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

A Pioneer’s Dream Lake – Field Testing Tales

Paul Cooper and Jim Kelly were out again on a field testing trip to a brand new Angling Lines venue, Nautica. Having thoroughly tested this venue twice now with great results, below is Paul's report on his time there...

The Lake

Nautica is a 17 acre wild and natural French lake set deep in rural France, around 150 miles South of Paris. With around two thirds of the lake being totally reed-lined this surely is a carp anglers dream come true.

Our target for the week. The big male at 62lb 4oz

The owner, Guillaume Rousselet, a well known big French carp angler, took control of the lake last year. He has tried to keep the lake wild and as natural as possible, and yet create a fishery that will attract keen big carp anglers to its precious shores.

How to get the best out of French Carp Fishing in France

I think that it fair to say that most anglers that visit French carp waters expect to catch big carp and lots of them, beating their British PB's by a fair margin.

A feedback report from Villefond, you can even select exact months to see how what to expect throughout the year...

Carp are the same in France as in England, they can be temperamental and totally shut down their feeding programme for weeks at a time. When they do go on the feed anglers can have bumper catches with some huge fish gracing the bank.

There are many companies that provide French angling, either exclusive bookings or shared lakes. Unfortunately the catches that are reported are usually only when a group of anglers have a big hit. They do not provide any information when folks blank or catch very few or even small fish.

Now lets take a look at Angling Lines. Check out the feedback reports that customers put on the web site following a visit to one of the Angling Lines waters. You will see unedited reports and true feedback. If there are issues that are controversial, Angling Lines may add a comment but will not remove the feedback unless it is offensive.

Things to consider before making the decision on what water to fish.

• Firstly look at your angling ability and experience. It is no good aiming for a big fish water that contains only a small stocking of carp if you want lots of runs, especially if you are new to the carp scene. The reason that the carp are big is because of a healthy stocking level, which means fewer fish and fewer runs.
• There are plenty of waters that are available that will provide runs galore, but you may have to wade through lots of smaller carp to catch some of the bigger residents.
• Check out the location of the venue as there can be vast differences in travel times from ports.
• Decide if you want exclusive, shared lakes, bivvy only or a lake with accommodation.
• If you are a bait boat user, clarify if they can be used or not and also check on the availability of power points.

Once that you have selected a venue that suits your requirements.

• Read the feedback reports, baring in mind that some anglers may knock the venue and fish stocks, just because they have had a  poor week's fishing. Read lots of reports and you will get a clearer picture of what to expect.
• Check out the articles, they are written for the benefit of new customers as well as old ones.
• Make sure that you have 100% confidence in your choice of bait and check out what is supplied at your chosen venue, just in case you need a top up.
• If their are issues with Poison Chat or crayfish, be prepared to combat them because these waters usually contain some huge carp. Check out the video's here in the technical section for more information.

Your 1st day at the venue

Now it can be easy to have a pre-conceived idea prior to your arrival that a certain swim will produce the most fish. It is worth taking note of what areas have produced the goods in the past but on the day of arrival everything could have changed. Angling pressure and climate change could easily move the carp to an area of the lake not normally associated with high catch rates.

Watch for signs of carp movement

So what should you do.

• If there is a catch report book, check it out to see which swims produced the previous week.
• Speak to the bailiff or owner, they can usually point you in the right direction.
• I would still get hold of a marker rod, a pair of good binoculars and a pair of polarised sun glasses.
• Study the water looking for any signs of feeding fish, vortexes caused by carp, clouded or coloured water, fizzing or carp showing themselves by crashing or lumping out. This may take a few hours but it could be worth it as you are there for a week. Make the right decision on swim choice could make the difference between a good and a poor weeks fishing.
• Lead and plumb your chosen swim, trying to find an area that you can present a bait comfortably.
• Even if you are using a bait boat it is important to try and find a clean suitable area to fish, at a distance that you can cast to comfortably. If your bait boat breaks down or the wind picks up, you may find it difficult to cast to your baited area, and you will have to start all over again in developing another one.
• Begin a baiting campaign with a little and often approach. Once the carp start feeding introduce more bait accordingly to the ratio of feeding carp that you think are in the swim.
• Always watch the water. The fish may move and if it is possible you may have to move with them. I have moved 3 or 4 times during a week to keep up with feeding fish.

The video below shows how to effectively find features in your swim...

The rest is up to you. I know that there are a lot of anglers out there that are very experienced in what they do, but we are not all blessed with that wealth of experience. The articles and videos that are available on the Angling Lines web site, are put on for the benefit of all anglers, especially for those who are willing to learn and develop their fishing.

I wish you all the best in your future angling. Take a look at Paul Cooper's fishing tips on Quality Baits for some more tips.

Paul Cooper

For over 60 technical videos on baiting, rigs, techniques and tactics follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Winter is Coming

It's approaching that time of year again when the carp go on a massive feed before the Winter sets in. September and October are, in my opinion, the best times of the year for a number of reasons.

21lb 13oz on new bait, September

Firstly, the carp should have fully recovered from this years spawning and will now be at their natural weights. Any weight gain for next year will be made in the next few weeks as the carp prepare for the winter and begin to develop their eggs for the next years spawning. Over the next 6 weeks the fish will be feeding hard and can be caught over large beds of bait. Most of the weed has died or is dying back make natural food abundant in open water. If you can compete with the naturals with a good quality boilie you could have some excellent results.

Boux carp caught Mid-October at 49lb 14oz

Now is the time that I start to reduce the size of my boilies from 18 mils down to 15mils or even smaller. The water should be getting cooler so I never over flavour any bait at this time of year and I will be working towards reducing the fishmeal content and oils down to zero as winter sets in. Also I stop using  particles and pellets and go to a boilies only approach.

Another October English carp at 24lb 12oz

I am off to Old Oaks this weekend with David Keep of Angling Lines, and although the usual approach for this water is particles and boilies, I aim to stick to my principals with a boilie only approach. The boilies we will be using are provided by Quality Baits in the new HG All Seasons and the ever faithful Patshull Park with a new combination of flavours and essential oil. I have been putting the new baits through their paces over the past fortnight resulting in captures of carp on all of my 4 trips, each lasting no more than 3 hours.

November and they are still on the feed

Shortly after returning from Old Oaks I will be preparing for a trip to Brocard with Jim Kelly. This should take me through to mid October so hopefully I will have a few decent weeks of fishing left before the cold days set in.

Paul Cooper

For more field testing tales click herePaul Cooper 2013 Fishing Diary