Day Ticket Catfish at Anglers Paradise

One of angling greatest joys is introducing your children to the joys of angling. Damion Babb took his daughter Imogen to Anglers Paradise Day ticket Eldorado catfish lake where she caught a fine cat of 20lb 12oz. “Wow my girl with her cat that she wanted 20lb 12oz & she had a right old fight with it so proud of her”.

The fish won Imogen the complexes Fish off the Month Competition!

Bruce Elston and John Hughes enjoyed success with the catfish at Anglers Paradise’s day ticket Eldorado Catfish Lake.

Anglers Paradise

OAKTREE CATFISH – Caught

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Oaktree Fishery has to my knowledge just the one catfish that gets caught from time to time growing ever larger each time well done to the latest captor ;-
Chris Blythe  caught the Oaktree Wells Catfish  at just over 57lb on a Pop-up Pinky
Fishing on Peg 1 during a 24hr session

The Oaktree catfish was first caught back in the late 90’s and I received this fascinating account of this first capture from Andy Sanders.

 I’ve just been reading the article about the oak tree catfish and found this photo for u. I was the first person to catch the catfish way back in the late 90s at a weight of 17lb. I was fishing with friends and had a drop back at 6.30 in the morning. I was yelling to my friends that I’d caught the catfish but neither belived me and would not come out their bivvies. I caught it on a cranberry boilie. Hope this is of interest. Andy.

Specimen Roach from Darracott

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Whilst many anglers focus on carp there are many other fine specimens lurking within local waters. Several South West Trust reservoirs have hidden secrets with 2lb roach reported from Upper Tamar, Lower Tamar and Lower Slade in recent seasons. Darracott is the latest venue to yield a specimen roach  with Terry Ramsden tempting a fine 2lb specimen roach. Perch to over 4lb, bream into double figures and eels of over 7lb reside in several waters its just a case of unlocking the potential.

Terry Ramsden with a 2lb roach from Darracot Reservoir caught using feeder tactics he also had a 16lb carp and five good bream.

Catfish From Paradise

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 Matt Stanbury and Kate Hudson had a cracking week at Anglers Paradise. Matt caught a personal best 64lb 8oz Catfish and a stunning fully scaled Mirror from the Main Carp Lake, and Kate caught a new personal best 32lb 8oz Catfish from the Easy access Lake.
They also had a night to remember on the Easy Access as in 24hrs they landed 6 Catfish and lost one. The Cats went 23lbs, 26lbs, 27lbs, 28lbs, 32lbs, and 36lbs. Their arms were aching after all that hauling!!
Most of the fish were caught on DNA baits SLK boilies in 26mm with a bit of pepperami.
Matt shared –
“Thank you once again for a wonderful week. You and the family always make us feel welcome.”

First Time Cats

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Brian and Nicki Krakow joined Anglers Paradise for the first time last week and both caught personal best Carp and Cats! Brian caught his 1st ever Catfish at 20lb 5oz from the Octopussy and then went onto catching another personal best at 39lbs!! Nicki also caught her 1st ever Cat from the Octopussy!
Anglers Paradise

Catfish on the feed at Anglers Paradise

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THE CATFISH ARE ON THE FEED!
Here we have Adam Whitehouse with just one of the many Cats he and Stacey Mulqueen caught between them from the Main Carp Lake, this one weighing in at 64lbs!
WELL DONE ADAM!
Make sure you TUNE into TALKSPORT2 and listen to Fisherman’s Blues with Nigel Botherway on Sunday 5th July at 7.30am as he will be joined by Stacey Mulqueen to talk about her massive 94lb Wels Catfish and becoming the New Record Holder!

Anglers Paradise

THE NEW ANGLERS PARADISE COMPLEX CAT RECORD

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THE NEW ANGLERS PARADISE COMPLEX CAT RECORD HAS BEEN CAUGHT!!!

Massive Congratulations to Stacey Mulqueen who has caught a massive 94lb Wels Catfish from the Main Carp Lake making her the new ‘Catfish Complex Record Holder’!!

(Below) Zenia Gregorek has also been getting in on the catfish action banking a fine fish of 35lb that is a personal best from the  Eldorado Day Ticket cat lake. As always Zenia shared the joyful experience with her young family.

Anglers Paradise

Hot weather sport in Paradise

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Matt Thomas decided that the hot weather would be good for catching catfish and headed for the West Country top cat venue to try is luck. He struck lucky on his first foray after the species banking a beauty of 33lb 6oz.

