With a bite cold East wind blowing over recent days I would expect carp sport to slow down and it may well have done so but at Stafford Moor there are still some stunning fish being caught by those prepared to brave the elements.
(Below) Luke Howell had six fish from the inlet swim on Beatties lake all caught on C C Moore Live System boilies
(Below)Ryan Turner fished with Friend Anthony Gill. They fished on the beach swim on Beatties lake the top weight was 25lb on the nose all caught on Sticky Baits 16mm Manilla boilies with a handful of 12mm Manilla bottom baits glazed in hemp oil.
(Below) Check out Rich Harman had three fish out from swim 3 on the dam wall on Beatties lake up to 25lb caught on Cornwall baits
(Below)Mark Lamude and Neil Harvey who had a few out from lodge lake last weekend on swims 3 and 4 including this 26lb 14oz all caught on frozen Mainline cell boilies glugged in cell dip tipped with sweetcorn.
The Individual Winner of the whole Competition was **DAVEY MEADES** who caught 6 Species altogether which included a 43cm Rainbow Trout, a 35cm Blue Trout, 2 Rudd at 12cm and 13cm, a 14cm Golden Rudd, a 11cm Perch and the fish that determined his win was a 17cm Golden Tench which was the 1st ever Lure caught Golden Tench to be caught in the history of Anglers Paradise!!
Quantum, Costa and Anglers Paradise Sponsored this Event meaning Davey Won a Week’s Holiday for 2 at Anglers Paradise and a huge range of Quantum Tackle, including a Rod, Reel, Lures and Clothing, a Pair of Costa’s Sunglasses and lots more, he had to take his Prizes in 2 trips as he couldn’t carry it all!!
Damon’s Team Captain was Fladen’s very own Pike King – Nathan Edgell, who was extremely proud of his Team Member to Win the Competition! Special Thanks to
Quantum and Costa for being so generous with the Prizes.
The Runner Up of the Lure Weekend 2018 was **SCOTT WAY** Winning with 5 Species amounting to 180.5cms consisiting of a 51.5cm Pike, a 35cm Tiger Trout, a 16cm Perch, a 39cm Blue Trout and a 39cm Rainbow Trout. Massive CONGRATULATIONS to Scott, this was his first ever Lure Weekend with us too!
Scott was in Team Fox Rage with Captain Ben Humber who was very proud of Scott’s determination and dedication till the very last whistle! This Catergory was Sponsored by QUANTUM who we’d like to say a massive Thank you for the very generous Prizes donated to the Event.
Now THIS is a catch that has made Anglers Paradise history! Andy Payne has done it again! Not only is he the only man to have ever caught and landed a Catfish on a Lure but this year he’s caught this stunning 22lb Common on a lure making him the 1st to have ever caught a Carp on a lure at Anglers Paradise!!!
It was a magical fishing moment that I for one feel blessed to have been there and share it with Andy. Andy caught the lure caught Carp from the Bottom Lake at Anglers Eldorado.
Team Captain Kev Cox from Fox Rage as you can imagine was thrilled to bits and very proud of his team member Andy to catch such a species like this on a lure!!
This was without a doubt the Winner for the new Catergory – Fish Of The Weekend – Sponsored by FOX RAGE. Andy also came THIRD in the overall Competition catching 5 Species to 160.5cm consisting of a 17cm Perch, a 34cm Blue Trout, a 32cm Golden Trout, a 10.5cm Rudd and the 67cm Common Carp Wining more prizes from the very generous Quantum!
The Winning Team of the 2018 Lure Weekend is Team Fox Rage with Team Captain Ben Humber leading them to VICTORY!! It was the closest Competition EVER, Team Ben Humber WON with 9 Species to include Pike, Perch, Common Carp, Blue Trout, Rainbow Trout, Tiger Trout, Brook Trout, Golden Rudd and Rudd.
