Kevin Shears secured victory in Bideford & District Angling Clubs mid week evening match at their home water Tarka Swims with a net of predominantly carp scaling 34lb 3oz. In runner up spot was John Lovell with 31lb 11oz and third Matt Cross with 7lb 13oz. In forth place was Martin Turner with 5lb 8oz.
It’s hard to believe that the longest day has passed us by already and the days are starting to recede in that ever revolving circle of time. I met South West Lakes Trust Ranger Danny Ford on June 20th at Wistlandpound just before 6.00pm with fours hours of fishing ahead of us, if only these summer days would last. I had fished earlier in the year when Wistlandpound had opened as brown trout fishery a new era in its development as North Devon’s largest trout water. Since those early season days a further stocking of brown trout have been introduced ensuring a healthy population of both stock fish and existing wild fish.
The evening was overcast with occasional glimpses of the sun and a light breeze. Ideal conditions I thought. We were using Wistlandpound Fly-fishing Clubs boat paired up with an electric outboard that gave us ease of maneuverability and was certainly easier than rowing. Danny suggested we try the deep water at the dam end of the lake as he had landed several trout from this location on his last visit a week before. A fast sink line, a black tadpole on the point of the leader and brightly coloured blob on the dropper was Dan’s suggestion. An erratic retrieve and the occasional pause allowing the fly to hang motionless in the water was the tactic to employ. Success came first to Danny, a handsomely marked brown of around 12oz. A few follows but no more hook ups called for a move and a change of tactics.
Putting the boat within casting range of the West bank we began a drift. With the occasional fish rising we both set up with floating lines. Danny using a dry fly whilst I opted for a bead headed pheasant tail on the point with a cormorant on the dropper. After a couple of drifts honors were even with trout falling to both dry fly and nymph.
I had heard that there were a few quality rudd being caught so I persuaded Danny to put us on a few rudd. Drifting close into the weedy margins soon brought success with these pretty golden flanked red finned coarse fish. The rudd proved a pleasing distraction for a short period with a double shot bringing a pleasing opportunity to capture the variance in the hues of these fish. There are those who curse the rudd that do not give a good account of themselves. But as they tend to congregate in certain areas it’s not too big an issue; though it is undoubtedly more difficult for the bank angler to avoid them.
After the rudd interlude we headed back out into deeper water and targeted the trout that were rising frequently. Danny and I both enjoyed success before the rise petered out. I picked up the sinking line once again and employed a fast retrieve with the occasional pause. This brought quick success in the shape of a brown of over 1lb. For the next twenty minutes or so we had several follows and a couple more stunningly marked browns.
As the battery was running low and the light fading we headed back to the dam end where I landed one more trout. The water surface became becalmed as dusk set in and what wind there was died away. The occasional trout punctuated the surface with a telling ripple. The sun sank behind the trees, the crimson sky reflecting through the trees onto the lake like a burning fire. Owls hooted in the trees and blackbirds cries echoed across the still water. It was time to go the longest day was as all days do ending.
We had ended the session with five browns each to around 1lb 8oz and five rudd each. The fishing is comparable to wild brown trout fishing savoured by many on upland tarns and lochs in the North of the country. Fascinated fishing in beautiful surroundings and at a very reasonable cost.
Wistlandpound Day tickets cost :- £15:00 for full details visit http://trout.swlakesfishing.co.uk/waters/wistlandpound/
The latest result from Stafford Moor was reported to me by the enthusiastic owner Joanne Combes
Tanners and Woodpecker lakes had a field of 39 fishing in Stafford Moor’s Sunday Open on June 19th.
Weather conditions: rain all day!
