Some news that many of you have been waiting for! The Trout Lake is back OPEN and it’s also in a new location! You still go to the same car park, but you follow the path to the left and there it is, all ready and waiting for you to catch the beautiful Trout that reside in there!
Adrian Kruger was the first to christen the new Trout Lake and he had a cracking day! 3 double Rainbows and two stunning Brownies.
I joined members of Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club at Bulldog Trout Fishery last Sunday where we were greeted by a bright cloudless blue sky and milder conditions. The trout proved to be generally cooperative with all members catching fish with a mixture of rainbow and brown trout averaging over 3lb. Most fish were tempted using lures fished on long leaders with an erratic retrieve.
Nigel Bird with one of the trout that earned him top spot.
The winning bag was taken by Nigel Bird who had three trout for 10lb. Runner up was Andre Muxworthy with three for 9lb 9oz and myself third with three for 9lb 8oz.
It is intriguing how days unfold during these club competitions on small stillwater’s. Members will all have their favourite flies and lures that give them confidence and it is generally these that are tried first. Typically those first ten to fifteen minutes of fishing produce numerous trout as was the case during Sundays competition. I was fortunate to bank three hard fighting trout within the first twenty minutes and spent the rest of the morning wandering around the fishery with my camera capturing action shots of fellow club members.
I noted that fishing slowed after the initial flurry and for a while trout proved hard to tempt. After a while some tied on different patterns or moved to a fresh swim. This did sometimes bring results but what was noticeable was that if one angler hooked a fish it was not unusual to see several rods bending at the same time around the fishery as if the fish had suddenly switched on.
It is always interesting to compare notes at the end of the days fishing and I often note how an angler will state that a change of fly has triggered a response with perhaps a touch of orange or pink bringing success. A particular fly often seems to be the one to use! Yet it is often the case at the end of fishing as anglers chat that trout have been caught on a wide range of patterns. One angler swearing that white was the killer fly whilst others boast of success with black or orange.
There are many factors involved in the inexact science of fly fishing. Presentation of the fly, its size and colour, depth it is fished all interacting with water clarity, temperature, air pressure, lunar cycles, natural food sources and of course the location of the fish. All these factors make for a fascinating game that takes the mind away from the troubled world. The angler absorbed in natures complex chess board pondering upon tying on a Greenwell’s glory or a Wickham’s fancy.
Tip of the day – Check your flies and hooks. Several trout were lost during the day as hook shanks snapped. Hook shanks hidden beneath dressings can rust resulting in weakness that only show itself when a large powerful trout puts it to the test.
Seconds after this shot was taken Nigel cursed as his hook broke.
One of the highlights of the next few months will be our screening of Jack Perks’ wonderful film – Britain’s Hidden Fish on March 5th. Starting at 7pm in the Tamar Room, the 1 hr long film will be followed by a talk by Jack Perks. Tickets cost just £8 and are available through our Reception Team.
This beautiful documentary explores the underwater world of the UK, from our chalk streams to the open sea. Narrated by Jeremy Wade (River Monsters) this film was shot over the course of two years to bring stories, behaviours and footage never seen before of British fish.
Prior to the screening, the Arundell fishing team will be hosting a complimentary gathering with tea, coffee and nibbles in the morning from 10am followed by a wander down to our most productive Grayling beats, where our seasoned guides will demonstrate and teach our approach to catch Grayling on the fly. Afterwards, anglers will have an opportunity to fish the beats for the prestigious lady of the stream before heading back to the Hotel for the screening. Please let either our Fishing or Reception Teams know if you would like to attend.
Jon Patten and Reef Patten have recently returned from representing England in the World Championship Big Game Trolling in Mexico 2024. The dark grey skys of North Devon were undoubtedly a stark contrast to the tropical heat of Mexico. Reef and Indy were all smiles when I met them at Bulldog Trout Fishery on Christmas Eve enjoying a short session tussling with the venues hard fighting rainbow trout.
(Above) – Jon Patten fishing for Bulldogs hard fighting trout.
Many thanks to all who have supported North Devon & Exmoor Angling News throughout 2024. Below are few random images looking back on each month of 2024. If you would like to sponsor North Devon & Exmoor Angling News please get in touch.
Above) Joe Keating, Dave Chapman, Nick Tamlin, David Richards, Colin Combe, Tom Rushby, Tony Buckland, Bill Pink, Roy Pink, Andrew Facey, Steve Burnell, Brian Sedgebeer
Bulldog Trout Fishery held their first Christmas Competition with twelve keen anglers competing for the top prize of a Christmas Turkey and all the trimmings. I arrived shortly after 8:30am to find competitors tackling up in the fishery car park full of optimism for the day ahead.
Nigel and Tom assured all taking part that the lake had been well stocked and talked of a few special fish with a twinkle in their eye and shared their hopes for a grand days sport.
The fishing lodge was well stocked with coffees and teas to last the day with boiling water on tap. The competitors were briefed on the rules as bacon rolls were handed out and eagerly devoured.
The atmosphere was certainly full of Christmas cheer with a few warm spirits to warm the inner soul before heading out onto the lake.
