Wild Frontier had a couple of 8 hour trips earlier this week that have been challenging at times. Managed to pluck out a few different species such as dogfish, bass, pollock, conger, huss, spotted ray, small eyed ray and this beauty of a smoothie at the end of today, just shy of 18lb on the scales.
Back out on the hunt for tope tomorrow evening and Thursday.
For bookings please call 07447060036 or see the website.
Ollie Passmore caught this 3lb 12oz thin lipped grey mullet on a recent trip to the Taw estuary. This hard fighting fish are tempted from the Taw and Torridge estuary using small spinners baited with harbour ragworm.
REPORT FROM John Forster
Thank -you to all who turned up on the day especially to Craig Crash Lamey who despite losing his fishing partner for the day due to illness still turned up and fished with an awesome attitude.
Well nice fine weather with great people everything looked really good , so we did the draw and set about getting ready , personally i drew on what is normally a great peg and was really looking forward to the match , but all good things and all that, i really struggled loads of fish around yet no matter what i did they did not want to feed and I ended up with 12lb 4oz
But the day was brilliant with more talk about the cricket flying around our lake amongst the usual banter.
At the end we had the 3 winners and I apologise if the weights
are not 100% accurate as the paperwork has gone a-stray
1st was Paul Morris and Tom Downing with 130lb of carp and silvers
2nd was Nathan Underwood and Pete Horton with 111lb of carp/silvers
3rd was Neilsen Jeffery and Martin Turner with 86lb
the rest of us also rans didnt walk away empty handed , we decided thanks to Andy Seery and his sponsoring the prizes instead of giving tio the top 3 pairs we split all up between the other 13 anglers ,
All in All a great day which was thoroughly enjoyed so a big thank you to Stuart and Wooda Lakes for allowing this to happen for the 2nd year , To Andy Seery and So Simple Baits
and to everyone who fished .
Lee Watts banked a superb mirror carp of 36lb 8oz whilst fishing at Colebrooke Lake. The fish sets a New record for the Lake that is owned by Matt Gunn.
Junior Event @ Tarka Swims George’s Lake
1st Tyler Scott 7lb 5oz
2nd Charlie Evans 5lb 3 oz
3rd Thomas Scott 2lb
4th Joe Westcott 1lb 15 oz
5th Adam Wheeler 13oz .
This 3 hour event was fished on the shallow pegs .Celebrating his birthday , Tyler Scott landed a fine mixed catch alternating between shallow and full depth on the pole on peg F to secure victory on the first of our 4 match series , Charlie took second spot in his very 1st competition fishing on peg Z . Third place was Thomas Scott, next door to his brother on peg E .
Andy Barret caught this salmon from the East Lyn following the spate a couple of weeks ago. The areas rivers have now dropped back and salmon and sea trout will be hard to find. There is a good chance of sea trout on the Taw and Torridge fishing after the sun has set. Night time fishing for sea trout is an exciting pastime and well worth a little sleep deprivation. Large surface lures can work and certainly sets the nerves on edge as large fish boil on the surface often missing the lure altogether. Small traditional flies tend to work well on the Torridge whilst larger flies are preferred on the Taw.
book signing and more
Jeremy Wade will be in Great Torrington, Devon, England on 4th August to sign his new book “How to Think Like a Fish” at the Plough Arts Centre. (Books will be available to purchase on the day)In addition, we will be screening one of his latest programmes Dark Waters.
Jeremy will open with a short presentation at 10.30am before the book signing begins which will be until 12.30pm in the gallery at the Plough. The screening will be from 1.30 and there will be an opportunity for any questions and answers after the film finishes.
We look forward to seeing you on the day. Tickets are available from the Plough for £5 per person to enjoy both sessions and guarantee your seat at the film. The Plough Tel No is (44) 01805 624624 Web details are www.theploughartscentre.org.uk
The event is organised by River Reads bookshop so please contact them if you require any further information, or would like to purchase a signed copy of Jeremy’s book and are unable to attend.
