INFLIGHT AT OLD OAKS

Want to know what Old Oaks is really like? This episode is a short aerial flight over the lake, designed to give you a real taster of the lake's layout and features. Over the past year this lake has really proved itself and stepped in to the same big fish league as it's sister lake Laroussi.

For more information on Old Oaks follow the link - Carp France

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.

Grumpy Old Men at Old Oaks

Angling Lines' David Keep and Paul Cooper escaped for a week at Old Oaks this September, here's Paul's write up on his tricky week there...

Sometimes you have to bite your lip and follow the flow. I didn't and I paid the price.

It was late September 2013 when David Keep and I paid a visit to Old Oaks, the smaller sister water to Laroussi. Dave was no stranger to either lake, where as this would be my 1st trip to one of Medhi's famous waters.

The secluded bay in swim 5

Now for those of you that have not been fortunate enough to fish these lakes it is hard to describe the warm and friendly a welcome you receive from Medhi and his family. Medhi knows his waters like the back of his hand and soon filled us in with the previous captures on the lake over the past few week's.

We established that 3 anglers that had just left the lake and they had really turned the water over with 48 captures and over 15 fish lost. This was a brilliant result for them but obviously we gathered that at least 1/2 of the fish in the lake had seen a hook over the past week. Now that does not always effect the fishing, but that coupled with the forecast of high pressure and 27C for the forthcoming week did knock our confidence a little.

First fish of the session

The Lake

As with any visit to a new lake I like to find out what the general make up of the lake is, and I started to do this by leading and plumbing the water. Old Oaks is around 65yards wide along the whole length of the lake and averages around nine and a half foot of water up to around a rod length off the far margin where it shallows off to around 4 foot.

Swim 1 which is the 1st swim as you enter the complex, has over hanging bushes to the right and the far margins is the narrowest part of the lake. Swim 2 has a couple of overhanging bushes with the rest of the margins having brambles along the far margin.

Swims 3, 4 and 5 are full of features on the far margins, with overhanging bushes all along the banks with deep holes in them creating perfect feeding spots for carp.

Swim 4

Facilities

At the head of the lake there is the wooden lodge which has all the requirements, including a shower room with sink, another sink and worktop, an English style flush toilet, plenty of electrical points, a huge chest freezer and a large fridge. Everything is kept clean and in excellent working order. The water from the taps can be used as drinking water and there is also a barbeque area outside with a table and bench.. The whole area around the lake is fully secure with a large locking gate at the entrance.

All the swims have vehicular access so that tackle etc can be dropped at the swims.

Vehicle access to the swims

The Fishing

Previously, most of the carp had been caught from the top end of the lake in swims 4 and 5 so this would be our first choice of swims. Dave settled into swim 4 and I chose to try out swim 5. Now swim 5 gave me little room to manoeuvre as the fishing area was at a minimum, but it had been a productive swim. Dave settled for swim 4 as he could spread his rods covering water in swims 3 and 4.

We had a good selection of bait with us in the form of Quality Baits HG All Seasons and the Patshull Park mix. Dave also purchased some of Medhi's partiblend to add to his baiting campaign for the week. My tactic was to use boilie only which to date has caught me lots of fish over the past 18 months.

From early observations I could see that the carp were sulking under the far marginal bushes well out of the reach of a cast bait. They were hugging the far bank and over cleared areas under bushes.

The far margins

Dave had had the hindsight to bring his bait boat which enabled him to put his baits under the far marginal bushes. I resorted to my old traditional casting and tried to draw a few fish out into open water. For the first 2 days I failed miserably and could not buy a bite whilst Dave picked up the odd fish with his tactics. By Monday I had decided that I was wasting my time fishing off the tree line and moved down to swim 2.

Swim 2 and a view down the lake

I had a walk around to the far side opposite swim 2 and could see large dark shapes lurking under the 2 bushes on that margin. I fed them a few boilies under the tree and had an instant reaction off the carp. A foot away from the bush in open water and absolutely no reaction at all. This was going to be a struggle.

Another nice fish for Dave

The temperature had been around 27C all week and not a cloud in the sky, not an excuse by any means. On the Tuesday Mehdi gave us a tour of Larousi and the lads on there were pulling the odd fish out.

My one and only carp

Back to Old oaks and it seemed dead, no fish in open water still with lots of huge carp still hugging the tree line. By night fall I had taken a 34lb 4oz mirror from about a foot off the far marginal tree, but that was to be my only fish of the week.

Dave's tally by the end of the week was mirrors of 43lb, two at 38lb, a 36lb, a 30lb 14oz and a 36lb common.

43lb

I was totally out fished, well done Dave. Before we set off from England, Dave had suggested that I bring a bait boat, but I dug my heals in and refused. Next time I might think about it, but it may only be a thought.

I thoroughly enjoyed the week despite struggling to catch carp. Good company coupled with fishing a water that contains mostly huge carp certainly makes up for the loss. I am sure that with different circumstances I would have had a bumper catch, but it just goes to show that we can all have a bad day at the office.

Another upper thirty

Conclusion

Mehdi has produced a brilliant carp fishing lake that looks after itself. There is a diversity of different species of fish in the lake which control any increase in his carp population, in turn, enabling his carp to grow quickly and healthily. The average weight of the carp is around 36lb to 38lb and from previous catch reports it is easy to see that there are lots of forty pound fish along with the odd fifty swimming around.

It just goes to show that every week is not the same on this type of lake. Anglers that struggle occasionally on French waters, have no need to beat themselves, it could be totally different on their next visit. On this occasion there was not too much that we could do, we were the victim of the previous week's anglers success,  but you live and learn.

