Anyone Been Anglers Paradise Recently ?

[richardlee]

Hi All,

 

Just wondering if anyone has been to Anglers Paradise in Devon recently?

I was rather dissapointed with what I got when I went a few weeks back and just wondered what other peoples opinions are?

 

Thanks

Rich

[steve26]

havent heard, know eldorado is difficult to keep 2 rods in the water tho

[richardlee]

Well, when I went I fished the 12 lakes for the residents only, I was highly dissapointed by the quality of the fishing.

I think the place is advertised as being far better than it is.

I understand about hard conditions .etc.. and that fishing is not easy everytime, i get all that, but i feel that when you have done a whole week on a particular venue, you tend to get a good idea whether the fishing on offer is good or not. I have to say that the fishing was terrible, and the cost of a weeks stay is well overpriced also !

What makes it worse is, the owner of the complex is only bothered about making money out of you and nothing else.

I just wanted to know whether anyone else shares similar views.

 

Regards

Richard

[steve26]

did u have anything? which lakes did u fish? ive spoken to the owners future son in law, they seem very fish orientated to me, can only say i have heard good things about the complex... however a couple of the syndicate members are right tools, i was trying to find out about how to get on it, and bloke said ....oh 10 year wait! spoke to the baillif.... maybe a spot free now! to top it all off, the bloke that said 10 year wait was a match angler!......fishing carp lakes.....

[richardlee]

Biggest fish I had all week was 8lb. I consider myself to be a decent carp fisherman and was very dissapointed by this. If you speak to the regulars who go every year then you wont hear a bad thing at all, they seem to think the fishing is the best thing since sliced bread, i can tell you that it is not. It wasn't just me who thought it was poor either, a few others were down there for the first time like me and they also said it was poor and would not be returning. The guy who owns it is only interested in getting more money out of you. For example we went to a BBQ Night (Terrible) which cost £10, and in the middle of it the owner started a speech which quickly turned into trying to sell you various A.P merchandise! I couldn't believe it.

The accomodation cost around £1000 for 4 of us, but then your fishing is extra, £30 for a budget ticket allowing you to fish 9 of the 12 lakes. The specimen carp lake costs £5 extra a day, and for some reason instead of specimen fish I caught only 2lb carp... :S am still puzzled by this !

The syndicate allows you to fish the Main Carp Lake(Which I didnt get a bite on in 3 days) and also the Specimen Carp Lake. I have to say if you were to ask me if its worth joining the syndicate I would say no. I believe you can only fish them at weekends too. I guess it wont be cheap.

I am certain there will be far better syndicates in that area, and also much better holiday complexes for me to try, as I am from up North!

 

Regards

Richard

[binfield]

Visited the place last week, had carp to 27lb 10 oz , a few about 20lb lots about 12-15 lb. worth spending the week end . going again in november by appointment.

[richardlee]

Hi Binfield

 

Which lakes did you fish ?

 

Regards

[binfield]

fished the carp lake and the specimen lake both producing a lot of runs. mystery lake is the target next time, seen some nice fish on the top all over 20 in my opinion.mate of mine had 2 two cats both in 30's .

[richardlee]

Mystery lake was the only lake I enjoyed fishing, not for carp but for the tench. It fished well. Couldnt get a run on Specimen or Main Carp Lake though. I dont think there are large stocks of fish in the two lakes to be honest.

[binfield]

My advice would be talk to the owner about the carp and specimen lakes my opinion of the fella is he's a decent bloke.second time there with a few mates and both visits have been good. even arranged to fish later in the year when the crowds have gone. dont know why you didnt have any doubles as the place has a lot of them., but that is fishing for you. I did speak to people who had't had any bites for 24hrs.

