An early morning session produced just the one take in weedy waters on a flooding tide. The bass of 68cm was tempted on a weightless mega-bass spindle worm and propels Wayne Thomas into a narrow lead in Combe Martins SAC’s Lure fishing competition sponsored by High Street Tackle.
1st – 3 bass 68cm 66.5cm 64cm Total 198.5cm. Wayne Thomas
2nd – 3 bass 68cm 66cm 61cm Total 195cm Daniel Welch
A bass of 66.5cm caught on a mega-bass spindle worm has moved Wayne Thomas into second place in Combe Martin SAC’s Lure Fishing Competition that runs until the end of October. The fish was one of two bass caught during a short evening session.
I joined South Molton Angling Club for an evening at Instow where members tried their luck with both Fly and lure tactics. It was an enjoyable evening but no bass were tempted. Fortunately the Cricket Club gave a chance for members to discuss tactics for next time over a welcome pint.
The following night I headed out onto the coast where I enjoyed more success. Early into the session I tempted a small bass on a surface lure and went on to tempt four more after dark on a soft plastic. The best of these a nice fish of 64cm that will be enjoyed pan fried with just a sprinkling of pepper.
Combe Martin SAC Lure Competition – fish registered so far.
Daniel Welch has secured a lead in Combe Martin SAC’s Lure competition with three quilifying bass totalling 159cm. It is very early days in the competition that runs until October 29th and is sponsored by High Street Tackle. With the settled conditions and big tides over the coming weeks I expect several bass to be registered. It could be that a glut of spider crab will result in the bass moving away from the lures for a few weeks.
The clubs is also running a best mixed brace competition throughout July sponsored by Braunton Baits.
Combe Martin SAC member Peter Robinson registered this 62cm bass into the clubs lure competition. The fish was tempted on Peters Private boat and was tempted using a Savage Gear Sandeel.
Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Putsborough Open was once again a resounding success despite a forecast of less than favourable conditions and slightly disappointing numbers of quality fish. It was great to hold the event again after two years of interruption due to the COVID pandemic.
Competitors chat before the match
A massive swell had been pushing into the North Devon Coast over the previous couple of days casting doubt on the wisdom of proceeding with the event. Putsborough is however sheltered to some extent from a westerly wind and does not have such a severe swell as some neighbouring beaches. With high pressure starting to build and the wind set to ease the club decided to take a chance and proceed with the event. As luck would have it the forecast was correct and the wind eased though the swell was still a little challenging.
Thirty-two anglers signed in and it was great to see familiar faces once again from the North Devon angling fraternity. The competitors spread out across the vast expanse of sand some pitching up closer to Woolacombe than Putsborough. The beach was littered with brightly coloured jellyfish.
A stunning sunset was enjoyed by all as tackle was prepared and hooks laden with bait.
(Image) Scott Wallace(Image) Scott Wallace(Image – Scott Wallace)
The fishing proved slow with dogfish dominating catches. Two good sized smoothound took the top two places with Ryan Hardman winning and taking the top prize of £100 plus specimen pool and a choice from the prize table. Kevin Legge was runner up with a smoothound of 7lb 4oz. A couple of small bass were tempted the best a bass of 2lb 8oz for Gareth Pike.
Thank you to Scott Wallace for providing a few additional images of the night.
Kevin Legge with his smoothound of 7lb 4oz.
The club would like to give a big thank you to the sponsors; Sakuma Tackle, Quay Sports, HIgh Street Tackle and Braunton Baits. I am sure those who took part appreciated the superb range of prizes for the winners listed below.
1st Ryan Hardman smoothound 7lb 10oz
2nd Kevin Legge smoothound 7lb 4oz
3rd Shaun Kersey dogfish 2lb 6oz
4th Arron Brooker dogfish 1lb 15oz
5th Antony Smith dogfish 1lb 14oz
6th David Brooke dogfish 1lb 12oz
7th Gareth Pike dogfish 1lb 12oz
8th Antony Smith dogfish 1lb 11oz
9th Wayne Thomas dogfish 1lb 10oz
10th Gareth Pike dogfish 1lb 9oz
11th Nick Phillips dogfish 1lb 8oz
12th Nathan Clements dogfish 1lb 7.5oz
13th Arron Brooker dogfish 1lb 7oz
14th James Corner dogfish 1lb 6oz
15th John Johnson dogfish 1lb 6oz
Best bass – Gareth Pike 2lb 8oz
Combe Martin SAC give thanks to all those who made the effort to take part and to the landowners at Putsborough who gave permission for use of the car park free of charge out of hours,
