In reply to Post #407
Then, when Daddy was caught a few weeks later the story started going around that I had made up the story to blind anglers to the fact that there were such good fish in the tiny park lake. The knives were out for me in a big way but I was certain something was wrong with the pool. The news that Daddy was still in the lake, in all probability still accompanied by all his usual friends (said the sceptics), rekindled old passions in many carp fisherman's hearts, mine included and for a while, the hordes descended on the lake in search of the fabled carp of Salamander Lake. I got a lot of stick from people but there was no way I could prove that the netting had taken place and my uneasy fears for the place cut little ice with others. Meanwhile I managed to catch one of the remaining residents the fat old girl we called Gutbucket, an unlovely name for a lovely carp, and this capture was taken as a sign that I was talking through my arse!
However following Daddy's initial capture the only other big fish to make an appearance were Gutbucket and Carole's Pet, a rare capture for me as this honour is traditionally reserved for our lass, hence the carp's nickname.
All in all the fishing at Salamander was very poor at what had always been a traditionally productive time of the year and the longer the other well known carp in the lake remained uncaught, the more worrying their continued absence became. I fished the lake hard for the rest of the year and right through the winter when we were ashore for bad weather but failed miserably to land a single carp, but, Sod's Law was about to intervene and confuse the issue still further.
There was no doubt that all the fish in the lake were by now well known by local anglers, their rough weights known as well. Yet suddenly rumours began to circulate of big fish, twenties, coming out and these captures seemed to add weight to the tale that the whole thing was a blind. On the other hand the Salamander regulars thought that even if these rumours were true the reported weights were simply new weights for old fish.
So here was the dilemma: had there, in fact, actually been netting? If not, what had happened to the well-known fish, at least some of which should have come out in the ensuing months; and if there had been a netting, was it official, or was it illegal? Was the whole thing one gigantic wind-up?
But I knew my Salamander Lake and I was convinced that there were fish missing; perhaps not all the bigger fish, but certainly many of them. My association with the lake went back further than all bar that of Ian Johnson who had actually stopped fishing the lake in the mid-80's. In effect asking me about the history and the inhabitants like asking Mike Wilson about Savay, or Kevin Clifford about Redmire.
Among the diehards Dave the policeman continued to fish it as 'part of my investigation' as he explained it to his sergeant! Nice one, Dave! Sadly he had not been able to take the matter any further. The account of the youngster who had actually witnessed the theft was getting shakier with the passing of time and in the end he'd been told to wind down his enquiries. Still, at least he was probably the only copper in the country who, for a time, was actually paid to go carp fishing!
Of those still fishing the lake, and they were few and getting fewer, nobody knew as much about the place as me. I had even compiled a photo album of the carp in the lake, fish caught not only by myself but by many of the other guys that fished there.
Then, when Daddy was caught a few weeks later the story started going around that I had made up the story to blind anglers to the fact that there were such good fish in the tiny park lake. The knives were out for me in a big way but I was certain something was wrong with the pool. The news that Daddy was still in the lake, in all probability still accompanied by all his usual friends (said the sceptics), rekindled old passions in many carp fisherman's hearts, mine included and for a while, the hordes descended on the lake in search of the fabled carp of Salamander Lake. I got a lot of stick from people but there was no way I could prove that the netting had taken place and my uneasy fears for the place cut little ice with others. Meanwhile I managed to catch one of the remaining residents the fat old girl we called Gutbucket, an unlovely name for a lovely carp, and this capture was taken as a sign that I was talking through my arse!
However following Daddy's initial capture the only other big fish to make an appearance were Gutbucket and Carole's Pet, a rare capture for me as this honour is traditionally reserved for our lass, hence the carp's nickname.
All in all the fishing at Salamander was very poor at what had always been a traditionally productive time of the year and the longer the other well known carp in the lake remained uncaught, the more worrying their continued absence became. I fished the lake hard for the rest of the year and right through the winter when we were ashore for bad weather but failed miserably to land a single carp, but, Sod's Law was about to intervene and confuse the issue still further.
There was no doubt that all the fish in the lake were by now well known by local anglers, their rough weights known as well. Yet suddenly rumours began to circulate of big fish, twenties, coming out and these captures seemed to add weight to the tale that the whole thing was a blind. On the other hand the Salamander regulars thought that even if these rumours were true the reported weights were simply new weights for old fish.
So here was the dilemma: had there, in fact, actually been netting? If not, what had happened to the well-known fish, at least some of which should have come out in the ensuing months; and if there had been a netting, was it official, or was it illegal? Was the whole thing one gigantic wind-up?
But I knew my Salamander Lake and I was convinced that there were fish missing; perhaps not all the bigger fish, but certainly many of them. My association with the lake went back further than all bar that of Ian Johnson who had actually stopped fishing the lake in the mid-80's. In effect asking me about the history and the inhabitants like asking Mike Wilson about Savay, or Kevin Clifford about Redmire.
Among the diehards Dave the policeman continued to fish it as 'part of my investigation' as he explained it to his sergeant! Nice one, Dave! Sadly he had not been able to take the matter any further. The account of the youngster who had actually witnessed the theft was getting shakier with the passing of time and in the end he'd been told to wind down his enquiries. Still, at least he was probably the only copper in the country who, for a time, was actually paid to go carp fishing!
Of those still fishing the lake, and they were few and getting fewer, nobody knew as much about the place as me. I had even compiled a photo album of the carp in the lake, fish caught not only by myself but by many of the other guys that fished there.
In reply to Post #408
I was of the firm opinion that fish were missing from the lake and I made my feelings clear, and finally I was proved right: in the late winter of 1993 the local authority emptied the lake in to remove the silt, at the same time creating a breeding island for the swans, ducks and coots and rebuilding the spillway. A netting team from the NRA was called in to remove the carp to a holding pond while the work was done. The dam was then breached and as the levels fell seventeen carp were netted and removed from the lake; one was missed by the netting party and, sadly, it died. Eighteen fish in total. I have an album of photographs covering the last fifteen years of my carp fishing at Salamander. I have photographs thirty five different fish. If the theft never took place, where were the missing fish?
Here are a few pix of the lake when it was empty. This is the main bowl, the deepest part, albeit it only about three feet deep when full. You can see the troublesome swan's nesting island in the middle of the photo.
This is at the inlet end of the lake where the island was under construction. It was severely silted up at the time, as can clearly be seen in this photo. Despite this no effort was made to create a silt trap, which would have alleviated the need for any further work to de-silt the lake.
While the lake was empty the council decided it would be a good idea to do some landscaping. In affect this mean cutting down all the trees and bushes around the lake's perimeter. Take a look at these before and after photos and tell me that the 'landscaping' worked! This is the outlet end of the lake prior to the work.
And this is what it looked like after they had done their worst.
I was on good terms with the local branch of the NRA having been commissioned to write a ten thousand word report for the Agency which was published as 'A Comprehensive Coarse Fishing Fish Strategy for the South-West'. A right mouthful and no mistake! Parts of the report covered public access lakes and river and Salamander Lake featured prominently in this section.
So having first contacted the head of fisheries at Exeter to put him in the picture, I then rang my contact at the NRA in Bodmin to ascertain when or if the carp would be returned to the lake. I was told that they were planning on moving the carp back to the lake in late March or early April. So it was that just before the Easter 1993 I stood on the banks of Salamander waiting for the fish transporter to arrive. With me was a reporter from the Western Morning News, officials of the local park authority, the netsmen from the NRA and officials of the Water Authority.
The carp were returned in two batches, so as to prevent overcrowding on the short journey. Seventeen fish were returned, the same number that had been taken out. I got a fairly good look at each of them and took pictures of as many as I could. I was overjoyed to see that Big Daddy was one that went back. Of the other twenties, Carole's Pet and Jellybelly were the only ones that were returned, but happily the upper doubles, Goldie, Walnut, and Mystery were also among the returnees. These fish were not weighed but it they all seemed to do well after the cleaning of the lake bed. For instance, Carole's Pet had dropped a couple of pounds when she want back but later that same year she came out at over 25lb.
I was of the firm opinion that fish were missing from the lake and I made my feelings clear, and finally I was proved right: in the late winter of 1993 the local authority emptied the lake in to remove the silt, at the same time creating a breeding island for the swans, ducks and coots and rebuilding the spillway. A netting team from the NRA was called in to remove the carp to a holding pond while the work was done. The dam was then breached and as the levels fell seventeen carp were netted and removed from the lake; one was missed by the netting party and, sadly, it died. Eighteen fish in total. I have an album of photographs covering the last fifteen years of my carp fishing at Salamander. I have photographs thirty five different fish. If the theft never took place, where were the missing fish?
