The 8th match in our evening league was won by Richard Jefferies on peg S with a single large carp taken on bread on the pole, Martin Hawker also landed a good carp on the pole on peg E , 3rd place was Martin Turner with a catch of smaller fish on peg O. Stephen Craker landed 10 small carp on peg A for 4th.
Best junior and 5th overall was Tyler with 2 nice bream .
Thank -you to all who turned up on the day especially to Craig Crash Lamey who despite losing his fishing partner for the day due to illness still turned up and fished with an awesome attitude.
Well nice fine weather with great people everything looked really good , so we did the draw and set about getting ready , personally i drew on what is normally a great peg and was really looking forward to the match , but all good things and all that, i really struggled loads of fish around yet no matter what i did they did not want to feed and I ended up with 12lb 4oz
But the day was brilliant with more talk about the cricket flying around our lake amongst the usual banter.
At the end we had the 3 winners and I apologise if the weights
are not 100% accurate as the paperwork has gone a-stray
1st was Paul Morris and Tom Downing with 130lb of carp and silvers
2nd was Nathan Underwood and Pete Horton with 111lb of carp/silvers
3rd was Neilsen Jeffery and Martin Turner with 86lb
the rest of us also rans didnt walk away empty handed , we decided thanks to Andy Seery and his sponsoring the prizes instead of giving tio the top 3 pairs we split all up between the other 13 anglers ,
All in All a great day which was thoroughly enjoyed so a big thank you to Stuart and Wooda Lakes for allowing this to happen for the 2nd year , To Andy Seery and So Simple Baits
and to everyone who fished .
Conditions were cool and overcast for this, the 5th match in the series. Kevin fished the pole at 9 metres with maggot over groundbait for a nice net of roach and bream on peg O for victory. Martin’s 2nd place net was also taken on the pole on the nextdoor peg to the winner, lan landed a single skimmer and a couple of small fish for 3rd. Pete lost a large carp but his net of silvers has kept him in the points.
Results North Devon Match Group Championship No.6 Oaktree Fishery
1st Paul Morris 77lb 15oz
2nd Stuart Shelley Burridge 61lb 13oz
3rd Keith Copland 59lb 9oz
4th John Lacy 46lb 8oz
5th Kevin Shears 40lb 7oz
6th Pete Slade 37lb 6oz
16 anglers fished this event held in damp windy conditions, both lakes were used and the top 4 weights all came from the top pond , In form Paul Morris fished the long pole shallow with 8mm pellets and 6mm down the edge on peg 9 for clear victory, Stuart Shelley Burridge landed a good net of carp on the next peg using method feeder and pole in the margins for 2nd spot .Keith Copland came in third with a similar catch from middle of the dam on peg 2, Johns catch was enough 4th , a paste catch of skimmers and carp.Top weight on the bottom pond and 5th overall was Kevin’s catch on soft pellet, Pete’s net fell to dobbed bread.
Forty two anglers descended upon Stafford Moor Fishery to take part in a fund raising match organised by North Devon match angler Neilsen Jeffery.
I was privileged to have been invited to take part once again as the event is run every other year and has raised thousands of pounds for good local causes.
The match was fished over three of the complex’s lakes; Oaktree, Tanners and Woodpecker.
The draw was from 8.00am and there was plenty of friendly banter and greetings from the start as competitors arrived. Today was a mixture of dedicated match anglers, carp anglers and pleasure anglers. Match fishing is not my normal forte but I always enjoy trying and there is a great amount to be learnt from anglings different branches.
The competition is a pairs match drawn out the previous weekend at Summerlands Tackle where anglers congregated to discuss pre match tactics and swap angling tales of which there are always plenty!
The draw is of course a vital part of the match angler’s day as this will to some extent determine the winners and losers.
My partner on the day was Dave Downton a regular visitor to Stafford Moor and considered a local expert. We drew pegs 5 and 6 on Oak lake and Dave kindly put me on the better peg.
I am always amazed at the amount of gear match anglers carry with vast arrays of poles, rods, nets and angling paraphernalia. I felt very under gunned with my rucksack, pair of rods and canvas chair!
There was plenty of time before the match started to tackle up and prepare and even a bit of time to chat and compare notes as this was as much a social occasion as a match.
At 10:30 however it was down to business as the water was peppered with free offerings and a range of hook baits and tackles. My own tactics were to use a straight running lead with pellet on the hook feeding steadily catapulting half a dozen pellets at regular intervals. To my surprise the rod tip lurched around after only two minutes!
The day was punctuated by hot sunshine and heavy rain showers. As the match progressed my rod tip was pulled round on a regular basis and I was to end up with 18 carp for 58lb 15oz, I also had five come off which was a little frustrating but all part of the game. I am sure that individual dramas unfolded all around the lake with lost fish, broken poles and other misfortunes!
As is so often the case the five hour match flashed past in no time and when the whistle blew it seemed hard to believe that the days fishing was done.