To tell you exactly how close it was, Team Fladen with Captain Nathan Edgell also caught 9 Species so in the end it had to come down to literally cm’s!! Team Fladen amounted to 253.5cm but Team Fox Rage won it with 286.5cm – it was so, so close!! Kev Cox’s Team had 8 Species and Savage Robbie Northman’s Team also had 8 Species which is superb angling for all the Team Members – they all fished their socks off but The Winners were TEAM BEN HUMBER – FOX RAGE – WELL DONE TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!
The Fish that secured their Win was another surprise Common Carp caught by Ian Paynton from the Trout Lake bumping their species up to 9!! Ben’s Team consisted of Dion Cooke-Martin, Nicky Lock, Ian Paynton, Lee Paynton, Mark Hawitt, Scott Way, Dom Cooke and son Dylan who are now the 2018 Team WINNERS!
A Big Shout out to all the Team Captains for doing a Fantastic Job and well done to all of the Anglers for fishing it until the very last second – pure dedication to Fishing! Thank you to all the Sponsors for yet again great Prizes for this Catergory – Quantum, Fladen, Costa, Drennan, Savage Fishing Gear and Fox Rage.
The BIGGEST PIKE caught at the 2018 Lure Weekend was caught by the one and only DION COOK-MARTIN measuring 62cm from Valhalla. DION was in Team Fox Rage with Captain Ben Humber leading him to Victory!
DION won some pretty special prizes from the Sponsors of this Catergory **Fladen and Costa** including a Fladen Rod, Reel and a pair of Costa Sunglasses – Thank you so much to Fladen and Costa, for the amazing Prizes, DION is a very happy boy.
For the FIRST EVER time, a Female Angler has Won The Biggest Perch catergory with a 27cm Perch caught by Derian Edwards!! This year’s Competition saw 5 Lady Anglers join us, which is fantastic to see more Women joining in and proving that the sport of fishing is ever growing with ladies that fish too and in this case do it better!! I for one am always trying to encourage more females to fish and join in, in this case Derian didn’t want to join in the Competition as she’s a beginner to fishing and didn’t think she could, but I assured her partner Brett, that this was an event for all levels of angling and is a friendly Competition that anyone can join in and that she would be welcomed by all, she changed her mind and decided to fish the Lure Weekend. Then she only went and WON BIGGEST PERCH!!! We are so proud of Derian, congratulations on becoming the FIRST LADY to WIN a Catergory!! Derian won a Fox Rage Rod and Reel and a pair of Costa Sunglasses, many thanks again to the Sponsors of this CATERGORY – Fox Rage and Costa. Derian was in Team Savage Fishing with Captain Robbie Northman who was extremely proud of his Team Member!! HERE’S TO SEEING MORE LADIES FISHING LIKE DERIAN!! GIRL POWER!!
Luke Taylor Won this Category with a lovely 45.5cm Rainbow Trout from the Trout Lake caught on the second morning of fishing, Luke also caught a 35.5cm Artic Char to add to his list of species!
Luke was in Team Savage with Robbie Northman as Captain.
Luke won a selection of Drennan goodies AND a pair of Costa Sunglasses – Thank you to Drennan and Costa for the great prizes and for sponsoring this Category.
With so many fantastic prizes donated from the Sponsors, we decided to have a New Category which was judged by me (Zenia), the Captains, Adjudicators etc to vote on who they thought was the most improved Angler over the weekend. The Winner of Most Improved Angler went to Anthony Addison, who from start to finish went from strength to strength and throughout the weekend Anthony learnt so much especially from his Team Captain Kevin Cox. Dylan Cooke (who was the youngest member of the competition) and DION were Runners Up who both showed determination and dedication especially in challenging conditions at times!! Good on you boys – keep up the great Angling and passion for learning. This Category was sponsored by Savage Fishing Gear and Anthony won himself an amazing Savage Reel AND Rod!!
