If you want seriously big fish, Laroussi is your carp heaven.

Roy van Goor is a Laroussi regular, having landed a 61lb mirror on a previous trip, he returned for more this May. Roy has kindly provided us with a great write up of his recent trip to the lake and the capture of the 62lb ‘Le Grand Male’…  

Big fish on the feed

After a 6 hour drive from Holland we arrived at the gates of Laroussi. Mehdi must have heard the cars stopping because the gates to heaven opened almost immediately. We greeted Mehdi and had a little chat about the normal things in life.

Rods out on the 1st day

Soon the subject changed to what we came for… tackling the big carp that inhabited the lake. Mehdi informed us how the lake was fishing and it all became clear nature was almost a month behind due to the bad weather last winter. Fishing was slow, but the fish that were being caught were, in most cases, the bigger residents of Laroussi.

Double Trouble at Molyneux

 Fishing at Molyneux produced these two beauties for Neil Spreadborough this month…

Neil

 ”20 fish in total, including 9 over 30lbs. Excellent hosts in Wally and Helen, just left us all to it. If we wanted anything it was there. Can’t fault the place at all, 5*”  Neil Spreadborough, May ’13

For more information, feedback and photos from Molyneux follow the link - French Carp Lakes

Two Fifty-Two’s at Boux

Scott Fry was out at Boux last week coming away with 28 carp including these two cracking 52lb’ers, here’s a round-up of his feedback…

52lb mirror

Details of your catches: 28 carp caught with two 52′s(common and mirror), seven 40′s, fourteen 30′s and five 20′s including the bright orange koi.

Your best tactics: Few caught on singles cast to showing fish but most caught on a bed of bait, more particles than boilie though.

General comments: Long drive from Calais but the hard fighting carp make the trip worth it.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend? Yes.

52lb common

For more information, feedback and photos from Boux follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

A Malvoisine Carp Lake Forty

A second forty has made an appearance at Malvoisine this week, caught by Anthony.

Malvoisine is one of those unusual lakes that offers the most sociable of layouts; fishing from a two acre “island,” fishing lines radiate from the centre giving each guest the maximum angling space from the margins to the far side.  There’s definitely no competition for water here. It is a mature lake bordered by poplars and long trailing weeping willows which overhang the water’s edge, with sunken branches in the far margins adding to the carpy feel.

40.12 – Anthony

For more information, photos and articles on Malvoisine follow the link - Lakes in France 

Fish the Edge of that Surface Scum

Paul Cooper is one of our expert Field Testers, here’s the most recent post from his 2013 Fishing Diary…

With the weather warming up I have been keeping an eye on the fish in my local syndicate water for signs of feeding fish. I called onto the lake mid-afternoon on the Sunday and saw around 20 carp milling around on the edge of the scum caused by the lake bottom breaking up and rising to the surface over the past 48 hours.

Within 15 minutes I had my first rod in the water on the edge of the scum in only 12 inches of water. The fish were cruising in and out of the scum feeding on what ever had gathered and were not perturbed by my putting a bait in their close vicinity.

I baited all three rods with some baits I had just fetched out of my freezer, the remnants of my Quality Baits Winter birdy mix. These were bright red/orange and a fruity flavour but I felt that they would work in this situation.

Within 20 minutes I had my first pick up and shortly after that landed a perfectly conditioned 18lb 9oz Common. Out went the same rod again baited with the birdy boilie. It took a while before the fish moved back into my corner but after an hour. Coincidently, I was again on the phone to Jim Kelly, when the same rod bent round and I was into a 23lb 14oz Common. A few quick self takes and the fish was quickly returned to the water. That was the last of the action as all the fish moved off and my evening meal was calling.

Paul Cooper

To read more from Paul click here. 

Beaurepaire Beauty

We received this picture through from Mr Downer who was fishing Beaurepaire as part of a group of six anglers this May.

Beaurepaire is a natural gravel pit of seven acres fed directly by the water table, just 2½ hours from Calais.

Details of your catches: Eleven cats to 49lb, six grass carp to 35lb, thirty one 20′s, twenty three 30′s and seven 40′s.  Biggest was 46lb and one common at 14lb.
Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Most baits worked; Cell, Rajah Spice, Matrix plus, Tigercell and tiger nuts single baits. Snowman and pop ups.
Would you recommend the venue to a friend? Definitely.