Matt commented :-

“Have well and truly got the bug now! Such an amazing fight with these powerful fish! As always, had an amazing time away from reality with my hot little side-kick! We even managed to stalk a few carp off the surface and Beth got her first one!! Good times..already can’t wait to return!”

Anglers Paradise

 

 

 

Unlocking the mystery of the eel

Unlocking the mystery of the eel

Wistlandpound Reservoir was created in an enduring feat of engineering by building a clay core dam  across Bratton Stream during the late 1950’s. It supplies water to a large area of North Devon and has become a popular area for walkers and is used by the Calvert Trust to provide adventure holidays for disabled adults and children. The lake is managed by The South West Lakes Trust who also control angling at the venue which has a long history as a trout fishery.

My good friend Steve Dawe is a keen eel angler and member of the National Anguilla Club and we got talking about waters that contain eels and in particular large eels. I recalled how twenty or more years ago eels had become trapped in the inlet of the local water works and that these eels were of a good size.

Wistlandpound had never to our knowledge been fished for eels and it is a well-known fact amongst eel anglers that venues that have not been fished and have limited access for eels can hold the eels of dreams. The European eel has been known to live to over 100 years so it is possible that any eels trapped within Wistlandpound when the dam was constructed could still be present.

Steve and I spoke with Ben Smeeth who is head of angling at SWLT and after due consideration Ben agreed to an exploratory session to investigate the lakes eel potential.

Steves credentials as an eel angler are well documented so it was a welcome opportunity for me to join Steve and learn more about how to catch specimen eels. Whilst I have caught many eels over the years I have never caught a specimen of over 3lb and this target is now firmly in my sights.

Eventually in mid-June I met up with Steve and struggled to the banks of a depleted Wistlandpound with an array of tackle, bivvies’ and provisions. The weather forecast was a little ominous with a weather warning in place for thunderstorms and possible flash floods! This did little to dent our enthusiasm as eels are reported to become  more active during thunderstorms.

With the reservoir at around 60% capacity we had a good choice of accessible bank and selected a swim that gave access to deep water.

Steve gave me useful advice on the rigs to use and how to mount the small dead-baits to give a good chance of hooking an eel. Fortunately, we arrived before the rain and managed to get set up before it arrived in spectacular fashion accompanied by a very long resounding  rumble of thunder.

The rain beat down on our shelters and I looked out the rods hoping that a run would not come at this time. After a couple of hour’s, the rain eventually eased and we brewed a hot drink and began chatting about fish and fishing.

Suddenly Steve’s alarm burst into life and he was at his rod in expectation. To our disappointment he failed to connect and reeled in to find that his bait was gone.

We didn’t have long to wait though for within minutes my alarm sounded and I hoked into the culprit. It was no eel but a stunning wild brown trout of around 1lb 8oz.

Within half an hour Steve was in action again and connected this time to bring to the net a stunning wild brown trout that must have been over 3lb. I wondered just how big these wild browns grow to within the lake. I suspect there are a few surprises as there is now an abundance of silvery rudd residing in the lake perfect prey the lakes wild browns to grow to a large size.

Recent seasons have unfortunately been blighted by an abundance of thick green algae making fly Fishing difficult at times. Whilst trout are no longer stocked into the reservoir there is a good head of wild brown trout present and I am sure that Fly Fishing during the autumn could produce the goods as these large browns feed on the lakes abundant fry.

As the evening descended Steve and I talked extensively about our fishing lives and the many places  that we have visited and plan to perhaps visit in the future.

As we chatted we frequently cast our eyes upon the rods perched beside the lake their tips pointing into the green water. As the light faded expectation grew as this was surely the eels meal time?

After last hot drinks we both retired to our shelters to catch some sleep. Occasionally an alarm would give a single bleep and I would tense in anticipation. On one occasion I looked out to see a shadow flit away from the rods, an inquisitive fox I believe.

Just before light some type of bird gave a repeated cry that echoed around the lake in a strange almost stereo like mode. I spoke to Steve later who thought it could have been a type of hawk. Thinking back, I should have recorded it on my phone.

I snoozed intermittently as a grey and misty day dawned. I took a look at the weather forecast that told of heavy rain from 8.00am. The rods remained poised at the waters edge but by now our expectations of catching the mysterious eel had faded. After a rushed brew and breakfast we packed away our gear to escape before the rain. The question remains unanswered for now. The problem is that life is short and big eels can take time to find.

Fortunately there are plenty of other SWLT waters that have proven big eel potential. Upper Tamar lake, Lower Tamar, Melbury and Jennets all hold eels of over 4lb with far bigger eels likely to be lurking in the mysterious depths.