Here are a few pix of the lake when it was empty. This is the main bowl, the deepest part, albeit it only about three feet deep when full. You can see the troublesome swan's nesting island in the middle of the photo.
This is at the inlet end of the lake where the island was under construction. It was severely silted up at the time, as can clearly be seen in this photo. Despite this no effort was made to create a silt trap, which would have alleviated the need for any further work to de-silt the lake.
While the lake was empty the council decided it would be a good idea to do some landscaping. In affect this mean cutting down all the trees and bushes around the lake's perimeter. Take a look at these before and after photos and tell me that the 'landscaping' worked! This is the outlet end of the lake prior to the work.
And this is what it looked like after they had done their worst.
I was on good terms with the local branch of the NRA having been commissioned to write a ten thousand word report for the Agency which was published as 'A Comprehensive Coarse Fishing Fish Strategy for the South-West'. A right mouthful and no mistake! Parts of the report covered public access lakes and river and Salamander Lake featured prominently in this section.
So having first contacted the head of fisheries at Exeter to put him in the picture, I then rang my contact at the NRA in Bodmin to ascertain when or if the carp would be returned to the lake. I was told that they were planning on moving the carp back to the lake in late March or early April. So it was that just before the Easter 1993 I stood on the banks of Salamander waiting for the fish transporter to arrive. With me was a reporter from the Western Morning News, officials of the local park authority, the netsmen from the NRA and officials of the Water Authority.
The carp were returned in two batches, so as to prevent overcrowding on the short journey. Seventeen fish were returned, the same number that had been taken out. I got a fairly good look at each of them and took pictures of as many as I could. I was overjoyed to see that Big Daddy was one that went back. Of the other twenties, Carole's Pet and Jellybelly were the only ones that were returned, but happily the upper doubles, Goldie, Walnut, and Mystery were also among the returnees. These fish were not weighed but it they all seemed to do well after the cleaning of the lake bed. For instance, Carole's Pet had dropped a couple of pounds when she want back but later that same year she came out at over 25lb.
In reply to Post #409
The years have passed and Salamander lives on. Without many of my favourite fish, the lake became a shadow of its former self. The improvements effected when the lake was emptied to allow the silt to be removed certainly changed the character of the lake but the drastic pruning of the covering willows and the creation of an island at the inlet end have done nothing to improve its looks. The silt that was removed in 1993 was back by 1994 and is as big a problem now as it was then. Why the council did not install a silt trap when they had the chance baffles me. They will certainly need to undertake further dredging and cleaning in future years, for already the lake is as badly silted now as it was before the dredger arrived. The spillway has certainly improved the look of the outlet end and the fluctuation in water level that occurred before, should now be a thing of the past.
But what of the fish?
Well, back in 1994 after the fish went back there was probably more pressure on the lake than ever before despite the fact than many of its best fish were gone. Naturally, Big Daddy was the target everyone was after and in November '94 he showed how much he enjoyed the comfort of the reduced pressure for the available food in the lake by coming out at 32lb l2oz for Steve and 33lb plus for me the following spring. At the same time the other carp were also growing well. The Phoenix of Salamander Lake was emerging from the ashes of the fish loss.
The sadness of the loss of so many lovely fish is, to a certain extent, balanced by the knowledge that reduced competition for food allowed the remaining carp in the lake to gain weight, when it seemed that most, if not all, had reached their ceiling weights but I still think wistfully of what the lake would have been like if all the original biggies were still there.
The lake continued to be an open target for anyone who wanted to help himself to a few fish. Why the council never made an effort to control the fishing on the lake is beyond me. Perhaps they don't care. Whatever...The fact remains that the lake was among the more famous in the south west corner of England. It was only a matter of time before the remaining biggies went missing yet again as the temptation to remove Daddy and his friends for a few quid in the back pocket proved too irresistible.
Well before the theft I had a long, rather drink sozzled chat on the banks of Salamander with the late Graham Orchard, a great carp fishing character here in the south west. "You ought to have these fish away you know, Ken", Graham told me.
"I can't do that, Graham, " I said. "It would simply go against everything I stand for in carp fishing."
"Look mate" said my friend, "I know how much these fish mean to you, how much you love the lake and the carp in it, but one day you're going to come down here and some little toerag will have nicked all the fish. Then how will you feel? If we don't move em and keep them local, somewhere private, then someone will come and have them away up country."
"I realise that, Graham, but simply cannot think of it, let alone do it or condone it," I said. Yet I knew in my heart of hearts that he had a point.
"The thing is, Graham, if I, or any of us stoop that low, we are no better than they are. It would be theft full stop. If we destroy this place by taking the fish and putting them into another lake what would we have achieved? Nothing! We'd simply have crossed off another worthwhile lake on the pitifully small list of those we have available to us to fish."
I look back now on that conversation and, even with the benefit of hindsight, I still say I was right and could sleep with a clear conscience is clear. The trouble is others were not so righteous and once again the wreckers moved in and dumped on the place from a great height.
Prior to the theft there were possibly as many as ten twenty pound plus fish at at least one thirty present in the lake in the summer of 1990. These lived their days in a blissful environment feeding on the bloodworm-rich silt augmented by anglers' baits and as much bread as they could eat. Happy days gone but not forgotten.
O.K., you may be saying to yourself. So the guy has had some fish nicked. Shame, but it happens. It's just some tuppence ha'penny lake in some God forsaken outpost of the carp fishing world...Small beer... What's all the fuss about? Well, I just hope and pray that a lake and its fish that you hold as dear to your heart as I held Salamander is not given a similar treatment. Perhaps then you'll know what small beer is and what it isn't.
The years have passed and Salamander lives on. Without many of my favourite fish, the lake became a shadow of its former self. The improvements effected when the lake was emptied to allow the silt to be removed certainly changed the character of the lake but the drastic pruning of the covering willows and the creation of an island at the inlet end have done nothing to improve its looks. The silt that was removed in 1993 was back by 1994 and is as big a problem now as it was then. Why the council did not install a silt trap when they had the chance baffles me. They will certainly need to undertake further dredging and cleaning in future years, for already the lake is as badly silted now as it was before the dredger arrived. The spillway has certainly improved the look of the outlet end and the fluctuation in water level that occurred before, should now be a thing of the past.
But what of the fish?
Well, back in 1994 after the fish went back there was probably more pressure on the lake than ever before despite the fact than many of its best fish were gone. Naturally, Big Daddy was the target everyone was after and in November '94 he showed how much he enjoyed the comfort of the reduced pressure for the available food in the lake by coming out at 32lb l2oz for Steve and 33lb plus for me the following spring. At the same time the other carp were also growing well. The Phoenix of Salamander Lake was emerging from the ashes of the fish loss.
The sadness of the loss of so many lovely fish is, to a certain extent, balanced by the knowledge that reduced competition for food allowed the remaining carp in the lake to gain weight, when it seemed that most, if not all, had reached their ceiling weights but I still think wistfully of what the lake would have been like if all the original biggies were still there.
The lake continued to be an open target for anyone who wanted to help himself to a few fish. Why the council never made an effort to control the fishing on the lake is beyond me. Perhaps they don't care. Whatever...The fact remains that the lake was among the more famous in the south west corner of England. It was only a matter of time before the remaining biggies went missing yet again as the temptation to remove Daddy and his friends for a few quid in the back pocket proved too irresistible.
Well before the theft I had a long, rather drink sozzled chat on the banks of Salamander with the late Graham Orchard, a great carp fishing character here in the south west. "You ought to have these fish away you know, Ken", Graham told me.
"I can't do that, Graham, " I said. "It would simply go against everything I stand for in carp fishing."
"Look mate" said my friend, "I know how much these fish mean to you, how much you love the lake and the carp in it, but one day you're going to come down here and some little toerag will have nicked all the fish. Then how will you feel? If we don't move em and keep them local, somewhere private, then someone will come and have them away up country."
"I realise that, Graham, but simply cannot think of it, let alone do it or condone it," I said. Yet I knew in my heart of hearts that he had a point.
"The thing is, Graham, if I, or any of us stoop that low, we are no better than they are. It would be theft full stop. If we destroy this place by taking the fish and putting them into another lake what would we have achieved? Nothing! We'd simply have crossed off another worthwhile lake on the pitifully small list of those we have available to us to fish."
I look back now on that conversation and, even with the benefit of hindsight, I still say I was right and could sleep with a clear conscience is clear. The trouble is others were not so righteous and once again the wreckers moved in and dumped on the place from a great height.
Prior to the theft there were possibly as many as ten twenty pound plus fish at at least one thirty present in the lake in the summer of 1990. These lived their days in a blissful environment feeding on the bloodworm-rich silt augmented by anglers' baits and as much bread as they could eat. Happy days gone but not forgotten.
