Stafford Moor is on top form for carp fishing and match fishing with plenty of twenties from the specimen lakes and numerous 100lb plus bags in matchs.
(Below) James Richard Russel had a new personal best mirror carp of 29lb 4oz from swim 4 (the gap) up on lodge lake using special Occasions bait.
(Below) Thanks from Jo — Hi All would just like to say a HUGE thank you again to Neilsen Jeffery who held his charity match here in June in which the money’s we all raised were shared with RNLI and we now have a difribulator here at Stafford Moor ! So happy days well not if we have to use it of course! but fab just to have on site in case we ever do just to give so many peace of mind the difribulator is located at our house on site and the emergency contact number will be shown around the site, also a huge thank you to Trevor Vernalls who trained us all free of charge plus gave us some more important guidance on CPR
(Below) James Short who had these 2 out including this stunning mirror at 26lb from the summer hut swim on Beatties lake, James was fishing with Nash Key Cray boilies and matching hook Baits & pellets.
(Below) Gareth Simpson who was fishing here with friend Kev, they had 20 fish out between them on the summerhouse swim on Beatties lake using DNA Baits S7.
Jeremy Wade attended the Plough Arts Centre and delivered a fascinating talk about his fishing exploits around the world and the filming of River Monsters, Mighty Rivers, his latest documentary programme Dark Waters and his new book “How to Think Like a Fish”
He enlightened and inspired the captivated audience explaining the structure of the programmes and how the audience are drawn into the mystery and environment of the natural world. The River Monsters series was to a large extent built around a plot of a murder mystery with Jeremy acting as the detective in search of the perpetrator.
He outlined the importance of big predatory fish as apex predators that live at the top of the food chain. The presence of these fish is an indicator of the general health of the underwater environment. In many areas these apex predators are decreasing in numbers a fact that raises deep concern for the future.
His knowledge as a fishery biologist certainly shone through with his deep knowledge of fish behaviour.
Observation to detail is certainly a major factor in being a successful angler and television presenter. He conceded that planning is essential in making successful angling film shows but often proves totally useless on the day as plans unravel due to the un-expected.
He discussed the wider value of angling in society and the invaluable work of the Angling Trust in working for conservation.
Jeremy followed the talk answering a range of questions from the audience with an in depth and considered response that demonstrated a deep understanding of his subject.
The event was hosted by Angling Heritage and River Reads both of which are based in Torrington.
Keith Armishaw of River Reads and Angling Heritage introduces Jeremy Wade
(Below) Jeremy signed copies of his new book for the sixty or so attendees.
After an interval for lunch there was a screening of an episode of Dark-waters that is presently being aired on Sky TV’s Animal Planet.
Jeremy gives the look that says ” wonder who that annoying man is with the camera” !
After several years of hard work my book I Caught a Glimpse is available to pre-order from the Little Egret Press. Details of book launch to follow. To place an order please press link below :-
https://thelittleegretpress.co.uk/pre-orders/
Wayne Thomas has been privileged to enjoy over forty years fishing North Devon’s varied waters enjoying both success and failure. The places and the many people he has met along the way have greatly enriched his journey. In this book he tells stories of North Devon angling along with recollections from others; some from an earlier generation who enjoyed fishing in those good old days.
He has no favourite species of fish and this book reflects this with every discipline of angling represented. From the small crimson spotted trout of tumbling streams and the story of a five pound perch to the huge shark that roam the Atlantic Ocean. AVAILABLE IN THE FOLLOWING EDITIONS
Limited Edition of only 300 copies
Special Edition Hardback of only 30 copies
Quarter Leather Edition of only 10 copies
Luxury Leather Edition of only 5 copies
(Below)Paul Blake banked this 21lb 13oz mirror from Stafford Moor’s Lodge Lake.
(Below) Wayne Grinney & son Jack who fished on the summer hut swim on Beatties lake and had 11 fish out up to 29lb 8oz caught on Sticky Baits Krill boilies & house pellet caught out in the open water and a couple in the margins.
This weeks Angling Times has a excellent feature on Stafford Moor’s Lodge Lake well worth checking this out and keeping for reference.
(Above) Russell Bromley and dad who fished on swim 1 up on lodge lake and had 12 fish out between them up to 26lb 5oz all caught on C C Moore live system boilies most fish were caught in the open water.
(Above) Harry Burston & Aaron Merry who had 19 fish out between them in 24 hours on the inlet swim on Beatties lake up to 25lb. All fish were caught on Sticky Baits Krill boilies.
(Above) Stephan Knight who had 3 fish out up to 24lb 2oz from the summer hut swim on Beatties lake yesterday. All caught on Sticky Baits Krill and Sticky Baits pellets with Sticky Baits Salmon oil.
