Shaun Thorne was thinking of calling it a day as the stormy wether pushed in as he fished at Lower Slade Reservoir. A twenty pound plus common carp encouraged him to stay a little longer resulting in a 13lb mirror.
CORNISH WRASSE ADVENTURE
Many thanks to Kody Chugg and Ollie Passmore for sending me this account of their recent trip to Cornwall in search of wrasse.
Got up early hours of the morning, and set off down to Cornwall. Sun shining and a favoured wind in search of a big ballan wrasse. Several marks ventured, fishing crystal clear water. Lots of little taps with baits getting stripped by little wrasse. Last mark we went to we were fishing over low. Missing some really good runs from hook pulls. We both managed to catch a good few fish together.
Fish care with wrasse is vital. These are fragile fish that need to be taken care of, unhooking carefully and resting in pools. Wrasse definitely are in decline compared to years gone by, due to commercial fishing, and taken to Scottish salmon farms. Wrasse are so valuable for the seas Eco system and keeping reefs and corals etc healthy. Great fun fishing and each one being so different and remarkable colours. Crab and hermits doing the business. All on running ledger rigs with 1/0 circle hooks. All in all a great day fishing!
Footnote :- Reading Ollie and Kody’s article takes me back to a trip I enjoyed to the South Cornish coast almost forty years ago with Combe Martin SAC secretary Nick Phillips. A couple of days were spent exploring the rugged coastline where we landed several specimen wrasse the best If my memory serves me correct pulled the scales to 6lb 8oz a fish that is still my PB. Wrasse of over 5lb were comparatively common back then both in Cornwall and along the North Devon coast where I landed fish to 5lb 15oz. I mention this as it highlights how fishing for wrasse has declined over four decades.
North Devon Match Group Result -Oaktree
North Devon Match Group fished Oaktree Lakes at South Molton with both top and bottom lakes in. Thanks to club secretary John Forster for his report.
Top Lake
1st Tom Downing 52lb5oz
2nd Peter Horton West 41lb 15oz
3rd Les Polden 30lb 1 oz
sorry no photos of this lake as no one sent me any and my phone had given up working lol
Bottom Lake
1st Chris Morris 66lb 06oz
2nd John Lisle 39lb 04oz
3rd Kevin Shears 29lb 09oz
A good Win For Chris and a pleasant day all round
Next ione up is the 16th May at the brilliant Goodiford Mill
BRAUNTON BAIT BOX LAUNCH MONTHLY COMPETITION
Right guys and girls
Starting from next month (MAY) we will be running a
Fish Of The Month Competition
May and June – the species will be biggest Ray or Smooth Hound
July and August – the species will be Bass and Gilthead Bream
The winner will receive a £25 bait voucher and a box of bakes from
Bake and Brew Bakery
Rules
*You must pop in the shop to register
*bait must be bought from us, the bait packets will have a different sticker on each month
*you must send in a photo of you holding the fish along with a photo of the scales weight and the bait sticker
*have a great time
*please pick up your litter
Happy fishing
CARP CATCHES FROM SWLT Waters
Mark Gibson and Mark Eager fished Lower Tamar Lake banking eleven carp including eight over twenty pounds the best 27lb.
(Below) Ian Knowles had these two from Upper Tamar recently. 19lb 5oz and 12lb 4oz.
(Below) John Deprieellee had a cracking day at Jennets yesterday and sent this report in for us:
‘I spent the day fishing a combination of adjustable zigs and surface baits at range. The fish certainly werent in a big feeding mode and the key was to feed small amounts of bait every 5 mins. I literally didnt stop casting from start to finish and it took 4 hours to get the first bite which came off at the net. It was then a case of persistance and changing hook baits and trying to deal with the easterly cross wind which made for a challenging session. Eventually I found the bait they would take and caught 9 fish plus a handful of bream. Most of the carp were mid to high doubles but the best 3 went 22, 24,8 and 27,8. plus a few more that came off.
SCOTTISH TREK BRINGS SUCCESS WITH HUGE SKATE
Combe Martin SAC member Kyle Bishop made the long trek to Scotland in search of the huge skate that reside in the deep waters. He enjoyed success from the rocky shoreline bring two huge specimens to the shore estimated at 189lb and 187lb.
Double Figure Tamar Bream
Stuart Kerwood tempted a stunning double figure bream from Lower Tamar Lake on a pink krill pop up.
Big thin lip wins Bideford Rover
Bideford May Rover Results
1st Nathan Clements Thin Lipped Mullet 5lb 1oz 126.562%
2nd Julien Stainer Dog Fish 2lb 6 1/2oz 80.208%
3rd Paul Downing Thornback Ray 5lb 11oz 63.194%
4th Dick Talbot Rockling 15oz 62.5%
BIG CHANNEL BLONDE
Combe Martin SAC member Dan Spearman fished a Bristol Channel Shore mark (English side) to tempt this fine specimen blonde ray scaling 16lb 6oz.
Bratton Water – South Molton Anglers
I joined a dozen or so members of South Molton Angling Club at the tranquil Bratton Water Trout Fishery for a mornings fishing and chat. This was very much a social event with an opportunity for a mornings fishing. Conditions were perfect for enjoying the scenery and catching up with fellow members but far from ideal for catching trout. The water was crystal clear and the margins alive with tadpoles a fact that encouraged a few members to try small black tadpole type flies.
I had brought along my 10ft 5wt rod and matched it with a floating line and a long leader of 6.5lb fluorocarbon. A small bead head pheasant tail on the point and a black n’ peacock on a dropper. This was cast out and allowed to sink before retrieving very slowly watching the line intently for any twitches. I missed a few but caught my bag of 3 rainbows within two hours then proceeded to chat for a while with fellow members about things country and fishy.
Strange how you perceive that you have found the right method to find that other have caught using a totally different fly and retrieve.
It was time to head home and cook up a Sunday dinner of fresh trout!
