Martin Turner secured victory at a cold and windswept Slade Reservoir putting together a fine net of silver fish.
1st Martin Turner 25lb 14oz
2nd Kevin Shears 19lb 13oz
3rd Andy Gray 10lb 3oz
4th James Grogan 9lb 3oz
5th John Bailey 8lb 10oz
(Above) Kevin Shears
North Devon Match Group Winter League No 5 at Slade Reservoir was a match to forget for most with gale force wind and blustery conditions making fishing very uncomfortable and difficult . The road side produced top 3 all to pole tactics
Catch of the day was undoubtedly a fine double figure pike landed by John Forster sadly pike don’t count in matches!
Castaways Sea Angling Club member Gary Hillon fished a North Devon Rock mark to a catch a fantastic specimen Spur of 17-7-8. The fish was tempted on a sandeel squid cocktail fished on a 4/0 pennel pulley rig.
Ryan Dunbreck also had a fine Spur of 14-6-8 a new Castaways Catch & Release record.
Weather conditions were much improved for the Final of Stafford Moors MFS Silver Festival but a bitter cold wind still lingered. The weights on the final day were excellent. ,Tanners fished well with Pines fishing even better! The top weight was 31lb 9oz from Colin Mercer who fished peg 12 on Pines fishing maggot over worm. The Winner of the MFS Silvers Festival 2017 is Colin Mercer who had only 6 points! well done Colin.
Fishery owner Joanne Combes “What a fantastic week Paul and i have had with you all so much fun and laughter and fantastic weights,see you all next year!”
The Top Ten below
COLIN MERCER (MERCE) Peg 12 Pines: 31lbs 9oz
MARTIN WEDLEY (CARPY MARTY) Peg 7 Pines: 28lbs 8oz
STEVE MARTIN (ROLIO) Peg 13 Pines: 27lbs 14oz
WAYNE KEARNEY (LONG TALL SALLY) Peg 4 Tanners: 27lbs 9oz
Blakewell Fishery is undoubtedly the water to head for if you want to land that coveted double figure trout as Duncan discovered when he landed this personal best scaling 10lb 14oz.
Simpson Valley – Jenny Wren Trout Lake near Holsworthy – Latest report from Paul Cozen’s
Jenny Wrens annual trout masters competition went well this morning despite the frequent heavy cold down pours of rain. Attending this year was Terry Allcorn, Richard Cooper and brothers Mark and Richard Hopson.
Fish came on the feed straight away with Terry kicking it off with a nice rainbow caught on a damsel nymph followed closely by Mark with another rainbow on a Montana. All anglers caught their 3 Fish bag limit by dinnertime and we’re glad to get out of the rain.
Winner this year was Mark Hopson from Barnstaple with a bag weight of 8lb 1oz who gets a place in the trout masters final at Draycote trout fishery this October.
Runner up was Richard Cooper from Lyme Regis with 7lb 13oz followed by Richard hopson with 7lb 8oz then Terry Allcorn with 7lb 1oz.
Well done to all and keep sending the trout masters tickets in for your chance of a monthly badge and a place in next year’s Fish offs.
I think we sometimes take this whole fishing thing too seriously and that’s quite a statement coming from someone who is seriously addicted to that next piscatorial fix. I have spent years chasing fish of dreams and don’t get me wrong I love to get a big fish on the line and admire it before slipping it back into the watery dimension. But fishing is about far more than fish, its about the chase and as the lyric goes; “The Chase is Better than the catch”.
Last week we fished Anglers Paradises Lure Fishing weekend. The weather was generally dark and gloomy and fish hard to find. Looking through the pictures of the event I noticed something quite striking in the smiles of grown men clutching tiny fish. In amongst the egos and tales of big fish there shone that childish delight that true anglers never lose.
Close to fifty years ago I watched a crimson topped float bobbing optimistically about in Mill Pond at Berrynarbour.
I watched for hours in anticipation delighting in its disappearance as a tiny perch devoured my worm or maggot impaled upon my hook. Fortunately that same joy can still be found in the catching of a fish.
Bigger may well be better but in essence its all about the chase and the expectation.
A few weeks ago I stood waiting for the start of a competition; the fifteen minutes until cast off seemed to last an eternity the following five hours evaporated in a flash. The line in the water is connected to another world strange how this connection is so essential.
Steve Pinn is enjoying continued success at Stafford Moor fishery using Mainline Cell Boilies to tempt the above carp the first a 22lb mirror the latter a stunning mid double common.
KRACKING PERSONAL BEST FOR SEAN!
Sean Mutch, 25 From Braunton , North Devon has been on a mission to catch a 30lber from the Kracking Carp Lake since last Summer putting in 15 nights of trying but still no success, so he decided to come back for day’s session to give it another try.
Finally, after all the blood, sweat and tears, Sean’s moment came and he ended his quest by catching an amazing New PB 39lb 8oz Mirror!! The Fish in question has a rather rare Z marking on it, we can now make it official that the Fish is named ‘Zebra’, so Sean, you can tell your mates you’ve caught a Zebra!!
Sean caught the Mirror from Swim 4 in the margins on a 10mm CC Moore live system boillie and pop up, plastic tiger-nut mounted on a KD Rig over a handful of chopped boillie and CC Moore roasted nut Spodmix Fished with dead slack lines.
It just goes to show that if you put the effort in and never give up that anything is possible. CARP LEGEND ROB MAYLIN LANDS A KRACKER!
We had Rob Maylin stay with us last week with his Wife and Son for a Family Holiday as well as some fishing.
Rob decided to have a go on the Kracking Carp Lake in search of his 1st Fish of 2017.
Good job he did, because he landed this Beauty in the shape of a 32lb 12oz Mirror!
Rob Said –
“1st fish of 2017 for me, this beautiful ‘Orange’ 32.12 from Anglers Paradise caught from the Kracking Carp Lake. Red Spicy fish doing the business combined with an ESP size 6 Choddy straight out of the packet!”
WELL DONE ROB! IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO CATCH A CARP – IT’S DEFINITELY THIS MAN!!
Anglers Paradise
Footnote – North Devon Angling News
Rob Maylin is one of the founders of the modern carp fishing era his books Bazil’s Bush and Fox Pool are both collectable books now and reflect the carp fishing ethos of the late eighties and early nineties. The birth of the full time carp angler obsessed with catching the biggest at all costs with a beer or two on the way!
