Stormy waters for the angling community

Autumn continues to batter us with its usual storms, my last three boat trips have all been cancelled due to high winds.
As ever, in our wonderful but crazy sport, a handful of hardy individuals have ventured out and managed to find a few fish. Newton Abbot FA members have fished a couple of competitions, firstly the Wednesday rover, which was fished on Linhay pond with Duncan Arnold taking the honours with 13lbs 8oz, Gary Webber second with 10lbs 10oz and Jack Palmer third with 8lbs 4oz.
This was followed on Sunday with a match on Bradley Pond where the honours went to Lee Dance with 14lbs 4oz with Freddie Holding and Shene Harper taking the next two places with 14lbs 2oz and 12lbs 12oz respectively. The mild temperatures mean that those who fish for Carp and Tench are still catching plenty around the Rackerhayes complex.
With news coning through that the Environment Agency have successfully prosecuted 12 anglers in the South-East for not having a Rod licence, perhaps I should remind everyone that to fish in freshwater any one over the age of thirteen must be in possession of one, they are free up to the age of sixteen. Not having one can result in a fine and a criminal record.
Sea Anglers seem to have been struggling a bit, although Cod are being caught to the East of our region and when conditions are right anglers are successfully fishing for squid either for the pan or to freeze down for winter bait.
Chris Sweetland and his son Archie braved the Bristol Channel with Chris finding a Small Eyed ray of10lbs 8oz and Archie a Thornback Ray of 8lbs. Dan Patrick fished a rock mark on the South coast a managed to get amongst some Thornback Rays.
An angler Known only as Sam landed a new boat record Smoothhound aboard Orca, a fish weighing 9lbs 13oz. Tony White has been out with his favoured lures after a short break and has found plenty of Bass from the open coast although these have been mostly small.
The Flounder season is upon us and with come the usual round of competitions. Firstly the National Flounder competition at Teignmouth on November 9 and 10 with a first prize of £1,250. The next is the AK Construction competition at the Kingsbridge Estuary on December 9 and 10 with a £1,000 first prize and the Kingsbridge and District SAC competition on January 6 with a £200 first prize.
The winner of our Fish of the Month competition kindly sponsored by Sidewinder Lures and Newbarn Angling centre will be announced next week, entries are now being taken for November. Please send pictures and catch details by email to johnsherlockfish@gmail.com