Chay Boggis returned to the shoreline after a few months otherwise occupied. He managed a 12lb 10oz hound a 10lb 8oz huss and his first shore caught tope! Fresh bait from Braunton Bait box did the damage”.
Boat News – Snippets
(Above) Thirteen Year old Eden Thomas from Hele Bay Ilfracombe enjoyed a boat fishing trip on a Private Boat and hooked a fine smoothound estimated at over 14lb whilst fishing just off Capstone Point.
(Above) Kevin Goodman has sent me reports of a thornback of 14lb caught off Combe Martin and pollock to almost 10lb. The Boat was I believe Jay Jay.
A party of North Devon Anglers enjoyed an away day to Weymouth where the fished from Charter Boat ‘The snapper’ Top fish was this fine 3lb 7oz black bream to the rod of MarcusHorrell.
Bream Show Off Ilfracombe
Kevin Goodman sent me these images of fish caught on Jay Jay off Ilfracombe the appearance of black bream is a great sign and bodes well for the rest of this scorching summer. As water temperatures start to rise we could well see an influx of species migrating into our waters. Trigger fish and black bream are both species that have been caught in good numbers from the Bristol Channel. Pollock fishing can aslo be excellent on lures in the crystal waters that we are enjoying.
OPEN WEEK FISHING COMPETITION – UPDATE Monday Evening
This Fishing competition commences at Midnight on Friday so if your in for a bit of action book in ASAP details above. I will be keeping a regular update on this page with catches and images. The prize giving will be at Lynmouth at the Ancient Mariner at 9.00pm. As its the culmination of the Lynmouth Regatta and Maritime Festival it should be a good atmosphere so bring the family and join in the festivity’s.
If you contact Wayne Thomas or Nick Phillips above you can pay entry by BACS Transfer.
Lets hope this summer weather continues!
Fishing started early in the competition with a party of boat anglers off Lynmouth dropping their lines as midnight struck.
Alex Mcleish boated one of the first fish in the Lynmouth Fishing Festival a hard fighting conger 0f 22lb 2oz.
Dan Welch and Ross Stanway enjoyed a hectic days boat fishing though the specimen fish proved elusive.
John Shapland has got off to a good start with the first 100% plus specimen of the competition so fat a thin lipped mullet of 3lb 10oz.
LEADER BOARD SO FAR
| Dan Welch | pollock – Boat | 8lb | 66.667 | |
| spotted ray – Boat | 4lb 8oz | 90 | ||
| Smoothound – Boat | 12lb 4oz | 81.667 | ||
| 238.334 |
| Ross Stanway | Dogfish | 2lb 5oz | 77.083 | |
| bull huss | 8lb 10oz | 63.889 | ||
| 140.972 | ||||
| John Shapland | thin lipped mullet | 3lb 10oz | 103.571 | ||||||||
| James Gubb Fradgley | 102.5 | tope | 41lb | ||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Alex Mcleish | conger | 22lb 2oz |
|
Thin Lipped Mullet Sport
Its proving to be a good year for the mullet fisher with plenty of thin lips tempted on baited spinners.
Ross Stanway tempted this 3lb 9oz thin lip on his latest trip to the estuary.
Jon Patten caught this stunning thin lip on a short after work session.
Top Tope Sport off Ilfracombe.
Its proving to be a great season for tope fishing off Ilfracombe aboard Dan Hawkin’s Reel Deal with fish to over forty pounds putting healthy curves in anglers rods!
Combe Martin SAC – Get Luring
Lure Fishing is one of the few growth areas in UK angling with this exciting branch of angling bringing new recruits into the sport each year. The crystal clear waters along the North Devon Coast this year are ideal for searching for bass and other species. Combe Martin Sea Angling Club Members are competing in a two month long competition that commenced on July 1st and culminates on September 2nd with the presentation of prizes at the clubs annual Fun Fishing Event. The competition is generously sponsored by High Street Tackle Ilfracombe who are providing a quality lure fishing rod and reel. Danny Watson is a keen lure angler and ensures that the shop has a vast stock of lures to tempt bass, pollock, mackerel and a range of other species.
IMPORTANT – Please remember that there is a total ban on retaining bass for the table.
https://www.anglingtrust.net/news.asp?section=29§ionTitle=Angling+Trust+News&itemid=4482
Some of the clubs anglers have already enjoyed some lure fishing success with Ross Stanway amongst members to land bass to over 5lb.
I have been lure fishing for bass over many seasons now and have enjoyed success from time to time with bass to almost 10lb. The excitement when a big bass hits the lure is undoubtedly addictive and the quest for the perfect lure costly. I am certain that lures catch far more anglers than fish but that’s all part of the fun. The most important feature of a lure is that it gives the angler confidence for a confident angler fishes with conviction and belief. In truth half a dozen lures will probably be all you will ever need; a few hard plastics,:- shallow diving, surface lures, soft plastics and metal lures.
Bass tempted on a surface lure.
Shallow boulder strewn shorelines are my favourite for lure fishing
Weekend Sea Angling Results
Grey mullet and smoothound dominated results of the weekends sea angling competitions with thck lipped mullet enthusiasts tempting fish from both estuary and harbours on the open coast. There are still a few smoothound showing on the coast though with crystal clear water it is likely that after dark sessions will be more productive.
Bideford Rover
1st Stephen Found thick lipped mullet 3 lb 11 1/4oz
2nd Andrew Clements thick lipped mullet 3 lb 8 1/2oz
3rd Andrew Clements think lipped mullet 3 lb 7 1/4oz
Appledore Shipbuilders Monthly Rover
1st – Kevin Pike smoothound 10lb 11.5oz
2nd – Kevin Pike smoothound 10lb 1oz
3rd – Andrew Atkinson smoothound 9lb 12oz
Junior Winner – Jack Pike with smoothound of 10lb 5/8oz and 7lb 13.5oz
Combe Martin SAC – Summer Rover
1st – Wayne Thomas – Thick Lipped grey mullet 3lb 14oz
2nd – Callum Gove – thin lipped grey mullet 2lb
Summer Images 2018
The summer of 2018 will be etched upon our memories as one of those rare summers of sunshine and warmth. Those of you old enough may be able to remember that notorious summer of 1976 when the country had many weeks without rain when the grass was parched and beaches packed with tourists. Last week I asked for images of angling in North Devon during mid summer 2018. Below are a few images that illustrate one of the reasons we spend so much time at the waters edge in search of fish. Sometimes catching is just a bonus.
ww
Ilfracombe shore and boat sport – Summer Sun Fishing
Hot sun and crystal clear water is not ideal for all species but one fish that will feed well in these conditions is the ballan wrasse that can be caught using king ragworm, crab or prawn. Ollie Passmore landed these two colourful specimens to just over 3lb at a mark near Ilfracombe.
The calm waters are also brilliant for boat anglers with plenty of tope being caught off Ilfracombe on Charter boats and on Private boats. Toby Bassett caught this fine tope of 33lb from his own boat a cracking photo as well!