46.01 – Barry Downer

To see the rest of the photos from their trip follow the link - Angling Holidays

Monster Trio for the Bexons at Commons Lake

These 3 brute commons meant a new PB for each of the Bexons fishing at Commons Lake.

The total catch of 17 fish consisted of 3 x 40s, 8 x 30s, 4 x 20s and a 66lb catfish. The fish of the week though has to be Roz Bexon’s 47lb 8oz common.

47.08 – Roz

40.10 – Neil

43.10 – Chris

For more information and photos from Commons Lake follow the link – Fishing France

They're At It Again - Field Testing Tales

It's the beginning of May and Ron and I are off to test a 17 acre lake for Angling Lines situated 150 miles South of Paris.

Promising Start

The new owner of the lake, Guilliam, only took ownership of the venue in January this year. Since taking on the lake he has stocked the lake with around 120 carp consisting of mid-twenties to his prize carp of just over 60lb. There are a number of back up fish in the forties with a good number of thirties, all in all for a new lake this is a magnificent head of carp. The lake itself is set in the middle of rural France and is totally surrounded by woodland, fields, and reed-lined margins. It is a place of beauty!

We arrived at the lake on Thursday morning to find that the banks were flooded due to the recent excessive rain fall and the fact that the sluice gate had not been dropped, exasperated the situation. Out of 9 swims set around the lake we were limited to a couple of swims to fish that were dry and comfortable, all the others were under water and access was either through deep water or deep mud. There were 2 other anglers on the lake one being the owner and the other his friend. They had the use of a boat and occupied the far corner of the lake, bivvied up on a muddy grassed bank.

Ron in Swim 8

Now you might think that this is unusual and not acceptable , but we are testing the venue and not just fishing the lake for our own benefit, this is the reason that Angling Lines send out testers. Any problems need to be rectified and ironed out before the first Angling Lines customers arrive. Our first impressions were not looking good, French style toilet, a poor shower set up added to the poor banks and swims.

I set up in swim 1 and Ron in swim 2 both with shallow margin's gently leading down to around 8 foot at about 70 yards. Ron had open water for all his rods and I had open water and a dam margin with over hanging trees and a rocky margin to play with.

Swim 1

Our initial tactics were very similar, Ron found the old stream bed where he put down a mixture of Quest Chilli Chocolate, Special Crab and Magnum white and also cast a couple of popped up baits at distance.

I found a nice clean bottom 80 yards out and put out Quality Baits HG42 and Patshull Park Squid and Orange, and a similar baiting strategy to a point on the dam margin.

Ron's 26lb 6oz mirror which was in perfect fighting condition.

We were into our first evening meal at the venue when Ron saw the first action with a run off one of his magnum white pop ups, and landed a 26lb 6oz mirror which was in perfect fighting condition. We were off to a great start and we both thought that this was the beginning of a very successful session. Wrong!

Over the next couple of days a big shoal of carp gathered in the far corner of the lake in front of the 2 French anglers. We were unable to move from our swims due to the flood water so the fish remained well out of our reach.

We had to wait until Saturday morning for the next run which came to one of my rods which I had cast to within a yard of some over hanging trees off the dam margin. I was not sitting on top of my rods and the fish ran straight into the trees and escaped my capture.

3 days I had waited for that run, I was annoyed with myself and still remained without a fish. Ron was equally frustrated as he had not had a single bleep since that first fish, with fish showing 300 yards to his left he had not got a chance of reaching them.

3 days later I had my 1st run, a 23lb 7oz mirror

In the Early hours of Sunday I picked up a 23lb 7oz mirror from my baited area on the dam, a Squid and orange snowman set up did the trick. We had some problems with my new camera but managed a couple of half decent pictures.

An hour into daylight and I land a 26lb 10oz mirror

Out went the rods again and about an hour into daylight I had another run off my baited area on the dam margin, and landed a good hard fighting 26lb 10oz mirror.