O.K., you may be saying to yourself. So the guy has had some fish nicked. Shame, but it happens. It's just some tuppence ha'penny lake in some God forsaken outpost of the carp fishing world...Small beer... What's all the fuss about? Well, I just hope and pray that a lake and its fish that you hold as dear to your heart as I held Salamander is not given a similar treatment. Perhaps then you'll know what small beer is and what it isn't.
In reply to Post #410
The years went by and the big carp continued to thrive. Andrew Endean caught Daddy at 34lb plus and I know a couple more came out at high twenties but time and old age caught up with them. Carp are easy to spot in the lake and it's hard to see any these days. Then there is the threat from otters, which have decimated all the lakes along the valley. Once again Salamander is heavily silted and is infested with ducks, Canada geese and the resident swans. Rats run riot around the lake and any magic the lake once held has gone. So sad. This is the last known capture of Big Daddy when he came out at a few ounces over thirty-four pounds.
I used Salamander a great deal over the year as a testing ground for various rig and bait ideas. I know I was the first to use the hair and Robin Red on the lake and the advantages these gave me were immeasurable. And over the years I went on to experiment with various seed and particle baits. I also developed the use of boilie crumb there. It was amazing to see the carp ghosting out of the weed onto the baited patch, where they were clear to see for those who had the ability to actually look!
I also did a fair bit of rig experimentation on Salamander, developing and refining my Drop Down Rig (top) as well as an early version of what was later to become a popular modern rig (bottom).
However, it was when testing liquid attractor that I had the most fun. One little experiment involved squirting neat Minamino over groups of fish that were basking in the sunshine. I used a syringe to send a spray of liquid attraction on top of their heads and the reaction was astonishing. They seemed to almost go into a frenzy, clearly 'smelling' the attraction but finding nothing concrete to eat. It was this that lead me to start messing about with a baiting trick that I called at the time Boilie Soup.
The idea was to create a powerful source of attraction on the lake bed and up through the water column using neat fishmeal and Robin Red base mix with GLME, Betaine, Salmon oil, flavour and a tub of lumpfish eggs. The idea should be self explanatory.
The carp in Salamander couldn't get enough of the soup, charging around like mad creatures scouring the lake bed for every tantalising item of food. The only things big enough to be called tangible food were the tiny fish eggs but even after every single one of those had gone, the fish continued to mooch around looking for more!
So that was then, this is now. Salamander is no more, It rests in peace as do its original carp, fish that gave a few lucky anglers the experience of a lifetime.
The years went by and the big carp continued to thrive. Andrew Endean caught Daddy at 34lb plus and I know a couple more came out at high twenties but time and old age caught up with them. Carp are easy to spot in the lake and it's hard to see any these days. Then there is the threat from otters, which have decimated all the lakes along the valley. Once again Salamander is heavily silted and is infested with ducks, Canada geese and the resident swans. Rats run riot around the lake and any magic the lake once held has gone. So sad. This is the last known capture of Big Daddy when he came out at a few ounces over thirty-four pounds.
I used Salamander a great deal over the year as a testing ground for various rig and bait ideas. I know I was the first to use the hair and Robin Red on the lake and the advantages these gave me were immeasurable. And over the years I went on to experiment with various seed and particle baits. I also developed the use of boilie crumb there. It was amazing to see the carp ghosting out of the weed onto the baited patch, where they were clear to see for those who had the ability to actually look!
I also did a fair bit of rig experimentation on Salamander, developing and refining my Drop Down Rig (top) as well as an early version of what was later to become a popular modern rig (bottom).
However, it was when testing liquid attractor that I had the most fun. One little experiment involved squirting neat Minamino over groups of fish that were basking in the sunshine. I used a syringe to send a spray of liquid attraction on top of their heads and the reaction was astonishing. They seemed to almost go into a frenzy, clearly 'smelling' the attraction but finding nothing concrete to eat. It was this that lead me to start messing about with a baiting trick that I called at the time Boilie Soup.
The idea was to create a powerful source of attraction on the lake bed and up through the water column using neat fishmeal and Robin Red base mix with GLME, Betaine, Salmon oil, flavour and a tub of lumpfish eggs. The idea should be self explanatory.
The carp in Salamander couldn't get enough of the soup, charging around like mad creatures scouring the lake bed for every tantalising item of food. The only things big enough to be called tangible food were the tiny fish eggs but even after every single one of those had gone, the fish continued to mooch around looking for more!
So that was then, this is now. Salamander is no more, It rests in peace as do its original carp, fish that gave a few lucky anglers the experience of a lifetime.
In reply to Post #419
I think I have managed to recover all the photos that became unavailable after TinyPic shut down. The thread should now be more or less intact.
I have to be honest, I have not really felt up to the challenge of writing this thread since April 2019 when I last posted to it. But I have realised that there are a lot more happy (and not so happy) memories I could share with you, so I will get around to writing again in the new Year. In the meantime, Tat and I would like to wish you all a Happy and Successful New Year with plenty of these
I think I have managed to recover all the photos that became unavailable after TinyPic shut down. The thread should now be more or less intact.
I have to be honest, I have not really felt up to the challenge of writing this thread since April 2019 when I last posted to it. But I have realised that there are a lot more happy (and not so happy) memories I could share with you, so I will get around to writing again in the new Year. In the meantime, Tat and I would like to wish you all a Happy and Successful New Year with plenty of these
Big thanks to Cam the Mod for tidying this thread...
Moving on I want to stay in the south west at a couple of venues that linger fondly in the memory bank, namely Clawford Vineyard and Emperor Lake Syndicate (ELS) so all you Devon anglers keep an eye out for my next reminiscences.
Moving on I want to stay in the south west at a couple of venues that linger fondly in the memory bank, namely Clawford Vineyard and Emperor Lake Syndicate (ELS) so all you Devon anglers keep an eye out for my next reminiscences.
I doubt if I'll again experience a trip like that first one to the Chateau Lake in 1996, but never say never, eh? I made many trips to the Chat in the years that followed and I will return to some of the most significant as the memories resurface in what remains of my old, decaying brain matter. For the time being let's continue looking at the years in the mid-to late 1990s and past the dawn of the new millennium. This brought not the widely predicted chaos, but instead a widening of my horizons both home and abroad.
In fact my first experience at Clawford Vineyard came in 1995 when I got a phone call from John Ray, owner of the complex. I was writing the regional weekly fishing summary for Devon and Cornwall in Carp Talk at the time and John rang to invite me down to his newly-opened fishery in north Devon. John explained that he had big plans for the venue, with new lakes planned and extensions to the grounds and accommodation were well advanced. It sounded pretty exciting so we arranged that I would come up to Clawford a.s.a.p.
John and Wanda took strong precautions against infection, insisting that all visitor use their net and boot dip.
For anyone who has visited Clawford for a holiday or for a fishing trip in the past decade you may be shocked to see what the accommodation was like back in the mid-90s. Here owner John Ray stands by his beloved barbeque in front of the lovely old farm house that formed the sole B&B aspect of the complex.
Look at it a few years later...And this is just a small part of the overall development of the Vineyard.
In addition to extending the main house to add eight more bedrooms, Clawford also added three self-contained holiday houses on the site of the old car park.
In fact the extensive development now entails 17 fishing lakes, 24 self-catering units, eight B&B rooms, a six-bed farmhouse, as well as large bar and restaurant area. It is situated three miles south of Holsworthy, north-west Devon and the site is set in 78 acres of wonderful, peaceful countryside in the valley of the River Claw.
(2020 Update: Clawford site is now in new hands, John and Wanda having moved on into happy retirement. We wish them well, albeit somewhat wistfully as we and our mates enjoyed some epic times at Clawford, as you will see in later posts.)
In fact my first experience at Clawford Vineyard came in 1995 when I got a phone call from John Ray, owner of the complex. I was writing the regional weekly fishing summary for Devon and Cornwall in Carp Talk at the time and John rang to invite me down to his newly-opened fishery in north Devon. John explained that he had big plans for the venue, with new lakes planned and extensions to the grounds and accommodation were well advanced. It sounded pretty exciting so we arranged that I would come up to Clawford a.s.a.p.
John and Wanda took strong precautions against infection, insisting that all visitor use their net and boot dip.
For anyone who has visited Clawford for a holiday or for a fishing trip in the past decade you may be shocked to see what the accommodation was like back in the mid-90s. Here owner John Ray stands by his beloved barbeque in front of the lovely old farm house that formed the sole B&B aspect of the complex.
Look at it a few years later...And this is just a small part of the overall development of the Vineyard.
In addition to extending the main house to add eight more bedrooms, Clawford also added three self-contained holiday houses on the site of the old car park.
