Neilsen Jeffery commented “We are spoilt for places to fish in North Devon, had a very enjoyable day at Slade Reservoir, nearly all caught on a four meter whip.”
Upper Tamar Pallatrax Carp Open July 2018
Wow what a weekend – the weather was hot and dry (not ideal for carp fishing!) but the fishing was really good and a great time was had by everyone who took part.
The July competition has historically been a tight competition and fish usually well spread. The fact we had very little water at the far end of the lake made for an even more exciting event as no one could predict where would fish well. Everyone had their favourite swims but a lots of peoples choices were different.
The draw was completed after a full briefing in the Froghopper café and anglers were taken to their swims by the team. The anticipation was fantastic and everyone in high spirits.
I must admit having seen the forecast of very hot sunshine all weekend I didn’t think many fish would be caught at all and we would be looking at a winning combination of around 3-4 fish for about 45lbs. How wrong could I be!
The hooter sounded to start the event and it wasn’t long before fish were being landed. Josh Bellew and Grant Westlake fishing peg 13 on the Devon Bank (Gutbucket Bay) found fish tucked away in a bay with a lovely breeze pushing in there and they made the most of it landing three fish in the first couple of hours to take a good lead.
The first fish of the comp was landed by Adrian Morgan on peg 1 by the dam, a fish which would later see Adrian win a Pallatrax voucher for smallest of the weekend at 6lbs 5oz.
The event was being covered live by our facebok page which is called Coarse Fishing South West Lakes Trust with regular pictures, catch reports and updates.
It took 11 hours for Jason and Leanne McEvoy to bag their fisrt carp from peg 25 by the boat park but what followed was a steady procession of fish right throughout the competition. Peg 26 by the car park was being fished by Matthew Pepperell and Chris Hudson and they were keeping pace with Jason and Leanne landing fish for fish and really battling for the £2000 first place.
There were odd fish being picked off by anglers around the lake but nothing consistent and it was clear a large number of fish were holding near the pontoon area in front of pegs 25 and 26. These two pairs had pulled away from the field and the battle was for third where only 26lbs separated 7 pairs in the battle for £500. Grant Westlake and Josh Bellew’s fourth fish a 16.15 common proved to be decisive in the end.
The best fish of the weekend was landed by Greg Jones from peg 11 near the quarry, a cracking two tone 20.03 common.
Its funny that every competition we have the smaller carp are caught first as the larger ones move away from the pressure and as the weekend goes on larger fish start being caught. This couldn’t have been more evident this weekend.
Leanne McEvoy was on fire – fish after fish and they were a good stamp. Leanne landed 11 of the pairs 14 fish and she banked commons of 16.02, 16.00, 16.00, 18.08, 16.15 and 13.14 along with a mirror of 19.05. Really top angling. Partner Jason managed three fish with the largest being a 16.15 common. The pair set a new lake record with 14 fish for 178lbs – a truly fantastic effort and many congratulation to them.
With lots of pairs in with a chance of at least third right up until the hooter at 1pm it made for a really good competition which was well contested and enjoyed by everyone. The presentations were made during the free BBQ for competitors provided by Gary Vogel, warden for Tamar Lake.
In total 41 fish were caught from 15 different pegs.
It was great to have some new champions and runners up. Congratulations to Jason and Leanne and for winning and eventually lifting the crown after being runner’s up and third place finishers in the past.
Very well done to Matthew Pepperell and Chris Hudson for finishing second. Grant Westlake and Josh Bellew held on for third place – well done guys.
A huge thankyou to our fantastic marshall team Terry Reid, Ian Ellis, Steve Gliddon and Roger Maher. My thanks to Pallatrax for their sponsorship and we are looking forward to the next comp already!
Lee Abbott 3
Stewart Main 4
George Pemble 5
Dan Gay 10
Steve Lovell 15
Lee Mitchell 17
Tommy Bray 18
Wayne Ford 19
Nick Singleton 20
Next competition: 28-30 September. Entries on 01566771930
Ben Smeeth Head of Angling
Fine Brace of Lower Slade Carp
Andres Endean banked these two fine carp from Lower Slade a 23lb 2oz common and a 16lb 2oz mirror.
Superb Carp from Trusty Waters
(Below )George West has been catching plenty of carp from Upper Tamar recently with these stunning fish being the best of the bunch. George caught the much sought after Linear at around 25.00 which was stocked in 2017. He has also had a cracking old mirror at 24lb12oz, a two tone chunky common at around 21lb and a fully scaled mirror at 21lb Fantastic rewards, well done George…..
