Keen local angler Tony Watkin’s joined with protesters in Barnstaple to raise awareness regarding the plight of UK rivers and the horrendous discharging of sewage by water companies. I publicised this protest on North Devon Angling News and I wondered how many anglers would make the effort to attend. I personally tend to try and raise awareness via my writing using reasoned argument and feel slightly ill at ease with protest groups. The state of our rivers and the decline in Wildlife and nature across the world indicates that reasoned and rationale debate is not working. Frustration at the failings of politicians to address the system leads to ever stronger protests. It is time for all of us with a passion for nature to work together in a common cause forcing those who have the power to act now. It is time to re-evaluate how we measure progress and move away from GDP to appreciating how nature and the Environment is key to our survival as a species.
Tony Watkins reports –
Ask yourself this question would you say that almost 6 Million hours of dumping sewage into rivers on 775,704 separate occasions over just 2 years might qualify as ‘Exceptional’?Or the fact that South West Water was branded the Worst Polluters in the UK by ofwat Dec 2022. Yesterday local Catch n Release Salmon Fisherman Tony Watkins himself campaigning here https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/627440
Joined a peaceful group of over 170 protesters in Barnstaple yesterday to protest against Sewage, joined by groups The Baggy Blue tits part of the International Swimming group The Bluetit Chill Swimmers, Surfers Against Sewage, Plastic Free Devon, Xtinction Rebellion, marched from Castle Green to present a (mock)blue plaque to local MP offices Selaine Saxby (see pics).The peaceful march continued up the High Street with a joyous lively samba band to Green Lanes where various speeches were given by the groups in highlighting the Sewage Crime upon us.
Combe Martin SAC member Kyle Bishop has enjoyed some hard earned success during the first month of 2023 tempting tope of 38lb and 34lb along with several Bull Huss to 12lb. The club are holding their AGM and presentation night at the White Lion, Braunton on Saturday 28th January. New members are welcome so please come along and suport the club.
I met Barry Bassnett on several occasions whilst fishing for trout at Blakewell Fishery. We exchanged stories of angling in North Devon and I was delighted to record some of Barry’s recollections in my book “ I Caught A Glimpse”. Barry recently expressed his opinion on fishing styles after I posted an image of static fishing. Fishing methods can to an extent be split between a trapping approach where the bait is positioned whilst the angler waits for an audible or visual indication before reeling in the fish. The other approach is to hold the rod and feel for the electrifying pull as the fish moves away with the bait or lure the angler driving the hook home with a strike. Many thanks to Barry for allowing me to reproduce his comments and recollections.
I use both approaches depending upon my preference or to what I think most likely to succeed. I remember my father preferring to hold the rod at all times waiting for that magical pull transmitted through the line. Barry’s comments and recollections are reproduced below.
A musical fish perhaps. Ha ha. But I can’t just sit there. Waiting for a buzzer to go off. It would drive me mad!!
I also can’t sea fish with a rod rest. I like the feel of a rod in my hand waiting for the bite. I want to lure fish this next summer. I’m hoping my neighbour Andy. Across the road will help me get started and I want to get out on the Lyn again .
I found out I’d got a Morecambe book about fishing. The Morecambe of Morecambe and Wise. It’s a brilliant book
And a great read.
I also have somewhere, an old book of old salmon fishing flies. I’ll have to try and find it some time.
Does Barnstaple have an angling club. And if it does what waters do they have and do they have many waters. And sections of the club is coarse fly and sea. Included.
Do you remember Bill Leg? A chap I fished with many many years ago.
We were with Owen another friend. It must have been in the seventies. We went to an open sea competition at Saunton. And there was a severe gale blowing. They decided to stop and cancel the competition. But our bunch decided they were all soft. So, we had to wade all the way to where we decided to fish .it was extremely hard going even up on the dunes was deep sea water. The wind was so strong. All along the beach we were wading in our waders. The water knee high.
When we decided we’d trudged far enough to start fishing. We got set up with four ounce weights on the end and started to cast
But however hard we tried to throw the weights out they ended up on the beach behind us. The odd one did get into the waves a couple of yards out.
Of course, eventually we had to give up it was humiliating as we had told the rest we were going to fish it. As it couldn’t beat us.
It was a struggle to get all our stuff in hand and make our way back to Owens car. It seemed miles in the very strong gale. Walking against the wind. We got back to the car soaked and shattered. And totally beaten.
It was so great to be let out of the car outside my home.
And into the warm again.
I learned my lesson .
