I Caught A Glimpse  – New Book Available to Pre Order Now

After several years of hard work my book I Caught a Glimpse is available to pre-order from the Little Egret Press. Details of book launch to follow. To place an order please press link below :-

Pre-Orders

Wayne Thomas has been privileged to enjoy over forty years fishing North Devon’s varied waters enjoying both success and failure. The places and the many people he has met along the way have greatly enriched his journey. In this book he tells stories of North Devon angling along with recollections from others; some from an earlier generation who enjoyed fishing in those good old days.

He has no favourite species of fish and this book reflects this with every discipline of angling represented. From the small crimson spotted trout of tumbling streams and the story of a five pound perch to the huge shark that roam the Atlantic Ocean. AVAILABLE IN THE FOLLOWING EDITIONS

    Limited Edition                    of only 300 copies
Special Edition Hardback   of only 30 copies
Quarter Leather Edition      of only 10 copies
Luxury Leather Edition       of only 5 copies

Variety on Ilfracombe Pier

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Combe Martin SAC hosted an LRF float fishing social on Ilfracombe Pier where several species of fish were landed including black bream, wrasse, pollock, bass and garfish. 

(Above) Sally Welch with nice school bass
(Above) Nick Phillips with a small pollock caught on LRF tackle

 

(Above) Dan Welch – with a garfish
(Above) Paul Saunders with wrasse tempted on ragworm

(Above)Jake Moule fished Ilfracombe after dark to land a 10lb 12oz conger. Several spotted ray have been tempted from the pier on sandeel bait.

 

Hinkley Threat to Fish Stocks in the Bristol Channel

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The building of Hinkley Point Power Station will undoubtedly have an adverse effect upon the Environment but as with all things there is a bigger picture and I am not qualified to know whether nuclear power is better overall than alternative sources of energy production. The financial cost is undoubtedly enormous. I read in The Times on Saturday how it is predicted that the cooling water intake could kill many thousands of fish each day potentially decimating fish stocks. This is obviously extremely worrying not only from an angling perspective but also from a conservation angle.

In addition to the many species of sea fish within the area there are also migratory fish that pass this point including threatened species including, salmon, shad, lamprey and eels. I am sure that measures can be put in place to minimise the impact on fish but it would seem that cost cutting could sacrifice these measures. The Short term savings could lead to the long term extinction of some species with irreparable damage to the marine eco-system.

Below are links to the EA consultation documents. I urge those who care to take a look and respond.

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/ta5-1ud-nnb-generation-company-hpc-limited-2/supporting_documents/Application%20Variation%20Additional%20Document%20Item%205%20%20TR493%20The%20Effect%20Of%20Not%20Fitting%20An%20AFD%20System%20At%20HPC.pdf?dm_i=3O4M,NBZP,D3ITS,2HHQM,1

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/ta5-1ud-nnb-generation-company-hpc-limited-2/?dm_i=3O4M,NBZP,D3ITS,2HHQM,1

CASTING IN HUGH’S FOOTSTEPS

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“A beautiful Valley, a charming old Inn, and a rugged cove that can provide plenty of sport for the shore angler.” From Sea Fishing in Cornwall” By Hugh Stoker. Angling Times Publication 3’6. Published in1960.

Hugh Stoker was a Sea Angler who wrote several books and a series of guide books on fishing in the West Country. I have the editions relating to North Devon, South Devon and Cornwall and have over the years visited many of the marks mentioned. In some cases, the marks have changed whilst in other cases much seems to have remained the same.

We were due to head off Penzance in search of blue shark but the weather did not play ball and we were forced to seek alternative sport from the shore. We had planned to do a little shore fishing on the Thursday anyway with sharking planned for the Friday.

Lamorna Cove sounded an appealing place and a little research proved encouraging if one ignored the extensive rants about the car parking prices and the company that enforces the rules.

On the way we called into West Cornwall Tackle in Penzance where we were given plenty of useful advice on where we could use our ragworm and a few bits of tackle.

We were pleased to arrive after the three hour jaunt from North Devon and set off enthusiastically along the rugged coastal path, littered with granite boulders and perilous sheer drops to the sea below. After a ten minute walk we arrived at an impressive rock stack and set up our tackles.

I elected to float fish with king ragworm whilst James used soft plastics and Rob ragworm fished on jig heads. James was soon in action with a wrasse of a pound or more and Rob soon followed with a succession of wrasse. Eventually my float plunged beneath the surface and I was briefly connected to a powerful fish that dived for cover with the hook length parting, probably against a sharp granite boulder.

We spent the next couple of hours searching the rocky headland with numerous wrasse succumbing to our baits. Particularly Rob whose jig head tactics seemed to work well.

As evening approached and high water passed, we decided to head back to Penzance for food and to book into our hotel. As we descended into the cove the clear water erupted as sand eel’s scattered as they were pursued by launce and a large bass glimpsed by Rob.

We hurriedly assembled our lure rods commencing a search of the bay. My slim metal lure was soon seized and a hard fighting mackerel was swung onto the old granite quay. Over the next half an hour I added a couple more sizeable mackerel, a small bass and a few small pollock. Rob and James spotted several fish in the clear water at the base of the quay wall and enjoyed hectic sport with colourful wrasse.

The evening sun illuminated the honey coloured granite and the Atlantic gently caressed the rugged shoreline.  Youngsters swam in calm waters of the cove. We didn’t catch anything big but that hour in Lamorna Cove will probably sit high on my list of memories of the year.

James drove the van up through the beautiful valley passing a charming old Inn where patrons were eating and drinking on this warm summer night. I really must visit more of Hugh Stokers old haunts.

Club Record Gilthead bream

Combe Martin SAC member Robin  Bond fished a mark in the lower Taw estuary and landed a new club record gilt head bream scaling 5lb. These hard fighting fish are being caught on a far more regular basis in recent seasons a possible result of climate change? During the eighties these fish were tempted from South Devon marks and seemed to begin to populate Cornish marks as the seasons progressed. They are now caught a across the South West, South Wales and from Southern Ireland and beyond.