In fact the extensive development now entails 17 fishing lakes, 24 self-catering units, eight B&B rooms, a six-bed farmhouse, as well as large bar and restaurant area. It is situated three miles south of Holsworthy, north-west Devon and the site is set in 78 acres of wonderful, peaceful countryside in the valley of the River Claw.
(2020 Update: Clawford site is now in new hands, John and Wanda having moved on into happy retirement. We wish them well, albeit somewhat wistfully as we and our mates enjoyed some epic times at Clawford, as you will see in later posts.)
In reply to Post #422
It was a lovely warm day when I arrived at Clawford. What a venue...78 acres of rolling hills with the River Claw running through the valley. At the time there were only three lakes on the complex, Fletcher's, a small two acre lake in front of the farmhouse, and down the valley JR's Lake and Tanner's. These had just been dug and were not ready to receive fish stocks at that time, however, the latter would become a favourite carp lake for myself and a few of my mates in the coming years. In this shot, taken later that year on a winter visit, Tanners is on the right as you look down the valley.
After John had filled me in on the lake I was going to fish, Fletcher's, and advised me of the best spot to fish I set up in a quite corner by the inlet stream. John had told me that Fletcher's Lake held mainly ghosties and some golden tench as well as plenty of newly stocked carp between two and ten kilos. This was somewhat disappointing as I had hoped for bigger fish, but lets not run before we can walk. This is Fletcher's Lake as it looked in 1995 (the photo in the previous post shows the lake after it had been extended in about 2010).
I won't linger too much on the fishing that first day: suffice it to say I did not cover myself in glory. Yes, I did catch but my biggest carp, a ghostie, went about 5lb.
A couple of other anglers lake had some slightly bigger carp, including this lively double for a young visitor.
...and this low double for another visiting angler.
John and his Polish wife Wanda were fantastic hosts. Nothing was too much trouble and John's barbeque performed sterling service. This is John and his missus in 1995.
And here Jerry and I enjoy one of Wanda's famous Full English breakfasts on a bench beside the lake.
I left the lake knowing that the future looked really good for Clawford and if John's ambitious plans truly came to fruition this would be a venue to cherish in a few years time and if the hosts continued to enjoy a party with their guests I could think of several mates who would happily make the trip up to North Devon to enjoy this hospitality. Those two really know how to party!
It was a lovely warm day when I arrived at Clawford. What a venue...78 acres of rolling hills with the River Claw running through the valley. At the time there were only three lakes on the complex, Fletcher's, a small two acre lake in front of the farmhouse, and down the valley JR's Lake and Tanner's. These had just been dug and were not ready to receive fish stocks at that time, however, the latter would become a favourite carp lake for myself and a few of my mates in the coming years. In this shot, taken later that year on a winter visit, Tanners is on the right as you look down the valley.
After John had filled me in on the lake I was going to fish, Fletcher's, and advised me of the best spot to fish I set up in a quite corner by the inlet stream. John had told me that Fletcher's Lake held mainly ghosties and some golden tench as well as plenty of newly stocked carp between two and ten kilos. This was somewhat disappointing as I had hoped for bigger fish, but lets not run before we can walk. This is Fletcher's Lake as it looked in 1995 (the photo in the previous post shows the lake after it had been extended in about 2010).
I won't linger too much on the fishing that first day: suffice it to say I did not cover myself in glory. Yes, I did catch but my biggest carp, a ghostie, went about 5lb.
A couple of other anglers lake had some slightly bigger carp, including this lively double for a young visitor.
...and this low double for another visiting angler.
John and his Polish wife Wanda were fantastic hosts. Nothing was too much trouble and John's barbeque performed sterling service. This is John and his missus in 1995.
And here Jerry and I enjoy one of Wanda's famous Full English breakfasts on a bench beside the lake.
I left the lake knowing that the future looked really good for Clawford and if John's ambitious plans truly came to fruition this would be a venue to cherish in a few years time and if the hosts continued to enjoy a party with their guests I could think of several mates who would happily make the trip up to North Devon to enjoy this hospitality. Those two really know how to party!
In reply to Post #423
We jump ahead several years and as predicted Clawford became something of a hot spot for the west country's coarse anglers. The two carp lakes, Tanner's and Major John's, had been stocked with some decent carp from several reliable sources and these were now doing well. In addition our mate Harry ('H') had been appointed fishery manager and he told us that the lakes were producing some decent fish up to mid twenties. The complex had also been extended and now there were seven lakes on site. Of these two were designated as specimen carp lakes, the others being mixed species fun lakes. This shot was taken (I am guessing here) in about 2002.
I went up a few times for a few winter sessions and renewed my association with the Clawford bar and restaurant. John and Wanda's hospitality had, if anything, got even more expansive and it was a hard place to leave on a wet and windy winter's night in order to return to a damp, smelly bivvy. But you won't catch anything in the bar, or so the story goes! (Though that assertion was often a bit wide of the mark in 'certain' Home Counties venues...cough!) This is a typical winter scenic on Tanners, icy cold, indicators frozen on their mounts and the line frozen in the rod rings, reels frozen almost solid!
It took me a couple of visits to get to grips with Tanners, the lake I fished almost exclusively throughout the Clawford years. It has to be one of the most challenging and frustrating waters I have ever fished. Whenever I fished it I knew full well that I had fish in front of me but at times I couldn't buy a take. Fish showed over the bait on and off throughout the day and night but pick ups (for me at least) were few and far between. You could see them and hear them at night they were the most elusive of carp.
I really wish I could understand carp...Maybe then I'll catch a bit better! Mind you, that first winter campaign I did up there was a bitter one, which made leaving the warmth and comfort of the bar and the hotel all the harder. Indeed, I will freely confess to staying a pint too long on the odd occasion and being offered a bed for the night thanks to Wanda's kindness. This is a view of Fletcher's from my bedroom window. Nice innit! (The stakes you can see on the hillside opposite are the supports for the vines after which the complex is named.)
Tanner's had the Indian sign on me and no mistake and my good nature was not improved by having to net several of the lake's biggies for H, who often fished the nights on Tanner's.
Way back in 1981 when the Carp Society was formed, Tat & I took on the job of Regional Organisers for the Devon & Cornwall area. We did two stints as ROs first when Tim was at the helm and again, later, when Tim managed to oust the disastrous committee that had come close to destroying the Society. We had some lively and exciting regional meetings at venues all around the south west, attracting some of the top speakers of the day, however, none were so much fun as those we held at Clawford. There are a couple of famous faces here (and one or two infamous ones too!).
By now quite a few of my mates from Cornwall had joined the Clawford Syndicate, which was rapidly gaining a decent reputation for itself. Nige and Steve (from Roche AC's committee) joined as did a fair few of the Devon Mafia and it soon became a lively and jovial syndicate with much emphasis being put upon time away from the lake, if you get my meaning. Having a pub so nearby can be very distracting.
We jump ahead several years and as predicted Clawford became something of a hot spot for the west country's coarse anglers. The two carp lakes, Tanner's and Major John's, had been stocked with some decent carp from several reliable sources and these were now doing well. In addition our mate Harry ('H') had been appointed fishery manager and he told us that the lakes were producing some decent fish up to mid twenties. The complex had also been extended and now there were seven lakes on site. Of these two were designated as specimen carp lakes, the others being mixed species fun lakes. This shot was taken (I am guessing here) in about 2002.
I went up a few times for a few winter sessions and renewed my association with the Clawford bar and restaurant. John and Wanda's hospitality had, if anything, got even more expansive and it was a hard place to leave on a wet and windy winter's night in order to return to a damp, smelly bivvy. But you won't catch anything in the bar, or so the story goes! (Though that assertion was often a bit wide of the mark in 'certain' Home Counties venues...cough!) This is a typical winter scenic on Tanners, icy cold, indicators frozen on their mounts and the line frozen in the rod rings, reels frozen almost solid!
It took me a couple of visits to get to grips with Tanners, the lake I fished almost exclusively throughout the Clawford years. It has to be one of the most challenging and frustrating waters I have ever fished. Whenever I fished it I knew full well that I had fish in front of me but at times I couldn't buy a take. Fish showed over the bait on and off throughout the day and night but pick ups (for me at least) were few and far between. You could see them and hear them at night they were the most elusive of carp.
I really wish I could understand carp...Maybe then I'll catch a bit better! Mind you, that first winter campaign I did up there was a bitter one, which made leaving the warmth and comfort of the bar and the hotel all the harder. Indeed, I will freely confess to staying a pint too long on the odd occasion and being offered a bed for the night thanks to Wanda's kindness. This is a view of Fletcher's from my bedroom window. Nice innit! (The stakes you can see on the hillside opposite are the supports for the vines after which the complex is named.)
Tanner's had the Indian sign on me and no mistake and my good nature was not improved by having to net several of the lake's biggies for H, who often fished the nights on Tanner's.
