DAY TICKET COMMON ALERT!!
Anglers Paradise Head Baliff Ashley Bunning aka the Teddy Bear of Anglers Paradise had a session on Day Ticket Nirvana’s Specimen Cat Lake and caught this stunning 28lb Common. Ashley caught the beauty on a Nash bait pineapple instant action pop up fished over a bed of corn, 12mm Scopex Squid boilies and hemp. For our Venue’s latest availability – please call us on 01409 221559.
Paul Willsea joined us with his wife for Valentines week and managed to get some fishing in and caught a personal best 30lb Mirror, a 25lb Mirror and a 24lb Mirror all from the Specimen Carp Lake and won our Fish of the Week competiton!
Paul ’s Story –
“I have been coming to AP for 21 years and have never caught 3 big fish in one week. On Monday 18th February, I went down to the Specimen Carp Lake. The Reel went screaming off after about an hour, I couldn’t believe it, I landed a 24lb Mirror using a tutti fruity boilie.
After a little while, off it goes again and I landed a 25lb Mirror on a Sticky Baits Krill pop up, I was well chuffed, couldn’t believe it – 2 20’s in 1 day!!
Then on Thursday 21st February, about 2pm, I thought I would pack up in about half hour, when suddenly off the Reel goes. I landed a 30lb 2oz Mirror on a tutti fruity boilie. This is the best Valentine week I have ever had, I beat my personal best by 4oz, celebrated my Birthday on Valentine’s Day and had an absolutely fantastic week at AP!”
Here he is with his Winning Fish and being presented his prizes by Zyggy and Zenia with special thanks to PB Products UK.
The River Torridge starts its journey at Meddon near Hartland surprisingly close to the source of the Tamar that in contrast journeys to Devon’s South Coast flowing into the English Channel at Plymouth. The Torridge flows through the heart of Devon’s rural interior. Rolling hills, lush green fields and abundant woodland it is famed for its association with Tarka the Otter. Otters are fortunately still a common site for anglers as they cast their lines for salmon and sea trout on the many miles of water that are available to fish.
The Torridge is a smaller river than its sister river the Taw and is perhaps less daunting to fish with plenty of excellent fly water. Day Tickets for salmon, sea trout and brown trout are available from the Half Moon Inn at Sheepwash that boasts a rich fishing pedigree with several beats available throughout the river. The Little Warham Fishery also offers excellent fishing opportunities for salmon, sea trout and wild brown trout.
Whilst many focus on the Torridge as a salmon and sea trout river its dry fly fishing for brown trout can be superb with great sport to be enjoyed on both the main river and its many tributaries.
The West-Country Angling passport scheme offers a wealth of opportunities.
There are plenty of opportunities for the coarse and carp angler in this heart of rural Devon with a variety of waters. The famous Anglers Paradise complex owned by the notorious Zyg Gregorek and family offers a vast range of opportunity with everything from gudgeon to huge carp, catfish, pike and trout. Whilst renowned for its holiday complex the venue also boasts some superb day ticket fishing with Anglers Nirvana and Eldorado home to catfish over 60lb and carp in excess of fifty pounds.
Close to Holsworthy are Thornbury Fishing Lakes that offer carp to double figures along with tench, bream and other coarse fish. Day tickets are available for the two lakes that are set in a tranquil rural setting.
Stafford Moor Fishery close to Dolton has a well deserved reputation for its prolific carp fishing and match fishing. The lakes are well established and run by the Combe family who have invested much time, effort and money to build upon the sound foundations laid by the previous owner Andy Seery. The Match lakes regularly produce ton up bags of carp with Open events held on a regular basis throughout the year.
Carp anglers have the choice of two lakes Beatties and Lodge Lake both of which contain carp to over thirty pounds with twenty pound fish frequently gracing the bank.
The lakes also hold a variety of other species to specimen size including perch, eels and a few surprises.
Melbury, Jennets, Darracott, Upper and Lower Tamar are all controlled by South West Lakes Trust and all hold some impressive stocks of coarse fish. Specimen Carp are caught in all of the venues with multiple catches of double figure fish common. These waters tend to offer more of a challenge than the heavily stocked commercial venues and are often less crowded as a result. Though this is not always the case at weekends when news has spread regarding good catches.
Carp are not the only specimens to dwell within these waters with some huge perch to over five-pound present in several of the lakes. These long-established waters are also home to some huge eels that offer a serious target for the dedicated eel angler.
Lower Tamar also holds a good head of bream to double figures.
Match fishing on the reservoirs brings bulging nets of silver fish with Upper Tamar considered one of the best venues for silver fish in the West Country.
1ST 40 OF THE YEAR FROM KRACKING!
