5 Oct 2021

North Devon Match Group Latest

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On Sunday the 3rd October North Devon Match Group  had their first match at Higher Shorston Fishing Lakes, near Bude.
Report below from John Forster
“This is a beautiful venue with 3 lakes but hadnt been fished for a long time and with 12 anglers around Lake 1 it was going to be hard
But with the weather set to be wet and windy it was great to see 12 anglers turn up for the match ,
We were made exeptionally welcome with Bbq bacon and sausage baps and tea and coffee , and the new owner Brett being a carp angler was the main cause for the banter lol ,the lakes are stunning and work being done on the middle one to turn into a match lake ,i think this is going to become a very important part in the clubs match diary
Now yes the match was hard not made any easier by the weather and the bloody comorant that settled on the lake and proceeded to take fish out whenever it wanted
Fished in 3 sections
Section 1
1st Bruce Hunt 33lb 4oz
no other weighed in so 2nd place was not paid out
Section 2
1st Keith Mountjoy 45lb 5oz
2nd Martin Crouch 15lb 6oz
Section 3
1st Colin Carolyn Cherrington 18lb 14oz
2nd John Forster 14lb 6oz
overall a great new venue which will only get better the more it is fished ,superb owners that know what they want and are very welcoming as i said i feel this is going to be a very important new addition to the match calendar.
3 Oct 2021

Sea Angling Round Up

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Cooler temperatures a bit of fresh and the flounder season is well underway. Flattie fanatic David Jenkins has been targeting the Taw flatties catching close to 100 up to 1lb 8oz during a weeks fishing for his favourite fish. He also caught several bass with several over 3lb.

Steve Finn with a good sized Taw flounder.

Bideford Angling Clubs monthly Rover was dominated by flounder.

1st Julien Stainer – flounder 1lb 8.5oz 76.562%

2nd  Andy Sanders – flounder 1lb 7oz 71.875%

3rd Dick Talbot flounder – 1lb 5oz 65.625%

3rd Julien Stainer flounder –  1lb 5oz 65.625%

Appledore Ship-Builders

Fourteen members fished the clubs October rover. Andrew Atkinson was victorious with a Pouting of 1lb 3 1/4ozs. He also claimed second place with another Pouting of 1lb 1 1/4ozs. Michael Hammett was 3rd with another Pouting of 1lb 1oz.
 A reminder to club members that the Agm is on Friday 22nd. October. This will be held at The Royal Appledore 7pm start. Agenda will be emailed out to the members soon.
October is great month for the sea angler with a vast range of species available from both the estuary and the Open coast. The next two months offer the best chance of a double figure bass so I look forward to receiving a few reports from North Devons angling fraternity.
3 Oct 2021

Carp Stafford Moor

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Todd Robinson banked this 25lb 12oz beauty from lodge lake at the weekend , Todd caught on Sticky baits krill pop up and a tiny mesh bag of pellets.

(Below) Steve Pullen and Jordan Rowe banked a few out from Beatties Lake fishing the beach swim then moving to the inlet swim , Steve now has a new personal best of 25lb fish were caught on Mainline cell boilies.

(Below) Dave Willcocks who had 3 fish out up to 35lb 2oz from swim 1 up on Lodge Lake fishing with Sticky baits Manilla 16mm boilies and house pellets and C.C Moore northern special pink pop up.

30 Sep 2021

Last casts of the season

by | posted in: At the Waters Edge, Game Fishing, Sidebar, Uncategorised | 0

After a long dry late summer and early autumn the rains have arrived swelling the local rivers into a dirty torrent. On the last day of the salmon season following rain earlier in the week the rivers had started to drop. I took my rod to the Middle Torridge and swung the fly more to say goodbye to season as in expectation of catching.

The river was at a good height but visibility was no more than 6″. I put on a big orange tube fly in the hope that it could be seen. The water was dark and turbid and rain beat down. The Bankside trees and vegetation showed little sign of the changing season. I savoured the sights of the river bank, the invasive Himalayan balsam has spread widely in some areas. Its pink flowers added colour, water droplets shone like jewels upon  seed heads that popped as I walked past. Rose hips added a splash of colour as persistent rain beat down on this grey final day of what has been a disappointing season. In a few days the river will have fined down and will hopefully be full of salmon and sea trout forging up river to spawn high up on the redds.

Rose hips add a splash of colour on the dullest of days.

We are living in strange times the ash trees suffering from ash die back some already dead and cut into lengths. Nature will heal of course I read recently of the loss of the nations elm trees during the dutch elm disease outbreak during the  60’s and seventies when an estimated 25.000,000 elm trees perished in the UK.

It is hard to believe that another season has passed by and for me a season without a salmon. As an all-round angler there is much to look forward to as autumn arrives and I will be torn as to where to cast my line. Until the wild daffodils once again decorate the banks I will no longer cast in hope of silver.

29 Sep 2021

SUPER SEPTEMBER SHARKING

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Daniel Hawkins focused on taking anglers in search of shark during the month of September and enjoyed a great deal of success bringing a good number of porbeagle and thresher shark to the side of the boat. The biggest porbeagle was estimated at an impressive 550lb.

