JUNIOR ENTRY £5.00 with Junior prize and choice from prize table.
1st Andrew Clements Wrasse 4lb 4 1/2oz 95.138%
2nd Stephen Found Wrasse 4lb 2 1/4oz 92.013%
3rd Andrew Clements Wrasse 3lb 9 3/4oz 80.207%
4th Paul Ackland Dog 2lb 4oz 75%
Award winner for 2023 were as follows :-
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Runner up Jamie Steward
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top four boat specimens
Mark Jones –
| bass | 9lb 1oz | 113.281 | B |
| porbeagle | 265lb | 151.43 | B |
| tope | 36lb | 90 | B |
| pollock | 7lb 4oz | 72.5 | B |
| 427.211 |
Species competition Format
Subsequent years will be as per calendar year
9 . Prizes upfront
1st, 2nd , 3rd
Season Ticket for aquarium ( Family TBC)
£25.00 Voucher High Street Tackle
Voucher for local butchers ( TBC)
Entries to be sent to Fish Recorder Wayne Thomas or Toby Bassett.
Photos required clearly showing fish, captor and location.
League will be kept updated by Fish Recorder and in addition to individual entries a tally will kept as a club tally as a collective team effort.
Will try and arrange a few pop up species days throughout the year to encourage social interaction with members.
Bideford Sea Rover October rover results
1st Antony Smith Thornback Ray 12lb 8oz 138.888%
2nd Nathan Clements Bull Huss 8lb 14 1/2oz 89.062%
3rd Andrew Clements Thornback Ray 7lb 10oz 84.722%
I often comment that one of the joys of sea angling is the unexpected. During late Autumn and winter the coast certainly has a few surprises along with the target species. Kevin Legge tempted this specimen pouting of 1lb 9oz on a recent visit to the shoreline.
The beaches can still produce bass when the conditions are right but its not always bass that find the bait. This small turbot was a welcome surprise on a recent trip.
This conger estimated at 18lb put a good bend in Kevin legges rod on recent session on the rocks.
On the same session I was pleased with this small spotted ray.
December mullet were once rare yet mullet fishing now seems well worth the effort throughout the entire year.
North Devon’s anglers have been relishing the lifting of lockdown and heading to the water’s edge where social distancing is easy to undertake. Sea anglers have not found the fishing easy with high pressure and north east winds not generally conducive to good fishing. Most anglers have just been glad to once again smell the sea air and be there fishing. Smoothound have provided some exciting sport with Chay Boggis landing a specimen of 13lb 7oz and Kody Chugg a hound of 10lb 6oz.
David Jenkins and Charlie enjoyed a successful beach session landing ray, bass and smoothound.
Several bass have succumbed to lure fishing tactics on the coast and in the estuary.
Wrasse are a fish that always respond to clear water and several have been caught from the kelp strewn gullies of the open coast. Anglers fishing soft plastic lures slowly through rough ground can tempt wrasse a tactic that is often underused on the North Devon coast where bait fishing tactics have traditionally reigned supreme.
Grey mullet are showing from both coast and estuary providing exciting and challenging sport on light tackle.
Eighteen club members took part in Combe Martin SAC’s Blow Away the Excess competition over four days with shore and boat an option. Ross Stanway secured first and second place taking home over £90 for a blonde ray of 14lb 1oz and a conger of 18lb 4oz. Dave Brooke was third with a bull huss of 8lb. Mark Jones landed a spurdog of 7lb 13oz.
Combe Martin SAC member Ian laird landed this stunning 39lb 12oz from a North Devon rock mark. This is the second tope caught this week and bodes well for the coming weeks with more anglers hitting the shoreline over the festive period. I will take this opportunity to remind anglers of the dangers of shore fishing with cold water, surging waves and big fish a dangerous cocktail.
There are some good fish coming in along the North Devon coast at the moment with conger, bull huss, blonde ray and spurdog, It is important that those reading this get a true perspective as these fish generally require effort to catch. I obviously get to see lots of good fish to report on and I too sometimes get over optimistic when I set out onto the shoreline. Last night was a typical session when I joined fellow CMSAC member Rob Scoines at a local rock mark. We were both optimistic on arrival at our chosen mark but after close to five hours we had managed seven or eight small conger (commonly known as straps or bootlaces) and a solitary pollock. My own catch rate was undoubtedly impacted upon by my choice of 8/0 hooks and wire trace with several traces coming back as twisted tangles following the small eels attempts to eat the large baits.
There are often plenty of trips to the shoreline that bring little reward but its all part of the long term game. Put in the hours; sit back watch those rod tips for before long they will nod, the reel will scream and the rod will bend. Below are a few catches from this week.
