Adam Moxey, Chris Lambert and Steve Moore have been among the perch at Upper Tamar recently. From the perch boat they boated lots of fish to just under 4lbs on a mixture of soft lures and weighted hooks with self-made flies. The chaps were catching that many fish they were returning fish of 2-3lbs without weighing them in the end! A real red letter day at the prolific venue! Remarkably Steve Moore also had a 14lb common carp on his weighted hook and fly!
PB CATFISH FROM THE MAIN CARP LAKE
Ben McDonnell, 27 from Kent caught a personal best 67lb 13oz Catfish from the Main Carp Lake.
Ben caught the catfish on a casual carpers 15mm spiced krill boillie topped with a 12mm spiced krill pop up, it smashed his old PB of 19lb 1oz by 48lb 12oz!!
(below) Alan George, 49 from Wales caught his 1st ever ‘30’ from the Main Carp Lake, a stunning 30lb 8oz Mirror winning him our Fish Of The Week competition.
Alan shared –
“After arriving at Anglers Paradise on the Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed a few drinks with our friends before venturing down to the Main Lake to take advantage of the peace and quiet as a 5c’s member. I decided to do a bit of stalking on the surface free lining bread. It wasn’t long before I spotted a few in one of the back bays, soaking up the sun. I flicked out a single piece of bread and it wasn’t long before a carp slipped up and took the bait!
After a short hard battle through the pads, my good friend Mick Pearson did the honours of netting the fish and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what was in there.
The mirror carp weighed in at 30lb 8oz and was a new PB and my first 30lb plus carp. Not bad for the 1st cast of the holiday!”
(Below)Ben Gregory caught a personal best 5lb 8oz Golden Tench from the Specimen Tench and Orfe Lake. Ben shared – “I’d already had quite a good day on the lake having had 13 Tench and 1 Barbel. However despite my friend Mitchell’s pleads to leave because it was pretty cold, we persisted for another 30mins and I had one final bend in the rod from the lily pads. The biggest was saved to last on a robin red pellet. My new personal best at 5lbs 8oz! It’s been a great week, we hope to get back soon!”
(Below)Steve Self caught a beautiful 8lb 6oz Koi and a rare two tone Koi from our famous Koi Lake off the top with bread crust stalking them for hours. Steve also tried a new tactic and fished with a daisy off the top to see if he could catch one on a flower and he did it!!!
Thornbury Fishing Lakes near Holsworthy offer some superb fishing ideally suited to families with a good head of carp up to mid doubles. No need for bivvies and all the high tech equipment at these lakes where carp offer great sport using traditional tactics.
Below are a few glimpses of fishing at this peaceful venue that I intend to visit in the not too distant future. Amongst the carp are some lovely lean looking commons that could well have wild carp ancestry.
Matthew caught the Wels Catfish on a A2 baits 16mm fruity fish wafter topped with a bit of pink fake corn, attached a small pva bag of boilie crumb and another small bag of boilie halves and cast it into where Ashley said the bowl was.
Matthew shared –
“20 minutes in I had a savage liner which I almost hit but didn’t, then another 20 minutes past and the rod rattled off! And what can only be described as a tense 20 minutes I finally got her in the net, which was a struggle by myself. Zeroed the sling etc and she tipped the scales round to 60lb 8oz, beating my original UK PB by 15lb 8oz! I’ve been lucky enough to have cats to almost 120lb in France but to get one that big in England and even better at anglers paradise is ace! Can safely say I won’t catch a cat that big for a long time! and it just goes to show, if the bailiffs are willing to give you advice then make the most of it!”
WELL DONE MATTHEW AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW PB!
**For future big Cats all, we’re trying to encourage Anglers to lie beside/have the tail between your legs on an unhooking mat with the head at the fore front of the camera better for the fish, makes it look bigger.
Shakespeare Fishing Heroes is a show to celebrate and thank the unsung heroes of the sport that bring so much back into fishing but are also the ones that don’t get the recognition they deserve. When I was asked to be the Presenter of this inspiring show – I couldn’t believe it, to get to meet these Fishing Heroes and tell their powerful stories is an honour I don’t take lightly! We ask all on facebook if they know a Fishing Hero that they want to nominate – to get in touch and share your story! You can contact me via Zenia’s Fishing Adventures Page. We will be airing the next Fishing Heroes video on Matt Hayes Page in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for it! Time to celebrate fishing and the amazing people we have in this great sport.
There is far more to Upper and Lower Tamar Lake than carp with a vast range of other coarse fish swimming within these waters. A concerted effort could I am sure bring some huge rewards with potential record breakers. Both lakes contain huge perch and eels. There are also specimen roach, bream and some large wild brown trout. The lower lake once held populations of specimen rudd and tench.
A superb multi species capture from Lower Tamar:
Between Aaron Bunning and his friend Dan they had 5 bream ranging from 6lb 8oz and 9lb, a huge hybrid of around 5lb, two carp of mid doubles and 23lb 12oz, a single perch of around 1lb 8oz, three eels to 2lb and a single trout. All fish fell to a large bed of pellets and particles, hookbaits consisted of maggots, fake corn and 12mm nashbait pop-ups. Aaron commented ‘Made a pleasant change to put the carp rods away and have a fun session with the lighter gear’.