This proved to be the last feed for 3 days. By lunchtime we were watching shoals of carp spawning in the dam margins and in the far reed-lined corner. Day and night until Tuesday evening, the fish spawned and spawned. There was no point in putting out anymore bait as it appeared that every fish in the lake was involved in a huge orgy.

By Tuesday evening the waters had settled and the spawning was over, we were due to leave the lake the next morning. Out went a few more baits for the night. It paid off as around 4am I had another run off the same baited area and picked up a 21lb 4oz mirror. Scared and bruised and obviously down in weight from the last 3 days, I took a quick picture and returned the carp back to the depths.

Last fish of the session after the spawn

A view of this spectacular lake

6 nights fishing for 4 carp between us, not the best result, but it has given us an insight into the potential of the lake. The fact that the fish went into a mega spawn gave Ron and myself the opportunity to see a large percentage of the carp in the lake as they splashed and barged through the margins and reeds.

We both saw some of the huge specimen carp that the lake holds. They swam within feet, even banging into our legs as we waded out into the shallows to view the show.

The lake surely holds the stock that the lake owner claims and with his future plans to boost the stocking to over 200 carp over the next 2 years, will make this a top big fish water.

Spawning fish off the dam

Conclusion

Since taking on the water the owner has already made some vast improvements to the road and car park, along with building a cabin, shower and toilet block. His near future plans include improving all the swims to a top standard and making access to each swim by vehicle, viable. Future stocks of carp will all be around the 30lb mark and I am sure that due to the rich environment of the lake, most of the carp will be over 30lb in the next 18 months. Guilliam does not want to create a runs water but a water that produces good quality large carp.

Swim 1 on Tuesday evening, 24 hours after the sluice gates were opened to release some water

This lake is not for the novice and will prove a challenge to some of the more experienced anglers. It's location and the chance of picking up some big specimens will keep anglers coming back to this venue year after year.

Our recommendations to Angling Lines are that they should consider taking on this lake once all the improvements are made. The owner himself is a top big carp angler on the French carp scene and wants to create one of the best big carp waters in his region. I am confident that he can do this and I am sure that this lake will be hitting the Angling press in the next couple of years.

Paul Cooper

To read more of Paul, Ron and Jim's field testing adventures click here.

Eye-catching Linear at Genets

Caught at Genets last week by Adam Wellings, this is firmly one of the best looking linears we have seen in some time.

39.11

For more information, articles, fish photo's and feedback from Genets follow the link - Carp Fishing France

Blue Lake Latest

Last week Chris Pink went out to fish Blue Lake, a 15 acre lake where the water is crystal clear and the depth ranges from 3 foot to over 18 foot; containing loads of underwater features.

Details of your catches: 14 fish, 1 sturgeon, 2 grass carp, all others were king carp up to 40 1/2 lbs
Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Boilies all the way
General comments: Good fishing

40lb - Chris Pink

For more information, articles and catch reports from Blue Lake follow the link - Fishing France

Questions and Answers - Margot Carp Lake

Paul Cooper, one of our expert Field Testers, recently answered a few queries about Margot, a must read if you're going out to the venue this year!

Hello Paul,

I have just finished reading your article on fishing tactics at Margot 2012.  I’m due to fish Margot soon, I’m in a party that has the lake exclusively, we have pre-drawn for swims, I pull out of the hat Peg 1.

Using the information and tips in your article, I will contact Angling Lines to find out how many anglers will be on the lake the week previous. I was hoping that you could possibly give me any tips on fishing Peg 1?

Swim Map

On my previous visits to Margot I have not fished peg 1, however I can tell you as much as I can recall about the swim.

Peg 1 is situated on the bank to the left of the facilities which is a corner point swim giving access to an area to your left that is not accessible by anyone else on the lake. You also have the option of fishing directly in front of you to the middle of the lake.

Peg 2 is only yards to your right, however due to the point location, peg 2 has a vast amount of water to fish to the right and also has the option of fishing open water directly in front of the swim. The ground is made up of hard rubble so you will need a rubber mallet to hammer in your tent pegs. There is little shade on the swim so take be prepared for some sun.

