Two club members have taken a virtually unbeatable lead in Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Species Competition. John Shapland has a slender lead with 36 species. Just one species behind is Dan Welch with 35 species. With just two weeks remaining it will be fascinating to see if either member can break through the forty fish barrier.
The competition has certainly demonstrated the vast range of species that can be caught along the North Devon Coast if a wide range of tactics are used.
Ross Stanway is currently in third place with a commendable 22 species.
The competition ends with the Clubs fun-fishing event on Saturday September 2nd. High Street Tackle are sponsoring both the Species Competition and the Fun Fishing Event.
River Reads are a specialist angling book shop operating out of Torrington well worth a visit as they carry a vast range of angling books on all disciplines. Here is their latest Newsletter penned by owner Keith Armishaw.
Well, it’s been a while since we wrote the last newsletter, but as the weather is too windy for sea fishing and the local rivers are running like soup and fly only, it seemed the ideal time to sit down and pen a few things that have been happening of late.
I have been continuing to add photographs of books to the site as I think it will aid decision making to be able to see exactly what the book you are after looks like and in what condition it is in. I have just completed the fly tying, fly casting and tackle catalogues having done the fly fishing, coarse fishing (carp, pike etc as well) earlier in the year. I hope you find it of use, and if you have any other ideas that would help, please feel free to e mail us.
Whilst we are on the subject of books, Dominic Garnett who writes a weekly column for Angling Times called in for a chat. He is probably best known for his Fly Fishing for Coarse Fish book, but also promotes the fishing in Devon and Somerset. He dropped off some of his other books – Crooked Lines and Tangles with Pike – which he signed whilst we talked fishing, had a cuppa, and recorded him talking for the Angling Heritage archive which you can now hear on line. We had an interesting time which just flew by.
We have also recently acquired quite a lot of our “Vintage Tackle”. Whilst several cane Hardy rods and reels have been added, we have also now got a great selection of nearly new – in many cases unused – high quality modern tackle too including carbon rods from Sage, Orvis, Sharp, Hardy, Greys etc so if you aren’t an old timer stuck in the mud like me, now is the time to buy your fantastic new tackle at great prices. Also acquired with the rods are reels from Orvis, Bruce & Walker, Hardy, ABU, Snowbee and many more.
If you are looking for any new or antique items, now is the time to peruse the antique tackle section.
Finally, I’m looking forward to our shark fishing sessions in Looe next month followed by what we hope will be an annual trip to British Columbia to fish the Frazer, then on to Vancouver Island after salmon. I went with Hugh Miles last year and we loved every moment so have booked the same again this year. If you fancy an overseas trip with the comfort of home where you can stay in spa hotels for your family, this is THE place to go. You can keep up with all my escapades in the “Diary” section of the website, or get a brief overview on our Facebook page.
Autumn is nearly here and I think this is the best time of year to fish, so get out there and good luck.
I have very much enjoyed two recent sessions on the Taw and Torridge with both rivers in perfect trim. On the Taw I was privileged to fish a middle river beat that has a very good track record. I fished the prime lies carefully searching with a high degree of optimism. A couple of large sea trout or grilse leapt tantalizingly from the river but as my fly drifted across the spot there was no delightful tightening of the line. It was as always a delight to be on the river as kingfishers frequently flew past. As we enter the second half of August the evenings are growing noticeably shorter as autumn looms and it easy the feel slightly melancholic as the light fades from the day. It is heartening to remember though that the next six weeks should give every chance of some good fishing.
I arrived on the Torridge to find the river up at a perfect height the water resembling real ale. Surely there would be a silver salmon waiting today!
In my favourite upper pool a salmon erupted from the water thirty yards below. I fished with great concentration down through the run and had sharp tug on the line where the salmon had cleared the water. I had one other gentle tug on the line so I knew I had been tantalizingly close to success. I fished through the run twice more changing the fly on each occasion. Two mink frolicked on the far bank; creatures I viewed with mixed feelings. It was fascinating to observe nature up close but I am well aware of the destruction these vicious predators can inflict on bird life. I was also a little surprised to see them as there is a healthy population of otters on this river and the two do not generally mix.
The Atkinson family enjoyed some great sport during Appledore Shipbuilders boat competition. In addition to the fish brought to the scales they enjoyed sport with numerous hard fighting tope.
Steve Pinn ( Above) landed this big eel at Stafford Moor using Pepperami.
Eel specialist Alan Jump landed this fine 4lb 6oz specimen at Stafford Moor.
Big eels can turn up in many different waters and Stafford Moor is gaining a reputation as a water capable of showing up some really big specimens with eels close to double figures a real possibility.
(Above) Seb Winter, 35 from York, joined us for a week’s holiday with his Wife and 2 Daughters for a spot of fishing and Family time but wanted to try the Kracking Carp Lake before the end of his stay in the hope of beating his current Personal Best Carp of 31lbs. Well, he absolutely smashed that by catching the previously nick named Mirror known as ‘Parrot’ at a whopping 46lbs!!! The Mirror hasn’t ‘officially been named’ but because of its distinctive characteristics people call it ‘Parrot’. Seb caught the Mirror using a single pop up 11mm Sticky bait Manilla Boilie.
