Landing the 52lb mirror carp at Golden Oak

Landing the 52lb mirror carp at Golden Oak

September 3, 2012DavidNo comments

Derek with his 52lb prize!

It was with eager anticipation that we arrived at Golden Oak Lake to start our holiday, myself, my stepson Kevin and our respective families. The website photographs hardly do it justice, everything looked fantastic, as we arrived late we decided to leave sorting out the fishing gear until the next morning, Joe set out the most amazing meal for us. Bright and early next day we set up the bivvies halfway along the lake and settled into some serious fishing. Our optimism was a little tempered when Dick told us that the weather forecast was for high temperatures for at least the first half of the week, they weren’t wrong the thermometer rose to 34 degrees, needless to say the carp didn’t want to play, Tuesday was even hotter ( thank goodness for the plunge pool ) and again no runs. That evening we made the decision to move closer to the dam wall, where the water is slightly deeper. Wednesday morning we moved the bivvies and fed the chosen swims got the baits out and waited, guess what 36 degrees.

That Evening at about 6 o’clock we had a shower of light rain for about an hour and a half, Kevin and I decided that it was probably enough to drop the water temperature a little. With that in mind we made the decision to fish through that night, we repositioned our baits, which turned out to be a wise move. I was woken from my dozing by the sound of my bite alarm, as soon as I got to my feet it stopped, then went again for a couple of seconds, after what seemed ages the alarm started screaming, I picked up the rod and set the hook ” Fish On ” I yelled. There followed 20 minutes of playing the fish in the pitch black, the adrenalin was pumping and I lost track of where the fish was. By this time Kevin was at water level with the landing net in the water, the fish swirled about 15ft out, I was back in control, with steady pressure the carp eased towards the net head first. Kevin said ” it’s a good fish”. I walked up the bank until Kevin said ” it is in the net and it is huge! I told him to stop winding me up but he insisted ” I cannot lift it out of the water. Between us we got the carp onto the unhooking mat and IT WAS huge. Three quick photograhs then into the weigh sling, zeroed the scales which eventually settled at 52lb 14ozs, I couldn’t believe it, my previous best was about 20lb. You can imagine the buzz I was feeling.

The next morning we spoke to Dick and showed him the photo, he said it was the heaviest fish taken from the lake, without spawn. Unfortunately it turned out to be our only fish of the week, I didn’t care, Kevin’s view was slightly different!

I would like to add that even with the temperatures soaring Dick did everything humanly possible to help us catch fish, but as he says he cannot  put them on the hook ( I think if he could he would ). All in all a fabulous holiday, the ladies enjoyed the sun and all the facilities, my grandson ( 2 years plus) had a whale of a time, Joe kept him entertained, feeding goslings, goats and horses. A great place to fish and relax.

Derek Cross

Fishing Holidays at Golden Oak

Can you tell me what the lake bottom is made up of at Boux?

Can you tell me what the lake bottom is made up of at Boux?

September 2, 2012DavidNo comments

Paul with a Boux 50 from an Oct 2011 session

Here’s a question we received from a customer;

Can you tell me what the lake bottom is made up of at Boux?

Paul Cooper answers;

Hi Terry

The lake bottom in Boux varies, depending on what part of the lake you decide to fish. The steep margins on the dam are made up of rocks and stone which ends at the bottom of the slope in silt. The further away from the dam the silt gets deeper.  Once you are past around 60yards the silt thins out and remains similar to this to the far end of the lake. The bay nearest to the car park is heavily silted and yet the bay near to the cattle drink does have a firm bottom and is an excellent bay for the feeding carp.

The non fishing bank is shallow and has a clay/gravel make-up and has a hard bottom make-up for at least 20yards from the bank where it then turns silty. These silty areas are not a problem as the fish feed naturally in this silt. There are some large holes just off these margins where anglers have created feeding areas by continually feeding in one spot. They are a long distance from the wooded bank and unless you are a long caster, you will not reach them with unless you use the boat on site or with a baitboat. You do tend to find that these margins are where the crayfish lie and feed.

From the wooded bank the bottom is made up of soft clay then turns into silt. Again this silt is not a problem to the feeding carp. If you cast and lead around in open water you will find some harder patches of gravelled areas where the carp have excavated the silt when feeding.

The bay to the left of the wood bank is shallow and again the margins are fairly hard, made up of gravel and clay, but once again, if the Crays are active they gather in this bay but the carp do love this area.

