Lee Holden caught this 14lb bull huss whilst fishing off Ilfracombe on John Barbeary’s Bluefin. Sport with huss and spurdog is likely to continue right through until spring whenever the weather permits.
(Above) Dan Spearman with a spurdog of 14lb 1oz
January can be a tough month weather wise for the shore angler but if the correct clothing is worn then there is no reason not to get out there and catch a few specimens. I get a steady stream of reports from successful forays to the coast with some anglers traveling long distances to enjoy their sport.
Combe Martin SAC member Dan Spearman enjoyed a succesful shore foray to a local rock mark landing a fine specimen whiting of 1lb 14oz and specimen spurdog of 8lb 11oz.
David Alsop travelled over to the North Devon Coast from wales and was rewarded with fine specimen spurdog weighing 11lb 6oz.( Below)
Many thanks to Robert Young for allowing me to share his picture.
Thirteen members of Combe Martin Sea Angling Club set forth to fish as an icy cold North Easterly Wind lashed the coast. Fishing was hard going for most but Colin Emery and Liam Stevens consulted Google Maps to find a sheltered mark where they found some sport. Colin secured the top three spots with a specimen bull huss scaling 10lb 12oz and a plump dogfish of 3lb 2oz and a conger of 17lb 4oz.
Members of Combe Martin SAC had a trip on Steve Webber’s Osprey off Minehead and found some quality fish topped by cod of 18lb 4oz to the rod of Matt Jeffery and 15lb 3oz to Rob Scoines.
In addition to the cod Jonathon Stanway landed a boat club record haddock of 2lb 7oz and several ray were also landed including double figure blondes to John Shapland and Chris Bond.
Holsworthy Sea Anglers had a great day out with John Barbeary on Bluefin off Ilfracombe. They started off with the obligatory lesser spotted dogfish with plenty of them showing their faces throughout the day, a quick move and Andrew Braunton and Tom Marshall started to find the spurdog and a lonely smoothound for Paul Cozens. Another move further out and bingo plenty of spurdogs from high singles to mid doubles along with bullhuss for a bit of variety and also a solitary tope which released itself at the surface. Steve did manage a conger at the end for a 6 species total.
Many thanks to Paul Cozens for the write up and images. Great to sea smiling faces out at sea!
Combe Martin SAC – Chay Boggis landed a fine spurdog on a recent shore fishing session weighing 10lb.
Shore fishing is proving sporadic with a few good fish being caught amongst a lot of small fish. Triple Hook Club members fished their Hangover Rover Mixed brace match and failed to find a brace of fish worthy of the scales. Club member Steve Luxton fished over the Christmas period and hooked a conger of 17lb.
The estuary flounder fishing seems to have slowed up though there should still be every chance of big flattie; it could well be worth trying the lower estuary at Crow Point.
Up Channel anglers are finding a few quality cod including this specimen of 12lb 11oz to the rod of CMSAC Club member Stuart Taylor.
Hi Wayne.
Its Pete Skinner , Chairman of the Bideford and District Angling club. As you may know at our AGM on Tuesday 20th Dec. The decision was made to close our headquarters , due to unfavorable trading conditions, Can I just confirm that the Angling side of our great club is entirely unaffected. We will be continuing with our monthly sea comps, festivals and open comps still being run by Lee Watts. Our lakes at Tarks swims will be unaffected, hopefully the new lake may be opened later in 2017. Overseen by Steve Bailey. The coarse match group run by Martin Turner and the game section comps run by Terry Dymond. We are certain that our Angling sections will continue to grow and flourish. Thanks Pete.
Eighteen club members fished in Combe Martin SAC’s Christmas Rover and it was a grey mullet caught by Daniel Welch that took top spot.
A few years ago few would have considered fishing for grey mullet at the end of December but times are changing and five members targetted the species. Dan’s mullet of 3lb 7oz was the only one landed though despite several bites.
The local rock marks produced a variety of species including whiting, pollock, dogfish, huss and conger. Larger species were hard to find though and it was Rob Scoines who took runner up spot with a rockling of 1lb 6oz. In third was Dan Spearman with a bull huss of 7lb 10oz and in forth Rob Scoines with a bass of 3lb 15oz.
Its been just over six months since I launched North Devon Angling News aiming to be the one stop for angling news in North Devon.
A special thanks to all who have supported the project by sending me news, taking out an advert or just taking a look. In the coming year I will continue to build the site and welcome any pictures, articles that will be of interest to anglers in North Devon. Since June the site has been viewed well over 20,000 times. Below are a few highlights from the year.
Blakewell Double
Autumn mullet – Dan Welch
John Shapland – Flounder brace
Shore fishing prospects are excellent for the next few weeks with some good specimens recorded over recent days. Combe Martin SAC member Rob Scoines enjoyed a few sessions off North Devon rock marks and landed a bull huss of 7lb 2oz a fine whiting of 1lb 12oz and a pouting of 1lb 7oz.