The Blind Team Winners were Michael Molloy, Ian Paynton, Lee Paynton, Ben Taylor and Steve Self with 10 Species consisiting of Pike, Perch, Blue Trout, Rainbow Trout, Golden Trout, Tiger Trout, Rudd, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench and a Common Carp. Last year it was won with 4 species, so 10 is pretty awesome!!
Special Thanks to Costa for the Prizes.
So, that’s a wrap! As you can see, there were lots of fish caught and we are proof that THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A FRIENDLY FISHING COMPETITION!!
Looks like the 2018 November Lure Fishing was a great success once again many thanks to Zenia for her enthusiastic write up! Several first this year with carp on a lure and a golden tench.
💥WINNER OF THE NOVEMBER 2018 LURE WEEKEND💥
The Individual Winner of the whole Competition was **DAVEY MEADES** who caught 6 Species altogether which included a 43cm Rainbow Trout, a 35cm Blue Trout, 2 Rudd at 12cm and 13cm, a 14cm Golden Rudd, a 11cm Perch and the fish that determined his win was a 17cm Golden Tench which was the 1st ever Lure caught Golden Tench to be caught in the history of Anglers Paradise!!
Quantum, Costa and Anglers Paradise Sponsored this Event meaning Davey Won a Week’s Holiday for 2 at Anglers Paradise and a huge range of Quantum Tackle, including a Rod, Reel, Lures and Clothing, a Pair of Costa’s Sunglasses and lots more, he had to take his Prizes in 2 trips as he couldn’t carry it all!!
Damon’s Team Captain was Fladen’s very own Pike King – Nathan Edgell, who was extremely proud of his Team Member to Win the Competition!
Special Thanks to Quantum and Costa for being so generous with the Prizes.
MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to DAVEY MEADES for WINNING THE 2018 LURE WEEKEND!!
The Runner Up of the Lure Weekend 2018 is **SCOTT WAY** Winning with 5 Species amounting to 180.5cms consisting of a 51.5cm Pike, a 35cm Tiger Trout, a 16cm Perch, a 39cm Blue Trout and a 39cm Rainbow Trout.
Massive CONGRATULATIONS to Scott, this was his first ever Lure Weekend with us too!
Scott was in Team Fox Rage with Captain Ben Humber who was very proud of Scott’s determination and dedication till the very last whistle!
This Catergory was Sponsored by QUANTUM who we’d like to say a massive Thank you for the very generous Prizes donated to the Event.
WELL DONE SCOTT!
**FISH OF THE WEEKEND** AND **THIRD PLACE**
Now THIS is a catch that has made Anglers Paradise history! Andy Payne has done it again! Not only is he the only man to have ever caught and landed a Catfish on a Lure but this year he’s caught this stunning 22lb Common on a lure making him the 1st to have ever caught a Carp on a lure at Anglers Paradise!!!
It was a magical fishing moment that I for one feel blessed to have been there and share it with Andy. Andy caught the lure caught Carp from the Bottom Lake at Anglers Eldorado.
Team Captain Kev Cox from Fox Rage as you can imagine was thrilled to bits and very proud of his team member Andy to catch such a species like this on a lure!!
This was without a doubt the Winner for the new Catergory – Fish Of The Weekend – Sponsored by FOX RAGE.
Andy also came THIRD in the overall Competition catching 5 Species to 160.5cm consisting of a 17cm Perch, a 34cm Blue Trout, a 32cm Golden Trout, a 10.5cm Rudd and the 67cm Common Carp Wining more prizes from the very generous Quantum!
CONGRATULATIONS ANDY AND WELL DONE ON A TRULY AMAZING CATCH AND MAKING ANGLING HISTORY AT ANGLERS PARADISE!!
🎣💥THE WINNING TEAM OF THE LURE WEEKEND💥🎣
The Winning Team of the 2018 Lure Weekend is Team Fox Rage with Team Captain Ben Humber leading them to VICTORY!!
It was the closest Competition EVER, Team Ben Humber WON with 9 Species to include Pike, Perch, Common Carp, Blue Trout, Rainbow Trout, Tiger Trout, Brook Trout, Golden Rudd and Rudd.
