The wait for Paradise is over...........

I had been looking forward to going to Anglers Paradise since February when I was last there for the Lure weekend, which was awesome, but this time I was returning with family and friends, which could go either way.
Travel plans where changed slightly due to a change of circumstances for Steve meaning he and his daughter Jess had lost their ride up, so we scoured the internet for a minibus come crew cab van we could hire so we could all get there, my car was well big enough for who and what it was going to be taking but with 2 extra people plus fishing kit there was no option.
Abacus hire in Andover came through in style with a 9 seat Renault Traffic with loads of space in the back, result.

Saturday
We all met up Saturday morning, and by all I mean in the minibus there was me driving, Steve and daughter Jess and my daughter Ellie, in my sister Kim's Mini there was Kim driving, my wife Emma, son Liam and family friend Vicky, let the road trip commence.
The journey should take about 3 1/2 hours on average but due to the sheer weight of traffic stopped and starring at some bloody old rocks on the A303 it was pushed towards 5hrs.
My side of the crew was staying in one of the top villas on the complex called Excellence, which had 2 double rooms and a four poster room all with on-suits, and even a Jacuzzi bath in our four poster en-suit. Steve was staying round the corner in another high end villa sharing the same view.
We parked the vehicles and walked round to the reception to collect the keys and meet in the bar to have a glass (or 2) of Zygs famous wine and have a chat with Zygs daughter Zenia and book our food nights for the week.

Then it was time to have a look around the villa and move all the stuff in, everyone was amazed how stunning it was and the views out the back where to die for, as with all villas I have stayed in they are fish themed all over the place, rods on the roof, pictures on the walls just brilliant.
We decided to get straight out fishing and went down to Pixie lake with Liam, Pixie has an incredible head of small ornamental fish with the odd donkey thrown in.
It didn't take long for Liam to have his first Golden Rudd and Goldfish, I got fixated trying to catch a big Koi that kept popping up, but I ended catching a small Carp of about 4lb, which in a lake this small was quite hard. After a few more we headed back to the villa to get ready for a few drinks up the bar, a great way to top off any day, which became a regular occurrence during our stay.

Sunday
Obviously with having the family with me on this trip to Anglers Paradise meant I was going to have to do some non fishing activities, which was fine with me, just being at this fantastic place was enough, but today, me Steve and the kids were going fishing for the morning on the float lake.

Float fishing in the edge we had many many fish including Goldfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench and Koi, was great fun and the kids were hooked. After a couple of hours my daughter went back to the villa whilst Liam and I went to fish mystery lake, because not even I know whats in there. Liam fished the edges and caught plenty of Rudd and as usual for Liam plenty of Gudgeon, I stalked a few Carp off the top using free lined bread, but sadly all good things have to come to an end and as we was at the Wine and Dine night later we headed back to get ready.

The Wine and Dine night is always good fun, Zenia and Zyg head up the evening which includes some beautiful chicken and sausages plus as much salad, garlic bread and wine as you like.
Once the food is consumed and your suitably drunk Zyg and Zenia will crack out the merchandise for you to buy, a brilliant tactic. After we headed into the bar to continue the fun.

Monday
Today was a family day, we was heading to the town of Bude, set right on the sea front, with some stunning eateries, there's a famous fudge shop which was amazing and the best pasties I have ever had, well worth the trip.

When we got back we had a bit off chill until Liam begged me to go fishing, so I couldn't say no.
We went down to the Beginners Carp lake as I have never fished it before and thought it would be good for a bite, and it was. I pitched up opposite a nice bushy island with a hole dead ahead, and using my 12m baiting spoon I was shipping my flatbed feeder under the bush then using a quiver tip waiting for the bite, which was normally whilst shipping back he spoon.
I had a load of Carp around the 5-6lb mark. I let Liam have a go too and have a few as the float fishing was not producing the goods on this occasion.
After packing up the rest of the day was spent chilling with the family and eating fudge.

Tuesday
This year I had made it my mission to try and catch my first Catfish, so this morning I was starting the campaign on Octopussy lake, home to some truly monster Cats and Carp.
I was using a solid bag of pellet with Luncheon meat on my R/H rod bait spooned out to the right of the island, the left rod had was positioned round a bit with a mesh bag of pellet with a large Halibut pellet. I had arrived quite early to try and get a good chance as I only had a few hours. 