The Cornish town of Looe has a rich history as a fishing port and during the 1940’s and 1950’s the sport of shark fishing in the UK became popular primarily among the wealthy members of British Society or the upper classes. The book, “Shark Angling In Great Britain” by Brigadier J.A.L Caunter documents this early period and is a fascinating read.
My own connection with Looe stems from annual holidays with my parents during the late sixties and seventies. To a large extent this was where my lifelong passion for angling was formulated with many happy hours spent float-fishing for mackerel, garfish and grey mullet.
Each evening the shark fishing boats would return to port with their catches. Back then in less enlightened times virtually all shark were slaughtered and brought back to the weighing station of the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain where their bloated carcasses were hauled aloft in front of masses of tourists. As a young boy I gazed in awe and dreamt of days when I could set sail to do battle with these beasts of the deep.
Looking back the wanton slaughter was misguided and undoubtedly contributed to a steep decline in numbers. Fortunately, all shark caught today are carefully released and their numbers are increasing once again. Shark fishing is an important part of Looe’s history and the recreational fishery is vitally important in supporting Looe as a fishing port as commercial fishing declines due to competition from larger ports and other factors.
The Old Sardine Factory on West Looe harbour front recently opened as a heritage centre and Restaurant. The centre hosts regular events and recently held an evening to bring together members of the shark fishing community and share memories in a memory café style event.
Seeing the advert on their Facebook page I could not resist attending and took the opportunity to have a one night break in my childhood haunt with my wife Pauline. I am so glad we made the effort for we were privileged to meet anglers and skippers from an earlier era. I am sure many memories and friendships were rekindled on that summer night. The vast array of black and white photos on display told of a bygone age that was full of larger than life characters.
The shark fishing of that era was seen as adventure on the high seas. It would be wrong to condemn the practice of those days for many believed that the seas fish stocks were inexhaustible. Today we know this is not true and methods and practice have changed to ensure that these splendid fish can be released after being brought to the boat. Anglers share many of the conservationists concerns regarding the oceans and should work in harmony to ensure both the survival of the shark and the shark angler.
One of the nights highlights was to meet Pat Smith aged 95 who travelled to the event from Leicester and still radiated enthusiasm as she recalled those golden days when she caught a huge porbeagle of 369lb.
Much of the credit for the evening goes to Rachel Bond, Dave Clarke and John McMaster.
Below is the short introduction to the event as delivered by Rachel on the night.Many thanks to Rachel for allowing me to reproduce the manuscript on these pages.
Below are a few photos I captured on the night with the kind permission of those displaying the images.
We took a short evening walk beside the River East Lyn. The water tumbled over boulders as it raced to the sea. The valley was in sombre mood with mist hanging in the warm summer air. The vivid vibrant green of summer was subdued in the early evening gloom.
I fished this beautiful river frequently for close to thirty years and caught my first salmon in 1981 a silver bar with sea-liced flanks. When I say the River valley is in sombre mood what I really mean is that I am perhaps in a sombre and reflective mood myself. The river holds a wealth of memories of fish and fishers. Whilst salmon and sea trout still forge up through the vibrant tumbling water’s they are far scarcer than they once were.
Today all salmon must be returned to the water and whilst I am happy to fish with a fly on the Taw and Torridge, I have reservations about spinning and worming with the dangers of deep hooking. The Lyn is not a river for the salmon fly fisher.
It is not the salmon anglers that have decimated the salmon of the Lyn but it is mankind I feel sure that has contributed to a sad demise. So when I walk the banks of this river the memories come thick and fast. To think of the river with no salmon or sea trout is like a book with no words or a candle with no flame. As an angler I have taken gleaming salmon from the river and extinguished their life. I remember that momentary sadness as that vibrant hue faded from silver flanks. I will never forget the power of the salmon as it battles on the line, the rod bending frightfully in my hands. Strangely this direct contact and interaction with the salmon brings the angler close to the fish and its environment.
I guess what I am saying in a clumsy sort of way is that as angler on the river I feel that I have been in the film instead of watching from afar. I fear that day when no salmon swim the river and that glimpse of silver is no more.