FISH OF THE WEEK WINNER 26TH APRIL IS…
Steve Self who caught a beautiful 8lb 6oz Koi and a rare two tone Koi from our famous Koi Lake.
Steve’s story –
“I had been fishing with Zenia and the boys during the afternoon, and caught some lovely little koi from the Koi Lake with them. But after they returned home, my mind turned to the large red and black Koi Carp I had seen cruising the surface during the morning before they arrived to join me. I didn’t have any trouble finding it. It seemed confident in itself, knowing that it was clever enough by now not to get caught.
I stalked the fish around the margins with a rod/line/hook simple surface set up. The bait of choice was a chunk of bread crust. But no matter how hard I tried, the Koi evaded me at every step. Eyeing the free offering with a concealed look with suspicion, before turning it down flatly. Mouthing the bread to inspect it, then spitting it out in disgust at my poor attempt to trick it. 2 hours passed in the hot sun, with me slowly and stealthily stalking the margins, only to either miss a take from it, or it spook at the dodgy crust and swim off.
I must have missed hooking it a good dozen times and I became more frustrated and dismayed as the time progressed, stalking my rod in the air and cursing my bad luck. It was indeed a clever fish! Then, when I couldn’t find the Koi to follow anymore, he appeared right beneath my feet, supping up some other morsel. Seeing the opportunity at last, I rolled the hook bait bread on the backside and allowed it to plop into the water right on its nose as if something had just fallen in from the side – and it took it straight away!
Red and black colour filled the air as it leapt and dove down into the lake. My pulse of sheer relief, excitement and joy on hooking the large koi, was soon swapped with a teeth clenching 5 minutes deftly playing and dodging the fish from one snag to another, hiding places it seemed to know all too well were there to lose me in. Soon enough though it was tired enough to be netted and photographed, a wide shouldered 8lb 6oz, with magnificent colouring as to be expected of an Anglers Paradise Koi. The fish stood as a testament to what can be achieved with a LOT of patience and persistence. A fine reward for two hours on tiptoe!”
WELL DONE STEVE – STUNNING FISH AND PROOF THAT PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF!!
Here he is with his winning Fish and being presented his prizes with special thanks to PB PRODUCTS UK.
Zenia Gregorek sent this super picture of her eldest son Zaine Drury-Gregorek aged 8 joined his mum on the famous Koi Lake and caught his biggest ever Koi, Zaine caught the beauty off the surface with a dog biscuit, one proud Mummy!
Congratulations to Charlie Grant, 12, who whilst on his annual Family holiday with us at Anglers Paradise caught his biggest ever fish, a personal best 29lb Wels Catfish!!
Charlie caught the Catfish on Luncheon Meat soaked in spotted fin smokey jack over spray from the Easy Access Lake.
**Take note ‘all’ on how he is presenting the Catfish – Superb pictures Charlie, showing us how not to hold Catfish!!**
Changing times – Time to worry?
When I started sea fishing over forty years ago many of fish we caught were killed to be weighed in at competitions, eaten or buried in the garden. Looking back what anglers did was wrong but we knew no different it was different times and there was little perception that fish stocks were dwindling. There was perhaps still a belief that god provides and that there would always be plenty more fish in the sea.
These are fortunately more enlightened times and most sea anglers practice catch and release keeping just the occasional fish for the table. It is vital that those fish we return to the water have a good chance of survival and I see more and more guidance on how to handle fish. The basics are to treat all fish with respect. Handle as little as possible and support the fish when posing for photos. Consider using circle hooks or barbless when appropriate and consider replacing trebles with singles. When weighing fish always use a purpose made weigh sling or carrier bag for smaller species. Do not dangle fish on the scales.
Coarse anglers have been returning fish to the water for the best part of a century and are in many ways ahead of the game. Weigh slings, unhooking matts and antiseptic ointments are now part of carp anglers standard kit. Rigs used are carefully designed to reduce the risk of tethering any fish that are lost.
Salmon anglers who once retained virtually every fish they caught now have to return close to 100% of the fish they catch. Salmon runs are generally on an alarming downward spiral for a multitude of reasons and it is anglers who are at the forefront of campaigns to protect the future of the species.
Please follow the following guide to good practice when releasing fish:
Whilst there are those who seek to criticise or even ban angling on morale grounds it is frequently the anglers who are desperately trying to protect fish stocks from over fishing and habitat destruction. Perhaps it is because anglers have a direct interaction with nature by participating that they have a deep passion and love for the environment and the creatures that dwell within. I know that I am perhaps skating on thin ice here but many anglers I know have very a deep love of the countryside and the waters edge. There are of course those who leave litter, mistreat fish and show no respect for the countryside. These are unfortunately a significant minority within society as a whole.
As an angler I feel that I have a close connection with the environment both marine and countryside. Sometimes I question my deep passion for angling but it is this quest for fish that has taken me to some beautiful locations and I have seen many wonders of nature that many only see from their arm chairs on HD screens.
I have witnessed an alarming decline in our countryside in the half a century I have fished and I often fear that I am amongst a generation that has seen the tale end of anglings golden age. And perhaps if we are to believe the climate change protestors earths golden age as well?
