(Above) Nigel Bassett) banked 3 fish up to 28lb on swim 2 ( sunset bay up on lodge lake) Nigel caught on Sticky Baits Krill and Manilla boilies.
(Above) Malcolm Seymour who fished on big fish corner on Beatties lake in a day session had 2 carp to 25lb plus an eel 👍 in a day session all caught on Sticky Baits Krill white wafters and Krill bottom Baits.
(Above) Edward Reilly who fished up on swim 1 on lodge lake this weekend, Ed had a few fish out up to 28lb caught on Sticky Baits Krill 16mm boilies.
(Above) Darran Kerry and Darran Jeffery who had 6 fish out from swim 9 (the angle) on lodge lake this weekend including Darren’s new pb of 23lb.
(Above) Geoff Waring and Adrian Carnell who fished up on Albert square swim 15 on a day session and had 3 fish out up to 24lb they caught on Sticky Baits Krill Wafters.
(Above) Nicholas Billett had 3 fish out up to 27lb from swim 6 up on lodge lake.
(Above) New lake record of 34lb 10oz on Beatties lake from Graham Pollard who had 12 fish put in total from the summer hut swim fishing left to the island. Graham caught on C C Moore 15mm Pacific tuna boilies.
(Above) Marc Brownhill who had 8 carp out up to 24lb from swim 14 (beach 1) up on lodge lake all caught on Sticky Baits Krill and C C Moore Pacific tuna boilies.
What an awesome catch of carp from Furzebray who would have predicted this lake producing a catch of three forty pound plus fish when it was first stocked back in 2007.
Paul Noaks had an unforgettable session at furzebray last week, landing Blackspot at 46lb, followed by Sovereign at 41lb 10oz and topped off with Orange-spot at 42lb10oz all in the space of 48 hours from the Lawns swim.
After what seems like a long journey my book ” I Caught A Glimpse” has finally been published and I am delighted with the end result. The launch day at Blakewell Fishery proved to be an enjoyable event with a good number of local anglers attending to meet with publisher Wayne Cryer from the Little Egret Press and myself. The lush water gardens, pools of swirling trout and tea rooms bathed in bright sunshine proved the perfect setting. There was a steady stream of anglers arriving throughout the event and it was pleasing to see generations of North Devon Anglers mingling and reminiscing with several old friends reunited.
The book will be judged by its readers so I await feed back confident that I have produced a worthwhile tome. There is of course far more that I could have written about and this becomes increasingly obvious as I talk further with the anglers of North Devon.
A big thank you to all of those who attended the book launch from both Wayne Cryer and I.
On a hectic day Pauline and I then attended the Annual River Torridge Dinner at the Half Moon Inn. After a wonderful meal with members of the Association I was pleased to sign a few more copies of “I Caught A Glimpse”. Special thanks must go to Charles Inniss who wrote a foreword to the book and promoted the book enthusiastically to the Torridge Fishery members.
I must of course give a very big thanks to all who assisted me in writing the book for it was by no means a solo effort and those who helped are acknowledged within the book. Though I have to say I have undoubtedly missed a few.
Dan Cornwall caught a personal best 25lb 4oz Mirror and 24lb Common from the Specimen Carp Lake and won our JRC Fish Of The Week competition. Dan’s story –
“Having waited all year for my holiday at Anglers Paradise, the time had finally arrived! I had booked Julian Chidgey to help me during my trip, and we started on the Koi Lake. We patiently fed the swim, and I was over the moon when my first cast resulted in an 8lb 4oz Koi. I was keen to try for a big carp and Julian suggested the Main Carp Lake, I was really excited as this was only my second ever night fishing session. We looked at various rigs, methods and the Shimano Isolate boilies Julian suggested smelt amazing. We caught two Carp, the biggest was 18lb 8oz only just short of my PB.
Rounding the session off with my first Catfish. One method I really wanted to improve my skills with is surface fishing. Julian suggested trying Fat Boys and through steady feeding we soon had some carp feeding. We used a controller set up, and Julian showed me how to mend the line to allow for the strong wind and tow. We landed two doubles to 13lb 8oz before heading back to the lodge for breakfast.
