I’ve been a regular visitor to Anglers Paradise in Devon for more years than I care to remember. Although it’s 300 miles away I try and get down there at least two or three times a year. The New Year’s Eve parties in the bar are legendary and everyone has great fun at the netting parties around bonfire night. I’m even an honorary member of the 5C’s syndicate – that’s the Crazy, Cunning, Crafty, Carp Catchers if you’re wondering, yet despite making a couple of videos there and even breaking the odd venue record, in all those trips I never really fished it seriously.
Despite having every good intention I always seem to get sucked into the social scene and it seems such a shame when you’ve gone all that way not to enjoy the delights of Dartmoor or the Devon coastline, a meal out at some country pub or restaurant in the early evening, prior to having a nightcap or three in Zyg’s spectacular African Bar.
I talk a lot of fishing down there and nurse a few hangovers but seldom do I really get my fishing head in gear.
Recently I decided to put that right by targeting the phenomenal specimens that reside in the Specimen Orfe and Tench Lake. The previous year’s draining and netting removed all the smaller fish and only forty specimens were returned, each one over four pounds. The water in this lake is relatively clear and the fish can usually be seen, but the combination of a full moon, high barometric pressure, clear blue skies, calm frosty nights and bitter easterly winds during the day put the fish down. The orfe, my main target, simply vanished.
The conventional way to catch orfe is to spray maggots with a catapult and fish a waggler about 18 inches deep but there was no way they were having that on this trip. It didn’t stop me trying though. Despite my best efforts nothing responded. I sprayed until my fingers bled but nothing budged. The fish were sulking in the depths and refused to come up to play. It just goes to show when you set out to fish with a single ‘can’t fail’ plan in mind you are riding for a fall. No matter where you fish or what for, you should approach the water with an open mind. I failed to do that and nearly came unstuck.
The biting easterly winds dictated a switch to feeder tactics but I found I lacked certain important items, a hanger for instance. No matter, I set about making one from the soft polythene tag from a shot container lid, 18 inches of line, four shots and a disgorger.
I prefer to fish with two rods in stillwaters but only had one suitable rod with me. That was a stupid mistake. Two rods mean you can cover twice the ground and experiment with baits and presentations. I would make slower progress with one. Still, mustn’t grumble because things went a whole lot better than I could have expected in the end.
I also trickled a steady supply of bait into the next area I proposed to attack so that I didn’t have to start from scratch each time I moved.
The fishing was painfully slow. After a couple of quick bites I might wait five hours for the next. It’s difficult to make tactical decisions based on infrequent and sporadic bites but it was a pattern that repeated itself over the three days I fished, but the proof of the pudding is invariably measured by the results you achieve not the hours it takes. Sixteen fish graced my net, an equal mix of orfe (carrots) and tench (bananas), but hand on heart I must confess it wasn’t exciting fishing, more a case of boring the fish out, but sometimes it’s what you have to do. Five Tips
1. Don’t turn up with a fixed plan in mind
2. Let the fish dictate how much you feed
3. Recognise that sometimes you have to wait a long time for bites
4. Use floating maggots to counterbalance the weight of the hook
5. Think one step ahead. Prepare the next swim in good time.
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hello
i like the size of the fish that you have caught i have had a orfe about that big and they give a good fight
good luck on your fishing
I have been fishing for fifty years all over the country and I had the worst week,s fishing of all time at Anglers Paradise.If you want a top quality weeks fishing,Clawford,s Vineyard is the place to go.
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jason
