After what seems like a long journey my book ” I Caught A Glimpse” has finally been published and I am delighted with the end result. The launch day at Blakewell Fishery proved to be an enjoyable event with a good number of local anglers attending to meet with publisher Wayne Cryer from the Little Egret Press and myself. The lush water gardens, pools of swirling trout and tea rooms bathed in bright sunshine proved the perfect setting. There was a steady stream of anglers arriving throughout the event and it was pleasing to see generations of North Devon Anglers mingling and reminiscing with several old friends reunited.
The book will be judged by its readers so I await feed back confident that I have produced a worthwhile tome. There is of course far more that I could have written about and this becomes increasingly obvious as I talk further with the anglers of North Devon.
A big thank you to all of those who attended the book launch from both Wayne Cryer and I.
On a hectic day Pauline and I then attended the Annual River Torridge Dinner at the Half Moon Inn. After a wonderful meal with members of the Association I was pleased to sign a few more copies of “I Caught A Glimpse”. Special thanks must go to Charles Inniss who wrote a foreword to the book and promoted the book enthusiastically to the Torridge Fishery members.
I must of course give a very big thanks to all who assisted me in writing the book for it was by no means a solo effort and those who helped are acknowledged within the book. Though I have to say I have undoubtedly missed a few.
Dan Cornwall caught a personal best 25lb 4oz Mirror and 24lb Common from the Specimen Carp Lake and won our JRC Fish Of The Week competition. Dan’s story –
“Having waited all year for my holiday at Anglers Paradise, the time had finally arrived! I had booked Julian Chidgey to help me during my trip, and we started on the Koi Lake. We patiently fed the swim, and I was over the moon when my first cast resulted in an 8lb 4oz Koi. I was keen to try for a big carp and Julian suggested the Main Carp Lake, I was really excited as this was only my second ever night fishing session. We looked at various rigs, methods and the Shimano Isolate boilies Julian suggested smelt amazing. We caught two Carp, the biggest was 18lb 8oz only just short of my PB.
Rounding the session off with my first Catfish. One method I really wanted to improve my skills with is surface fishing. Julian suggested trying Fat Boys and through steady feeding we soon had some carp feeding. We used a controller set up, and Julian showed me how to mend the line to allow for the strong wind and tow. We landed two doubles to 13lb 8oz before heading back to the lodge for breakfast.
After this, we went to the Specimen Carp Lake and Julian explained that free lining was really effective here. The carp were very wary but eventually we got a bite, only for the fish to snag me up. Julian was straight in the lake with the net and was soon swimming back with the fish of my dreams a 25lb 4oz dark, scaley Mirror! We then moved to another spot on the Lake and it was a repeat performance as it took ages for the carp to gain confidence. This time a big Common took the bait and again headed straight for the lillies, Julian was on hand to paddle out again and this time my prize was 24lb. Having spent all year trying to get my first 20lb, it was amazing to get two in a day! My trip to Anglers Paradise has been amazing, and I’m already looking forward to coming back next year!”
(Above) Chris Trethewey has been coming to Anglers Paradise for 20 years now and in all those years he’s been trying to catch a 8lb+ Koi but never succeeded…Until THIS year!!! Here he is with his personal best 10lb 8oz beautiful Koi from the Koi Lake.
(Above) Regular to Anglers Paradise David Trethewey had a session on our day ticket Xanadu Lake and caught not 1 but 3 Carp! He had a 19lb 12oz Common, a 18lb 14oz Mirror and a 15lb 6oz Common. David also caught a 27lb 8oz nad 26lb 5oz Mirror from the Specimen Carp Lake, he went home a very happy chappy!
(Above) Here is the charming Billie Jobi, age 4 with myself (Zenia Drury-Gregorek) who caught her first ever Perch from our recent ‘Nash Getting Kids Fishing Days’ at Anglers Eldorado, caught using some lovely wriggly maggots on a whip. She’s now hooked for life!
GIRLS FISH TOO AND DO IT BETTER!!
(Above)Here we have the lovely Eloise Wyatt with some of her stunning Koi catches from the Koi Lake giving her husband a run for his money again!! It really is great seeing so many more females enjoying the sport, here’s to seeing many more!
(Above) Great to see another couple enjoying Fishing together. Emily Wearden is new to Fishing but now she is loving it more than ever along with her partner James. To put the icing on the cake, she caught her 1st ever Catfish at 19lb 2oz from the Easy Access and her partner James also caught his first ever Cat of 19lbs.
James also proposed to Emily during their stay and she said YES!! Congratulations to you both!
Anglers ParadiseNEW KRACKING 30! This Carp clearly loves to munch as has put plenty of weight on in just 2 years and is now another Thirty at 33lbs 14oz from Nirvana’s Kracking Carp Lake caught by Dom Smith. This particular Fish was caught by Lee Drury 2 years ago as a low double and now it’s 33lbs 14oz!! Well Done Dom and thanks for sharing! Here’s a picture of Dom with the Mirror and Lee with it 2 years ago!
BIG CAT ALERT!
(Above)Scott Brown had a session on Nirvana’s Day Ticket Specimen Cat Lake before starting his week’s holiday with the Family at the Anglers Paradise Complex and caught a personal best 65lb 2oz Catfish using big chunks of luncheon meat
ARTIFISHAL is a thought provoking film that everyone should see that has concern for the natural world.
