Kevin Pike has set a new Appledore Shipbuilders Club record boating a huge tope of 58lb whilst fishing from a Private boat off the North Devon Coast. Kevin also boated a tope of 41lb 8oz. Jack Pike fishing on the same trip boated a personal best of 47lb and Cameron Atkinson a tope of 45lb. The trip saw four tope boated for a total weight of over 186lb! It is also good to hear that mackerel were plentiful.
Thomas Atkinson won Appledore Shipbuilders Boat Competition with a fine smoothound of 17lb 10oz. Andrew Atkinson was second with a hound of 13lb 4oz and third Michael Hammett with a hound of 12lb 6oz.
Appledore Shipbuilders enjoyed a great good day on the hounds with the average size around 9lb they also had a couple of tope around the 20-25lb mark along with a few small pollack and a few small huss.
Anglers are also finding goof sport off Ilfracombe aboard Dan Hawkins boat Reel Deal with beautiful weather and flat calm seas hard fishing at times but some good early sport The Tope are starting to show more often now along with Huss, dogs and bass.
It seems that summer fishing is on its way with smoothound moving into their summer haunts and putting bends in anglers rod at last after what has been a difficult spring. There have also been a few bass tempted from marks around Ilfracombe with fish tempted on lures in the clearing water.
Bideford Monthly Rover results
1st Andrew Clements wrasse 4 lb 9oz 91.250%
2nd Terry Dymond smooth-hound 8 lb 8oz 85%
3rd Taz Watton thornback 7 lb 1oz 78.472%
Appledore Shipbuilders Rover
Smoothound dominated the results for Appledore Shipbuilders with Michael Toogood securing top spot with a fine hound of 14lb 2.75oz.
1st Michael Toogood smoothound 14lb 2 3/4oz
2nd Kevin Pike smoothound 9lb 15 1/4oz
3rd Jazza John smoothound 9lb 1/2oz
Junior angler Jack Pike set a new Junior Club Record with a hound of 13lb 7 5/8oz.
The coming weekend sees Combe Martin SAC hosting the annual Putsborough beach open. The warmer condtions should have brought small eyed ray into the shallows where they feed primarily on sandeels.
Presents Our
Saturday May 12th
Fishing From 9.30pm to 1.30am
And Many Other Donated Prizes
2 Rods, 4 Hooks, Specimen Sizes
Entry £5 plus £1 Pool Best Brace
Phone Nick 814703 Or Wayne 850586
For More Details Please Check www.cmsac.co.uk Or Our Facebook Page
Please Respect Putsborough & Remove All Litter
Sea anglers are certainly having a lean time with just three fish weighed into Bideford Angling Clubs Monthly Rover. Dick Talbot dominated the results with a brace of wrasse for first and second weighing 3lb 13oz and 3lb 6oz. Andrew Clements took third spot with a spotted ray of 3lb 1/4oz. In Appledore Shipbuilders Rover the eighteen competing anglers failed to find a fish big enough to bother the scales. Several members of the club ventured to south coast venues in search of plaice where they enjoyed some success but none above the qualifying weight for the scales.
As temperatures start to creep up fishing should improve and the first bass should soon be caught from the lower estuary. The local surf beaches will produce ray that move inshore to feed on sandeel in the surf. Grey mullet are already present along the coast and the first thin-lipps should be in the estuary’s as soon as the flood water subsides. Rough ground marks on the coast will yield bull huss and the occasional conger.
Anglers fishing Ilfracombe Pier with small worm baits can expect plaice and dabs.
Dogfish will provide plenty of rattles on the rod tips.
Barnstaple Triple Hook Club – Windy Shield Trophy competition was won by Mark Hancock with a dogfish of 2lb 13/4oz. In runner up spot was Dennis Toleman with a dogfish of 2lb 3/4oz. Dennis also told me that he caught a tasty codling of around 3lb 8oz.
