Hello All from South Devon!

Hi all, this is my first Article for Fishing Tails so I will start by introducing myself and a bit about what I do.

My name is Gareth Hopkins I’m 36 and live in Brixham, South Devon. After getting in touch with Sean we had a chat about myself becoming a reporter for this area, the area I cover is full of very good fishing marks and we are spoilt with choice. Devon offers a variety of different fishing, whether you’re in to Shore, Boat or Lure fishing there are plenty of places you can wet a line, plus its has some of the most rugged coastline in the country.

My personal preference is fishing Rock and Rough ground marks which there are plenty of down this neck of the woods. I generally target the kind of species that you find at these marks, but to me any fishing is a good thing!  I have fished all my life, starting out as a kid with a telescopic rod,  riding down to the harbour on my bike to try and catch Mackerel and Garfish on the float.

I really consider my fishing as specimen hunting for the bigger fish such as Conger, Bull Huss, Rays and Cod, this is what I will be reporting on most of the time, also I am hoping to make some videos about the way I do things, rigs, baits etc, also tackle that I use and generally share my knowledge on the area that I fish.

Working as a civil engineer it can be hard to get out fishing as much as I would like, but somehow I still manage to get out , whether it’s a long trip to Somerset or staying local there’s always somewhere to Fish.

The areas that I fish mainly are the South Hams, this is a lovely secluded area of Devon with what I believe to be some of the most productive fishing marks in the country, from Rock marks, shingle beaches and the Kingsbridge Estuary in Salcombe.

Many Record fish have been caught in this area,  from Flounders to Thornback Rays and of course Conger eels,  with Brixham and Plymouth being probably the best areas in the country for these big bruisers, whether its from the shore or on a boat there are plenty to be caught.

The many estuaries in the County are just as productive,  the Teign Estuary is one of the best flounder rivers  holding specimen size fish most years. The British record came out of here to a good friend of mine weighing a whopping 5.7.0 lbs in 1994 and still stands today.

In Salcombe you have the Kingsbridge Estuary, well it’s more of an inlet really but holds Thornback Rays well into double figures, also I believe that the record gilthead bream was caught there this year.

Out from the south hams/Dartmouth area you have the famous Skerries bank, there are many Charter boats that go out to here and I will be including these in some of my reports, you can expect to catch specimen plaice and huge blonde rays from this area.

Along the coast back up to Brixham there are many Marks some very hard to get to but very productive also not forgetting the  Dart Estuary,  again like Kingsbridge you can expect to catch Thornbacks and flounder in this deep murky river.

All of these Estuaries are nurseries for Bass,   Mullet fishing can be fantastic if you have the patience!

Bull Huss is another species which can be found around here due to the snaggy rough ground marks that are plentiful. For most my fishing I use heavier tackle as I find that when you do hook in to a decent fish you really need to have trust in your gear to get them out of the snags then up the rocks. This is something I will be touching on in my videos.

Once past Dartmouth you come to Berry head at Brixham. This is a deep water mark that can be very productive, it is the start of Torbay which is made up of Brixham, Torquay and Paignton.

In Brixham you have got the Breakwater, this is a top Conger venue but as Torbay is a holiday resort it can become very busy in the summer with it becoming impossible to fish in daylight.

Torbay apart from Hopes Nose in Torquay and Berry Head in Brixham tends to be shallow sandy beaches. There is still a lot of fun to be had mainly on light lure rods. Bass fishing can be very good particularly in the morning and at dusk.

In summer the bay is popular for kayak fishing were people can get out to the deeper water where just about anything can be caught .

All in all it is a very versatile area were lots of different fishing can be done,  fishing the heavy ground marks is my passion but i will be reporting on the many other types of very productive fishing in and around the area including trips to Bristol Channel marks which we fish regularly.

My aim is to keep Anglers up to date with what’s going on in this area,  and hopefully give you interesting reports full of information that can help improve your catch rate and general fishing, also  I will be writing reviews on the latest tackle on the market and articles on various marks.

Tight lines!

Gareth