While I was at Boux I made a couple of videos that could give you some more advice and tips.

How to protect Baits when Poisson Chat or Crayfish are active

Big Carp action at Boux

Hope this helps,

Paul Cooper, paulcooper18@sky.com

Carp Fishing in France at Boux

Carp caught to order!

Carp caught to order!

September 1, 2012DavidNo comments

Oliver Robinson catches a carp for the camera when Bridget visited Lords in August 2012…

French Carp at Lords

Molyneux showerblock refurbished and painted inside and out

Molyneux showerblock refurbished and painted inside and out

August 30, 2012DavidNo comments

The last couple of weeks have seen us completely overhaul the showerblock on site here atMolyneux. It is a forty year old building and although in pretty good condition it was showing signs of its age, and general wear and tear.

I was very lucky that I had some help in doing this with Andrew and a French friend Nico who is a builder by trade popping in to help with removing, tidying and replacing some of wooden panels on the exterior. Nico then spent a day re-rendering around them and filling and making good any areas which required it.

Wally looking busy!

Meanwhile my uncle Phil who had come over from the UK to give me a hand, were busy painting the interior of the toilet area and of course the shower room. Once this was finished we started on the outside.

This proved to be a little more difficult than we first imagined for a couple of reasons. The first of which was the amount of cutting in required around the wooden “beams” which give the showerblock it’s character. The major reason though was the heatwave we enjoyed or should I say endured at this time. With the temperature an average of 36degrees in the shade, it meant early starts, working through until lunchtime and then a few hours off during the worst of the heat and then a few more hours graft once it had cooled down again.

The results are incredible, the showerblock looks stunning and will hopefully stand and do us proud for another forty years or so.

French Carp Lakes – Molyneux

Margot Netting (Aug ’12)

Margot Netting (Aug ’12)

August 28, 2012DavidNo comments

Margot receives a summer netting to remove small fish. 750kg of small zander and 100kg of poisson chat are removed before they grow large enough to pose a nuisance to anglers.

All of the big carp, big catfish and large zander specimens are returned to the lake but for once the fish aren’t the main stars of the Margot show. 7 year old Leona shows she’s a natural with the fish. Dad Laurent and Grandad Michel can rest assured that the Bigot family fish business will stay in expert hands for generations to come.

Carp Fishing in France at Margot

34lb common carp is the reward forr sitting in the baking sun…

34lb common carp is the reward forr sitting in the baking sun…

August 24, 2012DavidNo comments

After sitting in the baking sun all afternoon here at Watersmeet Mick was finally rewarded by a take right under the trees on the far bank.  I was up at the house getting dinner ready when suddenly he was shouting over the walkie-talkie.

I ran down to swim 1 where after a great tussle we landed a 34lb Common which was in mint condition. Unfortunatley Mick’s arthritis is so bad now he did not have the strenth to pick the fish up, so we elected to take some photo’s while the fish was on the unhooking mat.

Fishing holiday at Watersmeet

Getting carp bait out there!

Getting carp bait out there!

August 23, 2012DavidNo comments

There’s no easy way to get your chosen boilie out, no matter what the size or shape, unless you use some of the following.

Throwing Stick

These come in variable sizes and diameter depending on the brand you use.  I find that a throwing stick gives me a better spread pattern of round bait for 10mm to 24mm baits over a large clear area of the lake.  This gets the carp moving and roaming around the area and gives you a better chance of getting the carp confidently feeding in numbers.  Brilliant to use at showing fish and very quiet in the process.

The Spomb

This I have just recently used and I recommend highly.  They are capable of holding any shape, size or chopped boilie and get out to a feature of the lake at great distance.  There is no spillage like the normal spod or rocket depending on the angler of course and is very accurate in its flight.  Great for baiting up at distance and suprisingly effortless.

The Catapult

The catapult can be used for single baits only at short distance or at range depending on the brand and the elastic.  I have found using a pouch over a marker around 30-40 yards you get a very close baited area, say a hole in the weed or a small clay/gravel hump of the lake bed.  Ideal to carry with you at all times when stalking and a major piece of my armoury.

The Spoon

The spoon is fantastic at getting bait out there quick – no matter what size or shape.  This is the perfect tool for pre-baiting close in quarters of the lake or a bay for example.  Straight out of a 10k bag or bucket the spoon can scoop up the bait with ease and within minutes its all out there.  It also give’s you that great spread pattern of boilie or chops which really helps the carp get there heads down for a free meal.  A major tool for pre-baiting and getting them out there in numbers very quickly.

