3rd joint Andrew Clements & Stephen Found Flounder 1lb 13 1/2 92.187%
Appledore Shipbuilders Monthly Sea Rover Results
15 members fished the November Rover today.
Some challenging conditions both at sea and In the rivers but most anglers managed to find a few fish. Reports of a lot of tiny bass pinching the baits for the people targetting Flounders and several flounders caught around the 1lb mark.
Best Flounder weighed in was 1lb 10 1/2ozs which wasn’t quite big enough to place.
Winner today was Josh Atkinson with a Bull Huss of 9lb 8ozs. Josh also managed to take 2nd place with another Huss of 9lb 3 3/4ozs.
Andrew Atkinson picked up the final place also with a Bull Huss of 8lb 9 1/4ozs.
Barnstaple Triple Hook Club Open Flounder – Result
Anglers Paradise was created by Zyg Gregorek around forty years ago a man who had a vision to transform a few acres of marshy ground into a fishing paradise. Visiting the complex to attend the annual netting event it is apparent that Zyg’s vision is still going strong.
Each year one of the complexes thirty plus lakes is netted to ensure fish stocks are kept at optimum levels. The netting also signals the start of the venue’s charity week.
This year the float lake was to be netted, a lake of around one acre that holds koi, barbel, golden tench, carp, goldfish and a large population of rudd. The plan was to remove a large number of the rudd, transferring them to the pike lake. The koi, golden tench, ghost carp and barbel would be returned to the lake along with a few new additions including chub and blue orfe.
I arrived at around 9:00am and found the netting party assembling at the side of the lake. I took a walk around the lake capturing a few images of the partially empty lake. Late autumn sunshine illuminated the scene highlighting autumn colours on the trees.
I chatted with Joe and Zenia who between them run the complex that is very much a family business. As the working party slowly gathered one or two were undoubtedly nursing hangovers from a night before in the renowned Safari Bar.
Netting a lake requires a degree of planning and after many years the operation is a well-rehearsed project. The first task being to ensure that the lake is at the right level. Too much water and it becomes dangerous, too little water and there is a risk to the valuable stock.
There is always a sense of anticipation as the net draws together and the contents are slowly revealed. The fish within were sorted with carp, rudd and a selection of koi removed for relocation across the complex.
The enthusiasm of the team for the task at hand was impressive with no one grumbling about the mud and cold water.
The netting day signals the start of a week of events to raise money for charity. This year’s charity is Tackling Minds. Tackling Minds is a charity formed in 2020 that offers support to people from all walks of life who are suffering from a huge range of issues. In 2022 Tackling Minds teamed up with Angling Direct and Anglia Ruskin University to highlight the measurable benefits of angling for both mental and physical health conditions.
I think we can all relate to the massive increase in mental health issues over recent years. I chatted with several present about mental health and how angling provides a valuable link to the natural world that is good for the mind. Speak with young people today and it is frightening how many know of friends they have lost to suicide. This is I believe the largest cause of death for young men. A fact that is often reported in the national media.
Angling provides a vital connection to the natural world that is recognised as being extremely beneficial to mental health. There is of course also a social benefit from mixing with like-minded people who share the passion for angling.
I fear that mental health is going to be increasingly high on the agenda in future years. Elon Musk raised the possibility of AI removing the need to work and that this will result in people searching for meaning in life. As social media continues to polarise opinions and religion becomes less relevant to many mental health will become increasingly challenged.
Fishing and other pastimes will perhaps play a vital role in exercising our minds and ensuring a vital link with the natural world.
Each day of the annual charity and netting week see fund raising activities such as quiz nights and bingo nights. The week culminates in a fireworks bonanza. This year’s event raised an impressive £3000 + for tackling minds.
The complexes thirty odd lakes are now well established and offer rich and diverse habitat where wildlife abounds. Many of the visitors to Anglers Paradise have been visiting for years and as each generation grows they bring their families. Those who first fished as children now returning with children of their own to share the joys of angling.
We are absolutely delighted to share with you all that from last week’s fundraising events and events throughout the year that we have raised 3K for the inspirational Tackling Minds
The Events that helped us reach this total were –
Charity Wine – Anglers Paradise
Thumbnail painting – special thanks to Nicky Lock
Bingo – special thanks to Di and Andy Mepham
Fishing Match – special thanks to Sam Wahid and his boys
Pool and Darts matches – special thanks to Adam, Georgina and Harry Smith
Quizzes – special thanks to Paul Tegg
Tombola – special thanks to Kathryn and Ellis Williams
Treasure Hunt – Anglers Paradise
Raffle – special thanks to EVERYONE
The GUY – special thanks to Di, Di, Trace, Georgina, Adam, Harry and Dawn and to Sam Wahid for bidding for him!
