Saltwater Boat Angling — December 2017

38 Saltwater Boat Angling

THE TORBAY

ANGLING FESTIVAL

2017

LANA SHARAM AND STACEY

UNDERWOOD MADE MANY

VISTS TO THE TROPHY TABLE

Mike Millman reports

on the 49th festival a

unique nine-day event

THE HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL

The Torbay Boat Festival was conceived

in 1968 as an annual attraction to anglers

visiting South Devon’s top holiday area. It

was also there to encourage new ones and

had the support of the Torbay Borough

Council. The number of hotels and guest

houses donating trophies demonstrates how

successful the festival has been.

The boat-category fishing limits are forty

miles southwards from South Devon’s Bolt

Head at the mouth of Salcombe Estuary and

from here inside a line drawn across Lyme

Bay to the same distance outwards from

East Devon’s Beer. Much to the satisfaction

of the festival organisers the best fish award

has been won a number of times by visiting

anglers. Such is the productive quality of

I

t’s a very popular South Devon

event and with prize money in some

categories as high as £350, attracts good

anglers from all over the country.

Wind, blowing rarely below force five

and, at times, near gale force, prevented

(with the exception of the first day) boats

visiting the highly-productive wrecks of

Lyme Bay. However, the many inshore marks

proved their worth and helped save the day

and make for some very satisfactory catches.

The high ground either side of Start Point

provided some shelter for the Skerries Banks

and the ray pits, but small craft were still at a

disadvantage and generally limited to within

a mile of the land. Despite this, 248 fish were

recorded during the run of the competition

at the five weighing-stations and, of these,

eighty-one were specimen rated and there

were twenty-eight different species.

the waters here, that over forty species have

been weighed in as specimens.

Nightly weighing stations operate at

Paignton, Torquay, Brixham, Dartmouth and

Sidmouth. The prize pot is rarely worth less

than £11,000 with accompanying trophies

in many categories plus there are over sixty

day and special awards. It all adds up to a

prestigious and well-attended sea-angling

competition.

The competition is even open to

commercial fishermen but, to comply with

an Angling Trust requirement, they must

obtain a dispensation certificate from the

Festival Secretary and agree not to conduct

any commercial activity during the event.

It’s another example of a thriving West

Country fishing event bringing together

anglers from all over the country – an

important date in the angling calendar.

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