Way back in 1981 when the Carp Society was formed, Tat & I took on the job of Regional Organisers for the Devon & Cornwall area. We did two stints as ROs first when Tim was at the helm and again, later, when Tim managed to oust the disastrous committee that had come close to destroying the Society. We had some lively and exciting regional meetings at venues all around the south west, attracting some of the top speakers of the day, however, none were so much fun as those we held at Clawford. There are a couple of famous faces here (and one or two infamous ones too!).
By now quite a few of my mates from Cornwall had joined the Clawford Syndicate, which was rapidly gaining a decent reputation for itself. Nige and Steve (from Roche AC's committee) joined as did a fair few of the Devon Mafia and it soon became a lively and jovial syndicate with much emphasis being put upon time away from the lake, if you get my meaning. Having a pub so nearby can be very distracting.
In reply to Post #424
I didn't take me long to fall in love with Tanners. It was my kind of carp water, small, intimate and very beautiful.
Not easy, though, as I quickly discovered. It was not some sit, bait and wait type of water and I needed to think about my fishing to get the best from the lake. I eventually achieved a modicum of success at the lake over the years but Tanners came under a fair amount of pressure once the word spread about the quality of the fishing and the carp definitely wised up. The Tanners carp were not stupid and they were not fooled for long by what soon became the standard tactics on such a small lake, namely mini baits, light line tiny hookbaits, etc. I had looked at the ‘standard' approach of most of the regulars on Tanners and found it wanting. True, it had worked for a while but it didn't seem to be doing the business. I felt a bit of a swerve from the tried & trusted was called for.
I was not much of a rig changer back in the day (same as these days in fact) but I had seen most of the rigs others were using at the time and they were invariably long, supple hooklinks and tiny hooks, the thinking being that if they couldn't see of feel the hooklink they (the carp) would trip up. That's all well and good but if the fish are feeding warily, as I was sure the carp in Tanners were, then these ultra long hooklinks also gave the fish plenty of opportunity to spit out the hook and hookbait. I thought if I went to the opposite end of the scale, big leads, stiff hooklink material and big hooks I might get a few on the bank. Thus I came up with this set up which comprises a 4oz lead and four inch 25lb Quicksilver hooklink to a size 2 hook. The hookbait itself was 20-25mm in diameter!
From the mid 90s onwards the trend on the lake had been for a really delicate approach using ultra light running leads, flying back leads, lead core behind the lead, etc. etc. Baits were invariably tiny 8-10mm boilies fished on long critically balanced confidence rigs over a small carpet of pellet or ground bait or simply a PVA bag of the same. Tactics were always to cast to the margins of the islands with a tiny hook bait put as tight to the island as possible. Six inches off was regarded as too far out! I followed this doctrine for a while but it soon became obvious to me that the carp were getting wise to the approach as loads of the anglers were reporting aborted runs, stuttery pick ups and fish bow waving off the bait carpet. Fishing open water seemed to me to be the ideal switch tactic, though I will admit I would always keep one rod tight to the margins.
All in all this switch in tactics worked well for me and continued to do so throughout my years on the complex.
Does anyone remember the heatwave summer of 2003? I went up a few times that summer but the heat was crippling. I remember fishing on the hottest day of the year, when the temperature reached 38.5 degrees. It was impossible to stay in the bivvy after 11.00h; it was like an oven. The sun was relentless that summer but nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely, thanks in no small part to the bar and Wanda's grub. I used to bait the open water quite heavily with freebies and was pretty happy with the sessions as a whole given the conditions. In three 36-hour trips in August I landed eleven fish including seven twenties including a beautiful common. At the same time other guests were struggling. This was my swim on Tanners when the heatwave struck.
I don't want this thread to turn into some boring old 'how to do it' one but if I can give just one piece of advice to anglers who are struggling on their lake it would be to consider the size of their hookbaits and freebies. For instance, go into your local tackle shop or chat to the peeps visiting the conferences. Ask them what size (and shape) baits they are using. I am sure that the consensus would be in favour of medium sized freebies and hookbaits. Ask your tackle dealer which is the most popular size shelfie he sells. I'll take a bet he'll say 15mm! So first off try something different. If everyone's using 15mm baits why don't you try larger or smaller than the norm? For Tanners, while everybody was on crumb sized 'bits' I got busy in the kitchen with the bait gun and made up some giant baits of about 25mm. This totally flew in the face of the accepted wisdom at the lake but it worked a treat, and not just on Tanners. It has been a tactic that has worked for me on many waters.
Baitwise back then I was firmly in the Nutrabaits camp (as I had been since the mid-80s, so using their premier mixes was a given. I had been testing a version of Big Fish Mix that contained a pre-digested fishmeal which I called Stage Two Big Fish Mix. This was in the early days of hydrolysed (enzyme treated) feeds and liquids but it became clear to all Bill that there was something in them. I had passed on my theories and ideas to Bill who was also working along the same lines. The BFM Stage 2 was also in use by others in the Nutrabaits came such as Paul Selman, though neither of use knew that the other was working along similar lines!
I didn't take me long to fall in love with Tanners. It was my kind of carp water, small, intimate and very beautiful.
Not easy, though, as I quickly discovered. It was not some sit, bait and wait type of water and I needed to think about my fishing to get the best from the lake. I eventually achieved a modicum of success at the lake over the years but Tanners came under a fair amount of pressure once the word spread about the quality of the fishing and the carp definitely wised up. The Tanners carp were not stupid and they were not fooled for long by what soon became the standard tactics on such a small lake, namely mini baits, light line tiny hookbaits, etc. I had looked at the ‘standard' approach of most of the regulars on Tanners and found it wanting. True, it had worked for a while but it didn't seem to be doing the business. I felt a bit of a swerve from the tried & trusted was called for.
I was not much of a rig changer back in the day (same as these days in fact) but I had seen most of the rigs others were using at the time and they were invariably long, supple hooklinks and tiny hooks, the thinking being that if they couldn't see of feel the hooklink they (the carp) would trip up. That's all well and good but if the fish are feeding warily, as I was sure the carp in Tanners were, then these ultra long hooklinks also gave the fish plenty of opportunity to spit out the hook and hookbait. I thought if I went to the opposite end of the scale, big leads, stiff hooklink material and big hooks I might get a few on the bank. Thus I came up with this set up which comprises a 4oz lead and four inch 25lb Quicksilver hooklink to a size 2 hook. The hookbait itself was 20-25mm in diameter!
From the mid 90s onwards the trend on the lake had been for a really delicate approach using ultra light running leads, flying back leads, lead core behind the lead, etc. etc. Baits were invariably tiny 8-10mm boilies fished on long critically balanced confidence rigs over a small carpet of pellet or ground bait or simply a PVA bag of the same. Tactics were always to cast to the margins of the islands with a tiny hook bait put as tight to the island as possible. Six inches off was regarded as too far out! I followed this doctrine for a while but it soon became obvious to me that the carp were getting wise to the approach as loads of the anglers were reporting aborted runs, stuttery pick ups and fish bow waving off the bait carpet. Fishing open water seemed to me to be the ideal switch tactic, though I will admit I would always keep one rod tight to the margins.
All in all this switch in tactics worked well for me and continued to do so throughout my years on the complex.
Does anyone remember the heatwave summer of 2003? I went up a few times that summer but the heat was crippling. I remember fishing on the hottest day of the year, when the temperature reached 38.5 degrees. It was impossible to stay in the bivvy after 11.00h; it was like an oven. The sun was relentless that summer but nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely, thanks in no small part to the bar and Wanda's grub. I used to bait the open water quite heavily with freebies and was pretty happy with the sessions as a whole given the conditions. In three 36-hour trips in August I landed eleven fish including seven twenties including a beautiful common. At the same time other guests were struggling. This was my swim on Tanners when the heatwave struck.
I don't want this thread to turn into some boring old 'how to do it' one but if I can give just one piece of advice to anglers who are struggling on their lake it would be to consider the size of their hookbaits and freebies. For instance, go into your local tackle shop or chat to the peeps visiting the conferences. Ask them what size (and shape) baits they are using. I am sure that the consensus would be in favour of medium sized freebies and hookbaits. Ask your tackle dealer which is the most popular size shelfie he sells. I'll take a bet he'll say 15mm! So first off try something different. If everyone's using 15mm baits why don't you try larger or smaller than the norm? For Tanners, while everybody was on crumb sized 'bits' I got busy in the kitchen with the bait gun and made up some giant baits of about 25mm. This totally flew in the face of the accepted wisdom at the lake but it worked a treat, and not just on Tanners. It has been a tactic that has worked for me on many waters.