After about half an hour I had a short screaming run which sadly amounted to nothing, then shortly after another dropped run, I was starting to get a bit frustrated then whilst spooning out my rig I obviously undone the spool on one of my Diawa big pits a bit to loose and it rolled off into the deep margins. After 15 minutes of dredging the lake bed with my net I finally pulled up a very silty spool, I was not happy.
I decided to pack up that rod and start packing the rest o the kit when fishery manager Joe turned up with Marty one of the fishery guys and after a good chat I decided there was a few things I could change on my rig to make it more Catfish efficient, for next time as it was time to get back for a little trip out.
We decided to visit a local little village called Okehampton, to have a little look about the local shops and stock up on a bit of grub for the villa, it was a lovely little village and well worth a trip.

Wednesday 
Today I was up at the crack of dawn to meet Steve out the back of the villas to go down to Easy Access lake which has a good quantity of Cats so it was time for another go, time to try the newly thought out rigs for less resistance. We fished the far side of the lake, with an island in front I was fishing about a rod length or so off, lightly baiting with Carp pellet for an hour or so before casting in. It was a really nice day, but maybe not the best for fishing as the air pressure was very high (getting the excuses in early).

There was a lot of bubbling fish in front of me and I did eventually get a run from a small but perfectly formed Carp. As the day creeped on we stopped for a break and to witness a truly magical moment, an Anglers Paradise blessing with a couple who very recently got married, and as with a lot of things here it has to be a little different.

The were brought down to the Koi lake on the back of a little buggy then walked around next to the pagoda where Zyg performed the ceremony, after then blessing the lake with port it was time for both Bride and groom to jump through a beautifully designed floating flower arrangement (made by Joe and Marty) in full wedding gear, as you do. A really memorable event, finished with a cup of Zygs famous wine.

As the family disappeared back to Bude for yet more fudge and a day at the beach I returned to Easy Access lake to carry on trying for a Cat.
After some more bait was deployed and some more Carp were banked it was not looking like a Cat was coming to the bank for me, I was feeling a bit like Mick Brown.

My wife and kids brought me dinner and desert down to the bank, which was amazing, but as the sun dropped I admitted defeat, packed up and left.
Even though the Cats evaded me again it was a hugely enjoyable day, as they all are here in Paradise.

Thursday
Today was mine and Emma's 10 year wedding anniversary, and we awoke to the villa decorated by my sister and Vicky, and looked amazing, and to show how in tune we are we ended up buying each other watches, mine a stunning Fossil watch which was engraved also, my wife's was a Micheal Kors watch, she was over the moon.

Our original plan was to spend the day at Paighton Zoo, and although it never rains in Devon, it was definitely moist so we decided to go tomorrow, and me and Liam decided on a couple of hours in the rain on Float lake. We had a few Golden Tench, Rudd and a few stunning Koi off the top.

With the fishing done for the day, and the week sadly we headed back to get ready to go out for a meal down the local pub. The food at the Junction inn was amazing, not a bad word to say about it and highly recommended and all payed for by Steve which was a great surprise.  

After we headed back to the bar at AP to carry on the celebrations with 2 bottles of Procceto, which was far too bubbly for me, but went down well all the same.

Friday  
Today we all decided on a day trip to Paighton Zoo, as the weather was too bad yesterday.
We arrived just before opening and queued for a short while before going in, I was really excited as I haven't been to a Zoo for a long time and as an animal lover there's a lot to do and see, but sadly the weather was pretty bad, as usual the weather app that stated it should stop raining by about 10am was way off, but we tried not to let it bother us. I think a highlight was the Lions and the Gorillas, fantastic to watch.

After a fantastic day at the Zoo we went round the corner to Morrisons to get a load of pizzas, garlic bread, salads etc and have a mass feast at our villa for us plus Steve and Jess.
The last evening was brilliant yet sad as it was the last night here, drinks flowed and way too much food was cooked and ate.
We went over to the bar for a couple of drinks and for the presentation evening which sadly I hadn't won any but then I didn't spend as long fishing as I usually would, but was a good evening.
I made sure I brought a few bottles of wine off Zyg as all the money goes to charity and I love the stuff.
 bhjbhjb
We said our goodbyes to the other anglers of which we made good friends as usual and to Zyg, Zenia, Joe and all who work at Anglers Paradise for making the whole family so welcome and headed back to the villa.  
We packed most of the stuff up that night so there was less to do in the morning and headed of to bed.

