Cod are a real possibility along the Bristol Channel coast, and the reports received included the capture of a 32lb fish in a net within a few hundred yards of Watchet Harbour.
On the English Channel coast, the Tamar Estuary and tidal river as far upstream of the bridges has provided a fair number weighing between 7 and 10lb. Roving Rods member Alan Hobbs made a multiple catch, with his best weighing just short of double figures.
Mawnan Angling Club's two-day open event dedicated to flounder, which offers a first prize of £200, will be on Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11.
The sign-on points are: Saturday: St Columb roundabout/West Cornwall Angling Centre, 9-9.30am; County Angler, Camborne, until 3pm. Both days: The Tackle Box, Falmouth, and Millpond Car Park, Looe, 9-9.30am. Weigh-in at the Lemon Arms, Mylor Bridge, 7.30-8pm.
I was pleased to receive a report on Cornish angling club news from Bob Healeas. Fowey Tightliners Angling Club has reformed, as has St Columb SAC ,which disbanded in the 1990s. The latter organised the Cornish Bass Championship over many years, and I recall presenting the awards on quite a few occasions.
The RNLI Christmas Flounder Open Competition traditionally staged by Torbay & Babbacombe ASA will be fished from the Teign estuary shore on Sunday, December 18. Ten turkey hamper prizes will be on offer for an entry fee of senior £5 and junior £3. The sign on is at the Lifeboat HQ Teignmouth, 7.30-9am, and the weigh-in will begin at 3.15pm.
Coarse anglers continue to engage with big fish, notably a cat of 38lb 2oz taken at Emperor Lakes Day Ticket water by Richard Broadbeer.
Pike enthusiasts fishing the venue have caught a substantial number of moderate weight fish, but other believed to be in the 30lb and over class have been sighted in the shallows.
The season-ticket water yielded a personal best mirror of 33lb 12oz and a surprise this late in the year was a tench of 6lb 15oz taken by Jamie Parr.
The heaviest bag made at Creedy Manor was by Exeter's Matt McCarthy, who banked five commons, all but one doubles, to a top weight of 16lb and the fishery's Top Lake was fished very successfully by Dean Goodwill and Kieren Kelly, who shared 13 carp some closing on 10lb.
As the report said, Truth is Stranger than Fiction – it was all about a flathead catfish that tried to swallow a basketball it had come upon at Lake Conroe, to the north of Houston in Texas.
The ball became jammed in its mouth, and such was the buoyancy the fish was constantly being brought back to the surface after diving many times.
Walkers noticed the cat's predicament and managed to bring it to the bank, where they punctured the ball. It certainly had a lucky escape from certain death.
The confirmed closure of Brixham Coastguard Station has been received with a considerable level of anger in Torbay and beyond.
The view of many shore and small-boat anglers active in one of the busiest marine environments in Britain is that lives will definitely be at risk.
The "final" decision to close the station was made despite a huge level of protest but, to gain an independent view, I asked a retired master mariner and the former deputy harbour master at Falmouth, Michael Stafford-Poyser, for his view of the coastguard closure programme.
He said: "I deplore the Government's setting aside of common sense. They are ignoring the hard fact no level of electronic sophistication can replace the Mark One Eyeball." He also made the point that sun spots can interfere with radio communications.
≈~≈Daily Catch Team≈~≈
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