Baitwise back then I was firmly in the Nutrabaits camp (as I had been since the mid-80s, so using their premier mixes was a given. I had been testing a version of Big Fish Mix that contained a pre-digested fishmeal which I called Stage Two Big Fish Mix. This was in the early days of hydrolysed (enzyme treated) feeds and liquids but it became clear to all Bill that there was something in them. I had passed on my theories and ideas to Bill who was also working along the same lines. The BFM Stage 2 was also in use by others in the Nutrabaits came such as Paul Selman, though neither of use knew that the other was working along similar lines!
In reply to Post #425
What neither of us knew was that Bill had other plans for the pre-dig fishmeal for he and Lee Walton were putting together the early trial versions of Trigga. Trigga was eventually launched in the spring of 2001 and it soon became Nutrabaits' top seller. It followed the increasingly popular tendency towards totally natural ingredients and attractors and the base mix contained no artificial ingredients. Key to its success was in my opinion the same blend of hydrolysed marine meals that Bill had sent me to try out on the Big Fish Mix. In addition Trigga contained low fat organic marine proteins, milk and whey proteins and the key secret (yes, truly) ingredient Trigga Powder. The latter had been touted to Bill buy a guy who worked in the cat food industry. The powder was added to tinned feeds to make them more attractive and at the same time easier to digest Knowing a good thing when he saw one Bill bit the guy's hand off but not before gaining an assurance that the Powder would not be touted to any other bait firm. At the time of the launch nobody, and I mean NOBODY, knew what the Powder was or where it came from. This well guarded secret lasted about 18 months before the beans were spilled! In the meanwhile we had a field day.
There's a funny story behind the development of Trigga prior to its release. When I was first given the bait for field testing it came in ready rolled frozen form. I had no idea what the base mix consisted of or what liquid attractors were included. I was simply sent 20kg of 15mm baits and told to get on with it! Little did I know but all the other Nutrabaits field testers had been treated the same way but each one of them had a different version of the bait. As luck would have it I was sent a batch of bait that didn't work too well. Thinking that all the testers were experiencing similar results I got in touch with Bill and told him I thought the bait was rubbish! A few weeks later Bill told me what he'd been doing. Each of the testers had received a batch of the bait, each one containing a different level of pre-dig and Trigga powder. When the results came in (both good and bad) Bill was able to refine the base mix with the optimum levels of each ingredient. The next batch he sent me took me to another dimension on Tanners!
I have long had a passion for paste baits, always being aware that they are short term as small fry will readily attack and paste be it a freebie or a hookbait. If you can live with this and accept that you have to rebait frequently then there is no better bait than a nice amino-oozing fish meal paste. I used both the Stage 2 BFM and Trigga in paste form to great effect on Tanners, and while messing about with them one day I came up with an idea for mounting a double paste bait on the hair. This is it:
The stocking mesh-wrapped baits were mounted cross wise through a small bait band...I guess I had inadvertently invented the Bollox Rig some dozen years or so before it became more widely used at Rainbow Lake!
What neither of us knew was that Bill had other plans for the pre-dig fishmeal for he and Lee Walton were putting together the early trial versions of Trigga. Trigga was eventually launched in the spring of 2001 and it soon became Nutrabaits' top seller. It followed the increasingly popular tendency towards totally natural ingredients and attractors and the base mix contained no artificial ingredients. Key to its success was in my opinion the same blend of hydrolysed marine meals that Bill had sent me to try out on the Big Fish Mix. In addition Trigga contained low fat organic marine proteins, milk and whey proteins and the key secret (yes, truly) ingredient Trigga Powder. The latter had been touted to Bill buy a guy who worked in the cat food industry. The powder was added to tinned feeds to make them more attractive and at the same time easier to digest Knowing a good thing when he saw one Bill bit the guy's hand off but not before gaining an assurance that the Powder would not be touted to any other bait firm. At the time of the launch nobody, and I mean NOBODY, knew what the Powder was or where it came from. This well guarded secret lasted about 18 months before the beans were spilled! In the meanwhile we had a field day.
There's a funny story behind the development of Trigga prior to its release. When I was first given the bait for field testing it came in ready rolled frozen form. I had no idea what the base mix consisted of or what liquid attractors were included. I was simply sent 20kg of 15mm baits and told to get on with it! Little did I know but all the other Nutrabaits field testers had been treated the same way but each one of them had a different version of the bait. As luck would have it I was sent a batch of bait that didn't work too well. Thinking that all the testers were experiencing similar results I got in touch with Bill and told him I thought the bait was rubbish! A few weeks later Bill told me what he'd been doing. Each of the testers had received a batch of the bait, each one containing a different level of pre-dig and Trigga powder. When the results came in (both good and bad) Bill was able to refine the base mix with the optimum levels of each ingredient. The next batch he sent me took me to another dimension on Tanners!
I have long had a passion for paste baits, always being aware that they are short term as small fry will readily attack and paste be it a freebie or a hookbait. If you can live with this and accept that you have to rebait frequently then there is no better bait than a nice amino-oozing fish meal paste. I used both the Stage 2 BFM and Trigga in paste form to great effect on Tanners, and while messing about with them one day I came up with an idea for mounting a double paste bait on the hair. This is it:
The stocking mesh-wrapped baits were mounted cross wise through a small bait band...I guess I had inadvertently invented the Bollox Rig some dozen years or so before it became more widely used at Rainbow Lake!
In reply to Post #426
Some of my fondest SW memories are of the Carp Society meetings we held all over the area. When the Society was formed in 1981 I knew nothing about it. Then by chance I dropped into Tackle Up, a tackle shop in Ash Vale, and saw on the counter a small pile of Carp Fisher magazines, the first such mag published by the Carp Society. The magazine - the one with Mike Wilson with an amazing Savay mirror on the cover - drew me in an held me in awe. What a carp, what a photo! I got talking to the shop owner, Colin Chandler, who was taking new members on behalf of the Society. I signed up straight away. My number was 1066 (significant or otherwise? I have often asked myself that!).
So began a long association with the CS and at the first meeting Tim Paisley asked Tat and I to be the Regional Organisers for the Devon and Cornwall branch. I had started a tentative (pen) friendship with Tim when I wrote to him about bait. Tim's expansive letter drew me deep into the carp bait world, though to date I am still to figure out much of it! However, my connection with Tim, who was the Society's first Secretary, opened doors and getting hold of top flight speakers for our meetings was a piece of cake (I suspect Tim did a lot of arm twisting on our behalf!). You can read more about my naive forays into the bait world in my Haith's Baits Blogs:
Link 1...
Link 2...
So it was the we held our very first regional meeting at the Exeter Court Hotel on the A38 at the foot of Haldon Hill. Tim was once of the speakers, Ritchie the other. Rod was supposed to come down too but in the end he couldn't make it. Ritchie more than made up for Rod's absence. Anyone who has been fortunate to hear one of Ritchie's talks will know what I mean!
And that was just the first of many. In order to attract the very best speakers we decided to hold our meetings a little closer to what many might call civilisation so we moved venues to The Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster (now a Best Western).
Being that bit closer to the Home Counties meant that we could attract the cream of the top anglers for the area and over the years our guest list read like a Who's Who of carp fishing. We had Tim, Ritchie, Andy Little, Bob Baker, Albert Romp, Chris Yates, Bob James, Clive and Malc, Rod (eventually!), Mike Wilson and many other famous names.
We always tried to do that little bit more for the guests and attendees. We offered good hotel rooms meals, a buffet or two, space to bivvy up if required (it often was!). Thus we always managed to get great attendances for our meeting and we treated our guests like royalty. Another thing: we noticed that many of the regions up country had loads more members than little old Devon and Cornwall and their meetings attracted many members and non-members alike, often well into the hundreds strong. Invariably the meetings held in these highly populated regions took place in the evenings, often in midweek. Me and Tat knew this would not work for us as both members and speakers would have a long trips each end of the meeting. We therefore decided to hold ours on a Saturday afternoon and evening, usually laying on a meal at half time, and a decent raffle at the whistle. This was Tat's brainwave and as a result we always had full houses and eventually the demand was such that we had to restrict numbers, the meetings being ticket-only affairs.
Some of my fondest SW memories are of the Carp Society meetings we held all over the area. When the Society was formed in 1981 I knew nothing about it. Then by chance I dropped into Tackle Up, a tackle shop in Ash Vale, and saw on the counter a small pile of Carp Fisher magazines, the first such mag published by the Carp Society. The magazine - the one with Mike Wilson with an amazing Savay mirror on the cover - drew me in an held me in awe. What a carp, what a photo! I got talking to the shop owner, Colin Chandler, who was taking new members on behalf of the Society. I signed up straight away. My number was 1066 (significant or otherwise? I have often asked myself that!).