Badges – special thanks to Di Mepham
Party Games – special thanks to Kathryn, Ellis, Mark and Dawn
Waxing of chests and backs – special thanks to the volunteers Toby Hayward and Devon’s Austin Powers aka Will Peyton and to Jaz Trent for getting the waxing strips
Chilli party night – special thanks to Georgina and Adam Smith
Fireworks- Step Pearson, Spen and Paul. Thank you for a fantastic display and finishing the week in style
A MASSIVETHANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HELPED AND DONATED TO GET US TO THIS AMOUNT!! THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU
We’re very excited to tell you that we have partnered with Catch to be our fishery management and booking partner.
From 16 November 2023 day tickets will only be available through Catch. Season tickets remain bookable through our website, but will be available through Catch from next year.
Catch are giving our season ticket holders a six-month free subscription so you can book day tickets via the app and enjoy the other benefits. If you already have a Catch account this will automatically be applied. If you don’t, Catch will be sending you an email shortly with details on how to access and begin your free subscription.
Download the Catch app from App Store or Google Play, create a free account and take advantage of all the great features straight away:
Interactive lake maps
Masses of information at your fingertips
Receive catch reports, news and events in real-time
Upload your own catch reports directly to our fishery pages
Book your next session days, weeks or even months in advance
Receive automatic reminders when your next session is due
… and much more!
These guys know what they are doing and have your (and our) best interests at heart. They’ve made the platform easy for everyone to use and we strongly believe that we’ve made the very best decision possible: by partnering with Catch we’ve brought our fishery administration bang up to date which will, in turn, benefit you as an angler.
We appreciate you may have questions so feel free to contact us directly or the Catch team at support@gocatch.fish for more information. There is also a live chat option on the Catch website.
Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Open competition generously sponsored by Quay Sports was won by Daniel Welch who landed three blonde ray scaling 8lb 11oz, 8lb 6oz and 7lb 9oz to take first, second and fourth place. Third was taken by myself with a grey mullet of 2lb 14oz. Competitors also caught conger, dogfish and rockling.
Special thanks to Quay Sports who have sponsored Combe Martin SACs Open Competition with an array of prizes to compliment the £100 Cash first prize from the club.
Runner up prize is a £60.00 Gift Voucher; with prizes for the top five fish caught. Best specimen; catch and release with photo required and scales to be available to check.
17 years ago Furzebray Carp Fishery near South Molton was created and Island lake stocked, The fishery has gone on to be the crown in the jewel of North Devon carp fishing. This week its has produced a superb carp of over fifty pounds.
Massive well done to Scott Pollard on smashing his PB and setting a new lake record with the mighty Dropscale at 50lb 10oz!
Michelle Werrett’s book ‘ Song of the Streams’ is set to become a classic of its genre painting an evocative portrait of Exmoor’s rivers and streams as they are today and comparing them with their glorious past. The prose flows throughout the book reflecting upon days with rod and line spent beside the bright waters that flow through Exmoor’s landscape. Pausing frequently to savour chocolate along the way and glimpse dippers, wagtails, kingfishers and other wildlife.
Joyful Spring and Summer days are described in enchanting detail making it perfect reading for those long winter nights beside the glowing embers of the fire. The book highlights the “ ‘Shifting Baseline Syndrome’, which basically means we have short memories. As the world around us changes we come to accept the new state of things, constantly updating our expectations of what is normal.”
Michelle draws upon the writings of earlier generations to highlight the abundance that we have lost from our rivers. The beauty that remains is recorded within the pages of this book as we wander and wade the streams, rivers and paths of fishers from a different age. The beautiful wild brown trout may not be so plentiful as in Claude Wade’s Exmoor Stream days but they still offer tranquil days and escape from the modern world.
The monochrome images taken by Robin Baker give the book a timeless essence that links to the past.
The sterling work of angling groups in conservation efforts is described giving a glimmer of hope for the future. On a personal note; I could connect closely with the book and the locations it describes so vividly having grown up to walk and fish the waters frequently over the past fifty years. I bought a first edition of Exmoor Streams at an auction in Dulverton over thirty years ago and conclude that ‘Song of the Streams’ is a worthy companion.