From what I can recall the lake depths are around 4 to 5 feet with a thin layer of soft silt on the bottom of the lake, with some graveled areas.To your left is a long peninsular and the gap between the end of the peninsular and the far bank is a good feeding area, but is very shallow. A lot of carp feed and hang around in the shallow bay to the left and you do pick up fish as they return to the main lake.

Fish in the Shallows at Margot

I would select my main feeding area in open water and have 1 rod to the left. There are lots of grassies in the lake to over 40lb which I always try to avoid but still pick them up. To avoid the grass carp I would not use any pellet. Boilies, hemp or party blend should do the trick. Start off light, increasing the amount of bait as you develop your swim. Do not spread your bait to different areas, sticking to your 2 baited areas and you should pick up carp on a regular basis.

Best of luck. I am sorry that I cannot be of more use but as I said, I have not fished this area of the lake.
Paul Cooper

To check out more articles from Margot, including the capture of the 71lb lake record, click here.
Margot Carp Fishing in France

Alder Carp - Hard Fighting AND Pretty

Mick and Alan fished Alder for a week from Saturday 27th April and here is a round up of their feedback;

Mick's New PB - 42.03

Details of your catches: 28 Carp, 2 x 40's up to 42.3, 4 x 30's up to 31, 19 x 20's.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Bottom baits tipped with plastic corn or double 14/15mm boilies. I was trialing baits for Custom Baits Ltd and their peach/black pepper boilies out-fished Mainline Cell, it was only when we ran out (had 5kg) that the cell come into its own.

General comments: The fish in alder are some of the prettiest, hardest fighting carp i have had the pleasure of doing battle with, they don't know when to give up, amazing stunning fish.

We were up against it before we arrived as the temp dropped 20' over the 2 days before we got there,we had a NE wind blowing most of the week and this kept water temp cold but the fish still fed. Was harder than expected but in the conditions, what we had was great.

Alan - 30lb

Chris and Steph are two of the most down to earth people I have met, nothing phases them, a real pleasure.
Not in your face but on hand if needed, would walk their dog each evening and call in to see if all was ok and see how we had done ( even gave us warnings of 2 thunderstorms coming which was big help).

40lb on the nose

For more information, articles, photo's and feedback from Alder follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Two New PB’s Within 3 hours at Genets

34.04

On Sunday 5^th May at 1pm Dave Wilcock landed his new PB of a 34lb 4oz Mirror at Genets; feeling extremely pleased with himself he decided to reel in for an hour or so to rest his swim & have a chat with his friends fishing with him.

At 4pm having not long put his rods back out he again renewed his PB with a stunning 43lb 11oz Mirror taken on just 2 pieces of maize with a piece of yellow foam in between!

Nice work Dave.

43.11

For more information, articles, feedback and photo's from Genets follow the link - Carp Fishing France 

Record Zander for Margot

For the increasing number of Margot anglers who are interesting in it's potentially large zander specimens; Robert Griffiths has recently landed the biggest so far weighing 13lb 4oz. Who knows how big the Zander go in this lake? We'll keep you posted.

13.04

For more information, articles, photo's and feedback from Margot follow the link - Carp Fishing Holidays

Want the Real French Experience? – Spotlight on Notaires

The Limousin Stone Farmhouse

The Notaires Lakes are located deep in the French countryside in the region known as the green heart of France. Your accommodation for the week is a renovated 200 year old Limousin stone built farmhouse with a swimming pool overlooking the carp lake. Peace and quiet are guaranteed. 

38lb

The fish stocks have been added in stages to ensure their health and vigour and now range from 15lb to a terrific 41lb, with the average in the high 20’s.

Notaires is set in its own 75 acre estate of lakes, woods and fields in one of the quietest areas of France. This makes for a unique holiday experience; the calm, quiet atmosphere is appreciated as a counterpoint to the busy modern life in England. If you stretch your legs round some of the hidden fields you could well catch sight of deer or boar as well as buzzards, kestrels and sparrow hawks.

Outside is a generous garden that overlooks the lake and features a 200 year old oak tree, great for providing natural shade when you’re sitting or eating outdoors.

"Absolutely fantastic place, I cannot wait to come back. The gite has everything you could need. Clean and warm and welcoming.Steph and Chris are lovely - we were made to feel very welcome and were shown all their beautiful animals.

