Rob Scoines and Kody Chugg enjoyed success with thornback ray at a popular rock mark higher up the Bristol Channel. They landed eight ray to 8lb 1oz! The big advantage of fishing up channel is that dogfish are scarce so if you catch its generally ray or codling that take the bait.
Exe Valley Fishery is fishing well in this mild December weather with catch and release options ensuring anglers get the opportunity to enjoy superb value. Throughout the year the trout can be tempted using small immitative patterns the fact that the trout are sometimes slightly more discerning could well be because of tne catch and release policy. One of the joys of these small still waters is that they allow anglers of all ages to enjoy time beside the water as in the case of 81 year old Jim Hattin pictured further diown the page.
WINTER PERMIT OFFER – Buy 4 permits and have your 5th outing on Exe valley!
Don’t forget our Winter Permit Offer starts on the 27th December 2018
We are pleased to be able to announce a Winter Fishing Permit Offer *(subject to T&Cs) to those of you who would like to support the fishery when the fishing is great … but the weather isn’t the most pleasant!
From Thursday 27th December 2018 to Sunday 31st March 2019 inclusive BUY 4 PERMITS & GET THE 5th PERMIT – FREE!!! You are free to choose whatever 5th permit you like … the deal is you must visit and pay for 4 full price permits within the allotted time published above, that’s it!
* Terms & Conditions 1) Pre-paid gift voucher permits DO NOT qualify for this offer. 2) All permits MUST be completed in full to register as a visit. 3) Return slips MUST be completed at the end of each session to register as a visit. 4) A permit purchased and not matched to a return slip will not be counted. 5) ONE FREE PERMIT of the anglers choice (C&R, 2, 3, 4 or 5 fish) will be issued after 4 full price visits subject to the T&Cs 6) The FREE permit will be valid for one visit only which must be taken by 30th April 2019 7) This offer can be enjoyed more than once between 27/12/18 & 31/03/19 – e.g. Fish 8 times and receive 2 FREE PERMITS 8) The FREE permit is non-transferable and has no cash value.
(Above) Blair Woodlland with a cracker taken on Saturday 22nd, December . He and his 3 mates caught and returned 40 fish between them including several on dries!
(Right)Steve Edmonds took part in our Christmas prize draw and was first out of the hat, having fished with the South Molton club a couple of weeks ago. He went home with a hamper worth £50. Well done Steve, we hope you enjoy!
(Below) Eighty-one year old Jim Hatim was undergoing surgery just last week and yet a few days later he was enjoying the mild December weather and looking very pleased with these three prime rainbows.
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The festive holiday will give many anglers the opportunity to visit the shoreline where there is a variety of species worth targeting. Bull huss,. spurdog and tope will be top of the wish list for many with codling also worth targeting epiecially up channel around Minehead and beyond. Harbours are well worth a try using light tackle tactics for grey mullet a species that are now present all year around.
(Above) Shuan Quartly landed this bull huss of 11lb 6oz on recent trip to a North Devon Rock Mark.
(Above) Mark Jones visited a beach in the Minehead area to land five codling to 4lb in a short session over low water.
(Above) John Shapland targetted grey mullet with success landing this sliver flanked specimen from a North Devon harbour.
(Above) James Grigg with an 11lb 1oz spurdog caught from a local rock mark on a whole whiting bait.
Stafford Moors Christmas Match on Tanners and Woodpecker lakestook place on a miserable grey day for anglers but not too bad for fishing I suspect. The winner of the Christmas Match 2018 was Mr Andy Dare who bagged himself 107lb 9oz from peg 1 on Tanners lake well done Andy! In second place was Mark Cullerton with 81lb 10oz from peg 20 on Woodpecker lake. In third place was Tom Downing peg 10 on Tanners with 99lb 5oz. In forth place was Nathan Underwood with 62lb 9oz from peg 16 on Woodpecker lake.
Many thanks to all who have contributed news and images over the past twelve months. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and tight lines in 2019.
Matt Whalley and friend Matt who had eight carp from the double swim 1 on lodge lake caught on Mad baits addiction pop ups over a bed of monster particle and custom made corn mix and also A2 baits banoffee again over monster particle hemp and Maize.
Steve Pinn posted these splendid images of North Devon carp lakes capturing that essence of the sport that is so often overlooked as anglers pose with their big fish.
Autumn and winter reflections.
Nathan Clements enjoyed success on a North Devon rock enjoying the fresh air instead of the crowds of Factory Friday. This conger scaled 23lb 13oz and is one of the biggest shore caught eel reported so far this autumn. The biggest eels of the winter often show after Christmas so lets hope there are a few more to come. So far this autumn there have been large numbers of small eels that are nuisance but are perhaps a good sign for the future?
(Below) Young Charlie Stanway will be hoping for some chips to go with this cod he caught at Ilfracombe whilst fishing with his Dad.
Prospects for the Festive period are excellant with South West Winds and mild conditions. Matt Jeffery tempted a tope of 25lb 4oz and I expect one or two more of these toothy critters to show over the christmas holiday period along with spurdog and huss.
(Below) Ian laird landed this spurdog on a recent trip and is hoping to hook a bigger one before the winter is over.
Kevin Legge as a well earned reputation for catching specimen fish from the North Devon shoreline and having fished with Kev for close to forty years I know he is meticulous in his preparation and leaves nothing to chance. Kevin has been testing the latest terminal tackle from Veals Mail Order and sent me this short article.
I have been asked recently about wire traces for toothy critters. I have been using the Mason Wire for a few years now in 175lb b.s this wire is both strong and extremely kink resistant a plus when the straps and dogfish are about in plague proportions.For hooks I use good old Varivas extras or the recent catfish hook. I have always been a fan of stainless steel swivels and the latest from Seadra are exceptionally robust with the 1/0 crane swivel rated at 525lb! To connect the trace to hook and swivel I have been using Seadra double barrel crimps 1.2mm. The crimped joints are protected using Mustard shrink tube (3mm) this creates a neat finish and protects the fingers from shards of wire that can give a nasty cut.
At snaggy marks Kevin often uses a single hook instead of the more commonly used Pennel rig.
John Jobson enjoyed a fantastic day winter carp fishing at Stafford Moor landing a trio of carp weighing 23lb 7oz, 20lb 5oz and 20lb 10oz. The fish were all tempted using Krill Boilies over pellet.