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(Above)Tommy Flower, 27 from Kent caught 3 stunning Carp, a Mid double Fully Scaled Mirror and a 22lb Mirror from the Specimen Carp Lake and a 22lb 8oz Leather from the Main Carp Lake – all lovely looking Fish! Tommy’s Write Up – “After a frustrating morning chasing the inhabitants of the Specimen Carp Lake around eventually a pair of lips engulfed a carefully placed trimmed down Xcel baits KSC pop up resulting in a cracking mid double fully scaled mirror. The commotion of playing a fish in one of the small bays soon saw the rest of the carp running for cover. With the fish now hiding it was time to head off for some lunch and restock on my skretting expander pellets. With my belly and bait bucket now full I was off in search of some scaley creatures and soon had a number of fish taking once again. A trimmed down banoffee pop up was soon nestled amongst rising mouths and almost instantly my hookbait disappeared as another carp headed off into the distance. After a great fight I slipped a cracking apple slice scale mirror into my waiting net.
After my scaley Carp from the Speci I found myself down on the Main Carp Lake in search for more but was rewarded with a carp from the opposite end of the spectrum. After depositing a healthy 4kg of KSC boilies and constant blips and bleeps from little spawned on carp eventually something better had a proper battle curve in the rod but unfortunately once it found some sanctuary amongst the lilly pads it soon came adrift and left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth. With the rods back on the money and bait topped up I was soon called into action again and this one was staying on resulting in a cracking and rare Leather carp of 22lb+ was being held aloft from some pictures before being sent back home.”
(Above)Adam May has been after one of the Scaley Mirrors from the Main Carp Lake for many years and after a lot of persistence and determination, this year he finally caught one – and what a beauty of a 20lb Mirror to catch!! Adam’s Story – “4 years running the Main Lake’s well known scaley Gems at Anglers Paradise have eluded the bottom of my landing net after repeatedly being pestered by the smaller residents in the lake and the headache of hook pulls on previous sessions. This year ‘luck’ decided to pay me a visit! Due to persistent baiting throughout the week to a big set of lilly pads that is known to produce big hits. On my first session fishing, not baiting, my xcel baits vnf wafters were cast out to compliment, the deadly mix of the xcel baits ksc boilies and skretting pellet that the fish had clearly been visiting as the bite alarms couldn’t remain silent as I landed 4 stunning carp in which the final one being one of the many eye catching carp in the lake graced my landing net at 20lbs on the nose!”
(Above)Gavin Love, 36 from Eastbourne East Sussex joined us to fish our day ticket Lake Xanadu for an 8 hour day trip in the hope of catching a 20lb and caught a 24lb 4oz Mirror.
Gavin used a snowman rig using Paradise Baits The Twist Boilies tipped with ABS Spicy Lobster pop-ups. These were fished onto size 6 hooks with blowback rings. Baits were lowered into the margins onto the tops of the shelves that I found while having a lead around. I also covered my rigs, tubing and leads in the clay from the lake bed that I scraped out to give me an extra edge and make the rigs less obvious.
(Above)Joseff Rosser, 14 from Cardiff enjoyed a week’s holiday with his Mum, Brother and Sister last week and caught a variety of Species including a New Personal Best 25lb 14oz Linear from the Specimen Carp Lake to name just one!
Joseff’s Story – “I just finished my week at Anglers Paradise and I ended the week with plenty of fish of all different sizes and shapes including a 20lb 4oz Cat from the Easy Access on our first day caught on a 12 mm key cray wafted over a scattering of 12 and 15 mm matching bottom baits.
I then went on to fish the Specimen Carp lake where I landed 3 stunning Specimens along with many small but hard fighting stickies, I started off landing a 25lb 14oz Linear also caught on the same tactics above, which is a New PB for me!
The next day I spent around 3 hours watching the fish swim in and out of an unfished area of the Lake. I watched which way the fish would enter and where they would leave and that’s when I slowly introduced some dog biscuits and within minutes I had a few slurping in the mixers, I waited for my opportunity to come and I dropped in 2 mixers banded on to a size 8 hook and around 2 feet from the bank I landed another stunning Mirror which came in at 22lb 4oz, later that day I got the fish feeding confidently again In the same spot and I waited for my opportunity and I picked out an absolute stunner of a 18lb 11oz fully scaled Mirror which also fell to double mixer.
As my week progressed I landed a few other carp from the main lake including a lovely 15lb 5oz grassy and other backup fish around the 10lb mark. I then fished Fat Boys Lake part of the Nirvana Day Ticket Lakes which I landed around 30 carp in a day to 15lb 1oz which gave me a hell of a scrap, all these fish fell to a 15mm key cray bottom bait over a bed of sweet corn, luncheon meat and matching boilies.
All in all I enjoyed the week catching all manner of sizes of fish and will definitely return in the near future!”
(Above)5C’s Member Scott Cooper was smiling like the Cat that got the cream after he caught this 29lb 8oz Mirror from the Main Carp Lake using Essential B5. Scott came down for the weekend with his friend Malcolm (who caught the PB 73lb Cat) and had a great session, he ended up with 4 low 20lb Carp up to this 29lb 8oz Mirror. They also had 8 mid to upper doubles between them, so went home very happy! No pictures of the other fish as he caught them at night and struggled with self takes.