Thanks for a fantastic holiday. See you next year."Jordan Hay and Family, May '13

Fantastic venue. All fish were in great condition. Chris & steph are fantastic hosts and always is a pleasure to stay!Tony Crane, Nov '12

Both lakes are in a beautiful and tranquil setting, roughly rectangular in shape but narrowing at one end and both are fringed by mature beech, oak, willow and alder trees. The willows create plenty of cover and provide bays to fish to on long summer days whilst the large oak and beech trees provide welcome shade for both the carp and fishermen.

There are no nuisance poisson chat and any crayfish are kept under control by the resident catfish. Vehicle access is possible to both lakes, so unloading fishing gear is nice and easy.

The Lake

Master Bedroom

For more information, articles and feedback on Notaires follow the link - Fishing Holidays

Carp Fishing in France Webcast - April 2013

Here's our April Webcast... Carp Fishing - 59 videos to chose from!

One of the Big Mirrors banked at Mas Bas Carp Lake!

In March we stocked two new 50′s here at Mas Bas and it certainly hasn’t taken long for one of them to make an appearance for our anglers.Franck Consato was the clever/lucky angler to land one of the mirrors this week at 53lb 2oz!

53.02

For more information, videos and feedback on Mas Bas follow the link - Fishing Holidays

Talk about Short Sessions!

So, after 5 months of working around the Carp and Cats lake at Holly Pools – it’s done for this year. New swims complete, path gravelled, plants starting to grow, leaves appearing on the trees. Bearing in mind I really have done little else but work on the fishery for the last 5 months, I decided I’d better get to work in the veg garden and score some points with S(H)e Who Must Be Obeyed. While digging for victory one thought kept going through my head: “You haven’t fished this year, and there are no guests this week…”

After arguing with myself for literally 3 seconds, I decided that as H was in England for a few days and there was nothing on TV, surely wetting a line for the last hour of light “just to test the water”, would be OK. I have my kit laid out pretty well, so it literally takes me 10 minutes to get the gear out of the tackle room and be ready to cast on the bank. I decided someone should test the new Stump Swim, and put 1 rod 20 yards out, with 1 Carp Cuisine “Fruit de Mer” and 6 more in a PVA bag on the hook. After casting out, I sat down on the handy lump of oak at the back of the swim to take in the surroundings: whilst fishing, and not working for once. I literally hadn’t completed my look around when the alarm screamed and the bobbin hit the rod. 10 minutes later and the Stump swim was christened with one of the smaller cats – 20lb on the nose. It didn’t half fight and was in super condition and very fat.

20lb Catfish

Telling this story to my French neighbour Yvon today, I suggested it was a shame he’d not been there to see it. He’s an excellent coarse fisherman, but has never caught a Silure (Wels Cat). Why, I suggested, didn’t he pop down for a cheeky whiskey after dinner – say 7, and we would fish for half-an-hour?

My reasoning was: a) to see if the 10 minute take was a total fluke, and b) if I could land a Silure Yvon would be pleased to see “English style” fishing and a Silure to boot, and c) if I caught a Carp I’d have proved it wasn’t a fluke and I’d have caught both key species in our “Carp and Cats” lake in less than an hours’ fishing across 2 nights.

Talk about short sessions! But this is what we are about: bring your other half, keep her happy by doing tourist things like the markets, medieval towns and chateau – and then have a session after dinner, or just the morning – and still have a great chance of bagging up. Carp fishing isn’t just about spodding “munga” and casting to the horizon!

I suppose you can guess the next bit, since I have bothered to write the story: but our half-hour and a cheeky drinkie after dinner went pretty well. We met at 7 and after explaining the rigs to Yvon I cast the second rod out at 7:10 (One rod each tonight see!)

After setting the alarms I walked back up the steps to pour the drink – but liquid had not touched glass before we heard the unmistakable Delkim Bibibibibibibi! A really strong first run was followed by 10 minutes of slowly gaining ground. I didn’t want to lose one in front of the local audience! The result was a very healthy looking 21lb mirror, nailed in the bottom lip.

