Glen Sullivan fished from Silver Birch lodge located on Beatties lake and had this stunning 30lb 12oz common which is now Glens new personal best. Glen banked 10 fish all caught on Krill and house boilies and house pellets.
Combe Martin SAC member Jack Philips got his lure fishing season underway with this 48cm bass that was tempted on a 5 ” Megabass spindle worm.
Conditions are good and the water is warming up so CMSAC members will start to register fish for their Summer long lure fishing competition sponsored by High Street Tackle.
The New Patchinko 125 Colours Are Arriving…..
After a very long wait the latest new Xorus colours are now available in the Patchinko 125 – we expect them to arrive here around 11th May…there is only a limited number available and they are available now to pre order…..
The stock pictures do not do proper justice to them in reality so I have taken this picture above using models we already have in the shop in the relevant colours, as follows from the top – Spring Minnow, French Wakasagi and Metal Ayu.
Eel enthusiast Alan Jump tempted this awesome 6lb eel from an undisclosed North Devon Stillwater. The fish was tempted on a roach deadbait on a dyson rig.
Big eels are elusive fish with a big sense of mystery being totally wild they often lurk undetected within a water with no one aware of their presence. This mystery is the allure of eel angling a total contrast to the commercial side of modern coarse angling.
Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club visited Bratton Water for their monthly competition and all those attending caught their three fish limit despite challenging conditions. It was a beautiful day to be beside the water but a bright blue sky and crystal clear water are always likely to prove difficult. The margins were alive with tadpoles, lush greenery all-around the occasional mayfly hatching. A perfect day in early May; is there a better place to be than England in late spring?
The trout could be seen cruising slowly just beneath the surface with the occasional fish slurping down surface flies. Shortly after arriving I dropped a goldhead PTN on the nose of a cruising trout that took the fly without hesitation. A pleasing brown trout of over 2lb. This proved to be the exception for I failed to get another take for a couple of hours.
A fresh stocking of trout were introduced whilst we were fishing. I did not move to this area for a while but eventually moved to the half of the lake that had been stocked. With the help of polaroid glasses I observed a shoal of freshly stocked trout and dropped the PTN into their midst. There was a swirl on the first drop and on the second connection with a rainbow of around 1lb 8oz. I fished on in this spot for 15 minutes or so but the trout appeared to have wised up taking no notice of the fly.
By now my fellow members had bagged up fishing from the dam. I decided to move and drop my fly amongst a fresh selection of trout. A couple of casts and couple of follows then a good brown turned, the white of its mouth showing as the stillwater dinkhammer moved ( dry fly indicator) I lifted the rod and watched the trout react in the clear water. After a spirited tussle the fish was safely in the net.
It was time to weigh in.
Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club – May Competition Result
1st Wayne Thomas 3 trout 6lb 10oz
2nd – Colin Combe 3 trout 6lb 9oz
3rd David Eldred 3 trout 4lb 14oz
A cool South West wind ruffled the surface of Wistlandpound and mist descended upon the tree lined perimeter as I waded out into the lake. I had left the rod set up since my last visit with a black tadpole on the point and small black pennel variant on a dropper. I commenced to search the water and after ten minutes hooked into my first brown trout of the evening a valiant scrapper of perhaps 10″. This was only a short session but proved to a good one. During the next hour I banked ten trout up to 12″ and on one cast even managed a brace with one on each fly.
I wondered if the rudd would still be present in the shallow inlet and wandered up for a cast or two. Six rudd later I returned to the trout area and added another brownie to the total as the light faded from the day.
The following morning I decided to head for a short session on the Torridge once again targeting brown trout as with river levels now very low there was little chance of a salmon.
It was a delight to be wading in the cool waters with lush green growth all around. I started out with a new Zealand style set up and hooked a brown trout of perhaps 8oz after a few casts but it came adrift after a brief tussle.
It was good to see plenty of fry darting about in the margins and a few toad tadpoles. I was hoping to spot a few rising fish but they were very few and far between. At the top of the beat I changed over to a pair of nymphs and tried drifting these over promising lies to no avail. With only a short time left a few fish started to rise and I hastily changed over to a dry fly. I flicked the fly into the streamy run where I had spotted the rising fish. A glance at the time and I realised that my time was almost up. One more cast… a splashy rise and I was into a 12″ brownie to save a blank session.
One of the joys of fly fishing is the lack of preparation required. Just pick up the rod and head to the waters edge.