It was years after since I was young and had fallen into the river East Lyn. And spent the day with wet clothes on And soggy socks. Fishing.
But this experience was far worse. I don’t let myself get soaking wet now. I’ve a full waterproof suit now. That floats me.
Happy memories. I often sit and smile of my times in the water. When I’ve fallen in or been out in storms too stupid to give in and stop fishing.
And I now also stop fishing during lightening storms.
But in the early days I was using my mother’s old greenheart fly rod. That was safer it was only six foot six long and a great rod for under the low trees and bushes on the Lyn on our own stretch. Casting over my shoulder with my right hand. Holding the rod. That was back when I lived at Millslade in Brendon. I used to get a lot of free flies on the Lyn back then when there were loads of visitors staying at the Staghunters. And they used to lose their flies up in the trees and bushes from where I collected them.
(Above)The old bridge at Brendon
Oh, happy days! Back then the Staghunter’s rented all the Halliday water . The water now known as the Glenthorne fishery was connected to Glenthorne down beside the sea below county gate. My great grandfather. Used to be the butler at Glenthorne before he bought the three cottages that he turned into the Staghunters Inn hotel in Brendon. Of course, that did mean I got to fish all of the East Lyn for free plus we had two fields with our own fishing with Millslade. It was paradise for me for all my childhood days. I so miss it now.
It’s such great memories. And I fell into the east Lyn many times. When I was young or got a boot full of water.
On one occasion I was in the field opposite Leaford. One field up and I was stood on a narrow pointed stone and one of the old hunter air craft flew up the valley extremely low. Just above me and I lost my Ballance. And of course, fell in. .and again was wet for most of the day. My feet didn’t dry out. .but if I went home to change my father would put me to work. Again. Mowing the lawn or gardening or cleaning the shippens out moved a huge amount of cow muck over the years. When I was young on to a large heap to rot down a bit for the fields and the veg garden .
Angling Trust – Marine – Wyvern Region Open Shore Slapton, South Devon, On the 15th Jan 2023.
The South West’s first major event in 2023 attracted 130 anglers to the South Hams to fish the annual Angling Trust Wyvern Open Festival, with some competitors traveling from South Wales & the Isle of White, the weather conditions on the day saw a strong to gale force, west / south westerly wind with occasional heavy blustery showers for the five hour event. Whiting, Dogfish, Smoothounds, Spotted Ray & Small Eyed Ray were caught during the event, 52 competitors returned to the scales with fish to record. The results were announced within half an hour of the close of scales at the Festival Headquarters at the Stokeley Farm Shop.
The main sponsor was Julian Shambrook of Anyfish Anywhere Ltd, a major fishing tackle manufacturer, based in Torquay. All of the sponsors for the day were thanked for their continuing support each year, also a big thank you to Stokeley for their hospitality & providing an excellent venue.
The worthy winner, of the event was Tom Travers of Honiton S.A.C., he recorded a Whiting of 1.225lb & a Spotted Ray of 3.25lb giving him a total of (153.89%),he was presented with the top prize of £200 cash and the Brixham Bowl, other tackle prizes to the value of £800 were awarded down to 12th place, these were announced by the Chairman of the Wyvern Region Alex Parker and presented by Julian Shambrook.
It was also very encouraging to see a junior Archie Sweetland from Honiton SAC take 11th place in a competition which attracted 130 anglers.
The Region promotes the Angling Trust “Take Five” anti litter campaign and encourages all anglers to leave the beaches cleaner than they found them.
The first Twelve Places are as follows: –
First: £200 Brixham Bowl
Tom Travers Honiton SAC, Whiting 1.225 lb, Spotted Ray 3.25 lb
Total: 153.89%
Second: Pick of the Prize table & Bideford Cup Cup
Adam Slack Brixham SAC, S E Ray 6.69 lb, Whiting 0.855 lb
Best Team: Team Shield: (Team of four anglers, Best fish by each angler)
Team: Anyfish Anywhere:
Rob Marshall
Julian Shambrook
Marcus Ward
Pete Hutchins Total 251.87%.
Pool (best individual species)
1/ 50% Alan Hobbs Roving Rods SAC 92%
2/ 30% Tristan Rowe Cormorants SAC 90.33%
3/ 20% Tom Travers Honiton SAC 81.67%
As a member of the Wyvern committee, I attended the event and was nominated as the end marker at the Strete end of the beach. I also acted as a steward but saw very little action at this end of the beach until the final hour witnessing just 2 dogfish and a couple of whiting. Despite the lack of action, (I blanked) it was a very enjoyable day.