21lb Mirror

So you see – you can have a fishing holiday that’s not ALL about the fishing, and still have some action when you decide to unwind by the water. See you on the bank.
Nik

For more information, articles and feedback from Holly Pools follow the link - Carp Fishing

A Surprise Capture of a 60lb Unknown Resident at Roseau

During week commencing 20^th April I was woken up to the news of a fish on the bank at Roseauof over 60lb, as you can imagine I was very surprised but even more surprised to hear that the lucky angler didn’t know what species it was.

Knowing the only fish in excess of 60lb is the one and only Catfish that resides in the Large lake, I was expecting to see the large whiskers of the giant tadpole on my arrival to the swim. However, I’m sure most, if not all anglers have heard and know what a Catfish looks like so my mind started working overtime and thoughts turned to a large Grass Carp as I wandered the long banks in anticipation of what I was about to see.

60.04

Walking into the swim it was very clear that all the lads present were equally confused by the creature that laid in the floatation sling.

Together we prepared the weighing equipment and hoisted the fish onto the waiting mats, as the folds of the sling parted my first reaction was “that’s a huge Grassy” but as the head was exposed I was completely thrown by it, the weight was confirmed by myself at 60lb 04oz, pictures were taken before the fish was released back to its watery home.

60.04

I returned to the lodge and immediately open the computer to see if I could find out exactly what species it was, after a good hour or so I came to the conclusion that it was a Bighead Carp, I emailed Angling Lines to notify them of the capture and reports came back that it was actually stocked around some 10 years ago, it would be interesting to find out the weight of which it was stocked because Bighead Carp are plankton feeders and I’m sure it wasn’t stocked at such a large weight. Bighead Carp have an under slung bottom lip which makes them very difficult to catch, this is its first capture in my four years being at Roseau Carp so who knows how big this fish will actually go!

After having the time to digest it, it actually doesn’t surprise me that such a large fish was swimming around the depths of the large lake and avoiding capture, during my time here I’ve seen some very big Carp which have yet to grace the banks, how many more surprises does this awesome complex hold!!!

Until next time…

Tight Lines
Roy

For more information, photos, videos and feedback from Roseau follow the link – Fishing France

Biggest Catfish to date comes out of Molyneux

35lb Mirror – Keith

The anglers due this week at Molyneux were old friends from last year, which is always so nice, as it is truly a pleasure welcoming back familiar faces to the lake. Having been before they had predetermined what swims they were going to fish, mostly the same as last year. Keith opting for Social 1, with his mate Steve next door in Social 2. Another Steve headed for the Barn swim, while Troy chose to fish from the double swim. Jason started off in the Pines, and Bish chose the cabin swim where he fished last year.

Saturday was spent finding the old spots, and baiting up, and after dinner we enjoyed a lovely social evening with the lads in the dining room having a chinwag and a few beers. I don’t think anyone fished Saturday night as they were tired after the journey.

36.08 – Steve

The following morning a few speculative casts were made at first light hoping to pick up a fish before breakfast. Only one angler Keith was successful in this and after casting out into open water in front of the social swims landed a corking mirror of 34lb’s. Not a bad start to the week.

The rest of Sunday nobody managed to catch possibly due to the cold North wind which whistled across the lake. Monday sadly was much the same story, and at teatime Monday the guys still had only the one fish between them.

With the weather due to change significantly no one was too concerned and we all felt confident that with a little sunshine and a change of wind things would improve greatly. How right we were. Monday evening the wind died right down, and looked set to change. The temperatures without the wind chill immediately improved and so did the fishing.

At 1.30am Steve in the barn landed a new lake record Catfish weighing in at 62lb 4oz… A cracking beast almost as long as Steve was tall.

62lb 4oz New Lake Record – Steve

At 4am Keith hooked and landed his second of the week, a 21lb 8oz Grass carp. Steve then landed two more from the barn in quick succession, a 31lb 3oz mirror and a 14lb mirror, one of the few double figure mirrors coming through. Steve Taylor in Social 2 was next off the mark with a 28lb 4oz mirror at 7.30am, and then Steve in the Barn swim landed another just before reeling in for breakfast, this one was a 20lb 4oz common.