Paul Cooper
paulcooper18@sky.com

Awesome Week at Old Oaks

Mehdi, the owner of renowned big fish waters Old Oaks and Laroussi, fills us in on the latest from the lake...

Despite the very hot summer Old Oaks has produced constant good fishing, but last week has been awesome! Neil Martin's party had a crazy time catching 48 fish in total with 17 forties and a fifty.  Approx 15 fish lost to the snags.

Not bad for their first french carp trip...

A kiss for the long common at 60.08

In other news the 'long common' hasn't been caught since May. Last time, she was a hefty 60lb 8oz. Many carpers have seen this particular specimen swimming along the branches of the far margin...easy to see but who will catch it next? After a summer of growth it will be interesting to see her weight now.

Tight Lines
Mehdi

For more information on Old Oaks follow the link - Carp France

High Average at Old Oaks

Andy Wilmott and Gary Reynolds had a catch of 29 carp at Old Oaks this month, 22 of which were over 30lb! Nice work guys. Read their feedback below...

Details of your catches: 29 carp for the week. 10 x 40's 12x 30's. Best 3 were 45, 46 and 49lb. Fish were still interested in spawning but came steadily through the week.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Fished to the far bank. Boilies over a bed of pellet/boilie. Most fish v tight in due to high water but some fish a rod length out from far bank.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend? Mehdi made us most welcome and was the perfect host. He introduced us to the water and the rules and then left us to it. We could speak to him during the week and kept up to date with our progress. If we had needed help he would have been more than happy to come over and give advice. First class.

General comments: Some of there swims are a bit boggy due to the high water level. We understand this is unusual but if it continues there will need to be some work to keep the swims drier. But overall no complaints. We have been to france for the last 5 years and this was the stand out week.

For more information and feedback from Old Oaks follow the link - Carp France

Big Fish Time at Old Oaks

May has been a mad month at Old Oaks with plenty of big fish, here’s the round up below…

Earlier in April, Des Chapman landed 3 fifties up to 54lb, almost in a row, with a plenty of forties and high thirties.

Andrew Hooper’s team had a super week with 33 fish including the Long common and the Pizza common at 52lb3oz and 6 forties.

A kiss for the Long common at 60lb 8oz

Terry Campen and Peter Shearing were fishing from Saturday 18 May. Terry had his very first bite on Sunday and what a bite… the Long Common at 60lb 8oz ! ! !

Peter, a few days later, was happy to break the lake record mirror with a stunning dark fish weighing 58lb.  He also had a 54lb and 5 good forties including a fast growing common at 42lb.

Finally, last week, Tony Wolfe’s party enjoyed a super week with 30 fish, with 16 forties and  2 fifties at 52lb 6oz and a new lake record at 58lb 12oz !

So it’s another new lake record within a week and the good news is it’s a different fish.

Tight lines
Mehdi, Owner at Old Oaks

For more info & catch reports from Old Oaks follow the link - Carp France

One Day and Three Record Commons

The fishing has well and truly warmed up along with the weather at both Laroussi and Old Oaks. The 3 biggest resident commons at the lakes have been caught… and all in the same day!

The ‘Long Common’ at 59lb and the ‘Pizza Common’ at 52lb in Old Oaks and a 50lb 2oz in Laroussi. Will be interesting to see all of them progress over the next few years!

The ‘Long Common’ – Peter

The ‘Pizza Common’ – Andy

Laroussi and Old Oaks are both owned by Mehdi Daho, a highly respected carp angler in his own right, and are situated in the heart of the beautiful Pays de la Loire countryside.

For more information on the two venues follow the link - Carp France

The Most Unusual Carp Capture of 2012?

The Most Unusual Carp Capture of 2012?

December 25, 2012DavidNo comments

 

Stephen Knight fished Old Oaks w/c Sat 1st Dec.  Fishing was hard & he only had one carp all week… but surely caught in one of the most unconventional methods – on a lure!

Over to Stephen to explain;

“Fishing was hard as we had some bad frost’s, down to -6c.  There were still fish moving , but they were not interested in feeding much.

I took along a small ABU bait casting outfit for a bit of fun if the fishing was slow & I caught a small jack pike. I changed to a small red and white jig head and hooked up first cast into something big, which I first thought was a massive pike.  But it was pulling back too much for a pike so I thought that maybe it’s one of the cats.

I was well sup prised to see its was a mirror carp when I got it to the surface.  The jig must have landed right in front of it on the bottom because as as soon as I started to retrieve it went tight.

I had never heard of this happening before, but when Mehdi came to take photos, he said he had heard of it before but not with a fish of this size.  It’s a first for me and will probably never happen again.  Bloody amazing!”

Carp France at Old Oaks

57lb Mirror from Old Oaks

57lb Mirror from Old Oaks

November 25, 2012DavidNo comments

Congratulations to Ryan Fasson for breaking the lake record mirror at Old Oaks with a 57lb 8oz stunner!

Ryan landed 5 fish – 30lb, 34.5lb, 35.6lb, 39.4lb and the the new record 57.8lb.

The Long Common is still uncaught…. fingers X’d she comes out soon!

Tight Lines, Mehdi

Carp France at Old Oaks

Old Oaks – New Lake Record Common

57lb common

Only the week after the lake mirror record was smashed with a 57lb carp the next group of anglers have managed to break the Lake record for a Common Carp with Gary Gordons capture at 51lb 06oz.

This is an amazing start to the season for Old Oaks with this being the fifth 50lb carp caught of the 2012 season, we can’t say weather conditions have been too helpful either and it’s only mid April! Not only that but when you check the feedbacks the forties out are starting to outnumber the thirties! and there are relatively few 20′s  caught by comparison.

This lake is just amazing! I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks hold.

Carp France at Old Oaks