There are few books that bring a tear to the eye but as I finished reading ‘Song of the Streams’ I could not help but feel moved as the book could almost be an epitaph to the once prolific salmon that are now endangered and could be extinct within our lifetimes.
Wayne Thomas
Hours Spent in company with the river are always enriching and life affirming; relaxing in times of stress, reviving at times of staleness, cheering on days of sadness and always brightening as reflected sunlight sparkles from the shimmering surface. And like the best of companions, the river often makes me laugh and sometimes laughs at me”.
Memories of past glories effectively highlight the process of change and loss our land has suffered. Losses of some things – cuckoos and nightingales for example- are obvious to almost everyone but only fisherman notice the loss of the fish.
Vellacotts Pool on the East Lyn – Image Robin Baker
‘Song of the Streams’, Michelle Werrett’s first book, is in stock now! Priced at £26.
Michelle will also be signing copies at Lance Nicholson’s shop in Dulverton, on Saturday 18th November from 10am to 12.
The perfect Christmas gift to yourself, or any other angler in your life!
Reserve your copy now…
Introduction by Medlar Press
https://www.medlarpress.com
Fishing and Conservation on Exmoor Streams
Inspired by tales of the past gleaned from old fishing books, the author sets out to fish those same waters, to cast the same flies on the same pools, to explore how fishing the streams of Exmoor might compare with fishing them over a century ago, whether those streams have changed and how they might be faring today. Exmoor rivers and streams appear pristine, barely changed since Claude Wade described them in his 1903 book Exmoor Streams, yet the numbers of trout he and other long-ago writers reported catching seem unbelievable today. Those streams must once have held an astonishing abundance of fish.
Modern problems affect even upland streams, yet many good folk are dedicated to their restoration and there is much we can do to help. River conservation work can be fascinating and rewarding as we develop a deeper understanding of river habitats through, for example, managing a balance of light and shade, monitoring aquatic invertebrates and cleaning riverbed spawning gravels then watching for their use when migratory salmon return home from the sea.
Those nail-booted, greenheart wielding fishermen of the past have gone but the streams still run on their wild ways, singing their endless songs to the moor. This book is for all who share concern for the wellbeing and conservation of our rivers and streams as well as those entranced by the rise of a trout to a well-placed fly.
In the aftermath of Storm Ciaran conditions are promising for big fish feasting on the food dislodged by the large swells. In light of the pier being closed for boat removal the meet up will be on the harbour road leading to the Pier.
At long last I have some good news: the EA has given the go ahead for us to run the hatchery again this autumn/winter. The hatchery team have had to attend a health/safety course and we have had to purchase a hoist and harness in case of difficulties netting the broodstock in 18 inches of water!! A working party has tidied the hatchery site and cleaned the holding tanks. All being well we will be trapping the broodstock in early/mid-November. Once the eggs have been stripped and fertilised, 10,000 will be sent to the Colliford hatchery with the remainder being. looked after at our Monkokehampton hatchery.
Our Fishery Enforcement Officer
More good news: a new fishery officer for North Devon has now been appointed. Sam Fenner is very keen to support the Torridge in particular the hatchery project.
The Annual Egg Box Dinner
Over 40 members and guests enjoyed a convivial evening with good company and an excellent meal. We were delighted that our newly appointed Fishery Officer, Sam Fenner, was able to join us and meet several of our members.
The Annual Raffle
Thank you all for supporting the raffle so generously which made a net profit of £1,225.
The prize winners of the raffle:
£100 Orvis Voucher: Nigel Case
Voucher for 12 bottles of wine: a friend of Graham Henderson
£50 Half Moon Voucher: Trevor Glover
The Fishing Season
We cannot complain about a lack of water this year. After a dry hot June the remainder of the season was characterised by changeable weather with regular spells of heavy rain. The runs of both salmon and sea trout were again disappointing. Salmon and sea trout moved quickly upstream and most of the fish were caught on middle river beats. The lack of fishing effort (and I was as guilty as anyone) possibly meant that the rod catch did not truly reflect the number of fish in the river. Three salmon were caught in the last two days of the season, including an absolutely fresh fish of 7lb from Madeira. There was some good brown trout fishing in May and June. There is increasing evidence that the trout are feeding on the baby signal crayfish, which have now infested the whole catchment, resulting in several fish up to 3lb being caught.