To tell you exactly how close it was, Team Fladen with Captain Nathan Edgell also caught 9 Species so in the end it had to come down to literally cm’s!! Team Fladen amounted to 253.5cm but Team Fox Rage won it with 286.5cm – it was so, so close!! Kev Cox’s Team had 8 Species and Savage Robbie Northman’s Team also had 8 Species which is superb angling for all the Team Members – they all fished their socks off but The Winners were TEAM BEN HUMBER – FOX RAGE – WELL DONE TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!
The Fish that secured their Win was another surprise Common Carp caught by Ian Paynton from the Trout Lake bumping their species up to 9!! Ben’s Team consisted of Dion Cooke-Martin, Nicky Lock, Ian Paynton, Lee Paynton, Mark Hawitt, Scott Way, Dom Cooke and son Dylan who are now the 2018 Team WINNERS!
A Big Shout out to all the Team Captains for doing a Fantastic Job and well done to all of the Anglers for fishing it until the very last second – pure dedication to Fishing!
Thank you to all the Sponsors for yet again great Prizes for this Catergory – Quantum, Fladen, Costa, Drennan, Savage Fishing Gear and Fox Rage.
Bring on next year!!!
The BIGGEST PIKE caught at the 2018 Lure Weekend was caught by the one and only DION COOK-MARTIN measuring 62cm from Valhalla.
DION was in Team Fox Rage with Captain Ben Humber leading him to Victory!
DION won some pretty special prizes from the Sponsors of this Catergory **Fladen and Costa** including a Fladen Rod, Reel and a pair of Costa Sunglasses – Thank you so much to Fladen and Costa, for the amazing Prizes, DION is a very happy boy.
I was chatting to a fellow angler at the weekend about salmon fishing on the Taw and how the fishing has declined since I first started fishing the river over forty years ago. As is often the case talk reminisced on large fish caught and the angler in question told me of his first salmon a fine fish of around twenty pounds. One particular fish was etched on his memory and he described spotting the dorsal fin of this huge fish on a lower Taw beat. The fish was lying close to the edge in a well known lie its dorsal fin showing above the water. He and a fellow angler climbed high up on the bank and peered into water. They were awestruck at the sight before them; a huge salmon estimated at between four and five feet in length. The fish sensing their presence swam slowly into the depth of the pool never to be seen again despite their efforts to tempt the fish with rod and line.
Later on that evening I did a little research leafing through the pages of that Classic tome, ” The Doomsday Book of Giant Salmon” written by that late master of angling history Fred Buller. Within the pages of this book are a couple of huge West Country salmon one of which is the famous 57lb salmon caught in a net by Mr Stephens and Jimmy Hill at Fremington in September 1925. This huge salmon would have been around the same length as the fish sighted by my fellow angler.
Whilst this salmon is likely to be amongst the largest to have run our local rivers it is intriguing to wonder what fish have swum under Barnstaple Bridge and into other North Devon Rivers. As salmon numbers continue to dwindle huge fish are probably consigned to the history books. But there are I am sure people within the local community who can tell of large salmon seen or indeed removed from local rivers in the distant past.
It would be great to hear any stories of large salmon or sea trout from North Devon Rivers even if they were caught many years ago by less than legitimate means. I would be delighted to air any such tales here on North Devon Angling News; an ideal read for those long winter nights. You can email any stories to info@northdevonanglingnews and I will publish over the Christmas period! I will not of course publish the names of the authors unless they are happy for me to do so. It is important that any stories are shared before the generations pass and with them their knowledge.
North Devon Match Group Championship No.11 @ Stafford Moor.
