Old Oaks Produces

Philip Wale and his party of four had a successful week at Old Oaks on an array of baiting tactics, take a look at the review below.

Mehdi was excellent, upon our arrival he showed us around the facilities and the lake then informed us how the previous few weeks had been for the fishing. It was clear from the catch reports and what mehdi told us that pegs 4 and 5 were fishing consistently well. We drew for pegs and peg 3 was the first to be taken followed by peg 5 then the remaining anglers both went into peg 4 and fished two rods each.

First fish of the week - 31lb

Around 6pm on the saturday peg 3 was the first to produce a take and it was a clean 31lb mirror, this fish was taken on a 20mm source bottom bait with very few freebies scattered close by. Fished two rods out from the far margin towards the over hanging trees.

It wasn’t until the next morning that we had anymore action; an hour before first light peg 5 kicked off and a 33lb mirror was sitting on the mat, this fish was taken on a 15mm pyramid baits pp60 bottom bait topped with a sticky baits bucha berry wafter. This was fished around 3/4 rods out from the far margin towards the corner.

Then just on first light peg 5 was in again, this time it was a 52lb 12oz mirror! This was by far the biggest fish any of us had ever seen in the flesh! In fantastic condition with a small patch of scales on it’s side. Taken from exactly the same spot/bait as above.

52.12

We didn’t have anymore action until the next morning and it was the first angler in peg 4, and a 42lb mirror carp. Taken on a pp60 bottom bait, fished two rods off the far margin. The second angler in peg 4 then decided to move onto showing fish in peg 1. Peg 5 was in again, this time it was a 44lb mirror taken on a pp60 bottom bait topped with a bucha berry wafter, fished 3/4 rods from the far margin.

37lb from Peg 1

The next action came the next morning from peg 1; a 37lb mirror taken on a pp60 bottom bait topped with a mainline milky toffee pop up. This was fished to the middle of the gravel bar around 2/3 of the way across. Then around 12:30 the same day peg 3 was in again with a 42lb mirror carp, a dark old warrior. this was taken on a pp60 bottom bait fished just off the far margin. We had no further action until the Friday morning on peg 1 around 30mins before first light, it was taken on a milky toffee pop up fished tight into the corner. Then around 9:30am the same day peg 1 was in again this time it was probably the smallest fish in the lake at just on 20lb, it was a cracking little scaly one and looked very different to the previous fish we had caught. This fish was taken on a pp60 bottom bait topped with a purple squid pop up, fishing tight to the snags in peg 2’s water. Then around 5:30 pm peg 1 was in again it was a very broad 42lb mirror carp in pristine condition, this fish was taken using the same bait/spot as the fish above.

42lb, a dark old warrior taken from peg 3

We the didn’t receive any more action for the rest of our trip, this was our first french trip fishing and we were all very happy with our captures, it was by all accounts a slow week for this lake. The local shops are only 5 mins away by car and the food available is excellent, we became a regular customer of the local butcher, the meat was fantastic! Well worth a look. Facilities were clean tidy and functional, having a shower available for such a long session was a real treat, the fridge and freezer makes things easier as do the uk power points.

20lbs, one of the much younger Old Oaks carp

An excellent all round package, it was easy to book/pay for and everything was taken care of for us. One of the great things about fishing an angling lines lake is the amount of information available on the fishing in your chosen lake, this made it easy for us to turn up prepared and bank a few fish in quick time.

For more feedback, photos and articles from Old Oaks follow the link - Carp France