Saturday 
It's always hard leaving a place you love so much but it was time, we loaded the van and car, popped the key back to reception and headed off for the 3 1/2 hour journey home.
I really cant speak highly enough about Anglers Paradise, it really does have it all, yes there are other holiday fishing venues around the country but I would bet all I own that you wouldn't catch the fish you could catch here and everyone is so friendly you really do feel like part of the family.
A HUGE thank you to Zenia, Joe, Zyg, Rose and all who work at Anglers Paradise. See you all soon.

Fishing Holiday to the amazing Anglers Paradise

Saturday

At long last it was time for Anglers Paradise, something I have been looking forward to for well over a year when we first spoke about it in a pub having a website meeting. The preparation that has gone into this holiday has been vast. Sorting out the kit for past 2 weeks and buying food and bait for what seems like months, but hopefully it will all pay off.

Saturday morning 31st August the car was loaded then I set off to meet rich at Steve’s house where we would attempt to fit all mine, Rich and Steve’s stuff into my car. All my stuff came out first and we laid it all out on the floor so we could put it all in in order. Eventually it was all in but only just and there was even stuff on laps. On route we stopped at OJ fishing shop to get some maggots so we had some fresh for the first few days. The journey was easy with next to no traffic and about 3 hours later we was parked up at Anglers Paradise. We went for a little walk around whilst we waited for the reception to open. It was very handy that Steve has been here for the last few years as the place is vast and without a map would take ages to find your way around. At 1pm we went to bar to be welcomed by Zyg Gregorek himself, a man with a huge personality and had us in stitches within minutes.

You get an amazing reception at Anglers Paradise, free glass or two of home made fantastic wine or lemonade if you don't/can't drink, you can book any food nights there and then, we went for wine and dine night on Sunday and curry night on Friday. There are also pie night and a roast night so your well catered for if you don't fancy cooking your main meals.

With Steve and Rich a wobbly from the wine we got the keys from reception and started to unload the car into the villa. The villa itself was beautiful and a fisherman dream with fish inspired tables chairs and pictures.

We got unpacked and decided to have a couple of hours on the Float lake for a few ornamentals.

Armed with a light float set up and maggots we was soon bank side and fishing. We was straight into fish, there was Golden Rudd by the thousand near the surface and was great fun, well, I say Golden Rudd but they are more a Orfe/Koi/Golden Rudd there very unique to Anglers Paradise.

After a couple of hours we headed back to the room for a bit of grub then some sleep after a busy day but so far so good.

Mystery Lake.......

Sunday

Today we decided to go on Mystery lake. A lake I have seen on TV a few times and always wanted to fish it just to see what is in there. We was up not to early about 7ish loaded the barrows then headed down the lake. All the lakes are in beautiful scenery and really well maintained so pushing the barrow is easy, and although I probably could have carried it its a fair old walk to the lake so it just makes it easier. I decided to start with a small flat bed feeder fishing to the island whilst feeding a spot in the edge for float fishing later on. The fish were quite hard to catch due to the very high pressure and it was bloody boiling hot. I was winkling out the odd Orfe, Golden Rudd and Carp but was fairly slow. 

Steve was having a few on the float so I decided to switch over and give that a go. I saw some really good fish in the margins including a bright red fish. After a couple more small carp we decide to head back as it was a wine and dine night and I was really looking forward to it.

After a wash and change of clothes we was in the dining area where you are given a plate with some local sausages and marinated chicken breast then you help yourself to as much veg and wine as you like. I'm not much of a drinker so 1 glass of Zyg's strong wine was fine for me, and Steve didn't have much either, but Rich decided to have a few, a fair few as it happened, we lost count then he started on the beers when we got back to the villa, which was mine and Steve’s entertainment for the evening sorted.

Quality at Eldorado and Silver Rose

Monday

As usual me and Steve where up at the crack of dawn to head over to Anglers Elderado on the Tench and Orfe lake, under normal circumstances we wouldn't need to leave Anglers Paradise for this but the Tench and Orfe lake on site was shut due to an algae problem and the day ticket lakes at Elderado are owned by Zyg so we was allowed to fish them for free.

We left Rich behind as he was to hung over to join us, his loss.

We pulled up about 6 and had a good look around. We had some inside info that the fish come around the margins so its good to find swims with good bank side foliage.

We set up in a point swim where we both had a good margin and started fishing. Simple and light float tactics using maggot as bait to start and my approach and was soon into golden Rudd. With regular feeding the fish were coming thick and fast with some decent palm sized Rudd and Orfe.