After this, we went to the Specimen Carp Lake and Julian explained that free lining was really effective here. The carp were very wary but eventually we got a bite, only for the fish to snag me up. Julian was straight in the lake with the net and was soon swimming back with the fish of my dreams a 25lb 4oz dark, scaley Mirror! We then moved to another spot on the Lake and it was a repeat performance as it took ages for the carp to gain confidence. This time a big Common took the bait and again headed straight for the lillies, Julian was on hand to paddle out again and this time my prize was 24lb. Having spent all year trying to get my first 20lb, it was amazing to get two in a day! My trip to Anglers Paradise has been amazing, and I’m already looking forward to coming back next year!”
(Above) Chris Trethewey has been coming to Anglers Paradise for 20 years now and in all those years he’s been trying to catch a 8lb+ Koi but never succeeded…Until THIS year!!! Here he is with his personal best 10lb 8oz beautiful Koi from the Koi Lake.
(Above) Regular to Anglers Paradise David Trethewey had a session on our day ticket Xanadu Lake and caught not 1 but 3 Carp! He had a 19lb 12oz Common, a 18lb 14oz Mirror and a 15lb 6oz Common. David also caught a 27lb 8oz nad 26lb 5oz Mirror from the Specimen Carp Lake, he went home a very happy chappy!
(Above) Here is the charming Billie Jobi, age 4 with myself (Zenia Drury-Gregorek) who caught her first ever Perch from our recent ‘Nash Getting Kids Fishing Days’ at Anglers Eldorado, caught using some lovely wriggly maggots on a whip. She’s now hooked for life!
GIRLS FISH TOO AND DO IT BETTER!!
(Above)Here we have the lovely Eloise Wyatt with some of her stunning Koi catches from the Koi Lake giving her husband a run for his money again!! It really is great seeing so many more females enjoying the sport, here’s to seeing many more!
(Above) Great to see another couple enjoying Fishing together. Emily Wearden is new to Fishing but now she is loving it more than ever along with her partner James. To put the icing on the cake, she caught her 1st ever Catfish at 19lb 2oz from the Easy Access and her partner James also caught his first ever Cat of 19lbs.
James also proposed to Emily during their stay and she said YES!! Congratulations to you both!
Anglers ParadiseNEW KRACKING 30! This Carp clearly loves to munch as has put plenty of weight on in just 2 years and is now another Thirty at 33lbs 14oz from Nirvana’s Kracking Carp Lake caught by Dom Smith. This particular Fish was caught by Lee Drury 2 years ago as a low double and now it’s 33lbs 14oz!! Well Done Dom and thanks for sharing! Here’s a picture of Dom with the Mirror and Lee with it 2 years ago!
BIG CAT ALERT!
(Above)Scott Brown had a session on Nirvana’s Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake before starting his week’s holiday with the Family at the Anglers Paradise Complex and caught a personal best 65lb 2oz Catfish using big chunks of luncheon meat
Stafford Moor continues to provide top carp fishing with numerous quality catches with a new lake record one of two fish to top thirty pounds.
(Below) Mark Wheeler banked 19 fish from swim 14 (beach 1) up on lodge lake in a 48 hour session up to 26lb 3oz all caught on TNT streamies , the best session he has ever had was Marks words!
(Below) Adrian Carnell and Geoff Waring who fished up on the dam wall on lodge lake on a day session and had fish up to 28lb caught on Sticky Baits Krill & Manilla boilies.
(Below) Ash Whitehouse who now has our new lake record on Beatties lake of 33lb 12oz !!!! Caught from peg 2 (the triangle ) Beatties lake on C C Moore Pacific tuna & Nash tangerine dream.
(Below) Dave Hadland who was fishing on the beach swim on Beatties lake with friend Dave Morris. They had 26 fish out between them ! Up to 28lb 14oz all caught on pellet and Sticky Baits Krill Walters on Ronnie rigs.
(Above) The newest 5C’s Member Dean Garland caught a 23lb 6oz Common from Nirvana’s day ticket Xanadu Lake.
Dean shared – “After being rained off from work on wednesday, I turned up at anglers paradise knowing I’d be fishing 1 of the day ticket lakes but not sure which 1. After speaking to Richard in the shop, I decided to go down to xanadu. I had un-finished buisness with this lake…I have caught some stunning carp from there previously but the 20 pluses had always evaded me!
After a quiet first day and night and the possibilty of going home blanking i decided to change a few things up. Within 30 minuites my rod went off.
It fought very hard and i knew i was in to a decent fish. And when i pulled it out i saw why, it was like the fish hadn’t grew into its own fins.
It weighed in at 23.6 lbs and seriously was in prestine condition. Gorgeous fish. Safe to say it made my session!!”
