SPURDOG SHOWDOWN
Sample some great sport at Ilfracombe.
With gales blasting from an easterly direction battering the southern shores of the Bristol Channel, I was beginning to wonder whether I would ever get to sea again.
A phone call from an old mate and fellow charter skipper John Barbeary confirmed that things were no better further down the estuary.
He skippers a charter vessel, named Bluefin, out of Ilfracombe on the North Devon coast, and had been taking some amazing catches of spurdogs. I was hoping to join John for a day to sample this unusual fishery. I fish the grounds around Ilfracombe and Lundy Island a lot in the summer, but never venture that far in the winter/spring changeover period.
We had both been watching the forecast for several days and had noticed a window in the weather. The prognosis was that the wind would ease significantly in a couple of days, but then would return with a vengeance, leaving us just the one day to have a crack at the spurs. A decision was made and the plan was for me to join him and a gang of local anglers who also wanted to get in on the spurdog action.
As John pulled the Bluefin alongside Ilfracombe Pier, I had been talking to a few of the lads who were to join us, one of which was Bill Cassar, from Sidmouth, who had been out a week before, when he was treated to a bonanza catch of spurdogs, the likes of which he had never seen before. He landed 14 fish to an impressive personal best of 18lb and, of course, was hoping to better than that on this trip.
This obviously gave us all the boost we needed, though the thoughts of the screaming easterlies of the past few days were still rattling around in my mind.
FANTASTIC HAUL
As we pulled astern from Ilfracombe pier, the wind was zero and the sun blasted down on the mirror-flat water, belying the forecast of more wind to come. As John opened up the throttles of the powerful Yanmar diesels, Bluefin instantly reacted by effortlessly sprinting up to her cruise speed of 16 knots. We were heading out to the very mark that had blessed the Bluefin with such a fantastic haul, though as John said “You never know exactly where they are going to be!” We would have to wait and see!
Baits were prepared, with mackerel and squid fillets and strips being the offerings of choice. This is the norm for spurdogs because they are fairly basic feeders that take almost anything that dares to stand in their track.
John’s advice was to add an attractor of some sort as he’s found spurs can be finicky in murky water. Muppets and plastic squids of all sorts were now dancing around on the heavy mono trace lengths, with some actually using a baited pirk as a leger. This was something I’d never seen before, but it certainly looked the part, and if John swears by it, then it’s good enough for me.
With high water approaching, the tide began to ease and, as John predicted, this could be the best time for action. As the first cup of tea arrived from the wheelhouse, Bluefin crewman Ted Stannett called for the net as his rod bounced under the activity of a fairly decent fish. After a short but energetic scrap, John slipped the net under the first spur of the day. A cracking fish, in my book, but John and Ted dismissed the fish as only around 14lb and not really worth weighing.
The wind was now starting to freshen from the west. As the tide died, a few more spurs hit the net, including another double for Troy Laing, but not in the numbers we had been hoping for. We had another slackwater period to fish as John had decided to fish the low-water slack as well.
Along with the spurs, these grounds are excellent for huss and conger. In fact, these species became a bit of a nuisance, battering our baits as soon as they hit the bottom.
RECORD POTENTIAL
As the tide increased on the ebb, John decided it was time to head Bluefin inshore for a couple of hours until the low-water mark became fishable. I took this time to talk with John about his life at sea.
He used to be an angling charter skipper before leaving the industry to fish commercially for spurdogs, rays, bass and herring. John also fished pots, with lobsters and crabs being the mainstay of the landings, with the grounds around Lundy Island providing much of the bounty. Whelks also played a big part, but only in the past 10 years or so, such is the diversity of species in the Bristol Channel and its western approaches.
John gave up the commercial side to return to the angling. With his vast knowledge of his home waters, he is again delighting charter parties from around the country.
With warmer weather arriving, the area produces pollack, coalfish and bass from the reefs and wrecks. Trips to Lundy Island produce rays, flatfish and bass. In the summer, mackerel are usually widespread. There are packs of tope from June through September, along with blue sharks and porbeagles.
With the time approaching to head out to the low-water mark, conditions were not good. The wind had freshened and the water even murkier, but we were hopeful of finding a few more spurs. With a handful of moves to different marks, we caught plenty more eels and huss, but only a couple more spurs, and with nothing more than mid-teens in weight; John was disappointed. The anglers, however, were more than happy to have witnessed these amazing fish.
With a Government ban on commercial landing of spurdogs, and a charter skipper who is dedicated to finding good fish for his clients, it is obvious that this could be the place to take the next British record for the species. I will be joining John again, and maybe even bringing my boat AlyKat down from Minehead for a trip or two.
Two days after my trip, John saw his best spurdog of the year thanks to a fantastic specimen of 21lb 10oz falling to Kevin Pike.