Website Updates…

This is my personal favourite website and it's been running since 2004. It is always being updated with new content and improved usability.

Changes made so far in 2019:


Fishing training page updated

17thJune 2019
I've experienced a sudden surge in fishing training requests and vouchers. Combine this with the late tides over the summer, I have very few dates left for the fishing training. I have added the remaining dates and I have paused the vouchers until later in the year. Booking is now vital as there are so few dates left.


Web form removed

8thJune 2019
After all these years the spammers are finally winning. I have removed all the web forms from the site so please use my email address to contact me.


Silver Halo Charters updated

4thMarch 2019
I have changed the text and added a new photo for Silver Halo charters on the fishing charters page.


Changes made so far in 2018:


Good news for Princess Pier

3rdJuly 2018
Finally, after all these years, there is a ramp leading down to the end of Princess Pier. If you are disabled and in a wheelchair, you are now finally able to fish down there. See the page for details and photos.


Fishing tackle shop page updated

10thMay 2018
Today I have removed Tidal tackle from the Fishing tackle shops in Torbay page. Your shop will be missed by many of us Simon! I've also added a brand one shop, one that you can find now open in Preston, Paignton, by Manor Cross.


Fishing charter page updated

2ndApril 2018
Silver Halo Charters is a new charter business operating from Torbay. They offer mackerel fishing, wreck fishing and a lot more. See the fishing charters page for full details.


Happy New Year everyone!

1stJanuary 2018
This page is an achieve of all the changes I've made over the last few years. It's mostly there for me to look fondly back at, but some strange person may also find it interesting to see just how much work goes into this website :)

2017 and 2016 have now been moved down the page to the archive section and a brand new 2018 section is ready for all the changes I'll be making again this year :)


2017 ARCHIVE

Changes made in 2017:


The 'How to catch mackerel guide' updated

27thApril 2017
I've made a few changes to the How to catch mackerel guide and added some more information about how to hold the mackerel if you're not going to keep it and want to throw it back.

Web App working again

22nd January 2017
When I moved server towards the end of last year it broke the Web App. I've updated the code and it should now be working as it used too. Any problems please let me know.


Homepage and Fishing training page updated.

8th January 2017
The fishing training page has had the disclaimer updated as well as some other text changes to the training page and also the home page.


This page you're currently on has been updated

1st January 2017
Happy New Year everyone!


2016 ARCHIVE

Changes made in 2016:


A monthly donation received

24th November 2016
I want to say a big thank you to Les for setting up a monthly donation on Paypal. I really, genuinely need help maintaining this website. £30 a month should be just enough to cover the hosting, the secure server certificate and the extra bandwidth the site uses. It isn't a huge goal I'm trying to reach.


New page added

4th November 2016
For anyone new to sea fishing it is difficult to sometimes understand all the terminology. I have created a new page called What should go in my fishing tackle box which has photos and more detailed descriptions.


Torbay Fishing has moved server

22nd September 2016
I just couldn't justify the hosting cost any longer and I was losing too much money. I've moved to a different host now so if you spot any problems please let me know! Without donations I'm going to struggle to keep the site going!


Bye bye side column

20th September 2016
Google has indexed this website so well there really wasn't any point having the side column on the pages any longer. All my stats show the visitor goes straight to the page they want so I really didn't need them. Big change but worth it I think!


Fishing training page updated.

5th September 2016
I've updated the Places to stay page. The Orestone Manor in Maidencombe has been added to the list.


24th August 2016
I've updated the fishing training page with more accurate information about where the training will take place.


My mackerel fishing charter experience with FunFish Trips

17th July 2016
They were so friendly and nice online and on the phone I had to try them out. This new page is the experience I had with my kids when we went out with FunFish Trips for a spot of mackerel fishing.


Navigation menu improvements for mobile users

12th July 2016
There is a lot of feedback in the usability field that a lot of people don't know what the hamburger icon for the navigation menu icon actually is (this is the one with the 3 lines that looks a bit like a hamburger).

