2008

Defra and the Devon Sea Fisheries would like it to be known to club members that anglers should report illegal netting if seen, in the rivers or the sea.  They can be contacted on 0800807060

23-6-08.  A good night was had by junior member Marley McCrae at the weekend.  He was fishing at Lyme Regis when a nice Wrasse took his bait, it weighed 4-4-0. 

22-6-08.  The second evening comp has just been held at Seaton and the fishing was a bit slow.  Fish caught included Dogfish, Mackerel, Plaice and Smoothounds.  Top spot in the pool went to Stefan Herbert followed by 2nd and 3rd for Mike Spiller.  Best Smoothound on the night was just over 4lb for Mike Spiller and Dave (nice one) Bowyer had a Plaice of around 1lb 8 oz.

16-6-08. The first specimen Mullet of the year has fallen to Leon Rice, fishing at Budleigh, his best reported was 4-10-0 and he had another of 4-4-0.  Both fish being taken on Bread.

More Garfish for Mike Spiller at the weekend down at Torbay with most of the fish well over the 1 lb mark.

Mike Spiller went fishing at Torbay last weekend and came away with some pretty big Garfish, most fish being around the 1lb mark but the best caught went 1-6-4.

A few Smoothounds reported from the shore in the East of the region to crab baits.  Stefan and Barry tried recently and came away with a couple the best weighing just over 8lb.

The interclub event has just been held at Branscombe against  Exmouth SAA (AKA the Ladies) Knowing full well Exmouth wanted to win the shield we helped them along nicely on the night by only weighing and recording our smallest fish, we decided to put back any fish that might give them a problem with.  Guess what it worked they went away with a nice lead of 500%.  The next stage will be easy too for them at Ferry Bridge at the end of June.  Not telling them again but most of our team will be away in Ireland !!!  WELL DONE EXMOUTH, YOU HAVE WON THE INTER-CLUB AT LAST.

Had a few txt from Top gun Colin Berry who is away in Cyprus at present.  He says its very hot at the moment (90 ish) and the Golden Grey Mullet are going crazy, with plenty being caught to just over the 1Lb mark.

Please note that if you need to get hold of Kim Gibbs his mobile number is 07974075680 and not as shown in the May newsletter. 

27-5-08.  The first of the Friday evening matches has just been fished at Budleigh. Not a great turn out for the first of 4 competitions but there was plenty caught.  Most recorded Mackerel and Doggies and the odd pouting were caught.  Dave Bowyer had the first and second place in the pool with Doggies and the DR had the third spot also with a Doggy.  

Please do not forget that the first heat of the interclub against Exmouth SAA will take place at Branscombe on the 7th June from 5pm - 11pm.  Please note there is new parking charges there now, but if you ask Mike Spiller for a window sticker you can park their for £2 for the evening.  No sticker and you will pay the going rate on parking. 

19-5-08.  The May junior shore event has just taken place at Budleigh Salterton with 3 three  juniors fishing.  A bit of a showery evening but there were plenty of Mackerel to catch to keep then occupied all night.  Most of the Mackerel came to pop ups and a few to the dexter wedges.  First place on the night went to Tom next was Callum and third was Harry.  Positions up to the May event  are :-  1/ Tom  2/Harry 3/ Callum.

12-5-08.  The May shore event has just taken place at Budleigh at the weekend.  With the weather being warm, there were more Bushes on the beach than there are in the fields !!!.  With that said there was a fair bits caught on the night with Mackerel and dogs featuring high plus there was one small Plaice caught by Stefan.  First and second spot in the pool went to Ken Sparks  and Fish Shop Phil took the third spot.  Peter Riggs had the best spot of the night he set up camp on top of the best bush on the beach !!!!!!

9-5-08.  Plenty of Mackerel being reported at all the local beaches.  Also Bass and small Smoothounds being caught at and around Seaton.

6-5-08.  Ken and Colin have been down South chasing the big Gars at the weekend.  No big ones reported but 1-1-0 was the best caught for Colin Berry.

3-5-08.  Mike Spiller and wife Bev took part in the beach clean at Exmouth at the weekend, lots of rubbish collected along with a complete gill net dug out the sand (see gallery). 

28-4-08.  The Seatown shore event has just taken place at the weekend and the fishing was not too bad. No Rays caught but there were plenty of other species caught like :- Smoothounds, Plaice, Doggies, Pout, Rockling and  Flounder.  Top rod on the night was Lee who caught 8 different species.

22-4-08.  News in on the Chessil Champs that was held at the weekend, a number of members entered and done well for fish.  Barry Codling done really well and came away with pool for the best Flatfish with a Plaice of around 2-8-0.  Well done Barry.  Perhaps he will put his pool money back and buy a few Black Ones in Ireland !!!.