He’s only gone and done it again! Steve Elsbury came back to Nirvana’s Kracking Carp Lake after taking a year’s break and caught Parrot the Mirror at 45lbs making it the first Kracking catch of 2019 and the first 40 from the whole complex this year!
Steve shared –
‘After a year away from the Kracking Carp Lake in Devon I thought it was time for another visit. With the drop in pressure and the conditions looking bang on I couldn’t resist it, and I was rewarded with this chunk of a Mirror known as “Parrot” weighing in at bang on 45lb.
I fished a CR1 wafter topped with fake corn over a large bed of crushed CR1 boilie, pellet, and corn, finished off with some CR1 syrup. Hybrid armo-hawk curves doing the business.’
WELL DONE STEVE AND CONGRATULATIONS ON CATCHING THE BIGGEST CARP FROM ANGLERS PARADISE THIS YEAR!
Anglers Paradise has a unique and diverse range of species within their lakes .GoldenTench, Koi Tench, Golden Orfe, Koi Orfe, Golden Rudd, Goldfish,variousSpecies of Koi, Pike, Perch, 5 Species of Trout, Arctic Char, Chub, Barbel,Bream, Gudgeon etc. As well as carp to over 50lbs and Wels Catfish to over 100lbs .
The lakes are also a thriving area for wildlife and owners Zyg and Rose Gregorek have decided to add to this with two pairs of black swans. It is to be hoped that the majestic birds will breed and become another point of interest at this venue in the heart of Devons rolling countryside.
Anglers Paradise are very proud and pleased to share with you that they have just given away £8500 to the following local charities :-
Devon Air Ambulance – £2500
Food Banks Okehampton and Holsworthy-£2000
Black Torrington Surgery Elevator – £1500
Exeter Hospiscare – £1000
Halwill Primary School – £1000
Halwill Parish Hall – £500
We’d like to thank all our customers for their generosity throughout the year. All year we continue to raise as much as we can at Anglers Paradise through doing Raffles, Quiz Nights, we also raise most of the money during our annual Netting week through events like Archery, Bingo Night, Race Night, Quiz Night, Treasure Hunt, Tombola, Pool and Darts competitions etc.
Pictured is Zyg and Rose Gregorek and Daughter Zenia, Brian Kneebone of Devon Air Ambulance, Sally Hill from Blake House Surgery, Head Teacher of Halwill Primary School Ruh Alford, Sarah Gainsbury and Roger Young of Holsworthy Food Bank, Reginald Harnel of Okehampton Food Bank and Jill and Paul Voaden of Hospiscare.
AMAZING PB KOI CATCH!!
If Carlsberg made Fish I think they’d look like THIS!! Brett Davies had a day on the famous Koi Lake with his girlfriend Derian and they had a fantastic day of nonstop catching including this stunning 11lb 7oz Koi making it a new personal best for Brett!
Brett shared with us –
“I stalked this fish for 45 minutes. There were multiple failed casts, a good few rejections of the free-lined dog biscuit, and a lot more whispered swear words. Then on probably the tenth cast, the bait dropped just on the fishes’ nose and it came up sweet as nut and gulped the biscuit down.
The fight was absolutely mental, probably 3 or 4 minutes of dogged power, mostly right under the rod tip. I did forget to say that even though I had 12lb line straight through to a size 8 hook, I was using one of the light lure rods I had with me for the lure weekend, and it was bent double.
I eventually slipped the net under and I knew it was biggest Koi I’d personally seen at Angler’s Paradise in more than 20 years visiting, shaking like a leaf I was.
Seeing the scales spin around to well over 10lb shocked me. A new PB Koi at 11lb 7oz and it’s also one of my many favourite Angler’s Paradise experiences. Lovely.”
Looks like the 2018 November Lure Fishing was a great success once again many thanks to Zenia for her enthusiastic write up! Several first this year with carp on a lure and a golden tench.
💥WINNER OF THE NOVEMBER 2018 LURE WEEKEND💥
The Individual Winner of the whole Competition was **DAVEY MEADES** who caught 6 Species altogether which included a 43cm Rainbow Trout, a 35cm Blue Trout, 2 Rudd at 12cm and 13cm, a 14cm Golden Rudd, a 11cm Perch and the fish that determined his win was a 17cm Golden Tench which was the 1st ever Lure caught Golden Tench to be caught in the history of Anglers Paradise!!
Quantum, Costa and Anglers Paradise Sponsored this Event meaning Davey Won a Week’s Holiday for 2 at Anglers Paradise and a huge range of Quantum Tackle, including a Rod, Reel, Lures and Clothing, a Pair of Costa’s Sunglasses and lots more, he had to take his Prizes in 2 trips as he couldn’t carry it all!!
