This 55lb 12oz tope set new best for Dan Hawkins boat Reel Deal whilst fishing for shark. The fish was tempted by Alan White on a whole frozen Ammo mackerel and is a for-taste of the summer sport that is to come off Ilfracombe when the mackerel shoals arrive in numbers.
It’s been a great start to the sharking season for anglers aboard charter boat Reel Deal sailing out of Ilfracombe.
With a couple of big porbeagle already caught this season a party off anglers headed down to North Cornwall for the chance of another big early season shark. It wasn’t long before the Ammo supplied chum brought a shark to one of the baits. After a short tussle the first fish managed to shed the hook. But this wasn’t the end of the action as a big shark approached the boat later in the day nudging the floats as it circled around in the rubby dubby trail. Frustratingly the big fish seemed uninterested in the baits and the anglers thought their chance had slipped away. But with time ticking towards home time one of the frozen Ammo mackerel was taken and a long battle commenced with each angler taking fifteen minute turns on the rod.
Eventually the mighty fish was glimpsed in the clear water.
Dan has a policy of releasing all shark at the side of the boat to minimize stress to the fish ensuring that these awesome fish will continue to hunt the clear waters off the rugged North Cornwall coast.
The huge fish was estimated at 450lb and was tamed on top quality tackle supplied by Veals Mail Order and tempted on bait supplied by Ammo Baits. The landing of the shark was team effort by Clive, Shaun, Paul,Dean and Daniel.
Dan Hawkins can reach the sharking grounds off Cornwall in the speedy purpose built 9m Colne Catamaran powered by 2×150 HP Mercury outboards in around two hours giving anglers a full days fishing with plenty of pollock and other species to catch whilst the rubby dubby works its magic.
Upper Tamar bailiff Roger Maher has been doing well at the venue after finding some fish in a quiet area of the lake. Short sessions and a little pre baiting has worked really well for Roger and the results speak for themselves. He has managed lots of fish in the last couple of weeks but has picked out these as some of his favorites. The majority of fish have been doubles with the largest common being 19.12 and mirror 16.08.
Blakewell is certainly the place too catch double figure rainbows!
Anchor Lake has been fishing its head off ! One angler had 9 in under 2 hours and there have been a couple of 7lb fish in amongst some limit bags including this cracker caught by Daniel Stocker which was also tagged so he headed home with £20 and an Easter Egg! Despite the concerns about C&R making the lake hard we see no evidence of it and today of the 14 anglers fishing 7 are on sport tickets, all catching using a variety of tactics including washing line, straight nymphs & dries.
Matt Jacques, 45 from Birmingham, caught a 26lb Mirror from the Kracking Carp Lake. Matt fished on Peg 1, used one of CMCR’s ARSD rigs with a Paradise Baits Original Rasberry 12ml white pop up. He baited up with just a handful of pellets, crushed Beez Kneez boilies and some corn every hour or so. Matt Said – “I will be back soon for one of those big commons”.
ANOTHER LADY ANGLER HOOKED!!
Well done to Amy Wetherill who shared with us her Biggest Fish to date from the Magic Lake! It was great to see Amy at the Rig Clinic too, picking up some tips and advice for her future fishing!
TAKE NOTE BOYS AND GIRLS!
Amy Said –
“Whilst attending Anglers Paradise I caught my new personal best!
It may not seem much, but to me I was over the moon and still am!
This lovely beauty, which I have named Beastie, was caught from the Magic Lake off of the surface using a chopped down pop-up.
I love fishing this lake, watching the fish feed and getting excited waiting for the all important bite!
Beastie gave one hell of a fight and had my arm burning for over 10 minutes! This made the netting of him much more magical as the name of this lake implies!
This is the biggest fish I have caught so thank you to Anglers Paradise!
Let’s see if I can beat this new pb next year…..”
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK AMY!
THE 1ST WINNER FOR FISH OF THE WEEK 2017 IS…
Craig Fisher who smashed his Personal Best with a 46lb 2oz Mirror from the Kracking Carp Lake!!
Craig’s Story –
“I decided to give the Kracking a go, hoping to catch one of the big carp and land a personal best! After seeing fish around the island, I decided to move up the other end of the lake. I cast out a foot from the island and just 15 minutes later it went off!
I couldn’t believe my luck – a whopping new personal best! A great start to a fantastic week. I celebrated well in the Bar after the Wine and Dine Night that’s for sure and even won the raffle twice!! A fishing moment I will never forget!”
Craig used a snowman rig with triple-n boilie topped with milky toffee pop-up.
Craig’s luck didn’t stop there either! He also caught a Personal Best Catfish from the Specimen Cat Lake 37lbs 12oz!! Caught on a halibut boilie topped with pink stink pop-up.
WELL DONE CRAIG!! GREAT 1ST FISH OF THE WEEK FOR 2017!!
Here he is with his Winning Fish and being presented his prizes by Zyggy and Zenia.
FISH OF THE WEEK IS SPONSORED BY BURTON BAIT ROLLERS LTD, THE BAIT ROLLERS OF OUR FANTASTIC PARADISE BAITS.