Loxhore Village Hall – Friday, September 20th 7.30pm
Be Informed :-
Open net fish farms threaten the survival of wild fish including Atlantic salmon, sea trout and Arctic char but governments are not doing enough to address the problems. Instead the industry is set to expand exponentially in the pristine fjords of Iceland and continues to grow at alarming rates around Norway, Scotland and Ireland – using massive open net pens that allow the free flow of disease and pollution into the surrounding environment where wild salmon are struggling to survive. In the last 40 years, the population of Atlantic Salmon has dropped from 10 million to 3 million and if we fail to protect their habitat they could soon become an endangered species.
The film will be introduced by Wayne Thomas and screening will start at 7.45pm the film will be followed by an interactive discussion. Wayne will also give details of his new book on angling in North Devon with the opportunity to purchase signed copies.
Note 50% of profits to Village Hall Funds and 50% to the River Taw Fisheries Association. Tickets £5.00 on the door.
Stafford Moor continues to provide top carp fishing with numerous quality catches with a new lake record one of two fish to top thirty pounds.
(Below) Mark Wheeler banked 19 fish from swim 14 (beach 1) up on lodge lake in a 48 hour session up to 26lb 3oz all caught on TNT streamies , the best session he has ever had was Marks words!
(Below) Adrian Carnell and Geoff Waring who fished up on the dam wall on lodge lake on a day session and had fish up to 28lb caught on Sticky Baits Krill & Manilla boilies.
(Below) Ash Whitehouse who now has our new lake record on Beatties lake of 33lb 12oz !!!! Caught from peg 2 (the triangle ) Beatties lake on C C Moore Pacific tuna & Nash tangerine dream.
(Below) Dave Hadland who was fishing on the beach swim on Beatties lake with friend Dave Morris. They had 26 fish out between them ! Up to 28lb 14oz all caught on pellet and Sticky Baits Krill Walters on Ronnie rigs.
Sea anglers have been enjoying some fine autumn sport from both boat and shore as summer temperatures linger on. Kevin Pike won Appledore Shipbuilders latest boat competition with a fine tope of 46lb. David Atkinson was runner up with a triggerfish of 3lb 81/2oz and Kevin Pike third with a triggerfish of 3lb. Triggerfish are a tropical fish that move into Britain’s Coastal waters during late summer and autumn and are a shoal fish that can offer great sport once located. Large numbers were first caught from the North Devon area in the mid-nineties. I recall one of these fish being caught in the early eighties when no one knew what type of fish it was. It is widely speculated that the arrival of triggerfish and gilthead bream is linked to climate change.
Olie Passmore and Kody Chugg fished a North Devon rock mark and landed trigger fish of 2lb 12oz and 2lb 14oz.
(Above)Olie Passmore – trigger fish 2lb 12oz(Above)Kody Chugg – 2lb 14oz trigger fish
North Devon Match Group Championship No.9 @ Darracott Reservoir results:
1st John Lisle 14lb 15oz
2nd Paul Elworthy 14lb 2oz
3rd Stuart Burridge 10lb10oz
4th Martin Turner 7lb 1oz ,
Today’s comp was fished in bright breezy conditions. The top 3 have all caught on the groundbait feeders using corn and maggots on the hook. The very clear water has led to tricky fishing John was end peg on the far bank and just pipped Paul drawn opposite him,
Rob Scoines took first prize in Combe Martin SAC’s Lyn Fish boating a small eyed ray scaling 9lb 11oz. The fish was one of twenty-eight he caught whilst fishing from Steve Webbers boat Osprey off Minehead. In runner up spot was Dan Welch with a boat caught small eyed ray of 8lb 6oz, Dan also took third with a boat caught bull Huss of 7lb 15oz. Jamie Steward also enjoyed success landing a 7lb 10oz small eyed ray but was unfortunately too late back to register his fish. Club members met up at the Rising Sun Lynmouth for the presentation where they enjoyed a splendid platter of fresh sandwiches and chips.
Rob Scoines 9lb 11oz small eyed ray
Dan Welch enjoyed an exceptional session fishing from his own boat out of Ilfracombe.
“Amazing day out on the boat started off on the bass resulted in 10 all around 4lb on a light set up with size 5 black minnows. Then moved in on the banks and had unbelievable ray fishing I landed between 25-30 small eye ray it would have been more but I ran out of bait. The best thing was I only had one dogfish all day.”
Jamie Steward with a small eyed ray of 7lb 10oz.
Members enjoyed a fine Autumn weekend with warm sunshine and clear water. Several grey mullet were also caught by members fishing the competition but none were big enough to register.
Rob Scoines with an autumn mullet(Above)Passing kayakers enjoy the autumn sunshine.
BIDEFORD CLUB
24 hour results
1st Stephen Found thick lipped mullet 4lb 2 3/4oz 101.171%
2nd Andrew Clements smooth hound 6lb 2oz 61.250%
Combe Martin SAC member John Shapland tempted this superb 4lb plus thick lipped grey mullet on his latest session after the wily species. Look at the tail on that one!
After what seems like a long journey my book ” I Caught A Glimpse” has finally been published and I am delighted with the end result. The launch day at Blakewell Fishery proved to be an enjoyable event with a good number of local anglers attending to meet with publisher Wayne Cryer from the Little Egret Press and myself. The lush water gardens, pools of swirling trout and tea rooms bathed in bright sunshine proved the perfect setting. There was a steady stream of anglers arriving throughout the event and it was pleasing to see generations of North Devon Anglers mingling and reminiscing with several old friends reunited.
