COMBE MARTIN SAC – Putsborough Open 2024
Huss and conger on the prowl
Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge enjoyed success from North Devon rock marks landing this double figure bull huss of 11lb 3oz and a specimen conger of 26lb 9oz.
Kyle Tempts Big North Devon Cod
Combe Martin SAC Member Kyle Bishop tempted this fine 18lb 5oz cod from a North Devon rock mark. The cod is one of the biggest caught from the coast in over a decade. Kyle tells me that the fish was long and thin and would have weighed considerably more if it was in top condition.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s twenty pound plus cod were a regular feature of catches along the North Devon Coast. Recent decades have seen the fish almost disappear from this area. Cod numbers have been holding up further up channel but there is concern that numbers are starting to decline there too. The recent cod boat fishing competition held at Minehead saw just two cod registered from most of the Minehead Charter Fleet. This will undoubtedly result in the competition format changing in future years to reflect this and other species will be targeted.
Rare Shore Caught skate sets new club record
Combe Martin SAC member Kyle Bishop set a new club record when he caught a rare blue skate from the North Devon shoreline. The fish weighing 13lb 8oz beats the existing club record of 8lb 3oz caught in 2020 by Jamie Steward. Skate are a very rare catch from North Devon waters. These fish can grow to well over 200lb and were once common in the Bristol Channel with fish recorded from numerous North Devon ports in the Victorian era.
Kyle has also added specimen tope of 36lb 15oz and a spurdog of 10lb 5oz to his New Year tally following on from last season when he knotched up a very impressive list of specimen captures.
Kyle finds tope, huss and ray
Combe Martin SAC Member Kyle Bishop continues to find specimen fish along the North Devon Coast.
“Picked my tides and weather last month and fishing some new marks, payed off Nicely with four Tope to 37lb didn’t weigh the smaller ones nice smalleye and a pleasing white Huss”.
Huss and tope for Ollie Passmore
Combe Martin SAC member Ollie Passmore has been enjoying success from the North Devon Shoreline tempting this 37lb 6oz tope and 12lb 11oz Bull Huss,
“Absolutely buzzing to finally catch a PB tope a few weeks back weighing 37lb 6. After sadly loosing a couple this year it made it all that much sweeter. Nothing can beat the feeling of seeing that reel screaming and the rod bent over!!
Top terminal tackle as always from @sakuma_fishing doing the business again!”
Ray and shark for Combe Martin SAC Member
Combe Martin SAC member Mark Jones enjoyed a trip up channel to catch a specimen thornback ray of 13lb 10oz.
Mark has also been targetting porbeagle shark from his own boat hooking several fine fish the best calculated at 265lb.
Massive Tope from North Devon Shoreline
Combe Martin SAC member Kyle Bishop has caught a massive shore caught tope weighing 61lb 9oz. The huge specimen was tempted from a North Devon rock mark and is the biggest tope caught from the North Devon shoreline in thirteen years. This year is proving to be an exceptional year for predators with large amounts of bait fish in the region and some excellant shark fishing off-shore. Congratulations to Kyle on landing such a superb specimen and getting an excellent picture of the fish. Below is Kyles own account of the capture of a very special fish.
“Well after not sea fishing for a few months putting a few hrs in on the flyrod, I was getting the bug to chuck a few big baits, early last month got on phone to Tyler Roffey after seeing some bad weather coming through big swells and strong sw winds, we set out on a short window before it got to rough to fish a local mark. Got on the mark just as it was getting light set up 1 rod blasted big maki bait out for tope, set fly rod up for bass after 15mins Tys shouting my rod was going, running across the rocks to find rod in full arch and line peeling off, first run was incredible put some drag on and managed to turn her, after a back n forth battle Ty went down and put it straight in the net, I dropped down to give him a hand when I realised what we had, quickly sorted scales and sling, she went 61lb 9oz first cast back in to the big blue and a new personal best 
quick pic and back she went, fish of a lifetime still buzzing now and believe I’m only the second ever person to have a 60lber from the shore on the north Devon coast line yes now top man Ty for landing it and pics”
Jamie Steward – Big Fish and fundraising
Combe Martin SAC member Jamies Steward is having a good run at the moment tempting this fine specimen smoothound of 13lb 3oz on his latest trip to the coast. He also caught a specimen thin lipped mullet of 4lb 14oz from the Taw estuary.
Jamie and his family have been raising funds for the RNLI following a near miss on the coast during the winter. Jamie has organised various events including two raffles and a 100km charity walk that have raised over £1700 for the Ilfracombe RNLI. The local angling community have been generous in supporting Jamies efforts appreciating the wonderful work undertaken by the RNLI.