21-4-08.  The Friday gang have been out and about again (the Dr, Colin and Ken) They had half a dozen Small Eyes or so with the Dr having one of 12-9-0. NICE FISH KIM and worthy of a gold medal.

14-4-08.  The Honiton presentation has just taken place at the Motel with 45 attending the buffet/Presentation and disco.  A good night was had by all.  Anyone not attending and having awards to pick up, please contact M Spiller to arrange a pick up and presentation.    

The Chessil flatty has just taken place with a entry of around 169 anglers.  I believe there were a few plaice and dabs caught on the day.  Terry Hartnell tried his luck and had 2 plaice and 1 dab and this was enough to give him 14th spot.  Well done !!!.

7-4-08.The junior comp has just taken place at Seaton with 4 juniors fishing on a bright but cold night.  Three fish were recorded a couple of small Whiting and a single Pout.  First spot went to Mat Long with 55 points and second spot went to Harry Bright with 30 points.

A few out and about fishing last weekend.  Ken, Kim and Colin tried their luck on Friday night.  Loads of Doggies around all through the night and then Kim went home as he thought that the fish were going out with the tide.  Just after the Dr left Colin landed a nice Small Eyed Ray of dead on 9lb and within 5 minutes Ken also had one of 7lb. 

1-4-08. The March shore comp has just taken place and it should of been at Bexington but due to Southerly gales (50 MPH) it was moved to Beesands for safety.  I understand there was a few Doggies caught on the night.  Top rod on the day was Dave Bowyer with two good size Doggies to take the pool.

Reports of a few Plaice coming from Chessil, Barry Codling recently had one around the 2-12-0, a good opening fish.  Lets hope for a few more next month.

16-3-08.  The Doctor (Kim) has been out again chasing those Cod again.  Found a few this time to around 3lb size plus the odd Bass.

10-3-08. The junior shore competition has just taken place in pretty bad conditions at Lyme at the weekend.  However all entering caught some fish of one shape or another on the night.  Harry Bright cleaned up on the evening recording some 6 fish, which were Pout, Dogfish and Rockling.  Total points for Harry on the night were 189 points, 2nd spot went to Steven Trenchard with 69 points and 3rd pot went to Thomas Strong with 34 points.  After 2 events Harry is in the lead with 266 points. 

27-2-08.  Three members of the club attended the Defra RSA Strategy meeting at the NFSA headquarters on Monday night.  We went along and listened and asked some questions to the meeting.  Points raised were licenses, size and numbers of fish and netting.  I ask now that you read the document and reply with your thoughts by the 31-3-08.  Do not let this chance slip by without looking at it !!!.

The first junior shore event has taken place at Lyme Regis with six juniors taking part.  The rules for the juniors are slightly different than the seniors, we now measure and release and give points per species plus points per cm.  Fish caught on the evening were Dogfish, Whiting, Pouting and Rockling.  In first place was Matt Long with 150 points   2/ Callum Hardwick 137 points 3/ Steven Trenchard 125 points 4/ Tom Strong 122 points 5/ Harry Bright 77 points 6/ Marley McCrae 10 points. In all there were 24 fish caught and the best two fish were :- Dogfish of 1.17LB for Steven Trenchard and a Whiting of .49LB for Matt Long.  

Last weekend saw the February shore event take place (2-2-08) this one is always a rover at this time of the year, the weather forecast was foul for the night with gales and heavy rain and cold !!!.  The areas fished went from Slapton and Dartmouth all the way up to Bexington.  Fish caught included Codling, Dogfish, Pout, Whiting, Pollack, Rockling and Mackerel (in Feb!!!!!)   Winner of the super pool on the evening was Terry (the Rance) Hartnell who had a combination of a Doggy and Pout to win the £50, in 2nd spot was Jim Ogbourne with a Dog and Mackerel combination from Torbay.  Winner of the normal pool for the best fish was Top Gun Colin Berry with Doggy of 2-2-0.

5-2-08.  The first competition of the year was at Slapton back in early January.  Most of the members fishing weighed in Dogfish, Whiting, Pout and there were also a few Pollack and Coalfish recorded.

5-2-08. Were back at last and on line.  Many thanks must go to the website provider that has let us down big time since the middle of December.  But thanks to Varihost we are now up and running again.

