Combe Martin SAC member Dale Kiff tempted this personal best smoothound scaling 15lb whilst fishing a North Devon rock mark with peeler crab. Smoothound have been a regular feature of Autumn fishing in recent season with fish caught right into the winter months.
Jamie Stewards efforts were rewarded when he landed this specimen shore caught tope of 47lb 13oz. Tope are one of the shore anglers greatest challenges and often require many hours of dedication to hook and land. The landing of such fish is often a team effort as in this case with Jamies good friend Chay Boggis lending a hand at the critical moment.
Jordan Choules took his good friend Max Cooke out on his first night session to try and get him his first bull huss and it payed off both landing Huss to around 8lbs. Both caught on squid and mackerel combos on pulley rigs presented on pulley rigs..
Bass are top of the agenda for many anglers at this time of year. Kody Chugg employed big mackerel to tempt several bass between 4lb and 6lb during recent sessions. Calm seas and easterly winds are not ideal for seeking bass but the clearly water may well make lure fishing very worthwhile. Get ready with the baits when the winds turns SW and embrace those darker evenings.
Ryan Hardman fished a North Devon rock mark to tempt a fine specimen pollock of 6lb 4oz. The fish was tempted on a whole squid bait presented on a 6/0 Aberdeen hook. Ryan was delighted to report that the sea was full of life with porpoises and jumping fish showing within a couple of hundred yards of the shoreline.
Tarrant Wotton fished a North Devon Rock mark to tempt a fine tope of 52lb 11oz. The huge fish was landed with assistance from his good friend Julian Stainer as a heavy swell made conditions difficult. The tope was returned alive after carefully weighing and photographing.
“No words can say when I pulled this bootiful girl out the water, had some epic battles in my time but the swell made her a nightmare to land but quick photos and weighing with me old mate Julien Stainer made it a pleasure to watch her swim off”
It’s been a good season for bass fishing so far with both bait and lure anglers enjoying success. There have been good numbest of quality fish too with plenty of fish in four to six pound range. As the summer moves towards autumn bigger bass normally show with double figure fish expected. Big mackerel baits anchored out in the surf are often successful.
Kody Chugg enjoyed success with bass tempting three bass over 4lb the best 6lb 4oz during the past week. All taken on large fresh mackerel baits. . He also tempted a small eyed ray off k]just under 8lb from an up channel mark.
Dan Welch enjoyed an action packed lure fishing session in rough water conditions bringing nine fish up to 55cm ( Approx 5lb) to the shore.
Ian Laird and Ali Laird enjoyed a hectic session targeting smoothound landing over twenty of the hard fighting hounds the best weighing 12lb 9oz and 10lb 8oz.
Ollie Passmore landed this specimen 13lb Spurdogs from a popular North Devon shore mark. The fish was returned after a couple of pictures and swam away strongly.