Just a reminder that all these Items you use give off a different sound when the bait hits the water!  This can be the sound of a dinner bell ringning for them hungry carp.  Wether your fishing at range, in close or to a small feature of the lakebed these tools will help you get the boilie to them with confidence… and as they say, I dont leave home without them.

Find em, feed em, catch em!

Marc Twaite

This post first appeared on the Quest Baits Blog & is reproduced with kind permission

Carp Fishing

Lords carp lake – what bait & line?

Lords carp lake – what bait & line?

August 29, 2012DavidNo comments

Question from Bev;

We are off to Lords lake in May, and was hoping for some advice on what bait to use and the size you think best ?

Also I am looking to re-line my reels – have you any recommendations on the best line to use.

All help greatfully received, many thanks, Bev

I caught this one on Ghurkka Spice in Slovenia. I’d use it anywhere in the world.

Hi Bev,

It’s a refreshing change to receive a question from a female angler.

I’m afraid I haven’t fished Lords Lake but if I were visiting it in May I would take a couple of baits with me so that I could ring the changes. Almost certainly in May I would have a  fish based bait with me. Something like Special Crab or the new Squid Berry which will be released in March.

As an alternative bait the two most instant ones on waters where they are used for the first time seem to be Rahja Spice and Ghurkka Spice. Both are very different to each other. The Rahja utilises human grade spices and smells like an Indian Curry whilst the Ghurkka Spice is more coca nutty with a more gentle spice blend. I would be happy to use either of these spice baits anywhere in the world at any time of the year. Here is a link telling you a little more about the boilies. http://www.questbaits.com/results.php?category=1

Here is a video link of how I tackle new (to me) waters in France which is still very relevant to my fishing now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsdWCc-fRSU&feature=player_embedded

Regarding line I have bench tested literally 100′s of different lines over the years as I had 25 years working in a busy fishing tackle shop so was sent lots of different things for assessment. Rarely did manufacturers claims match up to the tests I did with the lines. All the lines would be tested fairly the same way. I had to test lines that I certainly had no intention of using but still needed an unbiased opinion when asked about them.

The one carp fishing line that has stood head and shoulders above all others that I have tested has been the P-Line Extrusion (also called Evolution in some countries). I have used this myself for several years now. It lasts on the spool for a very long while, casts nice and has incredible abrasion resistance and superb  ’actual diameter’/’actual breaking strain’ ratio.

After deciding a few years back that this was the best line I could find I have continued to use it and mention to people about it. Line is a personal thing though and most will tell you such and such is better. Interesting though and refreshing assurance for my personal line testing methods is that Terry Eustace (Gold Label) invited various British Carp Study Group members to take their favoured lines with them one night to a B.C.S.G. meeting and he put them all on his line testing machine.

Nothing compared to P-Line Extrusion.

Never pay a lot of attention to what line says on the label as it is rarely accurate.

P-Line 0.34/0.35mm breaks consistently over 20lb knotted. 0.34mm is the sort of diameter you buy when purchasing most 12 and 15lb labelled spools and is my standard carp fishing line.

I hope the two bits above are of help.

Best wishes, Shaun Harrison.

This post first appeared on the Quest Baits Blog & is reproduced with kind permission.

French Carp at Lords Lake

Tactics to catch over 100 carp in one session!

Tactics to catch over 100 carp in one session!

August 22, 2012DavidNo comments

A view from the dam to the bays on the Southern part of the lake

As with any lake, it is important to do your research as best you can prior to your arrival at the venue. With the venue that I am going to talk about, I was fortunate enough to have previously fished it in mid-November 2 years ago.  I was aware of the stocking levels and potential of a big hit along with the depths and potential feeding areas to catch the carp.  My destination was Alder Lake.

I arrived at Alder Lake with my fishing companion for the week, Jim Kelly.  The lake itself is oval in shape with two small bays at the Southern end of the lake. The bays are surrounded by overhanging vegetation and are the idyllic place for carp to feed and bask during the summer months when the weather is hot.

The forecast for our week on the lake was for clear blue skies and temperatures into the low thirties during the heat of the day, only dropping to low twenties at night.

I was well prepared for my week’s ordeal with over 35 kilo of boilies from Quality Baits, a few kilo of prepared hemp and a few kilo of carp pellet. My main objective was to get the carp feeding solely on my boilies.