Results
1st Kevin Shears 54lb 13oz
2nd Dave Downton 48lb 3oz
3rd Paul Morris 44lb 9oz
4th Martin Turner 41lb 11oz
5th Peter Slade 41lb 7oz
6th John Forster 41lb 3oz
7th Simon John Allen 40lb 6oz
8th John Bailey 33lb 8oz
31 anglers fished. Cold bright frosty conditions did not deter the venues carp from feeding in, what turned out to be a closely fought contest.The match was one of the best attended that we have organised . Kevin Shears won the event from unfancied peg 19 on Oak lake with an 18 fish net taken on the bomb and bread.Venue regular Dave landed 9 larger fish on the method feeder and maggot from peg 14 on Woodies for 2nd. Paul Morris took 3rd spot from peg 16 on Oak with feeder and pole tactics . Martin Turner also on Oak, peg 11 ,managed to secure 4th place with a 16 fish pole and maggot caught net.
Ryan Willshire had a cracking session on Upper Tamar Lake on the Cornwall and Devon border. Ryan pre baited during the week, arriving early on Saturday morning and within 2 hours had landed three 20lb+ mirrors! Ryan added a fourth 20 the same day to cap a fine session on the venue. All four fish are newly stocked fish which are all up in weight since stocking a month ago and it included the capture of a fish knows as ‘Starburst’ at 23.15! Ryan’s fish weighed in at 23lb15oz, 22lb 4oz, 22lb 2oz and 22lb 2oz. All the fish fell to Mainline Pop ups over
hybrid free offerings.
(Below)
(Below) Aaron Bunning continued his fine form at Upper Tamar Lake, Near Bude, on the Cornwall/Devon border. He caught one of the most sought after Carp called ‘The Peach’ at 30lb 8oz. This was the second time in a year Aaron has managed to catch the fish from the 80+ acre venue. Aaron also caught a newly stocked mirror carp known as ‘Steves Mirror’ which was 22lb 8oz. Both fish fell to 20mm Nashbait Scopex Squid wafters over a scattering of matching freebies.
It was a busy day in the estuary with several local clubs holding competitions on Sunday November 18th. The river has been in fine
form for flounder over the past couple of weeks with some really good catches.
Paul Hutching’s and his friend Andrew McKenna landed 41 flounder during a recent session along with four bass to 4lb. The biggest flounder fell to Paul and scaled 1lb 14oz.
Cyril Petherick competition
Results.
1st Andy Sanders flounder 2 lb 100%
2nd Andy sanders flounder 1 lb 13oz 90.625%
3rd Antony Smith flounder 1 lb 11 1/4oz 85.156
32 seniors fishing and 4 juniors with 29 fish weighed.
Kyle Blackmore narrowly missed out on a prize with these fine flounder the best of which scaled 1lb 10 3/4oz
Barnstaple Triple Hook – Flounder Open
1st – Kevin Hancock – flounder 1lb 9oz
2nd Dennis Toleman – Flounder 1lb 81/2oz
Braunton Small Boats
Braunton Small Boat and Angling Club. Eight members fished a flounder competition.
Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club held the first heat of their Winter Challenge series at Bratton Water where all members secured three fish bags by mid morning. The winning bag of three browns fell to myself (Wayne Thomas) and totalled 9lb 14oz. In runner up spot was Colin Combe with 9lb 12oz and in third Andre Muxworthy with 8lb 12oz.
(Above) Winning bag of three quality browns to 4lb
Bratton Water is nestled in a wooded valley protected from most winds which is always good especially when a bitter East wind is blowing as it was on the day of our visit. With a bright blue sky I wondered if we would struggle to catch but these fears were unfounded as the trout responded well to a variety of tactics. I chose to fish a light rod combined with a floating line and long 6lb b.s leader with a small gold-head PTN on the tip and small diawl-bach on a dropper. Casting a long line and allowing the fly to sink before commencing a very slow erratic retrieve. The choice of tactics was more to do with how I wanted to fish as opposed to what I thought would catch most. Other members succeeded using small lures fished on intermediate lines with speedier retrieves.
(Above)Three quality rainbows caught by Nigel BirdMembers take a break
