Furzebray Carp Fishery continues to produce some very big fish despite the colder conditions. Andy White banked the mirror carp known as three scales at 36lb. Chris Connaughton banked fish of 32lb 27lb and 21lb. Graham Kelly banked the huge carp Blackspot at 45lb 8oz (Above) along with other carp of 33lb, 27lb and 21lb. The carp of Furzebray always seem to feed well during stormy conditions.
(Above) Graham Kelly with carp of 33lb and 27lb.
1st Neilsen Jeffery 87lb 2oz
2nd Jim Grogan 34lb 7oz
3rd Bruce Hunt 33lb 15oz
4th Craig Crash Lamey 29lb 3oz
5th Martin Turner 24lb 3oz
6th Kevin Shears 20lb 7oz
7th Paul Elworthy 19lb 13oz.
8th Stuart BUrridge 17lb 8oz .
21 fished. Today’s competition was fished in cold squally conditions . Nieilsen Jeffery rounded off a very successful campaign with a comprehensive victory on peg 16 on the top pond , he has caught 15 carp on pole fished corn. James Grogan has landed some large carp on the adjoining peg for second spot. Bruce Hunt also fished the top lake and landed a mixed bag on maggots on the pole for 3rd overall. Craig was 4th overall and top wieght on the bottom pond , taken on a small method feeder with maggot.
Kevin Legge secured top spot In Combe Sea Angling Clubs Christmas Competition with a fine specimen bull huss scaling 11lb 12oz. Members endured some stormy conditions during the competition with a heavy swell battering the coast. Mark Jones was runner up with a small eyed ray of 9lb 6oz.
Third – Alex Mcleish – bull huss 6lb 3oz
Forth Dan Welch – small eyed ray – 6lb
Fifth – Dan Welch – dogfish – 1lb 12oz
Sixth – Ross Stanway – dogfish – 1lb 10oz.
Julien Stainer secured first place in Bideford Angling Clubs Twenty Four Hour Rover landing bull huss of 8lb 15.5oz.
Cameron Atkinson won Appledore Shipbuilders Wintere League Rover with a whiting of 1lb 4oz.
Seven members fished in the clubs Christmas Competition at Blakewell where all members caught their three fish bags of hard fighting rainbows. The fish were caught on a variety of flies mostly small imitative patterns with the water clarity good. The lake was well sheltered from the gale force winds that were beating in from the North-West.
1st – Paul Grisley – 3 Trout – 6lb 11oz
2nd – Dave Eldred – 3 Trout – 5lb 11oz
3rd – Dave Mock – 3 Trout – 5lb 8oz
4th – Wayne Thomas – 3 Trout – 5lb 5oz
5th – Nigel Bird – 3 Trout – 5lb
6th – Colin Combe – 3 Trout – 4lb 11oz
7th – Andre Muxworthy = 3 trout – 4lb 1oz
As winter storms colour the water it’s time to don those waterproofs and get out in search of specimens. Kevin Legge found this near double figure huss on the feed during a recent trip to a rocky North Devon Shoreline.
Jason McEvoy braved wind and rain at Upper Tamar Lake to bank a fine mirror carp of 24lb 4oz.
1st Richard Jefferies 15lb 13oz
2nd Reg Sutton 14lb 12oz
3rd Martin Turner 7lb 10oz
4th Tyler Scott 2lb 15oz
5th Steve Bailey 2lb 1oz ,
This Sunday’s weather was cold,wet and very blustery, not particularly pleasant, 10 brave / stupid ! fishers sat it out on George’s lake in the final match for this season 2019, first and second spots changed throughout the day, Richard Jefferies just took the honours with a pole catch of carp and bream on peg 12. Reg Sutton almost made it 2 wins in a row but settled for 2nd with 4 carp on peg 9 ,Martin Turner on peg 10 had bream and roach on tip and pole for 3rd . Junior member Tyler Scott came in 4th with a net of small roach and perch. The final points table is ,1st Martin Turner 108 2nd Pete Slade 77 3rd Richard Jefferies 74 4th John Lisle 72 .
An impressive 72 anglers lined the banks of a wind swept Torridge Estuary to take part in Bideford Angling Clubs Christmas Competition and plenty of flounder were tempted.
