Great Torrington Detachment Devon Army Cadet Force – Fly Fishing for Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Skills Section

Great Torrington Detachment Devon Army Cadet Force

Fly Fishing for Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Skills Section

Back in September four Army Cadets from Great Torrington Detachment undertook the challenge to learn fly fishing as a skill for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Hobby.

Cdt Sjt David Lee, Cdt Barnie Reeves, Cdt Archie Reeves & Cdt George Batten have worked hard over the winter months to master all the relevant skills required, under the supervision of Captain Trevor Cook.

The program followed by these four Cadets included a visit from Environmental Agency Fisheries Enforcement Officer Callum Underhill to talk about his job role and licensing. Also included were rod actions, reels, types of lines, types of flies, line installation, braided loop install, knots, roll casting, false casting and turn over plus a session of fly tying and two days on the lake.

On both lake days the cadets managed to catch and take home 1 fish each, the second day on Sunday 12th March proved quite challenging and the rain in the afternoon didn’t help. But they all achieved their goal and had a great time.

Very Special Thanks

Very Special Thanks to Paul Cozens and Simpsons Coarse and Trout Fishery for their continued support in making our two lake days possible, it is greatly appreciated for without their help and support these young people may not have had the full experience.

Also, special thanks to Callum Underhill EA Fisheries Enforcement Officer for giving up his free time to come along and do a presentation. Thank you we really appreciate it.

We are now planning our next course starting in June with fishing days in the Autumn 2023.

Merry Christmas & Happy Fishes for 2023

I would like to thank all those who have followed North Devon Angling News throughout 2022 and to those who have contributed news stories and pictures. A special thanks to those who have sponsored the site over past years.

I welcome new sponsors for 2023 at very reasonable rates. Contact – [email protected]

 

Anglers Paradise

FUN FISHING 2022

         Combe Martin SAC hosted their annual Fun Fish on Ilfracombe Pier in conjunction with the  2022 Sea Ilfracombe festival. The event was once again a resounding success with several families taking part in the Fun Species competition.

         Special guests on the day included Mat Mander Chief Officer of Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority and the Ilfracombe Area Coastguard. The event gave the opportunity for members of the public the talk with the guests about the valuable work that they do.

         The event was generously supported by High Street Tackle, The Angling Trust  and Ilfracombe Aquarium.

         The whole aim of the event is to give the opportunity for young anglers and their families to participate in angling. The Angling Trust provided Certificates, Angling books and caps. High Street Tackle provided a top prize for the overall winner of the event along with numerous prizes for all who took part. Ilfracombe Aquarium gave a family entry to be used by the winning family at a time of their choosing.

         The competition started promptly at 3.00pm as the tide receded from the landing stages. Close to twenty anglers of all ages cast out and fish came regularly from the start. Eight species were registered including, pollock, ballan wrasse, pouting, corkwing wrasse, rock goby, tompot blennies, Shanny and dragonette.

         Smiling faces lit up what was at times a grey afternoon as dark clouds drifted above with occasional drizzle.

         Small ragworm baits proved most effective with mackerel and squid also producing good numbers of fish.

 

         The competition closed at 5.00pm with the prize presentation at 5:15pm.

         The winning individual was Effie Welch who was presented with a superb Rockfish LRF rod and reel donated by High Street Tackle. The winning family were the Stanway family, Ross, Charlie and Jake who received a family ticket for Ilfracombe aquarium.

         All junior anglers who took part received a prize and each family were presented with a book on Angling from the Angling Trust.

         The club hope to host the event again next year and thank all those who made the effort to attend.

Combe Martin SAC Fun Fishing

Top prize in tomorrows Fun Fish competition is a Rockfish LRF Rod and reel worth over £80.00. Special thanks to High Street Tackle. Plenty of other goodies plus a family Aquarium ticket. Special guest is Mat Mander from Devon & Severn IFCA. I have free starter rigs and bait supplied by CMSAC. There will be a limited number of light rods set up to use.
The Angling Trust have supported the event and there will be Certificates and books for entrants.
Competition is a fun friendly event top prize is for most points,
2 points per species with 1 point per fish for next two of each species. Only 3 fish of each species to count.
Longest fish
Heaviest Fish

Bideford Angling Club – Final Junior event of our summer series:

Final Junior event of our summer series:
Results:
1st Hope Polden 18lb 10oz
2nd Ted Blight 6lb 4oz
3rd Imogen Babb 3lb 3oz
4th Cruise Eigins 2lb 14oz
5th Willow Davies 2lb 5oz
6th Leon Davies 1lb 15oz
7th Fletcher. 1lb 14oz
8th Alby Clements 1lb 7oz
9th Kash. 1lb 1oz
10th Sammy Thornton retired early.
Hope, one of our youngest competitors , has put many a senior member to shame ! , with a terrific winning net of tench and skimmers in just 3 hours.
Hope has fished on peg 21 with worm baits on a short pole,
Ted ,on peg 19 , has come second using luncheon meat on the pole.
3rd spot has gone to Imogen on peg 23 , and has thus secure the victory in the league.
Our junior summer series has been well supported and a huge thanks must go to all who have helped on the days.
The terrific prize table was made possible by the generosity of Quay sports, Summerlands, Bait-tech, Tom Downing , Martin Cocks , huge thank you to them.

QUAY SPORTS AND DEVON ANGLERS – SUPPORTING CHILDREN’S HOSPICE SOUTH WEST

Some of our amazing supporters at Quay Sports in Barnstaple donated money raised at their 1st Anniversary Fundraiser. They raised an impressive £1122 in ONE day and we’d just like to say a massive thank you to Toby, Harrison, Chris and Mark L and the rest of the store team for continuing to fundraise for Children’s Hospice South West.

Junior Bass Fishing Success

Young Solly Welch aged 8 fished with his father Daniel from their Private boat and caught three fine bass on lures bought from High Street Tackle. The bass of 57cm and two of 58cm put Solly into second place in Combe Martin SAC’s lure fishing competition sponsored by High Street Tackle.

Combe Martin SAC Lure Fishing Competition

1st Daniel Welch three bass – 195cm

2nd  Solly Welch three bass  158cm.

3rd James Corner – 2 bass 122cm

Bideford and District Angling Club. Junior event No. 3

Bideford and District Angling Club.
Junior event No. 3
Results:
1st Sammy Thornton 11lb 12oz
2nd Brodie Norris 6lb 1oz
3rd Imogen Babb 5lb 3oz
4th RudyJames Nicholas 3lb 3oz
5th Ted Blight 3lb
6th Willow Davies 2lb 3oz
7th Leo Davies 1lb 6oz
The weather was kinder to us ,on Saturday, for our third Junior event this summer .
Our winner,Sammy ,has fished on, the unfancied,peg 3 with a top kit, his net of good roach and skimmers was taken on maggot .
Brodie fished on peg 26,for second place, he has found some nice tench again taken on short pole tactics.
3rd place went to Imogen on the adjacent peg 25,using the long pole with paste .
Rudy James came in 4th on peg 1.
Our prize table was once again supported by the generosity of local shops.
A big thanks to our helpers on the day .