Anglers brave the storms to land Huss, Rays and a 40lb Tope

Storms Austen and Boelo arrived with a bang just before the weekend, disrupting many a good plan to get out and catch some fish. However, a small window of opportunity opened on Sunday, allowing a few brave souls to venture out and enjoy some success.

Tristan Rowe fished a Torbay rock mark and had a fantastic day catching bull huss. Although none were particularly large, he landed eight fish weighing up to 8lb, leaving little to complain about.

Jeremy Blunt landed a ballan wrasse estimated at 3–4lb, while Russell Cooper was celebrating after catching his first-ever shore-caught small-eyed ray, weighing an impressive 8lb 12oz.

James Trevett, of Honiton SAC, managed a trip to Cornwall just before the storms arrived. Having failed to land a tope on his previous outing, he was delighted to put that right this time with a fantastic fish weighing 40lb. This adds to his impressive tally of more than 40 fish caught from boats this year.

Tony White also took advantage of the break in the weather to fish the River Dart. He enjoyed a great day's fishing, landing plenty of fish, but his most important contribution came when he spotted someone in an overturned inflatable kayak, shouting for help and apparently stuck in the river.

Tony immediately called the coastguard on 999, and the RNLI soon arrived on the scene to rescue the man.

This incident highlights the importance of remaining vigilant when on or around the water. You never know when your actions could help save someone's life.

Since the new owners took over Newbarn Farm Angling Centre a couple of years ago, plenty of work has been carried out around the complex, and improvements continue.

As Torbay's only coarse fishery, it offers a great place to spend a day's fishing for just £10 per person. The specimen lake holds fish weighing just over 30lb, and several of the other pools have also benefited from stocking.

Further stocking took place recently, with mirror, common, F1 and crucian carp added, along with tench, chub and even barbel. This should make for some interesting fishing, and I look forward to trying my luck there next year.

Newton Abbot FA has held a couple of matches recently, both at Bradley Pond.

The first was round four of the silver fish league, which saw Phil Woodhouse win Section A with a weight of 12lb 4oz, while Shane Harper took Section B with 12lb 12oz. Bream, roach and skimmers were caught using pole tactics. The biggest perch of the match weighed 1lb 2oz and was landed by Lee Dance.

The other match was the Tuesday Rover Sweepstake, which was won by Nigel Jeffrey with a total of 16lb, made up of skimmers caught on the feeder.

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