At about 11:30 we headed back to have some lunch and pick up Rich to then spend the rest of day at Silver Rose lake up the road, again a day ticket lake owned by Zyg that we could fish for free.

I started to left of the pagoda fishing at the bottom of the shelf with a float and a feeder on a alarm as a sleeper. It seemed a long time for a bite which came in the shape of a small Chub. Then a bit later a small Bream. It was really hard going so I decided to move over the other side of the lake where there was some Lily’s to fish up to, but the bank was a bit hairy with a big slope, luckily with the type of korum chair I use the legs are very adjustable. So with some bait down on the deck and re-plummed I started fishing and was soon into fish. This area was much more productive with Bream, Carp, Rudd, Roach and my first Blue Orfe. We decided to head back for some dinner about 4pm.

After dinner we thought it would be a good idea to do some more fishing, so we headed back to Mystery lake as I really wanted to catch that red fish.

I tried everything, free lining, lift method, float fishing, ledger but only caught a couple of Carp the Orfe and the red one avoided me. So we headed back and with another great day done. Although the Mystery lake is proving to become an obsession for me.

The Amazing Easy Access Lake

Tuesday

Today was a day I was really looking forward to, Easy Access lake, big Cats and Carp.

This time we was up even earlier due to how busy the lake gets so I was down stairs loading the barrow about 5am, it was still dark, so me and Steve (Rich was to lazy to be up that early) were sat on the sofa with the door open waiting for it to be light enough to head to the lake.

I picked Steve’s brain for a while trying to maximise the change of a big Carp or even better a Catfish of any size. Pellet seemed to be a winner on this lake so I was armed with plenty, I had 4kg of 4mm halibut pellet, 12mm drilled pellet, 20mm pellet and a glug pot with 12mm and 20mm soaking in sardine and hot fish oil. I put a few handfuls of 4mm pellet in the margins and fired some towards the island then put a solid bag in the margins with a 12mm pellet on a short hair rig, and a 20mm glugged pellet with a nick on bag cast to the island. Fishing was slow for me to start with, Steve had a couple of decent fish early on but I just kept dropping runs. I tried different rigs, baits and areas but eventually started to get a few Carp, although only a few pound they were stunning including a near Leather. As it reached midday I decided to pop back to the villa for lunch which was only 2 minutes away. After lunch I headed back to carry on. Bit more bait on the spots and recast. The thing with Easy Access lake is there is a fair few Cats in their and I think there would normally be a good chance with weather this hot but there was literally thousands of really small Orfe which had the Cats leaping out of the water, which was brilliant to see, but made our baits seem a bit poor.

With so many feeding on the surface I had to try my special dumbbell surface rig with a bunch of worms. I cast it out a few places but to no avail and last knocking I had a lovely carp just under 10lb. It was a hard days fishing but had a few and was absolutely knackered.

The Brilliant Koi Lake

Wednesday
Today was another day I was really looking forward to, the Koi lake. Where else can you go and have a whole lake devoted to Koi and up to and over double figures along with a few Grass Carp.

Being one of the specimen lakes it was yet another early start, about 5:30am and as usual it was just us, no Rich. It was really foggy this morning and quite cold and as I was hoping to catch these Koi off the top it was looking bleak.

We arrived at the lake and was glad to see the pagoda was free so we set up there and had a look about. Steve threw some doggies out and to our shock they started taking but not the way a normal Carp would, they nudged it about before taking it, if they did. We started by fishing free lined bread or soft doggies but it was hard going. I saw a few feeding right in the edge to my left but they seemed to spook off when they saw the line. So I decided on a radical looking way of fishing, the pagoda had a fence that surrounded it so I lent the butt of the rod on that and the tip ring was just over the edge of the bank with 3" of line dangling the dog biscuit just touching the surface. With the freespool on I just had to wait until it started to click, which didn't take long and I was rewarded with a nice white Koi. I decided to try it again and had a bright Orange one. This was starting well. But it didn't take long for them to turn off and become incredibly hard to catch. By now Rich had joined us and was having a go. We decided to have a walk about see what we could see but was hard going. And with the sun high in the sky we decided to head back for some lunch. The great thing about Anglers Paradise is you are surrounded by like minded anglers so leaving your stuff on the bank for a short time to grab a bite is very safe. Well we had no problems.

After refuelling we was bank in the pagoda soaking up the sun watching the water hoping to see some action.