So began a long association with the CS and at the first meeting Tim Paisley asked Tat and I to be the Regional Organisers for the Devon and Cornwall branch. I had started a tentative (pen) friendship with Tim when I wrote to him about bait. Tim's expansive letter drew me deep into the carp bait world, though to date I am still to figure out much of it! However, my connection with Tim, who was the Society's first Secretary, opened doors and getting hold of top flight speakers for our meetings was a piece of cake (I suspect Tim did a lot of arm twisting on our behalf!). You can read more about my naive forays into the bait world in my Haith's Baits Blogs:
Link 1...
Link 2...
So it was the we held our very first regional meeting at the Exeter Court Hotel on the A38 at the foot of Haldon Hill. Tim was once of the speakers, Ritchie the other. Rod was supposed to come down too but in the end he couldn't make it. Ritchie more than made up for Rod's absence. Anyone who has been fortunate to hear one of Ritchie's talks will know what I mean!
And that was just the first of many. In order to attract the very best speakers we decided to hold our meetings a little closer to what many might call civilisation so we moved venues to The Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster (now a Best Western).
Being that bit closer to the Home Counties meant that we could attract the cream of the top anglers for the area and over the years our guest list read like a Who's Who of carp fishing. We had Tim, Ritchie, Andy Little, Bob Baker, Albert Romp, Chris Yates, Bob James, Clive and Malc, Rod (eventually!), Mike Wilson and many other famous names.
We always tried to do that little bit more for the guests and attendees. We offered good hotel rooms meals, a buffet or two, space to bivvy up if required (it often was!). Thus we always managed to get great attendances for our meeting and we treated our guests like royalty. Another thing: we noticed that many of the regions up country had loads more members than little old Devon and Cornwall and their meetings attracted many members and non-members alike, often well into the hundreds strong. Invariably the meetings held in these highly populated regions took place in the evenings, often in midweek. Me and Tat knew this would not work for us as both members and speakers would have a long trips each end of the meeting. We therefore decided to hold ours on a Saturday afternoon and evening, usually laying on a meal at half time, and a decent raffle at the whistle. This was Tat's brainwave and as a result we always had full houses and eventually the demand was such that we had to restrict numbers, the meetings being ticket-only affairs.
In reply to Post #427
We had great fun at The Shrubbery and many members stayed overnight. The beer ran freely, as did the G &Ts, the humour, the carpy tales and the good natured joshing. Those meetings were always a good laugh, as I am sure anyone who attended one will agree.
The Carp Society was a wonderful vibrant, enthusiastic organisation at the time and this can-do attitude lead eventually to it purchasing outright Horseshoe Lake. Sadly the repercussion of the purchase put the Society in a somewhat vulnerable position and a committee purge meant that all the stalwarts that had formed and supported it from Day One were out on the street and a team of what I called 'city slickers' took over. In time it became clear that the 'new' Carp Society as constructed by the replacement committee was in it for one thing only: Money!
Gradually the regional organisation fell apart. Regions lost membership and the CS didn't seem to care any more. All they wanted to do was protect their nest eggs, the Sandown Show and Horseshoe Lake, while at the same time stripping the CS of any assets they could get their hands on. With the regional structure ripped up Tat and I could no longer be the Regional Organisers for the Devon & Cornwall region so we stepped down. We hated what the Society had become and felt totally adrift from the new structure. We handed over the region's Society funds, which were considerable as we always made a small profit on the meetings, little knowing that the funds would be swallowed up by 'jollies' and 'members' expense'!
It took legal action that went as far as the High Court to prise the sticky fingers of the 'city slickers' away from the Society but eventually they were ousted with the CS's remaining assets still intact. Once again Tim Paisley and his team of Society die-hards from the old days restructured the CS and kept its finances secure. With Tim once again at the helm of the Carp Society (it was, in effect, his baby) we again felt able to try to resurrect the region and by chance found a willing and able host in John and Wanda's Clawford Vineyard. This is how our Society meetings usually ended up!
We had great fun at The Shrubbery and many members stayed overnight. The beer ran freely, as did the G &Ts, the humour, the carpy tales and the good natured joshing. Those meetings were always a good laugh, as I am sure anyone who attended one will agree.
The Carp Society was a wonderful vibrant, enthusiastic organisation at the time and this can-do attitude lead eventually to it purchasing outright Horseshoe Lake. Sadly the repercussion of the purchase put the Society in a somewhat vulnerable position and a committee purge meant that all the stalwarts that had formed and supported it from Day One were out on the street and a team of what I called 'city slickers' took over. In time it became clear that the 'new' Carp Society as constructed by the replacement committee was in it for one thing only: Money!
Gradually the regional organisation fell apart. Regions lost membership and the CS didn't seem to care any more. All they wanted to do was protect their nest eggs, the Sandown Show and Horseshoe Lake, while at the same time stripping the CS of any assets they could get their hands on. With the regional structure ripped up Tat and I could no longer be the Regional Organisers for the Devon & Cornwall region so we stepped down. We hated what the Society had become and felt totally adrift from the new structure. We handed over the region's Society funds, which were considerable as we always made a small profit on the meetings, little knowing that the funds would be swallowed up by 'jollies' and 'members' expense'!
It took legal action that went as far as the High Court to prise the sticky fingers of the 'city slickers' away from the Society but eventually they were ousted with the CS's remaining assets still intact. Once again Tim Paisley and his team of Society die-hards from the old days restructured the CS and kept its finances secure. With Tim once again at the helm of the Carp Society (it was, in effect, his baby) we again felt able to try to resurrect the region and by chance found a willing and able host in John and Wanda's Clawford Vineyard. This is how our Society meetings usually ended up!
In reply to Post #428
It all started one weekend when Tat and I were supposedly fishing but got side tracked in the bar. We got talking to John about the Carp Society and reminiscing about our previous meetings under the old regime back in the good old days. I told him we were looking for a venue on the Devon/Cornwall border where we could hold meetings. "Why not have them here?" John asked. "We could do dinners, breakfasts, rooms for those that wanted and there's plenty of bivvy room outside."
In fact it had everything we could possibly wish for so I got cracking on doing a bit of advertising trying to drum up support. I no longer had my list of CS members but a troll around the tackle shops in the two counties son spread the word so once again we were back at it organising some of the best regional meeting anywhere in the country (he said modestly).
By now John had formed a carp syndicate on Clawford which covered the fishing on three lakes, JR's, Major John's and Tanners. The syndicate was called the Five Cs (Clawford's Crafty Carpers Carp Club), a slight dig, perhaps, at another nearby syndicate? Membership was restricted to Devon and Cornwall residents only and I soon managed to part fill it with my friends from Roche AC, Steve, Nige, Lee and Ali, to whom it became a home from home. I imagine the bar/restaurant had a fair part to play in their decision to join!
Many an evening was spent in jovial competition in the game of Spoof. This is lethal and can turn out pretty expensive and intoxicating! The rules, for those that don't know the game, are simple yet complex to the uninitiated.
Each player - there came be as many as want to play - holds in his closed fist up to three coins. One coin, two, three or even no coins at all. Players take it in turn to guess the total number of coins held hidden in the closed fists by the group. For instance, if ten are playing that means there could be a maximum of thirty coins so player 1 might call "twenty". Player 2 might call "seventeen". Player 3 "twenty-six" and so on. Gradually each player makes his choice. (It is best to be the last of the ten to call as that gives you some idea of who is holding what, also bearing in mind what you yourself are holding and who you think is bluffing.) When all ten have called the players open their fists to reveal what they are holding. The winner is the guy or girl that guesses the correct total who then drops out of the game and the next round commences. Now the nine remaining players start again, the first caller being the player to the left of the first round winner...are you following me...?
Here a late night group, some of whom should be fishing, is Spoofing for the last round (which it seldom was!). From left to right, Harry (H), John the boss, Wanda the real boss, Nigel and a mystery player whose fist is all we see of him. I suspect it is Steve. I have already won a call so I am out and thus am doing the pic.
After each round the winner drops out until only two players are left. These two play off against each other until there is a final winner. (This is the best round of all as the two can only be holding a maximum of six or a minimum of none.) The winner drops out leaving the group looser - the last one standing, if you like - to buy the next round!
Now as you can see, Spoof is very much a bluffer's paradise and many a happy Saturday night was spent fishing Spoofing in the bar at Clawford. Often holiday visitors would join in and if I remember rightly this group were from Wales. I think the lass on the right has the hump as she has had to buy the last round! As you can see the Cornios, Steve, Nige and me, are already out. We cheat!
Still, all's well that end well and even if you loose you send up smiling as you'll be as pissed as a pudding, especially if it's a large group of players.
It all started one weekend when Tat and I were supposedly fishing but got side tracked in the bar. We got talking to John about the Carp Society and reminiscing about our previous meetings under the old regime back in the good old days. I told him we were looking for a venue on the Devon/Cornwall border where we could hold meetings. "Why not have them here?" John asked. "We could do dinners, breakfasts, rooms for those that wanted and there's plenty of bivvy room outside."
