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Baywater Anglers – March 2024 Schedule
While we are usually pretty lucky with the weather, there are times when it is pouring with rain or blowing a gale. In these conditions it is not much fun fishing - and sometimes unsafe to do so - meaning that the best thing to do is to cancel the event. Consequently, if the weather looks dodgy and an event looks in danger of being cancelled, the best thing to do is to phone me on my mobile number – 07704 602180 – beforehand to check and see if it is on. For any new members, if you wish to borrow tackle for an event, please let me know at least two days before the event starts.
SPECIES
HUNT
Tying the
Pulley Rig
   Just a reminder that our new club year started on the 1st January so club subs were due then. I hope that you enjoyed your year with the club and would like to join again and, if you would like to, would be grateful if you could please get them in to the club as soon as possible. However, if you do choose not to renew, you will be missed! Please note, the exception to the paying of subscription fees is if you joined the club between October and December, 2023. If you did, then you will get deferred membership with no further subs due until January 2025.
 
   For reference: People can pay subscriptions into the club account directly by BACS transfer. Name of (Lloyds Bank) Account = Baywater Anglers, Sort Code = 30-98-69, Account Number = 00640499. If you do, could you also please email me so that I can put the subscription on the club accounts.
 
   In regard to events, if the weather looks dodgy and an event looks in danger of being cancelled then you can phone me on my mobile number – 07704 602180 – beforehand to confirm.
 
Personal Request:
Over the next few months, it is my hope to film some more fishing videos. If anyone from the club would like to be involved in that, please let me know. Your help would be much appreciated.
 
Sunday, 17th March 2024 Time: 8.30 am – 4.30 pm Venue: African Queen, Kingswear Event: Boat Fishing for Larger Species High Tide: 10.34 am Height: 3.8 m.
The aim for this trip is to spend most of the day fishing for larger species. I have asked Alan if we can swing by some of the inshore wrecks, about which pollack tend to gather at this time of the year, on the way out to marks where, if the pollack don’t appear, we can leger. If the pollack are there then we can fish for them for as long as we enjoy it, especially as there may be the chance of a cod or two mixed in with them. You will need lures for them but, in the past, I have found red gills, especially the deadly nightshade variety, to be effective, along with shads and jelly worms. Red, black and deadly nightshade are good for pollack and cod with orange often catching a few too. Cost will be £55 - £5 extra towards fuel - but this will not include bait for later. You will need to bring along your own, particularly mackerel for when we target the rays, or frozen squid. If you are interested in going, please let me know as soon as possible. We need seven for the trip to go ahead.
 
Sunday, 24th March 2024 Time: 3.00 pm – 9.00 pm Venue: Slapton Sands Event: Social fish and teachin for adults and juniors High Tide: 6.06 pm Height: 4.5 m.
There have been a few smoothhounds turning up at Slapton, with a number of other species turning up too, including the regulars pout and dogfish. Peeler crabs or ragworms both good baits for the time of year but, if you can’t get hold of them, then it might not be a bad idea popping out a couple of hooks baited with mackerel, sandeels or squid strip just to see what else comes up. For tackle, at this time, I would probably stick to a couple of bottom rods with an up and over leger and a biggish bait on one and a double paternoster with smaller baits on the other.
 
Friday, 29th March 2024 Time: 5.00 pm – 9.30 pm Venue: Babbacombe Pier Event: Social fish and teachin for adults and juniors High Tide: 8.29 pm Height: 4.4 m.
The chances are that most of the fish around will be dogfish on the bottom but there is always the chance of a surprise or two. Mackerel may appear on float – they have in previous years – but so might pouting and rockling, especially on LRF (light rock fishing) gear. For bait I would stick to mackerel or squid but, if you manage to get hold of some, it might be worth having a go with peeler crabs or ragworms just to see what else might be there.
 
Friday, 5th April 2024 Time: 3.00 pm – 7.00 pm Venue: Brixham Breakwater Event: Social fish and teach-in for adults and juniors High Tide: 4.33 pm Height: 4.1 m.
There is a good chance that there will be some good sized garfish around and there is always the chance of a surprise or two. Mackerel should appear on float – they usually have in previous years – but so might pouting, ballan and cuckoo wrasse, especially on bottom-fished ragworms. For bait on the float, I would stick to mackerel but there should also be a chance of some interesting species on LRF gear.
 
