Heavenly Holly Pools

Jim Kelly recently took a break from field testing (you can read about those adventures here) to travel out to Holly Pools for a relaxing break, he kindly provided us with this write-up on his return…

Introduction

When choosing a holiday it is really important to match the holiday to your needs, for example if you are agoraphobic you wouldn’t go on a walking holiday in the Sahara. Holidays with fishing are just the same, the holiday should match your experience and your needs. If you have a few years experience or want to take your partner, is it realistic to book a holiday on an inland sea or a swamp? So what do Holly Pools provide?

• Superb accommodation, including swimming pool and two double bedrooms.
• A secluded location in the very heart of the countryside, but within reach of large towns and points of interest. Just let the stress of everyday life wash away.
• Three pools including a specimen lake, with carp and cats to over 40lb.
• A river trout river at the bottom of the garden.

Does this sound like the type of holiday that you are looking for? well read on…

Carp and Cat Lake looking from the dam end

The Pools

The main carp and cat lake is approximately 1.5 acres; it gently shelves from a few feet to 9 feet at the dam end, the margins are deep and the carp patrol them. There are silty patches (only a few inches deep) and areas of hard gravel. There are four main swims with a stalking swim at the shallow end.

Much of the lake is tree lined, some of which are overhanging, these do not cause angling problem as they appear to be snag free underwater. The lake holds a good head of carp and cats to over 40lbs. The average size of the carp is in the twenties. The lake is approximately 30 yards from the gite and is very pretty.

Corner of the dam towards three of the main swims.	Looking towards the dam wall from the shallow end.

The other two lakes are approximately half an acre in size, one of which is stuffed full of fish making it ideal water to teach a beginner or have a bit of fun and the other is a specimen silver fish lake.

A river flows along the bottom of the property holding trout and chub etc. So if you fancy a bit of this give it a try, trout is great on the BBQ.

The two half acre pools	The two half acre pools

The Fishing

First the excuses, the weather was very unseasonal to say the least. When I was there, at the end of May, you would expect the day time temperature to be on average mid-twenties degrees centigrade. There was an overnight frost, 24 hours of rain, hail storms, thunder storms and the average temperature was about 11 degrees! The fish didn’t know what had hit them.

The fish didn’t really feed, which was indicated by the colour dropping out of the water. I feel sure that during a normal week the fish would get their heads down and big catches would be possible. As it was I had 12 carp to 27lb 14oz and three cats to just over 20lb, which I think is OK considering the conditions. The bigger fish didn’t make an appearance and I had to resort to fishing PVA bags in the margins as the fish were not feeding hard enough to be caught over a lot of bait. There was no pattern to the times of the takes; they just came out of the blue.

27lb 14oz

Some more examples of the carp caught during the week:

The size of the fishes’ tails was amazing and they really gave a fantastic fight in the deep margins.

The Accommodation

Kitchen	Log Burner

The accommodation is of a high standard, you could look at this as a holiday with free fishing and good fishing at that. The accommodation consists of a kitchen diner, lounge, separate toilet, shower room and two double bedrooms. Outside there is a covered patio (with BBQ) and private garden with swimming pool.

The lounge has a sky TV, which means that you can get all your favourite English programmes. There is a posh suite and a calor gas style heater.

Kitchen	Lounge

Bathroom with power shower	Bedroom

The covered patio area really is an excellent facility; we had a BBQ every night even though the weather was somewhat inclement. It really is a nice place to chill. There was a redstart nesting in the roof of the patio, bringing food every few minutes for her hungry brood. Wildlife abounds in this area and it is possible to see many varieties of birds, deer, wild boar or even stone martins.

Patio Area	Swimming pool and private garden

Out and About

 The area is mostly wooded with hills and deep valleys, one of my favourite areas of France.

The large Wednesday market at Piegut-Pluviers. A proper French market and well worth a visit.

Oradour-s-Glane	St Mathieu has a swimming lake with beach,bar etc.

Oradour-s-Glane was the site of a Nazi atrocity where an entire village was slaughtered, but for a couple of survivors. The village has been left untouched, with old cars, objects still in houses etc. as a memorial to those that were murdered. You can still see the bullet holes in the walls. Well worth a visit and they do have headphones with English descriptions.

These are just a few examples of what is available in the area. There are also major cities in Limoges and Angouleme where the other half can enjoy some shopping.

Conclusion

A fantastic location in a stunning area of France. When this is coupled with high standard accommodation and good fishing what more could you ask? In my opinion this is the ideal location for a couple or two couples with something to please everyone. Top holiday.

Jim Kelly

For more information on Holly Pools follow the link - Carp Fishing