Bideford and District Angling Club held their presentation night at Bideford Conservative Club Friday February 23rd with close to forty members attending. I was privileged to join in presenting several awards along with Simon McCarthy from Summerlands Tackle. The evening was very enjoyable and a very positive vibe was apparent as members cheered the winners and added the occasional good natured banter to proceedings. It was very encouraging to hear of a very healthy number of Junior anglers taking part during the summer Coarse series. Many thanks to Adam Wheeler for taking some excellent pictures of the evening.
Season 2023 / 24
Matchmans Cup
Nathan Underwood
126 points
Runner-up
Kevin Shears
115 points.
Junior winner
Brodie Allin
57 points
Junior runner-up
Ted Blight
48 points
Evening series
Winner
Nathan Underwood
119 points
Evening Runner-up
Richard Jefferies
107 points
Pairs trophy winners
Roger Ackroyd
Craig Lamey
Top weight in competition
Darren Polden 71lbs
Stephen Found 55 pts
Valentine bowl – most points in the monthly Rover.
Nathan Clements Gilthead bream 8lb 2 1/4 203.515%
Stephanie Vanstone – Best specimen caught from the shore.
Stephen Found Thornback Ray 13lb 10 151.388%
Jason Talbot Memorial plate – Best specimen ray caught from the shore.
Tony Gussin Conger 14lb 5 71.562%
Snake plate – best specimen Conger caught from the shore.
Nathan Clements Gilthead bream 8lb 2 1/4oz
Best round fish from the shore
Stephen Found Flounder 2lb 4oz 112.5%
Best specimen flat fish caught from the shore
Stephen Found Smoothhound 14lb 5oz 143.125%
Best specimen shark from the shore.
Nathan Clements Small-eyed Ray 10lb 4oz 1/2 114.236%
Winner of end of season competition
Paul Ackland 4lb 1oz
Big Mike Memorial vase
Stephen Found total of 1160.118%
Species challenge cup
In the game fishing section John Mc Cullam and Terry Dymond dominated the results collecting five awards between them.
Combe Martin SAC have launched a new fishing community project with the help of keen species enthusiast Toby Bassett. The new fun fishing event was launched on February 1st on Ilfracombe Pier with local anglers starting an 11 month long species hunt that encourages anglers to catch as many species as possible from Ilfracombe Harbour area.
The essence of the fun fishing league is to encourage local anglers to socialise and share knowledge. Local business are supporting the event with prizes already pledged from Ilfracombe Aquarium, High Street Tackle, Turton’s Butchers and Quay Sports.
A pop up fishing event to get the event started was attended by a mixture of old and new club members. The weather was kind with a clear sky and a calm sea. Nine species of fish were caught during the three hours including; common shanny, rock goby, pouting, whiting, conger, dogfish, ballan wrasse, plaice, pollock and shore rockling. Prizes donated by High Street Tackle were awarded to Ross Stanway who caught the most species on the day. To Zephyr Laramy the most fish caught by a Junior and the smallest fish prize was awarded to Toby Bassett who caught a tiny common shanny using a size 16 hook!
The intention is to hold a pop up event once a month that will be picked to coincide with a suitable tide and hopefully good weather. Notice will be sent to club members seven days prior to the event. The competition runs until December 31st 2024 with major prizes to be presented early in 2025. Sponsors will be donating prizes with High Street Tackle providing a small prize each month for a category to be decided each month. February prize will be for the most species registered. March will be for the best photograph.
This is not a pure LRF competition as all accepted angling methods are encouraged with bait as well as lures. The use of LRF tactics is a branch of angling that undoubtedly opens an entirely new dimension to sea angling with some becoming totally addicted to the pursuit of the range of species available. It is going to be fascinating to explore the vast range of species that dwell within Ilfracombe waters. We will be sharing our results with the local Aquarium and hope to provide a few exhibits for their extensive display tanks.
We packed away as the flooding tide pushed us off the lower landings. James and I headed to the Bay-side Burger Bar to round off an enjoyable session savouring our spicy chicken and fries in the shadow of Verity.
Award winner for 2023 were as follows :-
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Runner up Jamie Steward
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Top four boat specimens
Mark Jones –
| bass | 9lb 1oz | 113.281 | B |
| porbeagle | 265lb | 151.43 | B |
| tope | 36lb | 90 | B |
| pollock | 7lb 4oz | 72.5 | B |
| 427.211 |
Species competition Format
Subsequent years will be as per calendar year
9 . Prizes upfront
1st, 2nd , 3rd
Season Ticket for aquarium ( Family TBC)
£25.00 Voucher High Street Tackle
Voucher for local butchers ( TBC)
Entries to be sent to Fish Recorder Wayne Thomas or Toby Bassett.
Photos required clearly showing fish, captor and location.
League will be kept updated by Fish Recorder and in addition to individual entries a tally will kept as a club tally as a collective team effort.
Will try and arrange a few pop up species days throughout the year to encourage social interaction with members.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s twenty pound plus cod were a regular feature of catches along the North Devon Coast. Recent decades have seen the fish almost disappear from this area. Cod numbers have been holding up further up channel but there is concern that numbers are starting to decline there too. The recent cod boat fishing competition held at Minehead saw just two cod registered from most of the Minehead Charter Fleet. This will undoubtedly result in the competition format changing in future years to reflect this and other species will be targeted.
Combe Martin SAC member Kyle Bishop set a new club record when he caught a rare blue skate from the North Devon shoreline. The fish weighing 13lb 8oz beats the existing club record of 8lb 3oz caught in 2020 by Jamie Steward. Skate are a very rare catch from North Devon waters. These fish can grow to well over 200lb and were once common in the Bristol Channel with fish recorded from numerous North Devon ports in the Victorian era.
Kyle has also added specimen tope of 36lb 15oz and a spurdog of 10lb 5oz to his New Year tally following on from last season when he knotched up a very impressive list of specimen captures.
https://ilfracombeaquarium.co.uk
Ilfracombe Aquarium Vacancy
Part-time Aquarist/Visitor Engagement Assistant
General Description
Based at the aquarium, the chosen candidate will assist in the overall, daily operations of the aquarium with the majority of time allocated to exhibit area servicing and management.
Responsibilities
These include; maintenance of aquatic life support, daily husbandry work for the animals, meeting nutritional requirements and feeding practises, health and hygiene, record keeping in accordance with Zoo License requirements, engagement with health and safety policies and general planning ahead to support the collection and other colleagues.
The role will be hands-on, assisting in the preparation of front of house and the exhibit area before visitor arrivals, ongoing daily maintenance and carrying out a closing down procedure.
Visitor engagement is a key part of the role. This includes general interaction with the customers, providing educational talks, feeding demonstrations, sharing points of interest and assisting with children’s quizzes.
The exhibit team here is established with many years of experience. They remain a wholly motivated, friendly and passionate team with their primary role being in promoting local wildlife, habitats and environmental awareness to visitors. They currently care for approximately 70 species of native freshwater and marine life in their recreated natural habitats. They look forward to welcoming the chosen candidate and will support their training in order to establish them as a key supportive and valued team member.
Employment details
Job Type: Part-time
Salary: From £11.44 per hour
Expected hours: 10 – 30 per week (subject to seasonal demands).
Benefits: Employee discount
Schedule: Monday to Friday & weekend availability
Start date; 04/03/24
Requirements; Essential and Preferred Skills
Applicants
Submissions to include expression of interest, CV and referee/reference details. Send ASAP to e.info@ilfracombeaquarium.co.uk
Those successful at application will be invited to interview.