Sunday, 14th April 2024 Time: 8.30 am – 4.30 pm Venue: African Queen, Kingswear Event: Boat Fishing for Larger Species High Tide: 10.31 am Height: 4.1 m.
The aim for this trip, once again, is to spend most of the day fishing for larger species. I have asked Alan if we can swing by some of the inshore wrecks, about which pollack tend to gather at this time of the year, on the way out to marks where, if the pollack don’t appear, we can leger. If the pollack are there then we can fish for them for as long as we enjoy it, especially as there may be the chance of a cod or two mixed in with them. You will need lures for them but, in the past, I have found red gills, especially the deadly nightshade variety, to be effective, along with shads and jelly worms. Red, black and deadly nightshade are good for pollack and cod with orange often catching a few too. Cost will be £55 - £5 extra towards fuel - but this will not include bait for later. You will need to bring along your own, particularly mackerel for when we target the rays, or frozen squid. If you are interested in going, please let me know as soon as possible. We need seven for the trip to go ahead.
 
Friday, 19th April 2024 Time: 4.00 pm – 7.00 pm Venue: Oxen Cove and Freshwater Car Parks, Brixham Event: Specimen and Species Hunt Competition High Tide: 4.28 pm Height: 3.8 m.
I thought that it would be nice to have a small competition, perhaps something a bit out of the ordinary, so I wondered about a specimen and species hunt along the front of the car parks. One rod (or pole), one hook, doing whatever you fancy, be it LRF, float fishing or whatever. Two winners = person with the most species and the person with the best specimen percentage fish. Everyone pays £2 entrance fee. We put back £5 for club funds and the rest of the money is divided equally between the two winners. (In the event that there are less than five entrants, no money will be allocated to the club.) What do you reckon? Could be good fun…
 
Sunday, 28th April 2024 Time: 8.00 am – 1.00 pm Venue: Brixham Breakwater Event: Social fish and teach-in for adults and juniors High Tide: 9.29 am Height: 4.3 m. Training Focus: Float Tackle
By now, hopefully, there should be good mackerel catches from the Breakwater, along with the chance of a big garfish. In addition, in the past, I have found that sometimes we get a run of herring, which can be taken on spinning tackle – Carolina rigs – with small, artificial sandeels on the end. Resident species, like various wrasse, will be around and we had several over two pounds weighed in at this time of the year last year. It is also the time of year when we have had some very big garfish, including the club record, which tend to come in at this time for a short period before dispersing around the bay. These bigger females tend to go deep - 17 foot is a good starting depth - and usually put up a very determined fight.
 
Sunday, 5th May 2024 Time: 3.00 pm – 8.30 pm Venue: Slapton Sands Event: Social fish and teach-in for adults and juniors High Tide: 5.00 pm Height: 4.4 m. Training Focus: Larger Species
At this time of the year, the bull huss will have returned inshore from their spawning period, which usually takes place in February and March, when they move out into deeper water. So, by now, they should be back in good condition and present in reasonable numbers. With Brixham probably a good place to avoid this weekend, with the pirate festival, I thought that it would be nice to try Slapton Sands once again. Leger tackle with biggish fish baits should be fine but you could, if you can get hold of some, bring along some worm baits to see what else is around. (There might be a few plaice.) For myself, I will be sticking to mackerel flapper or squid to give the bull huss a proper trial.
 
Friday, 10th May 2024 Time: 4.30 pm – 9.00 pm Venue: Steamer Quay Event: Social fish and teach-in for adults and juniors High Tide: 8.42 pm Height: 4.8 m.
Mullet and bass should be present in numbers in the river, with this being a cracking tide to see if they are around. You could go for freshwater float tackle, targeting the mullet with bread, or try for them with running leger, ragworms and a long trace. If you want to try for the bass - and this is often the time of the year when some bigger ones show further up the river - then I think that it would be nice to flatten the barbs on your hooks so that juveniles can be released as painlessly as possible. Ragworms and light rods will be ideal for this.
 
Sunday, 19th May, 2024 Time: 1.00 pm – 6.30 pm Venue: Brixham Breakwater Event: Social fish and teach-in for adults and juniors High Tide: 4.23 pm Height: 4.0 m.
Mackerel should be around but resident species, like various wrasse, will definitely be around. Hopefully a few garfish will be around and pollack should be starting to appear. If we are lucky, at this point in the day, there should be a chance of cuckoo wrasse and possibly a bass or two.
 
Friday, 24th May 2024 Time: 5.00 pm – 9.00 pm Venue: Oxen Cove and Freshwater Car Parks, Brixham Event: Specimen and Species Hunt Competition High Tide: 7.47 pm Height: 4.6 m.
I thought that it would be nice to have a second specimen and species hunt competition along the front of the car parks. One rod (or pole), one hook, doing whatever you fancy, be it LRF, float fishing or whatever. Two winners = person with the most species and the person with the best specimen percentage fish. Everyone pays £2 entrance fee. We put back £5 for club funds and the rest of the money is divided equally between the two winners. (In the event that there are less than five entrants, no money will be allocated to the club.)
 