(Above) Pheobe Deacon has been coming to Anglers Paradise with her Mum and Dad for years but normally doesn’t fish until this year…And now she’s hooked! She managed to catch this amazing personal best 5lb 1oz Golden Tench too!
(Above) Nick Dudaniec not only won fish of the week with Silverback at 52lbs but he also caught a 26lb 8oz Common and 30lb Mirror during his epic session on Nirvana’s Kracking Carp Lake. Nick caught all fish using Essential Baits Shellfish B5 boilies fished over hemp and sweetcorn.
(Above) Rob Steele caught this 24lb Mirror Carp from the Specimen Carp Lake using a hinge stiff rig with Cell as the hookbait. He said it’s one of the prettiest fish he’s ever caught.
(Above)Paul Richmond from Plymouth fished the Kracking Carp Lake and had this stunning personal best 31lb 4oz Leather Carp from peg 1.
Paul was using a bloodworm pop up trimmed down topped off with pop up corn. Using minimal bait, a few handfuls of corn crushed boilie and 4mm pellet.
(Above) Dean Wyatt caught this absolutely stunning 6lb 6oz Koi from our famous Koi Lake, it may not be the biggest fish, but size is irrelevant when they look like this especially!! And you know the saying…Size doesn’t matter!!! He caught the beauty on a 12mm Nash strawberry crush boilie. Dean also won our Fish of the week competition with this beautiful catch!
SON OF SILVERBACK AND 1ST EVER CATFISH!
Well done to Aaron Trethewey who caught what looks like Silverback’s son – a 10lb 14oz Mirror and his first ever Catfish at 21lbs 6oz both from the Easy Access Lake.
I have been privileged to enjoy over forty years fishing North Devon’s varied waters enjoying both success and failure. The places and the many people I have met along the way have greatly enriched the journey and as the years pass I realise that all we ever get is a fleeting glimpse of a period in angling history.
In this book I tell a few of my own stories of North Devon angling along with recollections from others; some from an earlier generation who enjoyed fishing in those good old days.
I have no favourite species of fish just the one I am fishing for at the time and this book reflects this with every discipline of angling represented. From the small crimson spotted trout of tumbling streams to the huge shark that roam the Atlantic Ocean.
Angling is in essence an attempt to reach into a different dimension. Its fascination has for me never ceased and I always believe that the next cast will be the one that connects, that marvellous moment of completed deception. The anglers I have interviewed in writing this book reflect upon past times when they too glimpsed piscatorial events that they enjoyed recalling. Stories of lost fisheries, big fish, record fish of angler’s their attitudes and love of fishing.
I hope that I manage to share and convey the joys of angling in North Devon and provide a glimpse into a century of marvellous fishing.
I received an enquiry from Samantha Mathews who works for Valorum Care asking if I knew of anyone who could help a gentlemen to prolong his angling experiences. I know from my interviews with several senior anglers that the passion for angling is still there years after they are forced to leave the waters edge. I am sure that the below opportunity would be very rewarding.
Volunteer Required – Can you help to enable a gentleman to continue his fishing passion?
We are looking for a person, or people, to help a gentleman continue his passion for angling. He loves to spend hours fishing and returning the fish to its environment. Due to physical disability he cannot do this without company and support. He would love the opportunity to spend time outdoors with like-minded people. You would ideally need to be a driver willing to drive one of our Valorum Foundation vehicles – for which we would give you training. We would also give training in how to support a wheelchair user and any other areas you feel useful.
We are based in Braunton but could reimburse your fuel costs to us. If this sounds like something you could do or would like to ask any questions please contact the Volunteer Co-ordinator, Sam Mathews on [email protected] or telephone 01271 815915
It would be fantastic if you could place an advert for Francois. I’m running ideas around with regards to the social meeting idea as well so please feel free to pass my details on to anybody who you think may be interested.
After what seems like a long journey my book ” I Caught A Glimpse” has finally been published and I am delighted with the end result. The launch day at Blakewell Fishery proved to be an enjoyable event with a good number of local anglers attending to meet with publisher Wayne Cryer from the Little Egret Press and myself. The lush water gardens, pools of swirling trout and tea rooms bathed in bright sunshine proved the perfect setting. There was a steady stream of anglers arriving throughout the event and it was pleasing to see generations of North Devon Anglers mingling and reminiscing with several old friends reunited.