It took a while for us to even bother trying as it was so hot. I started firing biscuits out to the far margin around some Lily’s and they soon started moving so I took some stalking gear round for a go. First fish was a beautiful Grass Carp of 5lb 9oz. Then a bit later another white Koi but it was still tricky fishing. Eventually I returned to the pagoda and Steve and I started firing out biscuits constantly for about 30 minutes until they were ripping the surface apart for them, so we rigged up surface floats to get the distance, I used a Korda skittle type float with a 6ft leader of floating line and a size 8 hook which had a lump of bread on. All seemed to work well where I had 4 in quick succession then decided to call it a day as I had used all my dog biscuits up. Another cracking day at Anglers Paradise.

Specimen Tench and Orfe...Sort of..and Mystery..again

Thursday

Another day another specimen lake, and another early morning. Up at about 6am to head down to specimen Tench and Orfe lake. We new this was going to be hit or miss as there are some colossal fish in here. We was told a method on how to catch the Orfe which was to cast a float out set about a foot under the surface baited with plastic maggot and fire maggot over the top constantly. We tried this for a while but due to a prolific spawning the lake had thousands of small Orfe which was causing us a problem. After about an hour we could take no more. To be honest we should of stuck it out in the margins for a big Tench but as there was only about 30 in there chances were slim and we was both starting to feel ropey due to the very early starts so we decide to head back and relax for a few hours. It was bloody hot again so was not worth rushing. We had breakfast then lunch, had a drive about then decided to set up float gear and spend a couple of hours on Mystery, hopefully have a crack at that red fish. I was just really intrigued to see what it was, I suspected a Koi but with the vivid colours of some of these Orfe it could be one of those also. I set up in the swim where I had seen the fish many times and fed a fair amount of groundbait, pellet and maggot about 2ft from the bank and they soon were having a good troff. I decided to sit back and watch so I could see if there was a pattern in which this fish came into the swim.

I was putting a palmful of maggots in every 2 minutes and the red fish seemed to come in on the third palmful. So I decided to go with free lined tactics, size 8 hook and a nice juicy worm. On putting in the second palmful of maggots I lowered the bait in and sunk the line along the side of the bank then put the third lot of maggots in and held the line between finger and thumb so I could feel the bite. And as planned in came the red one and started having a munch, I felt a tremble down the line and saw his head shaking so I lifted into the fish and it was on. I was so scared of loosing it. I shouted over to Steve for assistance and was soon on hand with the net. Once landed, and a sigh of relief, it was a beautiful Koi, bright red with black markings and weighed 5lb 7oz not my biggest Koi but size was completely irrelevant it was all about the capture and challenge, and it was that fish that won me fish of the week. We headed back again completely shattered but finished a great day off perfectly.

The simply excellent Float Lake

Friday

We decided to have a bit of a Lying today as we was knackered from all the heat and early mornings. So we slept in all the way until 7am.

Armed with some inside information which included some overpriced Waitrose prawns, we headed down to Float lake hoping for some Golden Tench. The far end of the lake was a lot deeper than were we fished early week, about 8ft or so. I fished at the bottom of the shelf with a prawn on a size 8 with a light float loose feeding 2mm pellet.

The surface was alive with Golden Rudd when firing in pellet but the fish soon moved in on the bottom and Golden Tench were coming out think and fast. Then I had a hard fight with a beautiful Koi of 5lb 4oz which was great fun on 4lb line.

We could see a dark cloud closing and had decided after a couple of hours fishing that if its started to rain we would head back as we had already court many many fish.

After a few more Tench, Golden Rudd, Brown Goldfish and regular Goldfish we decided to head back very happy with our catch. Sad to think that was our last fish whilst at Anglers Paradise. Still a great way to end a great weeks fishing. It was Curry night tonight so after packing the villa up so were ready to go the following day we headed out for some grub. The Curry night was superb, we finished the day in the Bar with a raffle and a few drinks.

The Dreaded Day

Saturday

The day I had been dreading since arriving at Anglers Paradise a week ago, leaving was always going to be hard as it had been a great week with so many fish, of which most are unique to Anglers Paradise. The place is so beautiful with its stunning views, all the staff are brilliant and so helpful. I have to thank Steve as well, he set the whole holiday up, booked the villa and was basically a guide for us and his knowledge of the place was invaluable. Sadly I didn't win fish of the week until I had got home so the bait and wine will have to wait until I return. Not that that will be hard.