Reel Deal moves up to Watchet for the winter season while the sister boat Predator 2 skippered by Archie Porter remains at Ilfracombe and will be running trips throughout the winter targeting spurdog, bull huss and conger.

28 Sep 2021

Bass Sport on Bluefin

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Troy Laing and Toby Bassett were amongst anglers to enjoy some great bass sport off Ilfracombe on-board Bluefin. Autumn often provides some of the years best bass fishing over local reefs and this year everything seems to be running a little late so perhaps sport will continue right through the autumn months if weather permits access.

27 Sep 2021

A HELP IN HAND FOR SPAWNING SALMON

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I joined South Molton Angling Club members Edward Rands and Roger Bray on a stretch of their club water on the River Bray to observe work being undertaken to clean the gravel where it is hoped salmon and sea trout will spawn this coming winter. Jeremy Weeks and David Weeks have been working to cleanse potential salmon and sea trout spawning areas over recent years for the Taw Spawning Habitat Improvement Project (SHIP). This important work is coordinated and funded by the West Country Rivers Trust and River Taw Fisheries and Conservation Association. The work entails pumping water into the gravel at the tail of pools to loosen and dislodge the silt that clogs the potential spawning areas (redds). Plentiful oxygen is essential for the successful survival of salmon ova and fry. The South Molton Angling Club have also carried out moderate bank clearing to expose riffles to light and maintain shady pools.

It was unfortunate that sods law intervened with heavy rain the previous night colouring the water to make conditions poor resulting in the work being rescheduled for another day later in the week. Jeremy and David were however able to give a demonstration and talk at length about their work and its value.

The dwindling stocks of salmon and sea trout are of great concern to anglers who invest time, money and effort into habitat improvement. The reasons for the decline in salmon and sea trout are many and complex. Whilst many of these factors are beyond the influence of anglers every bit of habitat improvement can help to ensure the long time survival of these iconic species.

27 Sep 2021

A Day with the Fluff Chuckers

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The calm expanse of Chew Valley Lake on an Autumn morning is an inspiring location to start a day if you are an angler. I have fished this renowned water on numerous occasions with mixed success but always relish the challenge that it provides. The water renowned for its huge pike brings a mixed response for as with all famous waters it brings with it the politics and traits of human nature born of egos and a desire to succeed.

I first fished the water for pike during the season it first opened to this branch of the sport and remember those early trips with fondness. Early morning breakfasts in the Lodge prior to loading the boats with tackle. The room packed with the big names of the day; legends of the pike and specimen angling world.

Even then the fishing wasn’t always easy despite the headlines in the angling press. Plenty of twenties, lots of thirties and even a few forties. These fish made the news but nobody read of the blank sessions that demoralised those who went to the lake expecting the fish of their dreams.

The seasoned specimen hunter eagerly spent hours on the phone trying to secure a day on the water that is presently run by Bristol Water. In those days there was a certain amount of friction between the trout fishers and the pikers. Fortunately, I think those days have to some extent gone as the angling world contracts and different disciplines to some extent diverge.

I had joined an online Facebook Group named the Fluff Chucker’s after speaking with my good friend Bruce Elston who is like me an all-round angler and occasional fly fisher. A species competition at Chew Valley Lake armed with the Fly Rods sounded fun so I messaged Bruce and suggested we give it a try.

And so, we found ourselves at Chew Valley Lake as the morning mist lifted from the water and low cloud hung in the autumn sky. An eager group of anglers assembled tackle and climbed into the flotilla of boats. The lakes surface was mirror calm with barely a breath of wind.

The boats headed off to various areas of the water as anglers used their intimate knowledge of the lake or followed their instincts. Bruce and I were somewhere between the two as we had both fished the lake on numerous occasions and knew the topography well.

We spent the first hour exploring the deep water in front of the Lodge hoping for a perch or trout without success. Deciding that we should get a pike under our belts we headed off to fish the shallower weedy areas where we expected to find the pike.

Casting a big pike fly into the vast waters of Chew Valley Lake is always filled with expectation and hope. The fish of dreams dwell within and each cast has the potential to connect so it is always particularly thrilling when the line draws tight as a pike hits the fly.

It only took a few casts before that exhilarating pull came as a jack hit the fly giving a spirited tussle before sliding over the rim of Bruce’s capacious net.

Pike came steadily to our flies throughout the day. I used a large black lure with marabou that pulsed tantalizingly as it was retrieved. Bruce swapped and changed using various pike fly patterns tempting several pike throughout the day. To be honest I’m not too convinced the choice of fly is that important when targeting pike. I just persist with a fly I have confidence in hoping I drop it in front of a feeding pike. Depth, speed of retrieve probably more important than the actual pattern?

We ended up sharing a haul of eight pike between us nothing over 5lb but good fun.

The trout proved harder to tempt. Bruce had a rainbow chase a large white pike fly which inspired me to try stripping a white cat’s whisker. Bang! A hard fighting rainbow trout of just under 3lb.

A steady stream of posts appeared on the phones telling of big pike and a few rainbows. The thought of that big pike lurking in wait somewhere kept us fishing hard until the competition closed at close to 5:30pm.

By now I think most anglers knew the result. The biggest pike caught was an impressive 28lb. Many thanks to Rodney Wevill, Jethro Binns, Bristol Water and Orvis for putting the event together.