We’re very excited to tell you that we have partnered with Catch to be our fishery management and booking partner.
From 16 November 2023 day tickets will only be available through Catch. Season tickets remain bookable through our website, but will be available through Catch from next year.
Catch are giving our season ticket holders a six-month free subscription so you can book day tickets via the app and enjoy the other benefits. If you already have a Catch account this will automatically be applied. If you don’t, Catch will be sending you an email shortly with details on how to access and begin your free subscription.
Download the Catch app from App Store or Google Play, create a free account and take advantage of all the great features straight away:
Interactive lake maps
Masses of information at your fingertips
Receive catch reports, news and events in real-time
Upload your own catch reports directly to our fishery pages
Book your next session days, weeks or even months in advance
Receive automatic reminders when your next session is due
… and much more!
These guys know what they are doing and have your (and our) best interests at heart. They’ve made the platform easy for everyone to use and we strongly believe that we’ve made the very best decision possible: by partnering with Catch we’ve brought our fishery administration bang up to date which will, in turn, benefit you as an angler.
We appreciate you may have questions so feel free to contact us directly or the Catch team at [email protected] for more information. There is also a live chat option on the Catch website.
Sometimes it’s good to just go fishing for the day no agendas just a day with a friend catching up. I had not fished at Riverton Fishery for several years and when Gary suggested a day there I was keen to revisit. There are three lakes at the fishery a float fishing lake, Willow Lake and the specimen carp lake that is run on a syndicate basis.
After a little deliberation we had decided upon Willow Lake a 2.5 Acre lake that was once a match fishing venue. The lake is now described as a pleasure lake with a wide variety of species stocked.
The lakes have matured well with large trees partially surrounding the venue and plenty of platforms spaced out from which to fish. The only downside to the venue is the constant traffic noise from the link road. Fortunately this is soon forgotten as the vista of lake sky and nature takes the focus away from the buzz of the modern world.
Gary and I set up in the first two swims on the lake and planned to alternate between float fishing and quiver tipping.
I started feeding micro pellet and corn just over a rod length out. I set up a waggler float setting the depth so that the bait rested on the lake bed with a small shot 3” inches from the bait. I was fishing with an old centre pin reel loaded with 4lb b.s line simply because it is fun to use. The float sat pleasingly to attention before sliding delightfully out of sight within seconds.
This set the pattern for the day with sweetcorn and small prawn segments bringing a variety of fish to the net from start to finish. Roach to 8oz, bream close to 4lb, carp on the float to 4lb and a few small perch.
I catapulted pellets to the island and when I fancied a rest I put out banded pellet on a hair rig. On my first cast the tip ripped around before I could place the rod in the rest. A hard fighting mirror of around 4lb was the result!
I alternated between float and tip from midday until we packed away at around 4.30pm. Both methods pleasing in their own right. The delightful and frequent disappearance of the float and the savage dragging round of the quiver tip as the carp hooked themselves.
We lost count of our catch but certainly had a great day’s sport and vowed to return for a rerun. It’s great to simply share a day at the water.
B.D.A.C ROD AND REEL MATCH SUMMER LEAGUE RESULTS DATE 25.6.23. 12 anglers fished Sundays match at Tarka with some fantastic weights being weighed in, The sun was shining with a bit of wind from time to time all anglers caught fish. First place today went to Richard Jefferies on peg 16 with a net full of carp fishing the float for a weight of 66lbs 6oz. Second place was Steve Ashton on peg 6 with a nice mixed bag of fish for 58lbs 2oz on the feeder to the island. Third place was Darren Polden on peg 8 with a nice mixed bag of fish for 52lbs 7oz and forth place went to Nigel Spurr on peg 19 with 45lbs 11oz.
Another year passes and we say goodbye to 2022! It has been a hard year for the reservoirs, not only in the South West, but all over the UK. Low water levels and lake closures have been a frustrating factor to fishing through the summer, and we thank all of you for being understanding through these testing times. Having started my role in September, I would personally like to thank all of you for your kind words of support and I hope we can now push forward and continue the great work South West Lakes has been doing to improve the fishing on the waters.
There have been some great catches through the year with many great bags of silvers from many of the reservoirs to some special carp being caught.
Sadly, the lakes have lost two of its ‘A-team’, with Arnie from Porth and The Big Fully from Argal passing. These fish put many smiles on anglers’ faces, they will be missed!