Aaron Bunning has had a cracking session on Upper Tamar lake near Bude. Aaron caught 7 carp in a 24 hour session with the best being a common of 28lb 8oz. Aaron also had a 21.14 Mirror and 3 other fish over 17lbs along with two at 14lbs. All fish fell to 20mm Scopex Squid cultured boilie hookbaits over a bed of 18mm freebies.
George Holder caught his first ever twenty at Anglers Paradise – a stunning 25lb 15oz Mirror from the Main Carp Lake which also won him our Fish of the week competition. George’s shared – “We got up early in the morning to fish the Main lake which was my first session at Anglers Paradise. There were a variety of swims available so I chose a swim where I saw fish feeding. I targeted an island which had many features so I knew fish would be around there. At around 3pm my rod screamed off and I was into a fish. I had to be careful as there were snags all around the 5C’s island. Although when I was about to net the fish he dived for the reeds and the fight was on!
Finally I netted the fish and what a stunner it was. Tipping the scales at 25.15 blew me away as this was my first Anglers Paradise fish and to catch one of this size was unreal. I caught the fish on a mainline high leakage pineapple wafter fished on a hair rig KD style. Thank you so much to Anglers Paradise for the great fishing and help in the tackle shop, I’ll be back soon!”
(Above) Dave Smith had a session on our day ticket Xanadu Lake and caught the beautiful Xanna at 28lbs which is less than she normally is after spawning in May.
Dave has only been Carp fishing for 6 months so as you can imagine, he was absolutely over the moon to catch Xanna!! Dave caught the beauty on a Manilla bait with a white pop up snowman style.
Luke Cornforth, 19 had a nice surprise when he landed this beaut of a Common Carp at 25lbs from the Specimen Carp Lake. Luke shared –
‘Before arriving at Anglers paradise last Saturday my cousin Kieran and I had the idea of fishing the Specimen Carp Lake later in the week. We walked around the lake in the evenings and found a few carp holding up in the pads and the potamogeton and on Wednesday evening we set about baiting a few spots for the following morning.
We were at the lake at first light on Thursday morning and fortunately there were a few signs of carp on our spots, a few hours after getting the rods out Kieran lost one under the rod tip in the potamogeton. Although this was frustrating, especially with a relatively low stock of fish, it gave us hope that the location was right and pre baiting the night before might have put the odds in our favour. The day was quiet but with more and more fish frequenting the dense weed growth to my right we felt confident going into the evening.
My chosen tactics were solid bags filled with a few 2mm pellets and gs crab boilie crumb from Oxford carp baits with a trimmed down gs crab wafter on a simple rig with a size 4 hook and a few handfuls of whole, chopped and crumbed boilies over the top.
Just as the temperature began to drop at around 6:30 in the evening my right hand rod closest to the pads pulled up tight and after a short fight through the dense potamogeton a stunning common of 25lb rolled over the net cord. A lovely fish and the highlight of my week !’
Many thank’s to Ben Smeeth head of Angling at South West Lakes Trust for sending this report on the latest Mainline Baits Carp Pairs Open.
The second Mainline Baits carp open pairs at Upper Tamar took place from 5-7 July. 33 pairs saw the competition at full capacity and the anticipation at the draw was fantastic! Anglers chose their swims, collected a mainline goody bag and were transported to their pegs. Fishing began at 4pm on the Friday and ended after 45 hours at 1pm on the Sunday.
What was great about the weekend was the competition was very close and every pair were in with a shout of being in the prize money right up until the final hour or so!
Nigel Woods and Rich Ford scooped the top prize of £2000 with 4 fish for 63lbs from peg 31 on the Cornwall Bank. There catch included a cracking mirror of 24lb 7oz.
There was a terrific tussle for second with the O’Connors Barry and Benn fighting it out with Dave Bellew and Steve Lovell. Both pairs caught three fish and only 5 ounces separated them at the finish with Barry and Benn coming out on top to win the £1000 second prize. Dave and Steve settling for the £500 third spot.
Largest fish winning 2kg of Mainline spod and PVA mix was youngster Tristan Cooper who had a cracking 19lb 10oz mirror. Smallest fish, winning 2kg of Mainline spod and PVA mix was Rob Jewell with a common of 8lb 6oz.
Section winners winning 5kg of Mainline freezer baits boilies were:
Toby Green and Danny Moore
Lee Watts and Dean Compton
Peter Higman and Ricky Lawrence
Scott and Tristan Cooper.
Massive thankyou to Mainline Baits for their sponsorship.
The next Mainline pairs competition is 4-6 October and bookings can be made on 01566 771930.
