Mark Jones is leading Combe Martin SAC’s lure fishing competition sponsored by Ilfracombe’s High Street Tackle with a bass of 64cm. This 60cm beauty is his most recent success for the lure fishing enthusiast who has registered several good fish into the competition. With just over a week of the competition remaining I feel other club members will be trying to oust mark from the top spot and win the top quality lure rod that is up for grabs.
The recent rain has brought a welcome run of fish into the Taw and Torridge with the above salmon tempted by Emma Tyjas from the Taw.
Bob Lewington tempted a 9lb salmon from the Weir Marsh and brightly Beats of the Taw.
Simon Hillcox tempted 6lb salmon from the a middle Torridge Beat and a brace from a Lower Taw beat estimated at 6lb and 4lb both tempted on a Willie Gunn.
I fished a middle Torridge beat with great expectation but failed to tempt a fish. Great to be back out on the river though now that the river has been topped up.
Neil Harvey has had a cracking couple of sessions at Melbury. 15 Carp in the first session (4 x 20’s) and 14 Carp in the second session (2 x 20’s).
(Below) Mervyn Beal recently had this cracking 10 fish haul from Upper Tamar which included three 20’s to 22lb 8oz. All fish fell to Nash Scopex Squid.
Dan Spearman had a cracking day at Upper Tamar yesterday targeting the big perch. Dan had two over 3lbs with the largest at 3.10 caught on bait. Dan had lots of smaller fish in challenging conditions – it was blowing a gale!
The renowned venue on the Devon Cornwall border features in the forthcoming episode of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
FISH OF THE WEEK WINNER 16TH AUGUST
Lorcan Holdsworth who after watching Alan Blair’s Family Fishing video shot at Anglers Paradise inspired him to return to us with his family and he caught an amazing personal best 78lb 6oz Catfish from the Main Carp Lake!!
Lorcan’s story –
“On a return visit to Anglers Paradise with the family I met 15 year old Ozzy on the Easy Access Lake where between us after not much luck we partnered up and got 3 nice Catfish up to 25lb. Ozzy even broke his PB at 22lb and would you believe on sweetcorn!
After a terrific session Ozzy invited me down to the Main Carp Lake and with confidence high within 2 hours had a very strange bite. Once I picked the rod up I knew the fish was a decent size and new it was a Cat straight away. The fish was unstoppable and wrapped me around 5c’s Island where the rod went solid. I made a quick decision to swim out and release it from the snag. After a long battle Ozzy and I finally got this monster in a net as we cheered our success.
A very special moment that neither of us will forget. Great team effort as on this occasion I smashed my PB weighing in at 78lbs 6oz!”
WELL DONE LORCAN – WHAT A FISH TO CATCH AND IT’S THE BIGGEST CATFISH TO COME OUT THIS YEAR – CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE!!
Here he is with his winning Fish and being presented his prizes by Zyggy and Zenia with special thanks to JRC Fishing.
**FISH OF THE WEEK IS SPONSORED BY JRC FISHING – THE MAKERS OF GREAT CARP TACKLE**
Jennetts Reservoir RESULTS – 18/8/19
Top 5 on day:
1st Norman Martin 36lb 10oz
2nd Wayne Mitchell 31lb 10oz
3rd Simon Poynter 27lb 7oz
4th Kevin Wilton 22lb 9oz
5th Andrew Gratton 11lb 5oz
Some stunning nets of bream, roach and perch from Melbury Reservior as reported by Martin Turner below.
1st John Lisle 29lb 8oz
2nd Stuart Burridge 21lb 6oz
3rd Nielsen Jeffery 15lb 7oz
4th Paul Elworthy 11lb 11oz
5th Pete Slade 11lb 8oz
6th Graham Colman 10lb 4oz.
13 members fished this event in windy conditions. All the weights fell to groundbait feeder tactics, and most catches were good sized skimmer bream. John Lisle has drawn on the road side peg 5 and has caught steadily all day for victory, Stuart’s 2nd place was also on the roadside peg 8. Neilsen secured 3rd spot from the middle of the dam.
ARTIFISHAL is a thought provoking film that everyone should see that has concern for the natural world.Be Informed :-
Open net fish farms threaten the survival of wild fish including Atlantic salmon, sea trout and Arctic char but governments are not doing enough to address the problems. Instead the industry is set to expand exponentially in the pristine fjords of Iceland and continues to grow at alarming rates around Norway, Scotland and Ireland – using massive open net pens that allow the free flow of disease and pollution into the surrounding environment where wild salmon are struggling to survive. In the last 40 years, the population of Atlantic Salmon has dropped from 10 million to 3 million and if we fail to protect their habitat they could soon become an endangered species.
The film will be introduced by Wayne Thomas and screening will start at 7.45pm the film will be followed by an interactive discussion. Wayne will also give details of his new book on angling in North Devon with the opportunity to purchase signed copies.
Note 50% of profits will be donated to the River Torridge Fishery Association. Tickets £5.00 on the door.
My good friend John Avery caught this stunning bass of 7lb 12oz whilst fishing for thick lipped grey mullet using bread flake presented on a size 8 hook and quiver tip tactics.
I often consider the options for fishing for bass using smaller baits and tactics. Whilst the larger baits work well there are occasions when a more subtle approach can work even for big fish. It is not unusual to catch bass on bread-flake but It is not a first choice bait. Float fishing with live prawn can be very successful and would imagine sea slaters could work. Taming a bass on 8lb b.s line and light float rod is not too difficult and is certainly exciting.