I followed the weighing party around all three lakes taking a picture of each smiling competitor with their nets of fish.
What a fantastic venue Stafford Moor has matured into with easy access around the lakes, walkways all surfaced with chippings. There is a fine mix of fishing available for match anglers, pleasure anglers and specimen carp anglers.
The Results :-
1st– Kevin Shears – 76lb of carp, 10lb of silvers total – 86lb
Ian Brookes – 65lb 10oz of carp, 8lb 10oz silvers total – 74lb 4oz
Combined total – 160lb 4oz
2nd– Dean Willoughby – 57lb 7oz of carp , 15oz silver Total 58lb 6oz
Mark Taylor – 83lb 12oz , 12oz silvers total – 84lb 8oz
Combined total – 142lb 14oz
3rd– Dave Willoughby – 57lb 4oz carp, Total – 57lb 4oz
Steve Ford – 72lb 15oz carp, 1lb 2oz silvers Total – 74lb 1oz
Combined total – 131lb 5oz.
Individuals –
Tanners 1st– Kevin Shears – 86lb
2nd– Mark Taylor – 84lb 8oz
Oaktree 1st– Steve Ford – 74lb 1oz
2nd– Wayne Thomas – 58lb 15oz
Woodpecker 1st– Tom Downing – 102lb
2nd– Rich Harman – 64lb 4oz
Silver Fish winner – Craig Lamey – 13lb 12oz
Neilsen Jeffery thanks all the competitors for taking part and gives special thanks to Joanne and Paul Coombes for hosting the event and making everyone welcome. Thanks also to Martin Cox Angling, Drennan Tackle and Summerlands Tackle and Jo and Paul Coombes who all donated prizes.
The event raised a total of £2,159 for a defibrillator to be installed at Stafford Moor and a contribution the Appledore Lifeboat.
The total weight of fish caught was 1682lb 10oz and the nearest guess to this was made by Sian Gillespie who guessed 1683lb and wins £25.
Many thanks for the report from Jo at Stafford Moor complete with emojis and humour.
Wow what a week it has been ! It’s been such a funny week with you all the geriatrics club ! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 had guys loosing things , don’t know what lake they were on the day before 🤪 lost envelopes 🤪 leave the shop then pop back as they forgot what peg they r on 🤪 it’s been like this all week but so funny thank you for making it such fun, now down to the nitty gritty 👍 A huge thank you to Vic Bush (MOSSELLA) UK for sponsoring our festivals and giving out such fantastic prizes so appreciated Vic 💕👍
Our worthy winner who has scored a hat trick wow what can we say you Andy Dare you r a legend what an angler and such a fab bloke you won with just 5 points and a total weight of 359lb 14oz well done Andy !
In second place with a total score of 5 points and total weight of 287lb 14oz is Alec Bishop well done Alec 👍
In third place with also just 5 points and a total weight of 260lb 8oz was Dave Kent well done Dave 👍
North Devon Match Group Summer League No.3 @ Melbury Reservoir
1st Paul Elworthy 50lb 12oz
2nd Stuart Shelley Burridge 22lb 2oz
3rd Kevin Shears 21lb 2oz
4th Colin Cherrington 20lb 6oz
5th Pete Slade 20lb 5oz
6th Mark Richards 18lb 5oz
14 anglers took part in the event ,,conditions were mild and wet, good nets of both skimmer bream and quality roach featured from all around the lake. Veteran Paul Elworthy took full advantage of a reasonable draw to completely dominate the match with a faultless display of feeder fishing from peg 1 , 2nd spot was more closely fought , Pauls travelling partner Stuart Shelley took it with another feeder catch from peg 10 by the hole in the wall. Kevin came in third next peg to the winner also with a feeder catch. .Colin’s 4th place is worthy of a mention from peg 9 ,not normally in the draw bag, and his 1st visit to the venue .
May 26th results : North Devon Match Group versus Bude Canal Angling Club @ Killock Fishery
Results:
1st Simon John Allen Bude 60lb 12oz
2nd Ian Gray Bude 38lb 2oz
3rd Colin Cherrington NDMG 36lb 14oz
4th Neilsen Jeffery NDMG 33lb 14oz
5th Steve Whitehouse Bude 29lb 1oz
6th Kevin Hill 21lb 7oz ,
The first leg of our annual interclub was contested on 2 of the lakes at Killock Farm. A hearty breakfast was served in the Atlantic Highway Cafe, before the two teams of 12 braved the 5 hours of misty rain .Bude team captain Simon John Allen led his team to a well fought victory, 157 points to 143 . Simon took the individual honours with a great catch on the pole on the bottom pool. Ian also of Bude, took best weight on the top lake and second in the match on the method feeder. Top weight for North Devon and third in the match was Colin with a pole caught net on peg 16 ,on meat. The cafe also served up a fine after match spread , a good day was had by all ,we look forward to our return match on the canal.