A view of the point that was between the 2 bays

The most important thing was to select a possible productive swim to start my campaign. I chose to fish at the mouth of one of the bays with the intention of creating a baited area at the point at which both bays meet. The lake bed here was in around 5 feet of water and had been cleared of silt by previous foraging fish.

I initially introduced around 3 kilo of boilies to this area with both the Spomb and with a throwing stick. The baited area was at a comfortable 75m from my bank and created no problems at all for baiting up and for accurate presentation of my single bottom baits.

My baiting up tools for the week  - Spombs, throwing stick and catapults

My rig set up would be initially made up of Blow-back rigs on size 4 long shank hooks with a short hook length of around 6 to 8 inches in the Korda N trap.

It was not until Jim and I had fed and watered ourselves that the 1^st rods went out, which would now be after 6pm. I put 2 rods on my baited area and the 3^rd on a spot just short of the trees in the bay to my right.

In order to get as close to over hanging trees as possible I do the following:-

• Remove the hook length from the quick release clip.
• Cast short of the tree line and possible selected area
• Mentally calculate the distance that I am short of the selected area and draw that extra line off the spool. Clip up the line then reel in.
• Re-cast to the selected area until my cast hits the line clip.
• If I am still short, unclip the line and add what I think is required to make an accurate cast then clip up.
• I keep doing this until the cast is exactly in the right place.
• I now test the lake bed to see what it is made up of: silt, gravel, debris etc
• If I am happy with this location then I mark the line either with electrical tape or power gum
• Back on with the baited hook length and I am ready to fish

The baited area here is about 1meter from the far tree line

A few pouches of boilies around my selected spot in the bay and I sit back, but not for long. By dusk I had landed 6 carp and was ready for a good nights sleep. I wound in the rods and rested the swim and myself for the next day.

Sometime after daybreak I arose from the sleeping-bag to a bright sunny day. Out went a few kilo of boilie onto the point and a couple of more pouches to the tree line. Off for breakfast and I returned to put out the 1^st rods of the day. Now Alder Lake has some strong fighting carp which never want to give up and grace the net, and after only an hours fishing I realised that it was impossible to keep 3 rods going, so I was usually  down to either 1 or 2 rods at any one time. By dusk I had landed another 25 carp.

I kept the carp interested by firing out around a hundred boilies or more after every fish caught, either with the Spomb, throwing stick or in the bay with the catapult. I seemed to be drawing fish from the far bay as the presence of my lines in my nearest bay had pushed them out into open water or into that bay.

Dusk came and I gave up fishing until the following morning.

Low twenty from the point	One of the many mid-twenties from the point

At first light on the Monday I recast the rods and by around 8am I had accounted for another 7 carp. I wound in for breakfast and discussed the situation with Jim.

Jim by this time had decided to move opposite me in the mouth of the other bay and unknown to us both; would be the end of my fishing bonanza. The additional pressure seemed to stop the fish moving out of the far bay onto my baited area. By the end of the day I had accounted for another 4 or 5 fish. I had to move.

The dam at the Northern end of the lake

On the Tuesday morning I decided to move away from the bays and fish from the dam down the lake to an area which I could feed by catapult. This area was 3 foot in the close margins and extended out towards the middle of the lake for about 40 yards until it hit deep silt where at this point there was around 9 foot of water. The slope leading down to this was gravel and a thin layer of silt, perfect to create a new baited area. From the dam the cast was around 110m which for me was a good cast but still within my casting range.

Out went the marker rod to my selected distance and I walked down the left hand margins to bait up from the bank. I baited up in a line from around 10m to 40m with around 4 kilo of boilie, 5 kilo of hemp and 3 kilo of pellet, with either the Spomb or the catapult. My marker rod was marked up with electrical tape and all my rods marked at the same distance as the marker rod. This was going to be easy. After the initial baiting I would only be baiting up with boilies, in Quality Baits HG42, HG47 and Squid and Orange.

Armo meshed HG47 and a fluoro plastic boilie

The going was slow initially and I had drawn the attention of a few crayfish and roach. I was retrieving my lines to find that my baits were missing after an hour or so.  On went the 14mil and 16mil critically balanced bright orange plastic boilies or armo-meshed 18mil HG42 boilies. This did the trick.

Again after every fish I walked down to the margin of my baited area and fired out 6 or 7 pouches of boilies.

