South Molton Anglers boat trip off Clovelly aboard Independent charters saw members enjoy a variety filled day with several species coming to the boat including tope,mackerel, horse mackerel, bull huss, pollock, bass, black bream, pouting and the inevitable dogfish. Club sea trip co-ordinator Eddie Rand’s declared ‘good weather and good company!’
Combe Martin SAC Member Derek Ferret fished a local beach to land this superb bass scaling 13lb 3oz. The fish was tempted using Ammo Frozen mackerel and was returned alive after weighing and photographing. This is the third big double I have heard of so far this season a promising omen as we are still early in the season regarding bass with the best yet to come!
I hope to have better pictures of this fine fish in a couple of days.
Liam Stevens has landed one of the biggest bass so far this season a fine specimen of 15lb 8oz that was landed from a shore mark in the Ilfracombe area. The fish was tempted using mackerel presented on a 3/0 hook on a running ledger set up. Liam had persisted after suffering from a large amounts of weed fouling his line the previous night. The fish was weighed and witnessed by Peter Read and photos taken by Ben partridge. Liam is a member of Combe Martin Sea Angling Club.
The remaining months of the year are sure to turn up large specimen bass with many marks along the North Devon coast capable of producing fish to make anglers dreams come true.
David Atkinson won Appledore Shipbuilders Monthly Rover with a fine gilthead bream scaling 4lb 53/8oz. Runner up spot was secured by Steve Ford with a gilthead of 4lb 2.75oz and in third was Josh Atkinson with a smoothound scaling 6lb 15oz. In the Junior section it was Chelsea Babb that took the prizes with a ballan wrasse of 3lb 3.75oz.
Top fish of the week was a stunning bass taken from a local beach scaling 12lb 9.75oz by Paul Downing.
Eighteen anglers fished Appledore Shipbuilders Bass comp at Westward Ho. Fishing was made difficult with large amounts of weed fouling the lines. Despite this four fish were landed with Paul Downing the winner with a bass of 6lb 61/2oz. In runner up spot was Cameron Atkinson with a bass of 5lb 1/2oz. In third place was Steve Ford with a bass of 4lb 14oz.
Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge landed this fine bass of 9lb 2oz from a local beach. The fish was tempted using Ammo mackerel and returned alive to the sea. I expect to see a few double figure fish caught over the coming months on both lures and baits. Big baits after dark on the beaches have a proven track record though there is plenty of room for experiment with bass that can be tempted using a wide range of tactics. Big bass venture into surprisingly shallow water where free-lined baits on light tackle can bring surprising results?
Anglers gathered at the club house for the best weigh in for several months with some fine fish visiting the scales.
Callum Gove fished the Upper estuary with a baited spinner intended for thin lipped grey mullet and hooked into a hard fighting bass of 7lb 7.5oz. It is not unheard of to hook large bass whilst targetting thin lipped grey mullet and from time to time double figure bass are landed by anglers trying something different.