Coming from North Devon it was great to be able to set up on the beach without having to chase the tide up and down. The sight of beach shelters are rare up on the North Devon Coast where the tides make them impractical. And up North we are of course more hardened to the cold weather shunning the need for shelters!
Slapton is a superb competition venue having plenty of parking and easy access along its 3 miles of course sand. There are a wide range of species caught from the beach throughout the seasons.
Slapton sands has an interesting history with a very moving story attached to it. In 1943, the beach was used by the allied forces as a rehearsal area for the D-Day Landings. Unfortunately, a combination of live ammunition and poor visibility resulted in the deaths of 749 American servicemen. You can visit a stone monument which was set in place on Slapton Sands to commemorate the ill-fated.
Whilst I had never fished the beach at Slapton I have fond memories of pike fishing in Slapton Ley before angling ceased under the stewardship of the Slapton Ley Field Centre. The Ley once held huge shoals of rudd and pike to twenty pounds. Its reed fringed waters provided a fascinating and atmospheric venue.
As is often the case in large sea angling competitions the weigh in reveals plenty of fish at the scales with dogfish and whiting dominating. The introduction of catch and release for ray, smoothound and spurdog was in my view a positive step towards conservation. I intend to fish again next year and hopefully tempt a brace for the weigh in.
Congratulations to all those who won prizes. And big thanks to those who organised the event and to the generous sponsors.
Combe Martin SAC members braved rough weather over the weekend in their search for specimen fish. Ross Stanway won the competition with a specimen small eyed ray scaling 10lb 15.5oz. (109 %) Shane Hookway was runner up with a conger of 19lb 14oz (99%).
Bideford Angling Clubs January 48-hour Rover results
7 angler’s fished
1 fish weighed
1st Stephen FoundSmall-eyed ray 9lb 4oz 102.777%
The WYVERN REGION OPEN SHORE MATCH was held at Slapton Sands in South Devon and attracted 130 entrants. I will post a full report on the match later this week when I have the full results.
Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge caught a double figure small eyed ray weighing 10lb 12oz that picked up a launce and squid cocktail fished on Varivas Big Mouth Xtra hooks.
If you are out fishing over the next couple of days, do check the swell forecasts and if in any doubt, play it safe and keep well back away from the water.
Sea Anglers are catching some good fish from the North Devon shore line with huss, spurdog and conger amongst catches.
Prospects for the coming month are excellent if the Westerly winds persist.
Combe Martin SAC member Ross Stanway enjoyed a session at a local shore mark to land several ray including three small eyed ray of 8lb 8oz and a brace of spotted ray.
When I started fishing from the North Devon Coast close to fifty years ago access to the coast was not a major issue with many marks freely accessible. During the 1980’s and onwards issues started to arise as the numbers of anglers fishing increased with many travelling long distances to fish the marks. Sadly, some of the anglers showed little respect for private property and sometimes left litter and in some cases broke down fences to gain access.
During recent years some marks have been operated on a permit only basis with an annual fee charged to allow access to private land to fish. Permits are generally obtained by local anglers who tend to respect the owners and their property accepting that times have changed and that to gain access to fish a charge is perhaps the new normal.
These access issues have perhaps been highligted further since COVID and lockdowns increased coastal visits by the general public.
In some cases certain areas have been closed to angling to ensure maximum potential use of the venue for commercial purposes. There are concerns that anglers breaking the rules regarding access to closed areas could jeopardise access to wider areas.
I hope that those reading this will know of the areas and appreciate the issues. It would be sad if those who have invested in permits and follow the rules are denied access to several prime marks due to anglers fishing a couple of marks that have been closed off. Once access is lost it is seldom regained.
Respect of private property is essential if anglers wish to maintain access to the coast.
Some areas of South Devon have become virtual no go areas as a result of anti social behaviour by a minority it is to be hoped this does not happen in North Devon.
Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Get some Fresh Air Festive Fish saw members fish marks across North Devon with a wide variety of species registered. Whilst no 100% plus species were caught several good fish were registered. Species caught included rockling, dogfish, spotted ray, small eyed ray, conger, thick lipped grey mullet, Bull Huss, pollock, spurdog and tope.
Wayne Thomas – Thick Lipped grey mullet – 4lb 2oz
Results : –
1st Wayne Thomas – Thick lipped grey mullet 4lb 2oz 97.059%
2nd Kevin Legge – Conger – 18lb 90%
3rd Kevin Legge – Tope – 26lb 14oz – 89.583%
4th John Avery – Thick Lipped grey mullet – 83.824%