I was getting through 5 to 8 kilo of boilies each day and by Friday lunchtime I had used my last baits, leaving only a section of hook baits to fish with. By 6.30pm I had 101 carp and was exhausted. In came the rods. That was me finished, what a week.

                                               One of the many mirrors caught in soaring temperatures

I had started off the beginning of the week catching upper doubles and low twenties and by Thursday and Friday nearly all the fish were around the mid twenty and above range. Most of the time I was down to 1 rod and on numerous occasions had 2 or even 3 fish on at the same time.

These 2 fish were part of 3 fish hooked at the same time

If you make the right approach to a lake like Alder, it certainly can be turned into one of the most prolific runs waters in France.

Had I made any mistakes during my week’s fishing?

Yes! I believe that I should not have introduced any hemp or pellet into my swim, as this encouraged crayfish and shoal’s of roach to gather causing me to take evasive action in the form of plastic bait and meshed bait. I should have stuck to my guns and used boilies only.

To watch a short video click here

Tight Lines, Paul Cooper, July 2012

paulcooper18@sky.com

Carp Fishing in France at Alder Lake

Carp Fishing in France at Villefond

Carp Fishing in France at Villefond

August 21, 2012DavidNo comments

Here’s the new Villefond venue video…

Carp Fishing in France at Villefond

Carp Rigs – The Line Aligner Rig

Carp Rigs – The Line Aligner Rig

August 20, 2012DavidNo comments

Paul Cooper shows you how to construct the Line Aligner rig.

Note from Paul; “The Line Aligner rig was first used in the early days of carp fishing and was introduced by Jim Gibbinson. This rig has accounted for the capture of thousands of carp and when fished in the right situation is exceptional.

I’ve personally captured hundreds of carp on this rig and to this date it still remains one of my all time favourite rigs. It’s easy to tie and takes minutes to complete a rig. The rig can be used with snowman rigs, pop-ups and bottom baits all with good effect. I’ve put this video together showing how easy and straight forward this rig is to tie.”

Carp Fishing

Carp Fishing in France – Villefond July Review

Carp Fishing in France – Villefond July Review

August 19, 2012DavidNo comments

75lb 4oz – Villefond Lake Record Catfish

The unsettled weather over the last few months has seen the fish spawn in a more staggered way to usual. Usually by the end of May most of the fish have finished and are back on the munch but with the weather being hot one week and wet the next this has been a more drawn out process this year. Some of the fish had finished spawning a week or 2 into June but others have only just finished and are just starting to feed up.

In the last two weeks of July we have really seen some of the big character fish showing up on the bank such as the awesome Bennett’s and the huge shouldered Arnold (both of these captures can be seen on videos on our video page)

July has also seen Villefond’s big catfish going on a feeding frenzy with 4 x 70+ catfish caught this month. It is one of these captures that I have chosen to focus on in more detail.

73lb’er caught on the same session

Fish of the month…

For the first time I have decided not to choose a carp as my fish of the month.  This is not because there haven’t been any worthy but because this fish I have chosen is a new official Villefond record catfish at 75lb 4oz. This particular catfish is not the biggest catfish in Villefond but is the biggest one banked to date and is a fish that was named Dan by one of our customers a few years ago.

Manager Mark Lambert caught it along with a 73lb cat whilst targeting this predatory species as a break from the carp fishing. The thing with catfish is if you hook them the only break you are likely to get is a break in your rod. Mark was able to avoid that fortunately and got the powerful creature to the bank.

Mark was again fortunate enough to capture some of the awesome fight on film which can be viewed on our video page too. Very few people have tried to target our catfish but if you are interested in doing so please ask Mark of some tips on swim choice as he has really got these predators habits sussed out.

Carp Fishing in France at Villefond

Carp Fishing France at Genets

Carp Fishing France at Genets

August 18, 2012DavidNo comments

Here’s the new Genets venue video…

Carp Fishing France at Genets

Hauling Carp in France at Alder

Hauling Carp in France at Alder

August 17, 2012DavidNo comments

Introduction

Paul Cooper and I had the week beginning 21^st July 2012 booked on Alder. This is in the same grounds as Notaires.

We had both fished Alder before Paul a week in November 2010 and myself two nights in October 2008, which was before the lake stocking. Hence we both knew the lake depths, consistency of the bottom and general layout, what we didn’t know was the way the lake would fish in July. When this was coupled with high pressure forecast for the whole week and temperatures into the low to mid thirties we both expected to struggle. We need not have worried.

