Dave King on his second trip to Simpsons Valley smashed his previous personal best pike of 12lbs to take a huge and new lake record pike of 24lb 8oz.
Float fished sprat did the trick for Dave in the shallows.
Litter a sad reflection!
I have just heard of a threat to a popular local fishing mark as a result of the idiotic behavior of a few anglers. This unfortunately is a very common problem that has lost anglers access to many marks across the country.
I took the above photograph earlier in the year whilst on holiday in Cornwall where we visited a picturesque viewpoint that overlooked the stunning River Fowey. There were no anglers present at the time except me, I was not fishing just admiring the view. A young couple scrambled past and I heard them remark about the disgusting stench. The smell of stale urine hung in the air and the detritus that lay around was a clear sign of the culprits. At that moment I felt ashamed to be an angler.
There is no excuse for leaving the places we fish in such a disgusting state, litter should be taken home. Ensure leftover bait is discarded with care, if its not going to be taken home then ensure it goes into the sea where it will be washed away and eaten. Never leave hooks and traces lying around, there have been numerous incidents with dogs becoming injured resulting in costly visits to the vet. The stench of urine is another blight on the anglers who should either use the public toilets or have a pee where the tide will wash clean.
Many of the places we fish are shared by sightseers who want to sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery that North Devon has to offer. What do you think there reaction is going to be when the place stinks of urine and the ancient cobbles are strewn with litter. If it was your property would you welcome anglers?
I know that some of you reading this will be guilty of the above and that my words will fall on stony ground. Angling is a wonderful pastime, pursued in stunning surroundings and I have often sung the praises of what anglers do for the environment and how they care about fish stocks. Those who leave behind their dirt tarnish us all. I have written this in the hope that it will make a few think about their actions. If it doesn’t then don’t grumble when we lose another easily accessible fishing mark. Don’t walk by if you see litter pick it up and bin it.
ONE BITE – ONE PIKE
Chay Boggis took a rest from sea angling and visited a local still-water where he landed a double figure pike scaling 11lb 8oz. The fish was tempted using half a mackerel bait and was the only run during the eight hour session. The venue produced a twenty pound plus specimen a few weeks ago. Pike waters are few and far between in North Devon and anglers are reminded to take great care of the fish that are surprisingly delicate creatures that do not tolerate poor handling. It is essential to carry a large landing net, unhooking mat, carry long nosed forceps and always use a wire trace and suitably strong tackle to ensure the fish do not break free to trail lost trace and line. There is nothing sporting in fishing light!
Bideford Club – Statement from club Chairman Pete Skinner
Hi Wayne.
Its Pete Skinner , Chairman of the Bideford and District Angling club. As you may know at our AGM on Tuesday 20th Dec. The decision was made to close our headquarters , due to unfavorable trading conditions, Can I just confirm that the Angling side of our great club is entirely unaffected. We will be continuing with our monthly sea comps, festivals and open comps still being run by Lee Watts. Our lakes at Tarks swims will be unaffected, hopefully the new lake may be opened later in 2017. Overseen by Steve Bailey. The coarse match group run by Martin Turner and the game section comps run by Terry Dymond. We are certain that our Angling sections will continue to grow and flourish. Thanks Pete.
The clubhouse was originally a church building that housed a junior school. When the school house closed in 1974 ,and moved the kids to St Marys in Chanters rd. BDAC bought the club house off the church commission in 1977 with the help of a loan from the National Federation of Sea Anglers. Cyril Petherick and Ronald Beer to traveled to London to arrange this marvelous asset to the club. The building is grade 2 listed, and over the past few years has been falling into a state of disrepair that we just cant keep up with.
My own thoughts :-
I have personally attended the club house on many occasions to attend weigh-ins and North Devon League AGM’s etc and always enjoyed looking around the room at the photo’s of the clubs past presidents including Cyril Petherick and Des Clements who I knew well and regarded as the elder statesmen of the local angling community. I hope the club flourishes in the future and finds a new location to meet at where the clubs social fabric can be retained. The clubhouse was for many years at the heart of the club but has I understand become more of a burden as modern economics and social behavior have changed.
SIMPSON VALLEY – Carp and Pike
Simpson’s Valley is a fishery nestled in a valley near Holsworthy and has several lakes catering for carp anglers and pike anglers. There are also Fly Fishing Lakes and LRF trout fishing options.
(Above) Gary Ireland landed this stunning big ghost common from Upper Fuzzy at a weight of 29lb 8oz.
A fine double figure pike caught by Andrew Braunton from Upper Fuzzy Lake.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Its been just over six months since I launched North Devon Angling News aiming to be the one stop for angling news in North Devon.