1st Chris Davis Woodpecker peg 17 with 176lb 7oz( fishing 8mm into the bank)
2nd Ricky Johnston Tanners peg 36 with 131lb 2oz ( fishing 8mm on the lead)
3rd John Heath Woodpecker peg 34 with 86lb 15oz (fishing 8mm on the lead)
4th Mark Hayman Tanners peg 18 with 113lb 1oz (fishing 8mm pellet waggler)
5th Phil Hardwick Woodpecker peg with 86lb 2oz ( fishing down the edge)
6th Mike Kempson Tanners peg 1 with 100lb 5oz
Silvers winners:
Dave Panny Tanners peg 34 with 20lb 3oz
Bruce Hunt Woodpecker peg 16 with 28lb 9oz
Section winners :
Lee Hicking Woodpecker peg 3 with 69lb 7oz
Dave Stockton Woodpecker peg 22 with 82lb 11
John Traynor Tanners peg 3 with 97lb 5oz
Dave Vigus Tanners peg 20 with 59lb 13oz
Martin Turner earned victory in North Devon Match Groups Championship heat on Upper Tamar Lakes’s Cornish Bank compiling a fine net of fish scaling 34lb 6oz. Christoper Morris was runner up with 30lb 4oz and Wayne Michell third with 26lb 9oz. Competitors landed some quality perch and bream from this prolific water run by South West Lakes Trust.
Back in the year 2000, a small bookshop in Torrington pannier market was closing and Sandy Armishaw bravely took it on. Her husband Keith was a keen angler and so the bookshop was sorted and the angling collection was introduced together with an array of vintage tackle.
For the next three years the shop grew in stature and moved to larger premises at 21 South Street in Torrington in 2005. In 2007, River Reads started publishing limited edition angling books of the highest quality using hand-tooled leather binding. Titles include books of their own production such as Charles Inniss’ “Torridge Refections” , the “Recollections” series for Angling Heritage, and also special limited editions of books for iconic anglers such as Chris Yates (the titles include “Out of the Blue”, “How to Fish” and “Nightwalk”) and Jeremy Wade’s famous “River Monsters”.
As the marketplace changed, so has River Reads and has created its own website with all their books listed in on-line catalogues. Most of the angling books now also have photographs attached to the listing (completion is imminent). Customers are now able put an individual book, of collection of books together and the website automatically works out the combined weight and postage to anywhere in the world, and you can order using all major credit cards. The website is www.riverreads.co.uk and is one of the most advanced in the marketplace.
River Reads are always on the look out for angling books and vintage tackle to purchase to supplement their range of stock.
Should you wish to visit the shop, you can contact them through the website or at the address below (Before visiting make sure you telephone first as they like to get out fishing too)
River Reads
Great Darracott
Torrington
Devon
EX38 7HL
Tel 01805 625888
E mail SIARiverReads @aol.com
Angling Heritage is a not-for-profit, charitable trust, founded in 2009 in memory of Fred J. Taylor, MBE. The purpose of the trust is to preserve written, oral and photographic history of anglers from all walks of life.
The foundation of the Trust followed a recording of a conversation between Fred J. and Fred Buller (later awarded an MBE). That recording was later produced as the first of the ‘Recollections’ series of books, and the net proceeds from this collaboration was used to initially fund Angling Heritage. Fred Buller who was the Patron, has now passed away and his role has been taken by angling legend Chris Yates. The Trustees are Sandra Armishaw (Founder), Des Taylor, write and one of the greatest angling all-rounders in the country, Reg Talbot (Secretary and Treasurer) and Ed Whitby.
As previous attempts to establish an angling museum had failed, Sandra decided to make a start on preserving angling history in a way which did not require huge amounts of money and so the quest for old photographs, videos, recording and articles began.
From that modest start, the Trust has developed into a fascinating website based archive which is open to all and the recordings continue.
‘Recollections II’ was Barrie Rickards and Des Taylor; ‘Recollections III’ was Len Arbery and Bob Buteux and currently in the pipeline are recordings between the late John Goddard with Brian Clarke, and Dave Steuart with Bob Church. These give an unique glimpse into the lives of these famous anglers, and also add to the funds available to the Trust
Dr. Phill Williams has contributed significantly as the Trust’s “Roving Recorder”. He has interviewed the great and the good of the sport and added his sea angling expertise. Ed Whitby, who brings his youth and enthusiasm to the Trust by managing the Angling Heritage Facebook page, constantly updating it as things progress.
The website www.anglingheritage.org now has over 200 video clips, even more interviews, and a growing array of photographs and has grown to be one of the largest archives on angling. Access is available to everyone for a nominal fee of 1p per token to see a photograph, approximately 15 tokens for audio tracks and around 50 tokens for a film viewing. Tokens are available at £5 for 500 tokens.