The Lake

Alder is an absolutely stunning lake located on the edge of the Central Massif in the heart of rural France. It is miles away from the nearest town or major road, an idyllic location. Alder is an old lake formed by damming a valley. The lake itself has two shallow arms which are about three feet deep at their deepest. The main body of the lake has deep hard margins, with six feet being easily found just off the tree line. The deepest area is in excess of fourteen feet and is fairly soft.

Looking from the hut side of the dam wall towards the shallow arms

Looking towards the West arm from the East arm. Can you spot Paul Cooper bivvied up?

Looking along the dam, an excellent place to bivvy up.

The banks are flat and grassy, ideal for bivvies. When it is dry it is possible to drive around the majority of the lake to drop tackle off.

The banks are flat and grassy, ideal for bivvies. When it is dry it is possible to drive around the majority of the lake to drop tackle off.

The Fish

First the technical bit, the lake has been stocked with triploid carp. These carp are sterile; they are produced by giving the fertilised eggs a heat shock which produces an extra chromosome. These carp have three chromosomes (triploid) instead of the normal two (diploid). Hence there is never a problem with spawning or weight loss after it. You can go and fish the lake with confidence when other carp have sex on their agenda.

The Bait

Up until recently I have been a fan of boilies fished over hemp and pellets. However, I have now changed my opinion; I no longer use particles or pellets. By observation I have come to the conclusion that they attract a lot of nuisance fish and often the carp get preoccupied on the hemp and particles and only take the boilies when everything else has been mopped up. I have now started to use boilies only and my results have improved exponentially. Hence I had 30 kg of Quality Bait’s HG42, Paul had 35kg of boilies a mixture of Quality Bait’s HG42, HG47 and squid and orange.

The Fishing

Paul with a pretty mirror from the point

25lb from the dam

Paul and I arrived at the lake on Saturday afternoon and spent a couple of hours looking around. We spent at least an hour sitting on the dam looking for showing fish. There was some bubbling in the deeper soft region of the lake. It was Paul’s turn to have first choice of swim and being the good angler that he is chose to fish the point between the two shallow arms; it would have been my first choice as well. I chose to set up on the west side of the dam and fish two rods in the deep area where the bubbling had been seen, the third rod was to be fished just off the tree line to my right in six feet of water. Paul was immediately into fish and had something like six before it went dark. I had three; a 25lb mirror, a tench and a grassie. We both reeled in for the night as we were knackered after the long drive from the Midlands. Sunday was hot and sunny, Paul had something ridiculous like twenty three fish during the day, I managed twelve, unfortunately nine of them were grassies.

On Monday morning I decided to move and fish opposite Paul into the eastern arm as I wanted to avoid the grassies. This appeared to affect Paul’s fishing as he only had thirteen fish on Monday! I had eight only one grassy, which was a result. Paul was convinced that I was cutting his fish off, hence on Tuesday we both moved onto the dam. I went back into my original swim. Paul and I fished the same tactics; we concentrated the bait in one area and fed after every fish. Paul fished two nights and I only fished one night as the fish were coming out during the day. In fact the hotter it got the more the fish fed. It was not unusual to have three fish all at the same time. My fishing started to tail off on Thursday as I was to running out of bait. However, I did manage sixty fish and Paul a nice round hundred. I am sure we could have caught even more as we reeled in for meals, to go to the shops and during most nights. Biggest fish of the week was a 39lb 9oz mirror which luckily fell to my rods. All the fish were in good condition and boy do they fight, we both finished most days with aching arms.

The Facilities

The lake is basically a drive and survive, as there is no running water or electricity at the lake. However, there is a proper sit down loo that is flushed via water being poured into it. There is also a hut with a cooker, sink, table, chairs and the most important of all a camping fridge idea for cooling down the beers. Water is provided by the owner in plastic containers. There is a fridge freezer and a shower in the barn, a couple of hundred yards from the lake.

Conclusion

If you want an action packed venue, with the chance of a biggy, in a stunning location look no further. This is one of the prettiest lakes I have ever fished, I would be willing to pay just to camp there never mind fish. When this is coupled with hard fighting fish that don’t spawn and feed throughout the day you are on a winner. Paul and I had over 160 fish; if we had fished hard it would have been over 200.

Jim Kelly, August 2012.   jim.kelly@jpkelly.plus.com

Carp Fishing in France at Alder