Damon’s Team Captain was Fladen’s very own Pike King – Nathan Edgell, who was extremely proud of his Team Member to Win the Competition!
Special Thanks to Quantum and Costa for being so generous with the Prizes.
MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to DAVEY MEADES for WINNING THE 2018 LURE WEEKEND!!
The Runner Up of the Lure Weekend 2018 is **SCOTT WAY** Winning with 5 Species amounting to 180.5cms consisting of a 51.5cm Pike, a 35cm Tiger Trout, a 16cm Perch, a 39cm Blue Trout and a 39cm Rainbow Trout.
Massive CONGRATULATIONS to Scott, this was his first ever Lure Weekend with us too!
Scott was in Team Fox Rage with Captain Ben Humber who was very proud of Scott’s determination and dedication till the very last whistle!
This Catergory was Sponsored by QUANTUM who we’d like to say a massive Thank you for the very generous Prizes donated to the Event.
WELL DONE SCOTT!
**FISH OF THE WEEKEND** AND **THIRD PLACE**
Now THIS is a catch that has made Anglers Paradise history! Andy Payne has done it again! Not only is he the only man to have ever caught and landed a Catfish on a Lure but this year he’s caught this stunning 22lb Common on a lure making him the 1st to have ever caught a Carp on a lure at Anglers Paradise!!!
It was a magical fishing moment that I for one feel blessed to have been there and share it with Andy. Andy caught the lure caught Carp from the Bottom Lake at Anglers Eldorado.
Team Captain Kev Cox from Fox Rage as you can imagine was thrilled to bits and very proud of his team member Andy to catch such a species like this on a lure!!
This was without a doubt the Winner for the new Catergory – Fish Of The Weekend – Sponsored by FOX RAGE.
Andy also came THIRD in the overall Competition catching 5 Species to 160.5cm consisting of a 17cm Perch, a 34cm Blue Trout, a 32cm Golden Trout, a 10.5cm Rudd and the 67cm Common Carp Wining more prizes from the very generous Quantum!
CONGRATULATIONS ANDY AND WELL DONE ON A TRULY AMAZING CATCH AND MAKING ANGLING HISTORY AT ANGLERS PARADISE!!
🎣💥THE WINNING TEAM OF THE LURE WEEKEND💥🎣
The Winning Team of the 2018 Lure Weekend is Team Fox Rage with Team Captain Ben Humber leading them to VICTORY!!
It was the closest Competition EVER, Team Ben Humber WON with 9 Species to include Pike, Perch, Common Carp, Blue Trout, Rainbow Trout, Tiger Trout, Brook Trout, Golden Rudd and Rudd.
To tell you exactly how close it was, Team Fladen with Captain Nathan Edgell also caught 9 Species so in the end it had to come down to literally cm’s!! Team Fladen amounted to 253.5cm but Team Fox Rage won it with 286.5cm – it was so, so close!! Kev Cox’s Team had 8 Species and Savage Robbie Northman’s Team also had 8 Species which is superb angling for all the Team Members – they all fished their socks off but The Winners were TEAM BEN HUMBER – FOX RAGE – WELL DONE TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!
The Fish that secured their Win was another surprise Common Carp caught by Ian Paynton from the Trout Lake bumping their species up to 9!! Ben’s Team consisted of Dion Cooke-Martin, Nicky Lock, Ian Paynton, Lee Paynton, Mark Hawitt, Scott Way, Dom Cooke and son Dylan who are now the 2018 Team WINNERS!
A Big Shout out to all the Team Captains for doing a Fantastic Job and well done to all of the Anglers for fishing it until the very last second – pure dedication to Fishing!
Thank you to all the Sponsors for yet again great Prizes for this Catergory – Quantum, Fladen, Costa, Drennan, Savage Fishing Gear and Fox Rage.
Bring on next year!!!
The BIGGEST PIKE caught at the 2018 Lure Weekend was caught by the one and only DION COOK-MARTIN measuring 62cm from Valhalla.
DION was in Team Fox Rage with Captain Ben Humber leading him to Victory!
DION won some pretty special prizes from the Sponsors of this Catergory **Fladen and Costa** including a Fladen Rod, Reel and a pair of Costa Sunglasses – Thank you so much to Fladen and Costa, for the amazing Prizes, DION is a very happy boy.
WELL DONE DION – YOU DID US PROUD!
Looks like a crackinglure fishing weekend at Anglers Paradise – Full results to follow as soon as Zenia compiles a full report!
WHAT AN AWESOME 2018 LURE WEEKEND!!
The Lure Weekend has officially finished, and what an amazing Weekend it was!!! The Anglers fished their socks off and the Captains did their Teams PROUD!