I've spent a bit of time this morning changing and styling the menu button. It now says 'Menu' and I've made it look more like a button. I've also decreased the font-size and made the menu a little smaller in width so even those with very small screens should have an easier time using it.

If you spot ANY problems please let me know. I had to change a lot of code this morning for such a simple tweak but I can't test it on all devices.


Fishing charters page updated

21st June 2016
I've added Funfish Trips from Brixham to the fishing charters page.


Hopes Nose page updated…again!

20th June 2016
I really dislike having to put warnings out for fishing spots I loved during the 80's and 90's. Sadly Hopes Nose is getting worse as each year passes and it saddens me to have to recommend people avoid fishing there.


Lots of updates to lots of pages and images

11th May 2016
This week I've spent a lot of time optimising the images so the pages load quicker. I've managed to reduce image sizes by up to 60% in some cases. The images are not quite as crisp but the load times are a second or two quicker on many pages now. I've also updated several pages with more information. Torbay Fishing is a Goliath when it comes to hits, bandwidth and hosting costs. Out of 270 websites this site uses 80% of resources compared to all the others combined... eeek!


Lots of updates to lots of pages

6th May 2016
I've been going through the website and updating a lot of pages with new information. The beginners guide to fishing has had the most updates but especially page 4, the tips page.

IE8 and IE9 browsers had extra support via 3 scripts to view this website. I've gone through the stats and they account for just 200 people out of 18,000. The website is now officially dropping the extra support. The site should still work for IE8 and IE9 but it won't be as fancy. The upside is the pages will now be quicker to load for everyone!


Another brand new page added

22nd April 2016
I've added a new page to the site called Which wind direction to avoid in Torbay. Someone yesterday asked me about it on Torbay Fishing's Facebook page and I thought that would be a good page to add to the site. It has visuals as well as other details.


How to catch mackerel updated

15th April 2016
I've updated the how to catch mackerel page. I've made a few things on the page even more clearer and suggested some other tips for catching mackerel on feathers, lures and float.


New charter company added plus other updates

13th April 2016
I added Kelly's Hero Charters to the Torbay fishing charter page this morning. I've also updated the beginners guide to guide, page one. Lots more details about rods, reels and other information.


Secure server now set-up

10th April 2016
The website can now be accessed via https (secure server). Google prefers sites on secure servers so this change has been on Google's behalf. I don't sell anything and no credit-card details are taken so it won't make any difference to you the user which version you access.


First new page of 2016 added

29th March 2016
Today I added a brand new page called The most child friendly fishing spots in Torbay which lists my top three choices to take children fishing in Torquay and Brixham.


New images and design tweaks

25th March 2016
Added a new font which is much crisper. Also updated the Fishing Rig guides with new images and some videos. Also updated the Beginners guide to fishing first page with more information about multiplier and fixed spool reels.


Massive website update

17th March 2016
Every page on the website has been revamped. A new responsive menu has been added, a more responsive website enabled and a much cleaner and clearer feel for the website is the result. I really hope you all like it :)


Beginners guide to sea fishing updated

14th March 2016
Every page on the Beginners guide to sea fishing have been updated. I've added new videos, tips, tricks and made some of the text clearer. I've also removed all the links from the top of the first page and placed them at the bottom of the page.


How to catch mackerel page updated

11th March 2016
The How to catch mackerel page has been updated with a hot new tip to catch mackerel. It should have been on there from the beginning but I didn't realise it wasn't on there.


New photo added to Gallery

8th March 2016
Lovely new photo by Claire Haywood added to the gallery on the fishing guide to Brixham Breakwater page.


Places to stay for fisherman page updated

3rd March 2016
I've added a new fisherman friendly hotel in Paignton, on the fisherman friendly hotels page.