[andy4152]

I went there end of june and fishing was very poor. biggest carp i had was 15 but that was the only double i had. i also had 7 catfish up to 15 pound which i was happy with. I found the easy access was the best i fished worm 2 ft deep and caught catfish, grass carp, carp, golden orfe an golden tench. All the regulars there said the same thing which was the fishing has got poorer every year especially after the pools have been netted it then takes years to start fishing well again. the tench lake had been netted last year and no 1 could get a bite on there. had a good day on magic lake non stop carp and koi in the 1-5 lb bracket also the beginers carp lake was non stop up to the 7lb mark. blanked on the main carp lake but only did the day. octopussy was ok had the 15lb catfish an carp from there along with a few smaller cats an carp. And yes they are all money orientated constantly trying to sell u merchandise and get u back next year.

[richardlee]

Glad that you agree with me regards the fishing, I thought it was just me !

I wrote a review on the Anglers Paradise website, the regulars and admin clearly couldnt accept I was right, and decided to lock the post!

Did you try the food mate, such as the BBQ ?

 

Regards

[andy4152]

Yes mate i did the bbq the food wasnt to bad but due to price an the fact that all they were interested in was selling the merchandise i had the rest of the meals down the local pub and the food was very nice and reasonably priced and friendly faces

[ginman01]

I have been three times to AP, mainly because it's near the beaches at Bude where the missus takes the kids. First time we had a good week, second time fishing was not so good and last time (this July) pretty poor. In the end, I came to the conclusion that for carp it's just a very finicky place. Easy Access Lake certainly produces small cats and carp.

 

Specimen lake carp almost always come off the top. This year any bottom bait smaller than 18mm was getting snaffled by shoals of 2lb carp - not something that should be present in a specimen lake, clearly. Main carp lake is very variable, judging by their syndicate day catches.

 

I also agree about the commercial obsession of the place - very expensive (albeit very nice) villas and then paying extra to fish seems unnecessary, as does the big drive to sell t-shirts and BBQ tickets. There are lots of regulars who've been going for more than 10 years though, so for them I guess it's a pretty cosy place - I dont think I'll be going back, as I dont really feel like I need another golden tench.

 

Good place if you need a quality base for the family, though - just dont go solely for the carp fishing.

 

Ginman

[andy4152]

I agree with all you just said but what i would say if you are taking your family with you then go to white acres holiday park instead as there is more to do for the family while were fishing

[binfield]

Dont take this the wrong way fella's because i dont mean to cause offence but just because you don't catch does'nt make the place poor, also its run as a business ( mainly summer trade) so naturally the owner is going to squeeze every penny he can out of visitors.I have been and caught fish, have been pressed to buy everything from t shirts to season tickets and i just said i was here for fish not shopping and was left alone.I think the family owners do a good job ,better than a majority of fisheries in this country.Yes it can be slow fishing but so can every lake in the country thats why we call it fishing not catching .

[ginman01]

All fair points. I actually had a cracking time the first couple of trips. If you've not caught them before, taking koi off the top, hunting golden tench and trying to outwit specimen golden orfe (tricky things) is a lot of fun. My advice would be to go, and enjoy (and for these species it's never fished badly when I've gone) but don't go solely for the carp, at least onsite.

 

I also wasn't very intrepid and just fished the onsite lakes, but within a short stone's throw there are more day-ticket lakes on the same complex that offer big(gish) carp, big cats and such.

 

In fact two of the fish I'm most proud of catching came from Angler's Paradise: a 5lb golden orfe and a 23lb mirror off the top (not huge, but I made such a sweet cast with that fake mixer) so I got my money's worth. I even bought a t-shirt and a hoody....

 

So don't let me put anyone off - I was just concerned about people heading there solely for carp and being dissappointed at not hauling. As you say, that could be anywhere - I think it highlights the difficulty of getting your expectations right on a fishing holiday. But if you head there just to fish his specimen lcarp lake and end up pulling in 2lb fish all day, that could kind of ruin your week, right?

 

Happy hauling

Ginman

[binfield]

Very well put ginman.