Things were looking up, and with the light S/E breeze springing up after breakfast it could only improve. Steve in the Barn landed two more Mirrors in the afternoon, weighing in at 28lb 3oz, and 29lb 2oz respectively.

Tuesday night and a few of the big girls came out to play. The first fell to Steve in the Barn, a little after midnight, landing a lovely 35lb mirror. The next mirror caught was a massive new pb for Bish in the Cabin swim at 36lb 3oz. The next was caught at first light, Keith in the double swim landing the largest of the week so far at 36lb 6oz. He followed this up with a smaller mirror of 26lb 4oz just before breakfast.

36lb 6oz – Keith

Jason who had been fishing the boat swim with little success decided on a move after breakfast and I gave him a hand round with his gear to Jack’s. He had seen a few fish showing down in the shallows early in the morning and thought it worth a chance.

At lunchtime Steve In the Barn caught what can only be a lake spawned Grasscarp weighing in at 14lb’s. Keith then had two decent mirrors in quick succession between 5pm and 6pm, a 30lb 8oz mirror and a 29lb mirror.

Just after midnight so technically Thursday there were two fish caught almost simultaneously at either end of the lake. Jason, proving that the move was worthwhile, landed a gorgeous 22lb common, and Steve in the Barn landed another Catfish, this one tipping the scales at 39lb exactly. Keith then caught another cat at 2.45am, this one weighing 27lb 12oz.

The next fish caught was at 4pm, and was a 20lb 10oz Grass carp landed by Steve down in the Barn, he was having a whale of a time down there and was catching consistently throughout both day and night. A short while after Keith caught our second ever double figure Grass carp at 17lb’s. They don’t normally breed very successfully in lakes, preferring to do so in running, or at least moving water. Tucked away as we are in a valley, it is testament to the water quality that we seem to be seeing fish which have obviously grown on in the lake as none were ever stocked as low as these.

Later that evening, Jason in Jack’s landed his first thirty of the week, a nice long mirror of 30lb 4oz.

36.03 – Bish

On Friday conditions were absolutely perfect and it was to be a cracking day for fish. It started at just after midnight, Keith in Social 1 landing a 22lb 6oz mirror.

Then at 5.30am Steve in the Barn swim landed a beautiful mirror of 37lb 5oz, as he put this back, another of his rods rattled off and resulted in a 23lb 9oz mirror. Keith then landed another just after first light, another mirror, this one weighing in at 25lb 10oz.

At 8.15am, Jason in Jack’s landed another scraper thirty at 30lb 2oz.

At 9.30am Troy landed his first fish of the week, a 20lb 4oz common. I don’t think the constant bellowing and noises he was making had helped in his cause.

After breakfast Steve who had been persevering in Social 2 moved into Stones after seeing fish in the channel. He then proceeded to have three mirrors in a short space of time during the afternoon. Proof that keeping your eyes peeled and making the effort to move can pay off. His first was 29lb 12oz, his second weighed 26lb 4oz, and his third weighed 27lb 4oz.

37.11 – Steve

Steve in the Barn also got in on the afternoon fun with another chunky mirror weighing in at 36lb 8oz. Troy whose voice had obviously gone by now then landed another at around 5pm, his second common, this one weighing 22lb 3oz. Just before he reeled in for the evening meal Keith managed a 26lb 6oz mirror.

At 10pm Jason landed his third thirty of the day and this one was a bit special, a gorgeous 30lb Grass carp.

At 11pm, Steve in the Barn landed a 30lb 3oz mirror, and at almost the same time Keith in Social 1 landed a 35lb mirror.

Steve in the Barn, then caught a 37lb 11oz mirror, just stealing the biggest carp of the week crown off of Keith by 6oz….

In the early hours of the morning there were to be two more fish banked. Steve in the Barn had yet another, a 23lb 3oz common, and Steve in Stones finished up with his largest of the week with a 33lb mirror.

All in all a good week, with every angler catching, and from only one fish caught by Monday evening they finished up with forty fish for the week between six of them. A very good result in the end.

Good to see you all guys, it was a pleasure as always, and we hope to welcome you back with a warm smile and a cold beer sometime soon..
Wally

For more information, videos and feedback from Molyneux follow the link - French Carp Lakes