2007

22-10-07.  The Torbay Shield has just taken place at Brixham at the weekend.  The weather was not too bad with light/med S/E winds the shore venues were not too bad but the boat section on the Skerries Bank was a bit bumpy.  Winners of the event were Paignton SAA their team fished well in all the areas fished.  Honiton SAC came in in 8th place just infront of Budleigh Salterton and South Devon SAC.  Fish caught in the event were Plaice, Gurnards, Gar, Mackerel, Doggies, Trigger Fish, Bass, Whiting and Pollack.

30-10-07.  The October all nighter has taken place, the weather was bad with strong wind and wet rain for most of the night.  A few Cod were caught from Chessil before it came un fishable.  Other venues fished were Slapton, Beesands, Berry Head and Blackpool sands.  Despite the weather some good fish were reported with Cod, Whiting, Pollack, Red Mullet, Scad, Mackerel and Garfish. Top rod on the comp was specimen Sparksy (Ken) he took all three places in the pool and also won the super pool !!!!.  Kens best fish was a Mackerel of 1-12-8 and he had another slightly smaller. (picture on the gallery)

5-11-07.  Reports coming in that there are some big Mackerel around.  Barry Codling fished in the East of the region and the best one he caught was 1-12-4. 

15-11-07.  Steve Butler, Mike Spiller and two friends have just returned from Alderney from a weeks fishing on the shore.  Strong N/W winds all week did not help but there was plenty caught with Mullet, Black Bream, Codling, Sole, Bass, Pollack, Wrasse and Small Eyed Ray.  Mike Spiller took the offer of a couple of hours boat fishing around the many tide rips and returned with a fine plug caught Bass of 11-9-8 (see gallery)  

19-11-07.  The November rover has just taken place and the forecast before the match was bad, heavy rain and galeforce S/W winds so most decided to try down Slapton way plus a few tried at Budleigh before the bad weather arrived.  Fish caught included Gars, Mackerel, Whiting, Dogs and Pout.  Best fish of the day was Ken Sparks with a Doggy of around 2-0-0.  Budleigh fished fairly well on the night with Mike Spiller recording Gars,Mackerel and Whiting.  Not bad since he was home by 8pm !!! 

22-11-07.  I have just had a TXT message from the Doctor (I did) and a picture message of two nice Codling from Bexy 4lb 2oz and 3lb 12oz plus other bits and pieces on the night.

The team for the Westward has now been finalised.  It will be A Pike, T Hartnell, B Bradstock, K Sparks, B Codling, K Pike, P Abrahams and J Ogbourne.  The event will be on the 25-11-07 at or around Minehead.  GOOD LUCK TO THE TEAM.

26-11-07.  News is through that yet again we have won the Westward Festival.  The team this year were :- T Hartnell, A Pike, K Pike, B Bradstock, B Codling, P Abrahams, J Ogbourne and K Sparks, congratulation must go all of the team for another great result up on the North Coast of Somerset.   I think the fishing was slow but when the chips are down our team always try that bit harder and the rest is history.  We scored some 31 points and the second spot team could only manage 19 points, so it was a bit of a hammering really.  WELL DONE.  (Picture on the gallery)   Thanks must go to Watchet and West for a super day up on the North Coast, host club for 2008 is Beer.

3-12-07.  The last competition of the year has just taken place at the weekend.  It should have been at Abbottsbury but due to very strong S/W winds and rain it was moved to Slapton/Beesands.  The fishing was pretty good really with plenty of fish being caught like Bull Huss, Dogfish, Whiting, Garfish, Smoothound and Pout, not bad when the wind was blowing around 30/40 mph !!!.  The best fish was a Doggy of 2-4-0 for Stefan Herbert and the next best not far behind was a Bull Huss of 8-5-0 (weighed and returned on the beach) for Micky Keane (see gallery)  This event also was for the Xmas prizes of Turkey and Beef (many thanks to Terry Hartnell for sorting them out)  These prizes were awarded down to 7th place, I cant remember who won what but Mick came first and Stefan picked up the 2nd spot.

Not sure how anglers know but there is a new tackle shop open in Honiton in Black Lion Court.  Its called Otter Country Sports and its run By Neil Loomes.  Pop in some time and have a look, there were Peeler and Ragworm as well as the normal frozen bait on offer last weekend.

11-12-07.  Ken Sparks and Colin Berry fished down in the South Hams last weekend.  A few Doggies and a few Whiting were caught along with a Bull Huss for Ken which weighed 8-8-0 on the beach.

18-12-07.  The last junior event of the year took place at the weekend.  Lyme Regis was the venue on a bitterly cold evening, 4 junior anglers turned up to fish which is encouraging.  Fish caught were Pouting and Rockling.  Thanks must go to the three new juniors who turned up on such a cold night (see gallery)  lets hope we see you at the signing on night on the 3-1-08 at the motel at 7-30pm.