A special thanks to all who have supported the project by sending me news, taking out an advert or just taking a look. In the coming year I will continue to build the site and welcome any pictures, articles that will be of interest to anglers in North Devon. Since June the site has been viewed well over 20,000 times. Below are a few highlights from the year.
Blakewell Double
Autumn mullet – Dan Welch
John Shapland – Flounder brace
A-Luring weekend
2017 Lure Weekend
Friday 24th February to Sunday 26th 2017 is the Dates you need to remember as it’s our Annual LURE Weekend!
Location – Anglers Paradise, Halwill Junction, Devon EX21 5XT.
Prices Start From £110 Per Person which includes – Accomodation for 3 nights, Fishing + Entry into All Competitions!
It’s a Weekend you will not want to miss, they’ll be great Team Captains who you will gain knowledge to better your future fishing, exclusive Lakes to Fish and Great Prizes to be Won, if you’re a beginner, intermediate or experienced – it doesn’t matter – ALL ARE WELCOME!
They’ll be plenty of help and advice throughout the weekend, so it doesn’t matter if you are new to Lure Fishing.
Amongst others we have Drennan, Fox Rage and Quantum Specialist as Sponsors
We have Limited Spaces Left for this Fantastic Event, so if you are interested, please don’t delay!
JAMIE MILLERS – NORTH DEVON TACKLE
Jamie Miller is the owner of North Devon Tackle with extensive carp fishing experience and a great deal of knowledge gained during his employment in the bait manufacturing industry. Jamie is also an experienced coarse and sea angler and this is reflected in the shop where there is an extensive range of tackle and bait to cater for coarse, carp and sea angling. Jamie’s personal best carp is an impressive 47lb 4oz caught from a Sussex carp water. Jamie offers valuable advice and is a friendly and approachable individual,
The tackle shop located in Queens walk arcade just off the car park in Bear Street Barnstaple has an extensive range of bait and tackle from popular brands including Korda, Drennan, ESP, Guru, North Devon Company Lakebed Leads, Mainline Baits and Sticky Baits.The sea angler is also well catered for with Sakuma tackle and frozen baits from Devon Baits. They also stock fresh worm baits and maggots.
The shop has now been up and running for over 18 months and provides a valuable resource for North Devon anglers. With Christmas just a few days away Jamie pointed out that they have tackle vouchers available in denominations of £5, £10, £20 and £50. There is certainly plenty to tempt any angler within the shops extensive range.
Perch on the lure
Local perch fanatics John Deprieelle and Martin Cox enjoyed a days perch fishing from the boat at Upper Tamar last week. John sent in this report to South West Lakes Trust:
‘It was a pretty windy day with high gusts and I almost called off but as it was the first warm day after a sharp frost it had to be worth a go. The water temp was really low which can make things difficult (can you hear the excuses building up?) but after an hour or so the first fish of the day was in the net. The choice of lures was a lot smaller than I would normally use and we had to switch to drop shotting on a very slow retrieve to get bites as the fish were hugging the bottom and in really deep water. After searching out most of the lake we got a slow but steady rhythm and ended the day with a bag full of small fish, lots of nips and plucks and 2 really good fish up to 3lb 6oz. A lot of effort from dawn to dusk but well worth the reward for these stunning hard fighting perch’.
ILFRACOMBES HIGH STREET TACKLES IMPRESSIVE LURE STOCK
How time flies I thought when Danny Watson at Ilfracombe’s High Street Tackle told me that he and his partner Pauline Chard had been running the shop for three years. In that time they have built up an impressive range of stock covering all disciplines of angling. Danny has a particular passion for lures which is reflected in the range of lures carried in the shop with top brands represented including Fiiish Black minnow, Delande, IMO, HTO and several GT Ice cream surface lures. I was discussing lure fishing in depth with Danny and the application of lures outside of the traditionally accepted season. Strangely this was highlighted when I received reports of a good catch of bass from a North Devon mark using lures.
In addition to lures the shop also has an impressive selection of rods and reels by top brands including Penn and Tronix. Looking along the rod racks it is amazing what is available these days at a very modest cost with plenty of rods retailing for less than £50.
They also have a good stock of frozen bait including AMMO. Next Summer High Street Tackle are proud to be supporting Combe Martin Sea Angling Clubs Fun Fishing Event in conjunction with the SEA-ILFRACOMBE FESTIVAL.
In the run up to Christmas High Street Tackle certainly has plenty to offer with a wealth of stocking fillers to please any angler.