Wednesday 30th November 2005

A number of people don't want a reply back so can I just say a big thank to those people for taking the time to send in these reports. There are a lot of happy people thanks to you!

PRINCESS PIER
By Jake Goodland

I go down princess pier nearly every day and catch loads of whiting and dogfish and the occasionally the odd conger or eel there is not much mackerel at all down there any more.

BABBACOMBE PIER
By Kyle

I went down Babbacombe pier and the place was crawling with whiting most was 6-8oz but the biggest catch was a 1 pound 3oz whiting i used mackerel and squid.

PRINCESS PIER & BABBACOMBE PIER
By Simon Baker

Went down to Princess Pier at 12pm and stayed until 2pm...was float fishing with mackerel strip as bait...NOT EVEN A BITE!!! My float never even twitched. 5 other people on the pier bottom fishing and float fishing also blanked. Not being one to quit easily, especially since i drive up from Plymouth, i left my float rod set up and headed to Babbacombe.

Within 5 mins of casting out at Babbacombe i had a garfish, waited another 1/2 hour then the mackerel showed up in force, always three or four chasing behind the one you reeled in, only two other young lads there who spent most of the time tangled but they managed a mackerel each too.

I was just about to go because it was almost dark(4:15pm) when the sea in front of the end of the pier just erupted with fish jumping, the whole bay right up to Oddicombe beach came alive. I got a few touches on the float but could not see it to strike because it was dark, we could hear the fish jumping still so i put a 25grm. dexter wedge spinner on and wallop! mackerel first and second cast, then the weirdest thing, turns out the shoaling fish were a mix of mackerel and HERRING!

I pulled out 3 herring on the dexter, big ones too, at least 6-8 ounces, very nice fried with a seasoned flour coating but i'll stop there cuz this aint Cant Cook, Wont Cook's website.

Left the pier at around 5pm cuz casting my dexter in the dark with 2 other people at the end of the pier was becoming a health hazard.

BABBACOMBE PIER
By Kyle

I went down babbacombe pier on the 23rd and the sea was crawling with whiting and baby pout this all happened at night. there was only one person there. most of the whiting were about 6oz my biggest catch was 1 pound 4oz my dads mate caught one and that was 1 pound 6oz.

Please Click here to report any news you have about the shore fishing catches in Torbay & Devon!

Sunday 20th November 2005

PRINCESS PIER
By Simon Baker

Went down to the pier saturday and sunday. Saturday stayed from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Tons of mackerel around, a couple of big ones but also some really titchy ones (stripy sardines!) and a lot of garfish that were fairly big. Was using 6lb main line, size 6 aberdeen hooks and a 5grm rennin piker float on a light spinning rod(9')with mackerel strip as bait. Tried freelining a joey mackerel but no bass.

Sunday (7:45 am to 1pm) was good too,fewer garfish and no joey's but i had five massive mackerel and loads of medium sized ones using the same methods and tackle as i did on saturday. The guys just up from me pulled in a few too, one of the mackerel looked more like a tuna!!! must have been around the 3lb plus mark...crack on my son!!! Anyway, good fishing, specially with east and north-easterly winds cuz the winds at your back, the stairs provide shelter from what wind there is , the sun was out and the water like a millpond.

PS ....last weekend was good too, i had 3 mullet off the pier on mackerel strip, biggest one was 3lb..very tasty it was too.

Please Click here to report any news you have about the shore fishing catches in Torbay & Devon!

Tuesday 15th November 2005
General Roundup

Not many reports coming in at the moment so I went hunting for some news:

Alan Fountain emailed me to let me know that the Brixham Breakwater car park charges are now back to the winter prices which is 85p for all day parking. Never a better time to head that way!

Talking of the breakwater the recent rough weather has done the job by bringing in the fish. There are still some fairly big mackerel out there as well as pollock. Not heard of any Wrasse being caught but whiting and the odd small conger are being caught.

Princess Pier is fairly quiet and the best times to fish it is when it's dark. Quite a number of dog fish can be caught at night on the bottom with mackerel. Float fishing you have pollock and some whiting.

Hopes Nose is bringing in some nice fish and some flatties as well. Again this is fishing better at night.

I've not heard anything from Meadfoot or Babbacombe pier recently.

Don't forget that Oddicombe Beach is now open to cars and while it can be very quiet down there it does throw up some very nice surprises. I've seen 3lb bass being caught a yard out, 5lb Wrasse coming in, lots of flatties and also the odd conger. This is my favorite location in the bay because you just never know what will happen during the trip out. If you've never been there it is worth checking out even if its just for the broad range of fish you can catch there.

Oddicombe Beach has a reputation of being dog fish infested but a lot of us fished there all through last winter and we rarely had any.

Please Click here to report any news you have about the shore fishing catches in Torbay & Devon!

Thursday 3rd November 2005

HOPES NOSE
By Hannah Willcocks

Spent the entire afternoon fishing and caught mackerel (which are now getting larger), gar fish and dog fish. We used feather rigs for the mackerel and garfish. Mackerel as bait for the dog fish.

Everyone fishing that day had a catch - the fish most frequently caught were dog fish and mackerel though. We even saw a large sized crab being pulled out!!

Please Click here to report any news you have about the shore fishing catches in Torbay & Devon!