(Below)Ian Geary with banked this stunning 26lb 8oz carp from Lower Slade near Ilfracombe.
Dave Bellew (Below) fished Upper Tamar and banked this amazing mirror at 18lb and followed it up with a new 30 at 32lb 4oz! This common was stocked 18 months ago at 26.02lbs.
Olie Passmore caught this beautifully patterned wrasse of 3lb 3oz from a North Devon Rock Mark. 
Lewis Jones and his Dad with a pair of cracking commons at 29lb & 30lb respectively from Jennetts Reservoir in North Devon.
The Combes family at Stafford Moor are delighted to be open again for fishing with carp anglers returning to the venue to enjoy the superb sport on offer. ,
Got some fab photos below of just a few catches over the past few days from our specimen lakes. Including Joey Gould, Jack Cook, Harry Burslem, Billy Knowels , Jason Hammond, Wade Holmes, Chris Ayre just a few names of our carp guys .
North Devon’s anglers have been relishing the lifting of lockdown and heading to the water’s edge where social distancing is easy to undertake. Sea anglers have not found the fishing easy with high pressure and north east winds not generally conducive to good fishing. Most anglers have just been glad to once again smell the sea air and be there fishing. Smoothound have provided some exciting sport with Chay Boggis landing a specimen of 13lb 7oz and Kody Chugg a hound of 10lb 6oz.
David Jenkins and Charlie enjoyed a successful beach session landing ray, bass and smoothound.
Several bass have succumbed to lure fishing tactics on the coast and in the estuary.
Wrasse are a fish that always respond to clear water and several have been caught from the kelp strewn gullies of the open coast. Anglers fishing soft plastic lures slowly through rough ground can tempt wrasse a tactic that is often underused on the North Devon coast where bait fishing tactics have traditionally reigned supreme.
Grey mullet are showing from both coast and estuary providing exciting and challenging sport on light tackle.
Norman Martin fished at Oaktree Fishery where he banked six carp between 10lb 2oz and 20lb 5oz. All were tempted using Tom Thick Baits Super Sausage.
A tree creeper flitted up and down searching the bark for morsels of food. The tackle was ready a favourite lure hanging from the rod. I enjoyed the quiet in anticipation of a couple of hours fishing ahead imagining the tide as it pushed into the boulder strewn shoreline below.
James duly arrived and we chatted as we descended to the beach. A gentle breeze wafted the smell of the sea as we approached, the sweet decay of drying seaweed and salty water. I paused to breathe in the air pleased to be released from a lockdown of a couple of months.
A scramble over weed and barnacle encrusted rocks brought us to the waters edge where we chose our ambush points. It was a delight to once again send a lure out watch it splash on the surface before settling into the rhythm of searching the water. The water was clear and calm; James glimpsed a good bass ghosting past along with several mullet.
I searched the water with both my lures and my eyes full of expectation. Thoughts of a troubled world erased temporarily from the mind. Gradually I became immersed in the location the vast waters that are the Bristol Channel. Pleasing cloud formations, sunlight on calm waters and the gentle lapping of the waves on the shoreline. The expectation of that electrifying jolt down the line as a bass seized the lure gradually faded as the early tide pushed inevitably in.
We walked back to the car talking of the next trip as we paused to admire the wild thrift that decorated the cliffs.
Wimbleball on Exmoor is fishing exceptionally well since reopening to angling in line with government guidelines.
The fishing is on fire at Wimbleball since we re-opened, we’re receiving some great reports & catch returns, just the tonic we needed as things stand with this virus. Tactics vary over the day as you’d expect & Di3 & Di5 lines are working well with black lures, but equally anglers are catching with teams of small dark flies just under the surface. Photos courtesy of Alan Behan who had a great day with his best Rainbow at 5lb 3ozs…
Simon Hill fished for a few hours at Lower Slade landing five carp off the surface with the biggest being a fine 25lb common. Stuart Wade has been among the fish again landing a cracking mirror carp at just over 20 lb Kevin Geary doing a session landing 3 carp all mid doubles Toby Bassett has also been on the carp with a fine 19 lb fish caught with in the first 20 minutes being in the swim.
Anglers are reminded to follow guidelines of social distancing.
“A friend of mine recalculated the statistics earlier this week: the UK has 11% of recorded global Covid-19 deaths but just 0.8% of global population, with deaths still rising sharply at the point of easing lock-down. You are all clever people, so draw what you may from those stark figures, recognising also that they are based on at best fragmented data given no widespread testing. Repeating what is at the head of this note, stay well, stay safe and stay sane!”
