Local Torridge District Councillor, Dermot Mc Geough and now a 5C’s member,(The Crazy, Crafty, Cunning Carp Catchers) fished the Main Lake at Anglers Paradise for his first proper fishing trip and managed to bag this 21lb 2oz Mirror Carp on 20mm Scopex Squid boilees. He was overjoyed as this was his first 20lb’er before this he had only small fish under 10lbs.
All rounder Aaron Bunning had a cracking session on Lower Tamar this week with his targets being a 2lb roach and 10lb bream! Amazingly he caught both!! here’s his report: ‘Decided to target the roach and bream for a change, awesome fun on the light gear. had 15-20 roach to 2lb 4oz, 3 bream including 2 doubles of 11lb 6oz and 10lb 4oz as well as a few trout and perch. all fish were caught on 12mm Scopex Squid boilie or maggot hookbaits over quite a lot of maggot, caster, hemp, pellet and groundbait’.
Combe Martin SAC member Ali Laird has been enjoying success along North Devons rocky coastline and sent me these catches made throughout November.
Including spurdog of 14lb 6oz, 11lb 8.5oz, conger of 18lb 3oz, Bull Huss 8lb 6oz and a blonde ray of 8lb 4oz.
Phil Gilhespy banked a fine common carp of 25lb 10oz from Lower Tamar Lake along with a 13lb common.
The River Torridge Fishery Association
President: Lord Clinton
Chairman: Paul Ashworth Secretary: Charles Inniss
e-mail: [email protected]
NEWSREEL: WINTER 2020
The salmon hatchery:
Sadly the hatchery programme for this winter is currently on hold. The hatchery team was ready to trap the broodstock from the fish pass at Monkokehampton Weir when the second lockdown restrictions were announced early in December. We have not given up hope and if the restrictions are lifted on 2ndDecember will endeavour to catch up at least a few broodstock, which by then should almost be ready for stripping.
Steve Phelps, our vice-Chairman, has been working closely with William Entwistle, the vice-chairman of the South West Rivers Association, to develop a South West Hatchery hub at the Colliford hatchery on the River Fowey. This hatchery is currently funded by South West Water in mitigation for the loss of spawning streams on the Fowey catchment when Colliford Reservoir was constructed. Initially the Torridge and the Axe will be the two rivers directly involved. With the support of the Colliford hatchery team, the Axe Association, South West Water, The South West Rivers Association and the EA we have permission to grow upto 50% of our eggs to the swim-up fry stage at the Colliford hatchery. Their progress will be monitored under almost laboratory conditions. Last year we achieved a very high success rate at our own hatchery and it will be very interesting to compare the results.
As salmon stocks in all the rivers in the South West continue to decline there may will be a need to develop and expand the Colliford hatchery so that it can support all the rivers in our region.
A new Fisheries Enforcement Officer:
Some good news to cheer you all!! Following the retirement of Paul Carter in the spring, the EA has appointed a new Fisheries Enforcement Officer (FEO) for North Devon. Callum Underhill is fully trained and skilled as a FEO and for the last five years has been based in North Wessex. Callum is very enthusiastic about his new appointment. He is a keen fisherman!! Paul Carter has been very supportive and will continue to do so. I am sure next season many of you will meet Callum on the riverbank.
The Annual Dinner and Raffle:
Sadly we were not able to hold the Annual Dinner at The Half Moon, but the raffle did go ahead and as usual it was wonderfully well supported: thank you all very much. The raffle, together with several generous donations, raised over £2,000 which will go a long way towards funding our own hatchery and the costs involved at the Colliford hatchery.
The winners of the raffle prizes were as follows:
1st prize: £100 wine voucher: Richard Henry, an extremely experienced and successful angler who has fished the Torridge and been a regular visitor at The Half Moon Inn for over 50 years.
2nd prize: £50 Snowbee voucher: Robert Clark, a friend of James Mumford. James has been fishing the Torridge for many years and still travels from his home in Somerset to fish for salmon and sea trout several times each season.
3rd prize: a day’s fishing on The Half Moon beats was won by Bill Blake from Somerset.
4th prize: a bottle of wine donated by Reg Lawton was won by Tim Birkbeck, a committee member.
5th prize: a day’s fishing on the famous Madeira beat was won by Nick Gunn, one of our newer members.
The Fishing Season:
For the first three weeks of the season the river was in spate and then all fishing stopped until the end of May, by which time the river, after a spring drought, was down to summer level. For the latter half of the season the weather was changeable and river levels held up reasonably well. Fishing effort has been very light, but those anglers who have fished regularly have been rewarded with some good catches. Barry Mills caught a salmon in excess of 20lb on the Little Warham water while Martin Weeks and his brother Ed enjoyed some excellent night sea trout fishing. Catch totals seem to have been similar to last year: about 30 salmon, 100 sea trout and plenty of good-sized brown trout.
SAFETY FIRST FOR WINTER FISHING
The paragraph below is from my Angling Column in North Devon Journal and is worth repeating here.
Once again there has been a tragic loss of an angler’s life on the North Cornish Coast an area well known for its huge swells. The North Devon coast is also pummeled by these same Atlantic surges and anglers must be fully aware of the risks. Each winter I remind anglers of the safe guidelines to follow. Always check the tide and weather before choosing where to fish taking into account the wind direction and both the time and size of the tide. If fishing from potentially slippery rocks consider the impact of heavy rain not just whilst fishing but also accessing the mark and leaving. Ensure that you tell someone where you intend to fish and your expected time home. Carry a mobile phone and keep it in a waterproof case. Always wear suitable footwear that gives a good grip metal studs can be excellent and cut through weed and algal growth. Modern lifejackets are lightweight and comfortable and significantly improve the chances of survival if you do fall in. When it comes to landing a big fish have a plan on how you will land it and carry a long-handled landing net or drop net. Alternatively use a strong enough shock leader to give a chance of lifting the fish safely from the water. I will repeat the frequently uttered quote no fish is worth losing your life for.
The whole world has been divided into 10 meter squares each with a unique 3 word combination. We are informed that all emergency services use it as well as the Council Highways dept and utility companies.
You can find the words applicable for your house (front door) and keep them by your phone for emergency use and of course with a mobile phone and the free download app you can report a fallen tree, water leak etc. very accurately as when you open the app it knows where you are and gives the 3 words.
Follow this link and it will give you the village hall https://what3words.com/caressing.deadline.resort
You can expand and enlarge the map to your doorstep and find your unique 3 words.
Please do use this potentially lifesaving tool as we know that Postcodes are not unique.
Ali Laird thought the weather looked spot on for a bit of Autumn carping and acting on this hunch headed to Jennetts. He enjoyed a brilliant session banking seven carp including fish of 23lb 7oz, 21lb 14oz ,19lb plus 3 good doubles and a little mirror.
Deano Johnson had this cracking 26.02 common from Lower Slade on his first visit having just purchased our all waters ticket.
Shaun Freeman who has these two commons from Tamar a few days ago. 20lb 3oz and 22lb. Both caught on Mainline Cell pop ups fished on a stiff hinge close to the bank.
Shaun Freeman who has these two commons from Tamar a few days ago. 20lb 3oz and 22lb. Both caught on Mainline Cell pop ups fished on a stiff hinge close to the bank.
Combe Martin SAC member Jamie Steward has enjoyed success during recent sessions landing this specimen Bull Huss of 10lb 5oz and a blonde ray of just over 7lb.