Looking towards the future of the lakes, in November we stocked 39 new carp into Argal. These fished ranged between 13lb and 17lb, with 34 mirrors and 5 commons. Next year we are planning to stock other waters in the region to continue our work to improve all our waters. There has been some great swim building projects carried out on the lakes also, I would like to thank all the volunteers who have given up their time to help and make improvements on the lakes.
I am pleased to announce that we will be running the Mainline Pairs competitions again for next year the dates for this will be March 24-26, June 30-July 2 and September 29-October 1. We are looking forward to seeing all the familiar faces and welcoming new anglers to the competitions.
Also we will be having two event days in August, which will be part of the Angling Trust’s National Fishing Month, with the emphasis to get as many kids fishing as possible. The dates and places for this are the Royalty Fishery on August 5 and Upper Tamar Lakes on August 19. Please keep your eyes peeled for these events on the website, so you don’t miss out.
Once again thank you for all your support through this last year, may you all have a great Christmas and happy New Year. Look forward to seeing you all out on the bank in 2023.
Club members met up at George’s lake, for our penultimate match, in our year-long series.
The unseasonably mild weather led to some very close weights. Darren scored his first victory with a great mixed bag from peg 14, the moderate Southerly wind encouraged him to fish the margins using maggot hookbait .
Second place went to Stephen on peg 16 , another net taken on maggot on the pole. Keith took third on peg 13.
Our next , and final , match of 2022 will also be the Christmas competition.
The main lake at HORWOOD has now been completely cleaned out and around 1,500 tons of silt removed, we have created a number of wide shelves all around the edges which should be perfect for bait presentation. The lake despite the dry weather has now almost completely filled and we are starting to gradually stock, 110 carp have been added for a total weight of 750lb, and we are looking to double this in a few weeks time when these have settled. The stocking so far has included 18 double figure carp up to 20lb. We now have toilet facilities on site which should be up and running by the end of next week.
The top lake is fishing very well and in a competition on Friday, June 10th over 400lb of fish came out with the top weight of 116lb going to Exeter angler Steve Barrel, mainly caught on the waggler at depth and on 8mm pellets, second was Graham Curno with 94lb 10oz and mainly caught on the straight lead and again pellet on the hook. Lots of tench showing as well and these will for now be kept in the top lake.
Horwood Fishery.
Set in rolling rural Farmland.
2 Stunning Lakes very well Stocked with just carp and tench.
Bottom Lake :-
Carp to double figures ranging from 2 lb to 19lb
Tench up to 3.5lb.
Top Lake:-
Carp ranging from 1lb to 19lb
small tench (lots of )
Drive to your peg so no walking ,
Come and relax at what are 2 stunning lakes .
Limited membership is available at £30 for the year from Neilsen Jeffery (phone 01237 421123) Please Note there are no day tickets available for this water.
I fished in hope of perch today suspending half a juicy lobworm beneath a sliding float. The six hours passed by all too quickly with the float remaining stubbornly buoyant throughout the day. It was sheltered in the old quarry as gale force winds roared above, the trees swaying vigorously too and fro. The dark and moody water hiding its secrets. Fallen trees lay rotting at the waters edge. It has been several years since I last fished here and it was good to be back finding that it was reassuringly familiar. Waters are like old friends that never seem to age.
Twelve year old Wilder Van Koutrik enjoyed recent success tempting this fine tench of 4lb 12oz whilst fishing a private North Devon Stillwater. He also caught a beautiful crucian carp of 1lb 12oz whilst fishing a local club water.
Bideford and District Angling Club Coarse Section Monthly competition @ Tarka Swims George’s Lake
1st Reg Sutton 34lb 6oz
2nd Martin Turner 18lb 11oz
3rd Thomas Scott 16lb 7oz
4th Bernie Blight 11lb 10oz
5th Richard Jefferies 8lb 5oz
6th John Lisle 5lb 8oz ,
13 fished. Reg Sutton drew the golden peg P and fished with maggot on a groundbait feeder, he has landed 7 good carp, for a convincing victory, well done Reg. Second on the day was Martin Turner on peg M , a last gasp bream of 4lb was just enough to pip Thomas into 3rd. Thomas has fished corn in the margins on peg Z .Bernie has fished on peg Q for 4th place.
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
