South Devon anglers fighting the weather to still land great fish

We are now more than halfway through January and it looks as if fishing is following the pattern of recent years and beginning to slow down.

Sea anglers are finding the Flounders harder to find as they begin their migration out to sea to spawn, Bass are still being caught in the estuaries, although they are harder to find with all the recent Floodwater.

Freshwater anglers are finding that Carp are feeding less. Another six weeks and the weather should be warming up and plenty of fish should be coming to the nets. The rewards are there for those who put in plenty of time and effort for their sport and there are early signs that the Ray fishing could be beginning to pick up.

Anglers this week who have found a fish or two include the intrepid Chris Wagstaff from Newton Abbot who travels many miles in search of his quarry and has been rewarded with both Thornback and Small Eyed Rays from the shore from different marks on his last two trips.

Scott Harris continues to find Bass from a local estuary, whilst Sonny Butterworth found a small Conger Eel and Mitch Flloyd Reeby managed a Flounder or two. Kevin Elliot had a decent Three Bearded Rockling, a fish that doesn’t feature much in this column and the best Ray of the week is a fantastic Thornback falling to the rod of Mark Bryce.

Exmouth SAC are holding a month-long Flounder competition with Mark Hewitt, Gary Bowden and Nik Chandler frontrunners at the halfway stage with few fish being recorded.

Newton Abbot Fishing Association continue to hold matches to keep members on their toes, the latest match being fished on Bradley Pond with the victor being Sam Powell with a bag weight of 12lbs 6oz, second was Jamie Pearce with 9lbs 15oz and third was Gary Webber with 7lbs 14oz.

The bags were made up of silver fish and Perch with Gary Webber taking the best Perch, a fish of 1lb12oz. News from their committee is that bread will be allowed as bait this year on the hook but not on the surface.