I honestly don’t know where to start, I’m missing everyone already, it’s a weekend where Anglers from across the Country join us and we all share the passion of Fishing, make friends, laugh (alot!!), Fish, and have a ‘Ruddy’ good time!
This was the BIGGEST 5th Lure Weekend at Anglers Paradise and it couldn’t have gone better, I want to thank every single one of you for being a part of our Lure Family, I honestly feel so blessed to have the opportunity to Host such a great Event and meet such wonderful people doing it, thank you for making my job such a pleasure!!
A MASSIVE Thank you to the Team Captains who did us so so proud – Nathan Edgell aka the Pike King who represented Team Fladen, Ben the ‘Stinky’ Humber who represented Team Fox Rage, Robbie Northman who represented Team Savage and Kev Cox who represented Team Fox Rage who sadly couldn’t make the presentation as had to be taken to Hospital. The poor chap had Flu all weekend but tried his best to battle the Weekend out but it defeated him on the last day and turns out he has severe Pneumonia on both lungs, he’s now back and home resting and on anti-biotics – Kevin – thanks for doing an awesome job despite feeling how you were – we wish you a speedy recovery and please rest!!
The Team Captains did a SUPERB job yet again and the results of the Lure Weekend will be trickled out throughout the week – so watch this space, I need a day to recover and then I’ve got 100’s of pictures to sort!!
Thank you to John Deprielle from Fladen who was our Professional Photographer of the Event, he’s taken some amazing pictures that I can’t wait to share with you!!
Thank you to the Costa Boys – Adam Sinclair and Ben Bagham who joined us and gave some amazing Prizes for the Winners inc 5 Pairs of Sunglasses!!
Thank you to all the Sponsors – Fladen, Fox Rage, Savage, Costa, Quantum and Drennan – The Prizes were absolutely Phenomenal this year and the Winners went home with massive smiles with all their goodies!!
Thank you to the Adjudicators – George Crisp, Paul Oglesbee, Ashley Bunning, Paul Tegg and Jamie Noone – You ALL did a superb job and made sure everything went to plan!
Thank you to the Staff at Anglers Paradise – Especially Kit Edmonds the Chef who made sure the Anglers were fed – the Food was amazing and Kit didn’t stop from 6am right the way to 8pm!!
Not forgetting my husband who helped me massively to make sure everything ran smoothly – I couldn’t have done it without him!!
There were some great catches and you won’t believe the surprise catches until you see them!! All to be announced and REVEALED in the coming days!!
Above) Paul Baker recently took his son to Anglers Eldorado to show him what a real Catfish looked like up close and they caught this 30lb Wels Catfish from the Bottom Cat and Carp Lake 2 caught on double halibut pellets.
Lovely to see Families on the bank sharing their passion of fishing with siblings – what it’s all about!
(Above)
*PB CATFISH FROM NIRVANA**
David Poolman fished Nirvana’s Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake and managed to catch a personal best 56lb 8oz Catfish in the early hours.
David caught his PB on a soaked halibut pellet/squid pop up combination.
(Above)Angling Guide Julian Chidgey organised a Cat and Carp Camp weekend at Nirvana. The conditions were tough to say the least, they lost a few but Morgan Lloyd from Oxfordshire saved the weekend by catching his 1st ever Catfish at a whopping 60lbs 3oz and a 15lb Common both from the Specimen Cat Lake.
Julian shared –
‘Well what a weekend that was! Winds that threatened to launch bivvies into the lake, and rain that had me contemplating building an ark! The anglers who attended the Carp and Cat Camp stuck at it despite the weather, knowing that it would only take 1 bite to make the session a success. Morgan Lloyd had the first breakthrough after we spotted a 30-40lb carp top between the waves and a single hookbait cast close by soon gave a bite. Unfortunately the fish dropped off before we got to see it.
Richard and Tony also both had big fish top in front of them and the tension was clear as it felt a bite was on the cards. Morgan was the lucky one again as a single hookbait (Tor baits Squido pop up) produced a bite as darkness fell. A modest mid double common was the result but with the temperature falling and the wind having turned to a bitter North-Easterly it was good to see a fish on the bank. As first light came this morning the keen anglers stood over the rods counting down the final minutes of the session. An alarm sounded and Morgan was again the lucky angler, from the outset it was clear this was a special fish and I soon paddling out with my landing net to scoop up a very long catfish.
It was great to see the teamwork and camaraderie as we weighed and photographed the 60lb 3oz monster. As we packed away our wet gear and headed our separate ways it was great to think of the new friendships formed through a great weekend. I will definitely be organising another event for next Spring so please get in touch to reserve your place for a shot at the fish of a lifetime.’