(Below)Steve Gliddon has been among the action at Melbury reservoir near Bideford, Devon. Steve landed a new PB for the water, a 23.10 common along with a long hard fighting 15.08 common that wiped all his rods out and a surface caught common of 12.02. wafters fished over a good scattering of boilies did the trick for Steve.
A peach of a carp from Upper Tamar
Well done to Jonathon Holdaway who has banked ‘The Peach’ from Upper Tamar at just under 32lbs. This smashed his PB by 7lbs and was part of a two fish catch which included a 16.12 common both caught on Sticky Manilla pop ups tipped with a small pink krill pop up. The 20 hour session was successful after a move at 6am after hearing fish crashing……..
Fine Slade Twenty
Ian Ross enjoyed a couple of nights at Lower Slade and was rewarded with this fully scaled mirror of 22lb 10oz.
North Devon Match Group – Melbury Reservoir Summer League No 2
1st John Lacy 8lb
2nd John Lisle 5lb 1oz
3rd John Bailey 4lb
4th Christopher Morris 2lb 14oz
Beautiful hot still weather greeted NDMG members for the second summer league match, bites were at a premium on the day and John Lacey took top spot on peg 1 on the dam, he fished on a small groundbait feeder with red maggot bait at close range for a net of good roach ,second placed John Lisle had 4 nice skimmers on the tip on worm from peg 6,John Bailey caught 8 roach on the waggler for 3rd.
South West Lakes – Some fine Carp from trusty waters
Some superb catches from South West Lakes Trust Waters over recent days. Below are some stunning images and results,
UPPER TAMAR
South West Lakes Trusts Upper Tamar lake is in top form at present with some stunning catches of carp coming from its large acreage.
(Below)Aaron Bunning has been back to Upper Tamar and again had a great session with lots of fish including these three attached at 24.14, 19.04 and 18.12. All fish fell to Nashbait scopex squid and coconut creme freebees and hookbaits.
Ben Smeeth sent me this report on some top angling _
Talk about an opportunistic moment! I was chatting with Roger Maher at Upper Tamar this morning and he informed me he had seen some fish, I went and had a look and saw around 8 fish, the biggest looked like a mid 20 common along with a mirror we recognised at about 23lbs. Dash home and Roger was back with a rod and half an hour later, here she is! 24.12……Top angling Roger. The lake is fishing great, a 32lb mirror and host of other fish have been caught in the last few days including a 20lb fully scaled…….
LOWER TAMAR
Steve Gliddon has caught a target fish from Lower Tamar lake at 24.00. Steve had been after the fish for 5 years but was delighted to finally slip his net under the old warrior! Steve also landed commons of 16lbs and 8lbs during his visit. Lower Tamar is open to everyone having been changed from a syndicate water 2 years ago.
LOWER TAMAR
Lower Slade reservoir in Ilfracombe (North Devon) produced 4 fish over 20lbs at the weekend. Simon Hill had a cracking 23.12 Common and Richard Ball had a common of 20.00.
Upper Tamar is in fine form for carp
Ashley Bunning has made the most of Upper Tamar fish switching on with a 13 fish session. Ashley managed a mirror at 21.03 along with commons to high doubles and a really silver common at 15lbs. All fish were caught over a bed of Nashbait scopex squid boilies with matching fluoros and wafter hook baits over the top.
(Below) Nigel Woods targeted Upper Tamar for a couple of hours stalking and was rewarded with this cracking 23.15 Mirror. This is one of the newly stocked fish from 2017 and its 2lbs up in weight and looking great! Nigel’s successful tactics were a Mainline cell wafter over a few freebies.
North Devon Match Group Championship No 4 Jennetts Reservoir
Many Thanks to Martin Turner for the North Devon Match Group report from Jennetts Reservoir where they enjoyed to fabulous silver fish sport.
1st Martin Turner 28lb 9oz
2nd Christopher Morris 25lb 11oz
3rd Kevin Shears 18lb 11oz
4th John Lacy 18lb 6oz
5th Peter Slade 17lb 9oz ,
A mild spring day with April showers , made for good sport on the South West Lake Trusts Jennetts Reservoir in Bideford. The bream failed to show in numbers but the roach fed well. Martin Turner landed quality fish on hemp and caster on the pole and whip from peg 8 , beside the elderberry bush , Christopher Morris had a similar net from peg 12 near the point also on the pole. Kevin drew end peg on the far bank for 3rd just pipping John Lacy who drew peg 4 near the dam.