Fishing guide page updated

2nd March 2016
I've added some more text and optimised the images on the beginners fishing guide page.


Fishing Charter page updated

25th January 2016
Nigel from Optimist charters sent me some updated text and a new photo for his part on the fishing charters page.


Fishing Training page updated

4th January 2016
I've tweaked the fishing training page to answer more questions you may have. I've also tweaked the coupon text a little.


Changes in 2015:


New gift certificate for the fishing training

17th December 2015
This will probably be my last update of 2015. It has been a very busy year for this site with many, many updates.

So the last update of the year is adding a gift certificate option to the fishing training sessions. It will be tailor-made with your own text. See the fishing training page for more details.


New styling for links

1st November 2015
As the site grows it needs tweaks to styling and layout because of the extra links needing to be included. The footer has been increased in size to accommodate the new links and I've also changed the mobile menu so the 'fishing news' section can be seen.


Photo gallery added to the Fishing training page

18th October 2015
I've added a photo gallery to the fishing training page.


Fishing training added

19th September 2015
I've been asked for this quite a lot so I've now added a fishing training page for those who want someone with them to show them how to shore fish.


Guide to Princess Pier in Torquay updated.

9th August 2015
I've updated the 'guide to Princess pier to reflect the issues we may all face with the metal bar reinforcements being put in place at the base of the pier. Photo's have also been added.


Beginner guide to fishing updated

5th August 2015
I've updated the 'Beginner's guide to fishing with some clearer text and I've also recently included a couple more tips including tripods and their uses.


Places to fish section updated

22nd June 2015
I've updated the 'places to fish' guides to include a responsive Google map of the location which can be easily enlarged by the user.


404 'page not found' page updated

19th June 2015
I've updated the error page so it is more in keeping with the content of the site. If you find a broken link it is a little more pleasant than it was previously.


Web App revamped

15th June 2015
I've updated the Web App today with new icons. I have also tweaked the styling to remove the header (didn't need it) and fixed some issues with the footer.


Hopes Nose guide updated

11th June 2015
I've updated the fishing guide to Hopes Nose to include a couple of points being raised this year about boats and large groups.

I've also updated a few of the images in the fishing rig guide.


New page & Float fishing guide updated

30th May 2015
I've added and updated the images on the float fishing guide page and I've also added extra details which I hadn't included before.

I've also added a new page called 'How to catch cod' today.


More styling tweaks

18th May 2015
I've added a new global font and made the headers a lot cleaner and clearer. you will need to refresh the pages if you've been on here recently.


Charters and tackle shops added.

16th May 2015
I've added two new pages to the web site: Fishing Charters in Torbay and Fishing tackle shops in Torbay.


Oddicombe fishing guide updated

14th May 2015
The Oddicombe fishing guide never had a photo gallery so I've added one and I've also updated the text.


Web App updated

11th May 2015
I haven't touched the web app for two years so I've spent today updating it as follows:

  • The new Torbay Fishing logo added.
  • The RSS news feed has been replaced with a much faster loading Twitter feed.
  • Bottom navigation added for easier web app navigation.

New look:

Web App updated.


Menu & scaling change

11st May 2015
I did update every page with a new top menu and I made the site fully scalable but I had to revert it back. I rely heavily on the ads to help part pay for the hosting costs. The ads pay for 40% of the hosting costs and I pay the rest out of my own pocket. The ads revenue plummeted by 80% when I made the site 100% scalable so I had to undo the changes :(


Mobile friendly

April 2015
I have just updated the mobile version of the site to be even more usable. Every page on the site was tweaked to use a new mobile menu system and I styled the pages so everything should look and fit even better than before.

In 2014 the site was updated to switch how the pages are displayed based on the screen size of the device viewing the page. In 2015 this has been further improved. It doesn't matter if you're on a desktop, tablet or mobile, the site should work across all devices.

You can email me at: simondayuk@gmail.com if you spot any problems or you would like to see anything else on this site.