mullet fishing I have ever had for quantity and quality including one over the magic 5lb mark. Shortly after this I set myself a challenge to catch a reasonable sized mullet from the same location every month of the year. A challenge that I have now completed it in style. It started with a 5lb fish in October and ended with one just over the 5lb mark on the 16th of September.
5lb 1oz September 16th
Seeing the way a location changes through out the year has been enlightening and very enjoyable. From -6 crisp frosty mornings with not a person insight to +25 degrees in dazzling sunshine surrounded by holiday makers and dogs. Water ranging from gin clear and glassy calm to what could only be described as a torrent of frothy coffee coloured by the silt of the seven estuary and the tannins off the moor.
Some months there was no weed and bare rocks, other times the water was full of leaves and dislodged weed and kelp torn up by winter storms but by far he worst time of year was early summer when a thick carpet of dense vibrant green weed covered everything in the water including rigs, hooks and the mainline which made the fishing almost impossible.
Mullet have got to be the most frustrating species to target in the sea and there is no surprised that some people refer to them as being the grey ghost’s. I cannot recall the amount of people that have stood next to me searching for a sight of what I’m fishing for only to be shocked and surprised when you hand them some Polaroid glasses and they see a shoal of good size mullet just under the surface. They watch mesmerised as the fish just appear from the shadows and disappear just as quickly.
I have found it fascinating to watch the fish, some days the fish swim past the bait without showing the slightest interest, and other times they swim straight up to the bait swallow it and start ripping line off the reel. The most exiting and frustrating times are when fish and quite often the big ones suck in the bait and spit it straight back out without even registering on the rod tip. Its even worse when you have big fish feeding and just before they circle back around to the bait a smaller faster fish beats it to the bait gets hooked and spooks the shoal. It’s always great to hook one but you can’t help being disappointed when you were so close to hooking that big one it’s even worse when you land the small one and it weighs over three pounds!
Over the 12months I have caught two fish over the magic 5lb mark and lot of 3lb and 4lb fish.
I have also seen some truly monstrous mullet that look like tanks. I actually thought I managed to hook one of these monsters last year. The water was like chocolate and there was quite a bit of surf running so it was impossible to see any fish and difficult to see bites but the drag suddenly started to sing and I knew I had hooked into a big fish as it charged back out to sea. After a long fight it finally surfaced and disappointment set in as it turned out to be a bass. I landed it a little bit later and it weighed 7lb 13oz. A good fish and quite an achievement on bread flake 6lb line and a Size 8 hook but it wasn’t the tank of a mullet I thought it was when I hooked it! Shortly after weighing it, it was returned unharmed.
The fishing has been pretty consistent right the way through the year but the hardest time of year was April and the best fishing was September right through to the end of December.
I have seen some amazing sunrises and sunsets ones that turned the cliffs bright orange as if they are on fire. I have also seen some rarer British wildlife some of the most memorable have been seals, otters, and kingfishers. I quite often found myself observing these amazing sites whilst surrounded by large numbers of people completely oblivious to what is right under their noses because they have been too busy consuming large amounts of ice cream, chips and fudge. I enjoyed every minute and have been fortunate enough to share some of these with my family. I just wish I took more photos throughout the year. One great photo was when I captured the take on my left hand rod of the 5lb plus mullet i caught in October last year.