The lake had been pegged out with twelve pegs with the peg number written on the bottom of the coffee cups which was an ingenious way of sorting the draw. The plan for all anglers to rotate around the lake with an air horn sounding every twenty minutes ensuring that all got a chance to fish each peg throughout the day.
Cast off was at 9:30am and the anticipation was tangible as anglers paced towards their pegs. It was a grey overcast morning with light drizzle driven by a light south west breeze. Pretty perfect conditions for fishing I thought as I watched on enjoying the opportunity to observe without taking part.
Most anglers elected to start the day with lure fishing tactics with black and white being the predominant colours along with the popular olive blue flash damsels.
I walked out onto the lakes central spit and stood beside Joe Keating who connected with the first trout of the day on his first cast just 15 seconds after the horn had signalled the start. a hard fighting rainbow of over 3lb.
(Above) Joe Keating with the first fish of the day
I looked around the misty lake and noted that most had well bent rods as the lakes residents seized the anglers offerings. I dashed around keen to capture some of the action and share in the fun.
Andrew Facey with a fine tiger
I noted that the angler fishing in the corner was locked in battle with a larger than average fish and walked around to witness the tussle. Brian Sedgebeer was carefully parrying the lunges of a good fish and I shared in the tension as the fish was slowly coaxed towards the waiting net. I sensed that Brian breathed a big sigh of relief when the trout, with its broad marbled flanks eventually slipped over the rim of the submerged landing net. A large fin perfect spartic trout that was undoubtedly one of those special trout stocked prior to the competition.
(Above) Brian Sedgebeer with an 8lb 4oz spartic the biggest trout of the day
The action was frantic in that first half an hour with good numbers of trout succumbing to the early bombardment of large lures. Cats whiskers and black lures proving most effective.
It was no surprise to those of us who had fished small Stillwater competitions when the catch rate plummeted as the fish appeared to wise up quickly.
Nigel and Tom appeared mid-morning with a tray of hot mince pies and clotted cream.
I did several laps of the lake chatting with anglers some of them long-time friends and others total strangers who all chatted freely about all things piscatorial as anglers do. From time to time a line zipped tight and a rod bent as a hard fighting trout tested the anglers tackle and skill. I did my best to capture the moments of triumph and each anglers success.
Dave Chapman had certainly tuned into the successful tactics for the day being the first to complete his six fish limit bag just before dinner with the help of his young son Freddie wielding the landing net with a degree of skill and dexterity that would put many senior anglers to shame.
(Above) Dave Chapman and young Freddie
The warm fishing lodge and roaring wood-burner proved a welcome respite from the grey cool heavy drizzle of this winter day. Dinner was served; roast pork baps, apple sauce, stuffing, roast potatoes and crackling. The air was full of cheery laughter, tales of fishing, reminisces and those things that fishers and men talk about on such days.
With appetites satisfied the rivalry reconvened as anglers resumed their circuit of the lake. There was general expectation that there would be a flurry of sport after resting the lake over the dinner break. To my surprise this was not the case and for half an hour or so the trout proved difficult to tempt.
As the afternoon drifted by there were flurries of activity and trout began to rise around the lake from time to time. A wide variety of flies lures and tactics were employed with floating lines, intermediate lines and sinking lines all put to good use.
(Above) Andrew Faceys well stocked fly box
The last hour of the day saw Colin Combe complete the second six fish limit of the day, a bag that contained a brace of really chucky rainbows that would undoubtedly give him a good chance of victory.
(Above) Colin Combe with a fine brown trout
( Above) Colin Combe with a 4lb 14oz spartic
(Above) Roy Pink with fine a brown trout
There was a flurry of activity as the light faded towards the close of play and when the horn sounded to signal the competitions end there were at least three anglers in contention.
The weigh in revealed some superb bags of quality trout with the top three taking away some superb prizes consisting of food and fishing.
(Above) Colin Combe with his 24lb winning bag
The winning bag of six trout was caught by Colin Combe and weighed a total of 24lb and included a fine spartic of 4lb 14oz along with rainbow trout of 5lb 7oz and 5lb 6oz. Runner up was Dave Chapman with six trout for 19lb 1.5oz and Joe Keating third with five trout for 18lb 10.25oz. The biggest trout of the day was caught by Brian Sedgebeer a stunning Spartic trout of 8lb 4oz.
Winter is often the best time to visit these smaller Stillwaters with the trout in peak condition in the cold clear well oxygenated water. Nigel and Tom will be hosting regular events over the coming months and are being supported by the Angling Trust as a venue to host Go Fishing and well-being events.
It’s December so it seems Ok to start talking Christmas. We are very fortunate in North Devon to have fishing tackle shops in all of our major towns and as local anglers we really need to support them. With Christmas just a couple of weeks away now is the time to buy that fishy present. It might be that you have to pay a little more as compared to the internet but there is no postage, a good after sales service, you get to see what you’re buying and you ensure that you have somewhere to buy fresh bait. Not to mention the vital social benefits of meeting fellow anglers whilst browsing those lines of tempting produce.