1st R. Slade flounder 1lb 9 1/2oz
2nd D. Jenkins flounder 1lb 5 1/2oz
3rd D. Talbot flounder 1lb 4 3/4oz
4th M. John’s flounder 1lb 4 1/4oz
5th R. Harris flounder 1lb 3 1/4oz
6th A. Mccourt flounder 1lb 3oz
7th M. Druce flounder 1lb 1 3/4oz
8th C. Curtis flounder 1lb 1 3/4oz
9th D. Bailey flounder 1lb 1 3/4oz
10th A. Clements flounder 1lb 1 1/2oz
Prizes went all the way to 26th place.
JUNIORS
1ST B. Lee flounder 0.310g
2nd B. Lee flounder 0.306g
3rd B. J. Less flounder 0.302g
4th B. Phipps flounder 0.288g
5th B. Phipps flounder 0.256
Nathan Clements wrote :-
“I would like to say thank you to everyone that fished today 72 angler’s produced 39 flounder it’s been a brilliant day.
Thanks to Paul and Lisa done a fantastic job again.
Thank you to all are sponsors.
Thanks to the reds for letting us host the competition.
Congratulations to all the winners
See you all again next year”
Appledore Shipbuilders fished their Christmas comp today. Winner and 2nd was Owen Atkinson with Flounders of 1lb 14 3/4ozs and 1lb 12ozs 3rd was Cameron Atkinson with a flounder of 1lb 2 3/8ozs 22 members fished.
Twenty-Three anglers fishing in Triple Hook Clubs Open Flounder Match with good numbers of flounder landed. Mark Beer was first in the senior section with a flounder of 1lb 6.75oz. In runner up spot was Joan Cairns with a flounder of 1lb 4.5oz.
In the Junior section Lennox Pine took top spot with a flounder of 1lb 63/8oz and Levi Beer was runner up with a flounder of 1lb 33/8oz. Ian Cairns was runner up in club only Junior section with a flounder of 1lb.
The ladies section was secured by Joan Cairns with her flounder of 1lb 4.5oz. Runner up in the ladies section was Levi Beer with her flounder of 1lb 33/8oz.
Twenty seven anglers arrived to fish Blakewell’s Annual Christmas Competition despite the pending arrival of Storm Atiyah with winds forecast to reach up to 70mph. The competition is always an enjoyable day of socializing. Many of the anglers fish this competition each year catching up on the latest gossip from the South West Angling world with stories of places visited and of fishing adventures across the world.
I always find it slightly alarming how quickly this event seems to come around as the years drift past to merge into memories. Coffees, port and greetings are exchanged before the draw. The format is well known to all the regulars with six pegs drawn with an hour to be spent at each peg rotating around the lake throughout the day. With the storm forecast John and Richard Nickell wisely decide upon a slight change to this years timetable bring the competitions close to 2.30pm With dinner closing the event enabling anglers to retreat to the warmth of the tea room as the predicted storm arrives.
At 9.30am we set off for the lake full of expectation with those first few casts often productive. I draw a peg at the top corner of the Lake and have a grandstand view across the water where I observe several bent rods within minutes of the start.
To my surprise the first hour passes without any action to my rod and I am pleased to move to a new area. I have elected to fish a black tailed marabou lure with a bright green head on the point and two spider type flies on the droppers. After twenty minutes in my second zone I hook a rainbow of around 1lb 8oz and feel relieved to get the scoreboard ticking over. Persistence over the next hour sees another three trout caught the best a very pleasing fish of 4lb.
A vicious squall suddenly sweeps across the lake. Lashing rain and hail driven by a raging wind that bends the trees and sends branches drifting down the lake. At this point some anglers appear to be ready to pack away. Others like myself grit our teeth and try to soldier on.
Fortunately the squall is short lived and sunshine once again breaks through the clouds bringing a welcome splash of light and colour to the day. I make another move and soon connect with two more trout to complete my six fish bag.
With mission complete I take a walk around the lake capturing a few fishy moments as competitors chat and share the day. By 2.30pm everyone is ready for a hot dish of chilli con-carne a mince pie and a cool beer.
Many thanks again to John and Richard Nickell for their hospitality and good humour. Hard to believe its 12 months since we heard Richards cheery patter of optimism for the coming year. Once again a steady stream of families walkaway with their Christmas trees a sense of cheery optimism in the winter air.
The annual South West Fly Fair has become a popular fixture in the Fly Fishers Calendar. I hope to see you there at my stand representing North Devon Angling News with the opportunity to buy a copy of my recently published book ” I Caught A “Glimpse”.