Friday, 7th June 2024 Time: 4.30 pm – 9.00 pm Venue: Steamer Quay Event: Social fish and teach-in for adults and juniors High Tide: 7.42 pm Height: 4.8 m.
Mullet and bass should be present in numbers in the river, with this being a cracking tide to see if they are around. You could go for freshwater float tackle, targeting the mullet with bread, or try for them with running leger, ragworms and a long trace. If you want to try for the bass - and this is often the time of the year when some bigger ones show further up the river - then I think that it would be nice to flatten the barbs on your hooks so that juveniles can be released as painlessly as possible. Ragworms and light rods will be ideal for this.
 
Sunday 16th June 2024 Time: 8.30 am – 4.30 pm Venue: Pick up at Kingswear Event: Boat trip - Reef fishing - for adults and juniors High Tide: 2.20 pm Height: 3.7 m.
At the moment, I am working on the theory that black bream should have started to show. With this being a small tide - perfect for the reefs - we are going to have a go for both the bream and some bigger fish, like bull huss etc. Cost of the trip will be £50 as long as we get a minimum of 7 people going. You will need to bring along your own ragworms, squid, mackerel, blueys etc, depending on what you fancy trying out. (We are also going to spend a little time feathering for mackerel to use as fresh bait but frozen is a good backup, just in case.) For tackle keep it simple – a running leger with short, 60 lbs trace is as good as anything or paternoster tackle for the bream. However, if the reefs end up not being productive, Alan has suggested moving to try some of the inshore wrecks, for which we will all chip in an extra fiver. (We will see on the day.) Could people who want to try for the bream also please bring along a bag of cooked white rice, which has the reputation of attracting and holding the bream. Places are limited so you will need to book in advance. Please phone me on 07704 602180 or 01803 863279 as soon as possible please since time is limited.
Advance Notice
I have booked a camping weekend at Woodlands Leisure Park on Friday, 5th July 2024 to Sunday, 7th July 2024 in the hope that there will be enough people interested to make it viable. (Your friends are most welcome – the more the merrier.) The idea is that you go to the park after 1.00 pm on Friday, camp overnight and get entrance (at no extra cost) into the park on what remains of Friday and all-day Saturday. You then camp over Saturday night and have entrance (at no extra cost) to the park all day Sunday although your tent must be removed from the site before 5.00 pm.

On the Saturday night, we hold a free bingo session for the children followed by a raffle, which is a chance to raise some money for the club. This has always gone down well. Many of the prizes for the bingo were donated by myself and Julie, before she passed away, while extra raffle prizes were often given by other campers on the day, especially Lisa and Geoff - thank you both. These extra prizes are always gratefully received, especially this year when my own funds are rather more limited than I had hoped. I will buy what I can but I would be grateful for any help in this regard.

All of this is, of course, provisional upon us getting enough people for the rally, which means that we will need eleven pitches minimum. However, if we do get enough people, then the cost will be £100.00 per unit (family of four) for the whole weekend, which is excellent value for money and the same price as last year. However if we can put together a group with more than 23 units then we should be able to get a further reduction. Electrics are available at £9.50 per night and you can take additional people at a cost of £18.00 per person (£9 per night). If you have a caravan or camper van, you are quite welcome to use these instead of a tent but there are rules that you will need to see the rally steward about. (There are also a few loan tents available from Baywater Anglers.) If you, or any of your friends, are interested in the trip, could you please let me have a £10 deposit from the 1st April, 2024 onwards. The balance must then be paid by 27th June 2024 if you please.

Considering that a single day’s entrance into the park for a family of 4, if pre-booked online, is £75.24, this is really good value for money.

If you are interested then please let me know as soon as you can.

Further Boat Trips for 2024:

  1. Sunday, 14th July, 2024
  2. Sunday, 11th August, 2024
  3. Sunday, 29th September, 2024
  4. Sunday, 27th October, 2024
  5. Sunday, 24th November, 2024

While these are big fish orientated trips, I will also be adding in a black bream trip and a bass trip at some point. I need some photographs for Sea Angler, which I have started writing for! I will also be booking in as an individual for a plaice trip (or several). These tend to come up on a last-minute basis but if anybody fancies a light tackle trip for plaice, it would be nice to have some company.

Look after yourselves!

Martyn Green
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