In fact it had everything we could possibly wish for so I got cracking on doing a bit of advertising trying to drum up support. I no longer had my list of CS members but a troll around the tackle shops in the two counties son spread the word so once again we were back at it organising some of the best regional meeting anywhere in the country (he said modestly).
By now John had formed a carp syndicate on Clawford which covered the fishing on three lakes, JR's, Major John's and Tanners. The syndicate was called the Five Cs (Clawford's Crafty Carpers Carp Club), a slight dig, perhaps, at another nearby syndicate? Membership was restricted to Devon and Cornwall residents only and I soon managed to part fill it with my friends from Roche AC, Steve, Nige, Lee and Ali, to whom it became a home from home. I imagine the bar/restaurant had a fair part to play in their decision to join!
Many an evening was spent in jovial competition in the game of Spoof. This is lethal and can turn out pretty expensive and intoxicating! The rules, for those that don't know the game, are simple yet complex to the uninitiated.
Each player - there came be as many as want to play - holds in his closed fist up to three coins. One coin, two, three or even no coins at all. Players take it in turn to guess the total number of coins held hidden in the closed fists by the group. For instance, if ten are playing that means there could be a maximum of thirty coins so player 1 might call "twenty". Player 2 might call "seventeen". Player 3 "twenty-six" and so on. Gradually each player makes his choice. (It is best to be the last of the ten to call as that gives you some idea of who is holding what, also bearing in mind what you yourself are holding and who you think is bluffing.) When all ten have called the players open their fists to reveal what they are holding. The winner is the guy or girl that guesses the correct total who then drops out of the game and the next round commences. Now the nine remaining players start again, the first caller being the player to the left of the first round winner...are you following me...?
Here a late night group, some of whom should be fishing, is Spoofing for the last round (which it seldom was!). From left to right, Harry (H), John the boss, Wanda the real boss, Nigel and a mystery player whose fist is all we see of him. I suspect it is Steve. I have already won a call so I am out and thus am doing the pic.
After each round the winner drops out until only two players are left. These two play off against each other until there is a final winner. (This is the best round of all as the two can only be holding a maximum of six or a minimum of none.) The winner drops out leaving the group looser - the last one standing, if you like - to buy the next round!
Now as you can see, Spoof is very much a bluffer's paradise and many a happy Saturday night was spent fishing Spoofing in the bar at Clawford. Often holiday visitors would join in and if I remember rightly this group were from Wales. I think the lass on the right has the hump as she has had to buy the last round! As you can see the Cornios, Steve, Nige and me, are already out. We cheat!
Still, all's well that end well and even if you loose you send up smiling as you'll be as pissed as a pudding, especially if it's a large group of players.
In reply to Post #429
I don't think we could have found a better venue for the meetings. Clawford had everything including free carp fishing; yes, John even agreed to open the carp lakes to Carp Society members who attended the meetings and quite a few guys and gals took him up on the offer. In addition there was B&B accommodation and bivvy space on the lawn in front of the farm house for those who wanted to stay over and indulge! Add to that the comfort of the lounge and the splendid bar and restaurant and you could say that the venue had everything! This is the lawn in front of the farm house...bivvy space galore. We held some terrific meetings there and they only stopped because John fell gravely ill.
Some of the best speakers of the day were kind enough to come and do shows for us, donating raffle prizes, signing autographs and the like. All they asked was a bed for the night and to be well fed and watered...Well, John made sure of that! Here Nige gets the round in!
Tim and Mary loved the West Country and would always respond with a happy, "yes" when asked to come down to us to do a show. This is Tim with the guy he called 'The Devon Tench Angler' a title award to our great mate Pete Amey. For a few years Devon man Pete worked in Kent. He was a brickie by trade and he was a bloody hard worker. He'd go where the money was best and that wasn't Devon or Cornwall back in the day. While living and working up country Pete joined Halls (Leisure Sport) and was for a while a bailiff on Darenth. There he had a fearsome reputation as a guy who would stand no nonsense (he represented Britain in the 1960 Olympics as a wrestler so if he said jump you said how high!).
He was also a formidable catcher of specimen tench, though whether this was by accident or design was never made clear! On the right of the shot of Tim and his dad is Pete Amey Junior, an accomplished angler who takes after his Dad. By strange quirk of fate both Petes caught huge Devon carp from the same venue within a week of each other. Dad caught 'Smirk' the well known ELS mirror at 51lb while Junior caught another ELS monster at 44lb! He also had a trial for West Ham but he didn't quite make it! (Lucky escape there, Peter mate!)
Pete Amey was a lifelong Nutrabaits user and in fact he was cherished by the company, as he was the fist guy to buy a job lot of Hi Nu Val and all three Addits, the company's first commercial products. Bill never forgot that and always kept a kindly eye out for Pete over the thirty odd years that he used Nutrabaits. I've got a pic of Pete with a lovely mid thirty from Kent somewhere but at the moment I am buggered if I can find it. Tim did a couple of seasons on Darenth in the early 80s and got to know Pete very well. In fact, it was through Pete that Tim got to meet the Darenth crew that would later take on the testing of the fledgling HERNV (Hi Nu Val) and the amino acids and other powders (the Addit range) that would soon feature on the bait scene. Here's Tim and Pete at a Clawford show.
And this is Tim, trying to explain the complexities of his HERNV bait to a confused attendee at one of the shows. A bemused John Ray looks on.
Surrey all rounder Bill Rushmer and his wife Ginny were frequent visitors to Clawford and Bill came down a couple of times to do a show for us. He was a fascinating speaker and they were both terrific anglers. Ginny in particular could charm them out of Major John's while Bill himself practised quick fire match fishing on JR's Lake.
I don't think we could have found a better venue for the meetings. Clawford had everything including free carp fishing; yes, John even agreed to open the carp lakes to Carp Society members who attended the meetings and quite a few guys and gals took him up on the offer. In addition there was B&B accommodation and bivvy space on the lawn in front of the farm house for those who wanted to stay over and indulge! Add to that the comfort of the lounge and the splendid bar and restaurant and you could say that the venue had everything! This is the lawn in front of the farm house...bivvy space galore. We held some terrific meetings there and they only stopped because John fell gravely ill.
Some of the best speakers of the day were kind enough to come and do shows for us, donating raffle prizes, signing autographs and the like. All they asked was a bed for the night and to be well fed and watered...Well, John made sure of that! Here Nige gets the round in!
Tim and Mary loved the West Country and would always respond with a happy, "yes" when asked to come down to us to do a show. This is Tim with the guy he called 'The Devon Tench Angler' a title award to our great mate Pete Amey. For a few years Devon man Pete worked in Kent. He was a brickie by trade and he was a bloody hard worker. He'd go where the money was best and that wasn't Devon or Cornwall back in the day. While living and working up country Pete joined Halls (Leisure Sport) and was for a while a bailiff on Darenth. There he had a fearsome reputation as a guy who would stand no nonsense (he represented Britain in the 1960 Olympics as a wrestler so if he said jump you said how high!).
He was also a formidable catcher of specimen tench, though whether this was by accident or design was never made clear! On the right of the shot of Tim and his dad is Pete Amey Junior, an accomplished angler who takes after his Dad. By strange quirk of fate both Petes caught huge Devon carp from the same venue within a week of each other. Dad caught 'Smirk' the well known ELS mirror at 51lb while Junior caught another ELS monster at 44lb! He also had a trial for West Ham but he didn't quite make it! (Lucky escape there, Peter mate!)
Pete Amey was a lifelong Nutrabaits user and in fact he was cherished by the company, as he was the fist guy to buy a job lot of Hi Nu Val and all three Addits, the company's first commercial products. Bill never forgot that and always kept a kindly eye out for Pete over the thirty odd years that he used Nutrabaits. I've got a pic of Pete with a lovely mid thirty from Kent somewhere but at the moment I am buggered if I can find it. Tim did a couple of seasons on Darenth in the early 80s and got to know Pete very well. In fact, it was through Pete that Tim got to meet the Darenth crew that would later take on the testing of the fledgling HERNV (Hi Nu Val) and the amino acids and other powders (the Addit range) that would soon feature on the bait scene. Here's Tim and Pete at a Clawford show.
And this is Tim, trying to explain the complexities of his HERNV bait to a confused attendee at one of the shows. A bemused John Ray looks on.
Surrey all rounder Bill Rushmer and his wife Ginny were frequent visitors to Clawford and Bill came down a couple of times to do a show for us. He was a fascinating speaker and they were both terrific anglers. Ginny in particular could charm them out of Major John's while Bill himself practised quick fire match fishing on JR's Lake.