Zyg Gregoreks famous fishing complex is well known as a holiday destination featuring on numerous angling shows over the years with many of the sports celebrity’s endorsing the venue. Many local anglers may overlook the many opportunities that exist for the day ticket angler. Whatever freshwater fish you chase there is a good chance that you can catch it at Angler’s Paradise as can be seen looking back through the news pages of North Devon Angling News.
Julia Marston, a Sandwich Bar Owner, 55, from Heathfield, East Sussex had a week to remember at Anglers Paradise after catching a wide variety of Specimens to say the least! Julia caught an amazing Personal Best 55lb 5oz Catfish from our Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake. Julia caught the Monster using 20lb main line, very strong fluorocarbon hook link, running 3oz lead, Catmaster Size 2 Barbless Hook with 2 20mm Mainline Salty Squid Boilies. Julia said – “My heart was beating so fast, my hands were shaking, I could not believe the size of this fish!! I don’t think I will ever catch anything as big as this Cat, it really is a Fish of a Lifetime”!
Julia also caught 2 Personal Best Koi’s of 8lb 4oz AND 10lb 4oz Koi from the Koi Lake both on a Fruitella 15mm Mainline Boilie, and to finish off she caught a PB 3lb 8oz Golden Orfe from the Specimen Tench and Orfe Lake also on Fruitella Boilies – What a week!
Jackie Charlton (below) 47, an accountant from London caught ‘Simon’ the Koi at 13lbs 8oz from the Specimen Tench and Orfe Lake which smashes Jackie’s previous 2lb Personal Best! It’s a very special Koi that doesn’t come out often, and being the Only Koi in that Lake makes it a very special Fish when you do manage to catch it! It’s certainly one of our favourites! The fact that Jackie saw the Koi and then caught him was just great, we think her Hubby was slightly envious…
Jackie caught the Koi float fishing using a small pole float with sweetcorn as bait, feeding pellet and sweetcorn.
Anglers Paradise offers a wide variety of species as can be seen from the latest reports sent to me by Zenia.
Ellis Titheridge, aka Essex Boy, celebrated his 40th Birthday in style when he caught an amazing Personal Best 5lb 2oz Golden Orfe from the Specimen Tench and Orfe Lake, smashing his previous Personal Best of 1lb 14oz. Ellis caught the Golden Orfe using a Maggot Feeder Float with a 8inch hook length. Ellis said ‘It was by far the best present I could wish for!’. Ellis also caught this rare and stunning Two Tone Tench on the same day.
Alex Bishop, 18 from Southend had a VERY memorable session with his Dad Garry on the Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake. Between them, they had two 56lb Cats, a 32lb Cat and a PB 31lb Mirror! So they both left with New Personal Bests! Alex caught his PB 56lb Cat on the last morning as pictured, you can see by his smile, he was one happy Boy! Alex used 2 Halibut Pellets to catch the Beast.
James Perry came to us in search of his ‘1st’ ever Catfish and certainly did just that and caught a 55lb Cat from the Specimen Cat Lake. James caught the Monster using Paradise Baits Catastrophic Dumbells and Halibut Pellets. James would have been happy with any sized Cat but to catch a 55lb Cat for his 1st was a Fishing Dream made true.
Part of our Estate Team Thomas Winspear, 25, went on the Specimen Cat Lake on his day off hoping to catch another PB. Well, he certainly did that and beat his previous 42lb Cat with this 56lb Cat. Thomas caught the Monster on Meat with a Fruit Pop Up on a Simple Running Ledger Rig.
Anglers Paradise is without doubt North Devon’s number one venue for Catfish with the species present in many of the lakes on the complex including several that are open to day ticket anglers. The most prolific day ticket lake is probably angler’s Eldorado that has a large population of these hard fighting fish to over forty pounds.
Jon Patten visited the lake for a day session with his son Reef and landed seven including fish of 27lb and 26lb.
The Day Ticket Nirvana Cat Lake is less populated but has far bigger fish with fish rumoured to exceed 60lb within its moderate size. The lower population means that these fish are harder to tempt and night sessions can be worth the effort.
Recent catches from this lake include these as reported from Anglers Paradise by Zenia Gregorek daughter of the complexes father Zyg Gregorek who built the fishery from what was an empty lake back in 1981.
Alison Pearson, 41, a Human Resources Manager for a Charity, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire only went and smashed her Personal Best Cat with this 48lb 8oz Catfish from the Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake! Ali said–“Mick and I decided to target Cat’s as they seemed very active on the complex! After a slow day on Octopussy on Wednesday (where I had caught my previous PB), my hubby asked if I fancied fishing the Specimen Cat Lake, I said yes of course and we made our way down the lane on Thursday morning!!! At around 1pm, my rod screamed off…after an epic battle, the Cat was in the net (thanks to my hubby for landing it for me!). I was overjoyed when we weighed the fish and it was 48lb 8oz…smashing my previous PB! It was a day’s fishing I will never forget!!! I caught the cat on a blowback rig with Hybrid bottom bait and Krill pop up.”
Kim Mainwaring, 52 from Wales also caught an Amazing New Personal Best 52lb Catfish from the Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake after following advice from Estate Manager Joe. Kim Said – “After holidaying in Anglers Paradise for the last Seven Years, 4 years ago was when I caught my personal Best 37lb 12oz Catfish, so the aim this year was to catch a Bigger Cat! After some top tips from Joe, we headed down to the Specimen Cat Lake for the day. Within 2 hours, I beat my PB with a Monster 52lb 2oz Catfish!!! I caught her on 2 Cubes of Luncheon Meat – Amazing Feeling”. Kim was also the 1st Female to Win Our Fish Of The Week Competition so far this Year.