Bideford Angling Clubs 24 Hour Rover
1st Dick Talbot Thornback ray 9 lb 6oz 104.166%
2nd Nathan Clements small-eyed ray 9lb 5 103.472%
3rd kyle Blackmore spur 9lb 14oz 98.750%
Appledore Shipbuilders Winter League
Graham Snow specializes in catching grey mullet and proves that they are now an all round year round species to target.
1st – Graham Snow – grey mullet 3lb 47/8oz
2nd – Graham Snow – Grey Mullet 3lb 41/2oz
3rd Cameron Atkinson – whiting 151/8oz
A good weigh in for both Bideford Angling Club and Appledore Shipbuilders. A bitter North East Wind is never promising but if the fish are there it proves they can be tempted.
Bideford Rover and the End of Season competition
End of season results
1st Tarrant Wotton bull huss 11 lb 11oz
2nd Dan Redmore spur 10 lb 15oz
Rover results
1st Tarrant Wotton bull huss 11 lb 11oz
2nd Phil Vanstone rockling 1lb 8oz
3rd Steve found rockling 1lb 4oz
4th graham snow mullet 3 lb
5th Nathan Clements dogfish 2lb 0 1/2oz
6th Dick Talbot rockling 1lb
APPLEDORE SHIPBUILDERS ROVER RESULTS
1st – Jazzer John – Flounder 1lb 9oz
2nd – Graham Snow – Grey Mullet 3lb
3rd – Jazzer John – Flounder 1lb 6oz
Ragworm have been hard to dig this year which may have contributed to a slightly lower than normal attendance of twenty six in Appledore Shipbuilders Christmas Competition. Fishing was steady with only two members not being able to tempt a flounder and 55 fish brought back to the scales with the majority returned after being weighed. The winner of this year’s competition and taking home the trophy and the XL turkey was Terry Dymond who caught a fine flounder of 1lb 12, the runner up was Theresa Babb who pushed Terry close with a 1lb 11 1/8ozs, in third was David Langbridge with a flounder of 1lb 10 1/4ozs. Best fish by a Junior was Chelsea Babb with a flounder of 1lb 9 3/8ozs.
Many thanks to James Atkinson for his report on their successful presentation night. Congratulations to all the winners.
Bideford Angling Clubs twenty four Hour Rover was won by Nathan Clements with a fine conger of 28lb 3.5oz.(Pictured above) In second place was Lee Watts with a spotted ray of 3lb 6.5oz and in third Lee Watts with a dogfish of 2lb 2oz.
Appledore Shipbuilders 24 hour Rover was won by Josh Atkinson with a small-eyed-ray of 5lb 15oz(Below). Runner up was Graham Snow with a thick lipped grey mullet of 2lb 12oz.
Ross Stanway took the top two places Combe Martin SAC’s Lee to Lee Competition with conger of 16lb 12oz and 14lb 8oz.
In third place was James Thomas with a dogfish of 1lb 13oz. Jack Phillips took forth place with a smoothound of 5lb 4oz a surprise catch from Combe Martin’s Bottom Deck probably the first of this species ever landed from this mark. (Below)
Several quality fish were also landed over the weekend by anglers not fishing in club competitions. Dale Kiff landed a fine conger of 19lb 14oz.
Kody Chugg Fished an up channel mark to land a personal best small eyed ray of 7lb 10oz. (Below)
g 
Jazza John secured the top spots in Appledore Shipbuilders monthly rover with flounder scaling 1lb 105/8oz and 1lb 93/4oz. In third was James Atkinson with a whiting scaling 157/8oz. Jack Pike took first and second in the junior section with flounder of 1lb and 157/8oz.
Antony Smith weighed in a thick-lipped grey mullet of 3lb 2 1/2oz that was the only fish weighed into Bideford Angling Clubs Monthly Sea Rover. The fish was tempted on a half a side of mackerel. Grey Mullet were once considered a summer species but recent seasons have seen the species caught all year round from marks along the North Devon Coast.
Large numbers of small conger and dogfish are proving a nuisance out on the open coast with baits devoured before larger specimens get a chance,