BARNSTAPLE
Barnstaple Bait and Tackle offers an excellent range of tackle for all disciplines and is convenienly located in Queen Street, close to the central Car Park and Bus Station. The shop is owned by Chris Connaughton a well known and respected local angler.
ILFRACOMBE
Danny Watson (Above right ) is a lure fishing fanatic a fact that is reflected when-ever you walk into his tackle shop in Ilfracombe High Street. Thousands of lures to tempt every angler and every fish. Danny supplies local charter boats with lures and tackle and has an extensive knowledge on how lures work and their design features. In addition to the vast array of lures the shop also carries an extensive range of sea tackle and coarse fishing essentials.
BIDEFORD
Anglers Heaven is owned by Tom Wade and has recently undergone a significant extension with a large retail area offering fishing tackle for all disciplines. Tom also stocks a range of shooting and country sports equipment.
BRAUNTON
The Braunton Bait Box is run by keen local angler Craig McCloughlin and offers a good range of sea angling tackle and quaility bait. The shop also has a range of coarse fishing tackle and is a stockist for Chillcheater clothing of Braunton.
Reed – Chillcheater is a North Devon Based company located in Braunton that offers a wide range of high quality outdoor clothing that has gained a reputation amongst local anglers for keeping them warm and dry in the worst of conditions.
EXMOOR
Lance Nicholson’s shop is located in the lively Exmoor town of Dulverton and offers a wide range of game fishing tackle and country clothing. It is also an excellent source on information on where to fish and what is happening across the Upper Exe and Barle catchments.
CORNWALL
The Arundell is a traditional country hotel on the Cornish Border that offers excellent river fishing throughout the year. The hotel has a tackle shop that stocks an excellent range of top end tackle from Orvis. This is undoubtedly the top venue for West Country winter grayling.
President: I am delighted to report that the late Lord Clinton’s son, who is now the current Lord Clinton, has agreed to be the President of our Association. This will continue our long standing relationship with the Clinton family and the Clinton Devon Estate. Our Chairman Paul and his wife Geraldine, Steve Phelps and myself attended the memorial service in July for the late Lord Clinton, who instigated the creation of our Association in 1979 and was our President for over 40 years.
The Salmon Hatchery: Great news: this week we have been able to trap our broodstock from the fish pass. After several weeks without any appreciable rain the rivers were almost down to summer level: then came the snow. Our first attempt at trapping coincided with the arrival of Storm Bert and we were in danger of being washed away. Three days later after the Okement had fallen back and cleared we tried again and in two sessions we netted 13 salmon from the holding tank: 8 hens and 5 cock fish. Three of the hens have been released leaving us with 5 hens and 5 cocks (the maximum number we are allowed to hold). All the hens are approx 9lb except one superb fish of at least 15lb. The cock fish are slightly smaller. We are confident that some if not all the hens will be ready for stripping in the next few days. Extra trays have been installed so that the eggs can be more spread out. Last year some of the eggs had to be taken to the Colliford hatchery in Cornwall but this year we will be keeping all the eggs at our own hatchery.
The Annual Egg Box Dinner and Raffle: over 40 members and guests enjoyed another wonderful evening at The Half Moon with good company and an excellent meal. We were delighted that our fishery protection officer, Sam Fenner, was able to join us. Our annual raffle to raise funds to support the salmon hatchery project was as usual extremely well supported. All the prizes were donated and the net profit was in excess of £1,300
Membership: we have recruited several new members during the year. If you know of anybody who fishes or has an interest in the well-being of the river please encourage them to join our Association. Our strength is in numbers.
The Fishing Season: for the salmon and sea trout anglers it was another frustrating season. After a very wet spring it was a cool cloudy summer with never enough rain to maintain the river at a good level for fishing. With numbers declining there is less incentive for us all to make the effort and go out and fish. Several salmon were caught in the last week of the season. In contrast the brown trout fishing has at times been quite outstanding. The trout don’t rise so freely as they used to so the fishing is more challenging but those who persevere are often rewarded with excellent catches including several fish in excess of 2lb coming to the net.
The 2025 AGM: the Association agm will be held at The Half Moon Inn on Friday 21st March 2025. Make a note in your diary, come to the meeting and get fired up for another season. We are all optimists and no doubt 2025 will be a bumper year!!
A fun and informative family day out with activities such as fly tying and casting demonstrations, trade stands, expert advice from trout, sea and coarse fly fishers and food and drink available from Roadford Lake Café (don’t forget season permit holders get a 10% discount in the café too)!
Tickets are available now, so book online to benefit from;
£7 advanced ticket price (tickets will be £10 on the door, free entry for under 18s)
Free parking
Exclusive 10% discount on next year’s trout season permits, available to Fly Fair attendees only
Adrian Kruger was the first to christen the new Trout Lake and he had a cracking day! 3 double Rainbows and two stunning Brownies.
I joined members of Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club at Bulldog Trout Fishery last Sunday where we were greeted by a bright cloudless blue sky and milder conditions. The trout proved to be generally cooperative with all members catching fish with a mixture of rainbow and brown trout averaging over 3lb. Most fish were tempted using lures fished on long leaders with an erratic retrieve.