You can see footage of Richard Walker’s record carp, ‘Clarissa’ and listen to Chris Yates talking about his book ‘Nightwalk’ at a fund-raising book- signing for the Trust. In addition, there is a range of films on many aspects of the sport and the characters that have been such an important part of angling history.
The audio recordings range from sea fishing skippers, to fishery scientists, especially those working on conservation, and even old recordings of the Gerry Savage radio shows which was the first significant radio show dedicated to the sport.
However, to continue to grow, the Trust needs support from the sport too. We simply need access to old photographs, recordings (audio or old videos) which we borrow and scan to digitise the information to add to the archive. We would also like any historical data or articles that you may wish to write about the sport, which, subject to editorial overview, we can publish on the site.
To preserve material for posterity, the Trust doesn’t need to keep items, just to borrow them, record the content and return them to the owner, which an acknowledgement of the contribution to Angling Heritage added to the website. The Trustees have found that many people discard items thinking they are of little interest now, but ‘today is tomorrow’s history’ and in a 100 or more years’ time, may well be even more significant in terms of social history.
The message is loud and clear – don’t throw angling related items away, contact the Trust and let Angling Heritage preserve them. If you want to discuss the work of the Trust, ring Sandy or Keith on 01805 625888 and be aware that the Trust is not only interested in the iconic angling figures, but anyone with an interesting story to tell, whether they are river owners, keepers, netsmen, anglers, or poachers, or you may have information about your angling club, which are after all, the heart and soul of the sport and have been so for many years.
When added to the online archive, all of this information provides a more complete history of the sport and preserves it for future generations of anglers and those with a keen interest in fishing.
During the short time the Trust has been established, it has accumulated items of ephemera, and has an agreement with Torrington Museum to allow the Trust space to display them. This will form an integral part of an angling museum when coupled to the website and will fulfil the aims of the Trustees who believe that donations in whatever form MUST be made available to the public for both research and interest.
We need your help.
Join Angling Heritage Today
You may not know much about Angling Heritage. And you can be forgiven for that. But it’s a worthy operation that exists to preserve written, oral and photographic history of anglers, and anyone can join.
You can become a friend of Angling Heritage by joining the membership scheme on line. For an annual fee of £25 you can have unlimited free access to the data on the site, and enamelled badge, and an annual magazine together with preferential access to Angling Heritage special events such as book-signings with our Trustees. Just visit www.anglingheritage.org .
Dan Hawkins Charter Boat Reel Deal arrived in Ilfracombe early this summer and after much effort made the headlines with the boating of a huge porbeagle estimated at 450lb. Since then the shark have proved elusive and a move to deeper water resulted in a blue shark estimated at 80lb being brought to the side of the boat.
Dan informed me that the general fishing has now improved with the arrival of mackerel in greater numbers. Fishing marks off the North Devon coast has resulted in turbot, gurnard, whiting, haddock, codling, tope, smoothound, huss and of course the ever plentiful dogfish.
After an exceptionally dry April and May local rivers have been at uncomfortably low levels with migratory fish reluctant or unable to progress upriver. As a result both salmon and sea trout fishing had virtually ground to a halt. The recent rainfall though often very localized brought a significant rise to the River Torridge that has brought several salmon into the system with salmon caught from beats throughout the river. Richard Jewell was among those successful landing a fresh run grilse with sea liced flanks. I fished a mid river Beat of the Torridge and whilst I failed to connect with a salmon I did catch a pleasing brown trout of almost around 1lb.
Taw regular Len Francis was one of the first to benefit from a slight rise in the Taw landing a salmon from a mid river beat. Heavy rain is falling as I type this so hopefully the rivers will rise further bringing a good run of fish over coming days.
Chrissy Waring and husband Geoff Waring 2 of the ‘Carp busters’ landed 50 fish up to 30lb 6oz in 48 hours ! They used the ever popular frozen mainline cell from the beach swim on Stafford Moor’s Beattie’s Lake. The cooler damp weather should ensure good sport over the coming days.
Thomas Atkinson earned top spot in Appledore Shipbuilders boat match landing a bull huss scaling 13lb 2oz. Andrew Atkinson took second and third with a bull huss of 11lb 14oz and a colorful cuckoo wrasse of 151/2oz. After a week of brisk West to North West Winds boats have been able to venture out and with the algae bloom now clearing I am hearing reports of few mackerel from boats between Hartland and Minehead.