2024
Fri 26th Apr 2024
Hi John,
We didn’t get here until Saturday night as we missed our ferry on Friday due to M25 problems!
The weather has been very cold and rainy this week and up to Friday at 4pm today we have had 33 carp up to 32lb.
So far we have had the following carp:
Over 30lb x 2
Over 20lb x 17
Doubles x 13
Smallest 6lb X 1
Catfish - landed 3 up to 50lb but lost 2 bigger ones.
Bream – x 3.
Bait this week - cream and marine boilies with Maize with cell waiters and pop ups and PVA bags.
Best swims were cabin swims and field swim and also had a couple out of the pines swim but most of the fish coming during the night.
Place is lovely! - had a great time.
Mark, Bradley, John, (Orpington Kent - 1st visit)
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Fri 19th Apr 2024
No one fishing at the lake this week due to cancellation, so just Yves and Eloise doing maintenance work.
John (owner)
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Fri 12th Apr 2024 (Single Angler this week)
Hi John here’s the catch for this week.
Spent all week in the summerhouse swim - no night fishing this week.
Saturday 6th April until 6pm
34lb mirror
24lb mirror
23lb common
Under 20lb x 2
Sunday 7th April until 4pm - packed up due to heavy rain
33lb common
25lb common
25lb mirror
Under 20lb x 2
Monday 8th April
28lb mirror
Mid 20lb carp x3
Under 20lb x 2
Tuesday 9th April
Had amazing night’s sleep in the cabin, woke up at 7am, rolled over and woke at 10am!
32lb mirror
Over 20lb x 3
Under 20lb (high teen - common - looked like big goldfish)
Others under 20lb x 3
Rained a bit this morning - sunshine and wind so mud drying up- still boggy in places.
Wednesday 10th April
Over 20lb x 4
Under 20lb x 2
Bream = 1
Thursday 11th April
Hectic - fished from 10am - 6pm.
Over 20lb x 5
Under 20lb x 3
Glorious day today - summerhouse swim drying out.
Friday 12th April
31lb mirror
30lb mirror
Over 20lb x 2
18lb common
So - 43 in total
5 just above 30lb
22 Above 20
16 teens
Sunshine now, Pegs are drying out. Most fishing between 10am and 6pm unless rain stopped play
I did hit 2 cats but it just ripped off and snapped. I’m not disappointed as I don’t like cats.
Down to 1 rod now (3pm) I’m packing up slowly then the tip run.
It’s been great, thanks.
Mike G (sandbach - 2nd visit)
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Fri 5th Apr 2024
We Didn’t fish everyday and only fished for 12hrs ish on the days we did and managed the following fish:
Cats: 88lb, 71lb, 68lb, 50lb and 36lb.
20-30lb x 10
10-20lb x10
So 25 in total.
Carp under 20lb x 16
Carp 20-30lb x 31
So 47 in total.
1x bream 8lb
Weather has been up and down but fishing has been steady.
All fish caught on M & B baits p1 boilies.
Thanks for having us on your lake John, all have enjoyed their time here, good luck to all those booked on this year, you will enjoy your fishing at lake La Ridelee …..
Dean and Kat H. / Rob and Elke V. (Rugby 1st visit)
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Fri 29th Mar 2024
This week the rain has been horrendous but despite this we’ve still had a very good weeks fishing.
This year we only fished the cabin swims and they are a bit churned up but they should recover if we get a bit of dry weather.
I’ve caught my new PB with a mirror of 33lb 12oz and we had 2 more around this weight at 33lb 8oz and a nice common at 31lb 5oz.
We had another 24 carp between 20lb and 30lb, and a further 17 between 10lb and 20lb. So in total we had 44 carp plus 8 Bream up to 8lb 5oz. No cats this week.
We have used all sorts of baits including Indian spice, cream, pineapple, scopex boilies, maggot rings, and even worms and we’ve caught fish on everything!
We have been pulling in at around 1pm and sleeping in the cabin due to the weather.
Another great week - can you book us in for next year 23-30 August 2025 and I will sort out the deposit with you next week.
Karl S, Aston S, Dennis G - Daventry (2nd visit)
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Fri 22nd Mar 2024
This was another maintenance week for Andy and myself with lots of trees down, which needed removing due to heavy winds and rain since last visit 4 weeks ago.
When we arrived the lake was very coloured and the surrounding grounds very soft due to heavy rain, but it has started to dry out now.
We had a visit Monday by a local electrician with a view to upgrading some aspects of the cabin but unfortunately he didn’t keep his van on the drive and got stuck. So to all our guests coming in the next few weeks please keep your cars on the drive.
On the fishing side, as usual, Andy helped with maintenance jobs in the mornings and fished in the afternoons and some nights.
The oxygen levels are high at 9mg/l and therefore they are feeding hard and fight like mad.
Andy caught 21 carp and 1 catfish as follows, Carp over 30lb = 2, (biggest 32lb 04oz) Carp over 20lb = 8, Carp over 19lb = 3, Carp 11-18lb = 8, Catfish = 33lb Andy also lost about another 8 fish (barbless hooks) and 1 big catfish that he just couldn’t stop.
Weather this week has been very mild and yesterday was 20 deg C and sunny and we can see carp getting ready to spawn, which is early, but temperature looks like it’s dropping next week which may switch them off.
Good luck to all those coming in the next few weeks.
John (owner) Andy H (Stanford Le Hope Essex)
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Wed 21st Feb 2024
This week was another maintenance week for me and Andy with lots of painting, tree cutting, bank maintenance, grass seeding etc.
I like to come early in the year in case of any surprises and we always get a few fallen trees over the winter, which need attending to.
The carp were very active this week due to daytime temperatures up to 16 deg C with lots of jumping and clouds of silt being dug up where the fish are feeding.
I fed the fish every day on cooked wheat and they were on it like mad within 30 minutes of me putting it in.
Andy fished every day from about 2pm until about midnight in the summerhouse swim and caught the following fish.
Wednesday 14th Feb - 28lb mirror.
Thursday 15th Feb - 26lb mirror, 16lb mirror and 6lb bream.
Friday 16th Feb - 24lb common, 16lb mirror and 4lb bream.
Saturday 17th Feb - 25lb mirror, 19lb common and 5lb bream.
Sunday 18th Feb - 32lb mirror, 21lb common.
Monday 19th Feb - 17lb mirror, 18lb mirror.
Tuesday - no fishing.
In total 11 carp and 3 bream - no catfish this week, water temperature must be a bit low.
Good Luck to all those coming in the next few months.
John (owner) and Andy H.
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2023
Fri 10th Nov 2023
This week was another maintenance week for myself and Andy with lots of tree cutting, bank strengthening carried out including lots of grass seeding, buildings maintenance and painting.
Andy helped in the mornings with the work and fished in the afternoons.
Saturday - only fished with 1 rod due to heavy rain - 17.04lb common.
Sunday - 72lb catfish, 17.14lb mirror, 14lb mirror, 6lb bream.
Monday - 35.12lb mirror, 49lb catfish.
Tuesday- 23lb common.
Wednesday - 30.10 common, 24lb mirror, 13.05lb common, 19.02lb mirror.
Thursday - 16.0lb mirror.
Friday - 16.10lb common, 28.07lb mirror.
15 fish total (biggest 72lb catfish and 35lb 12oz carp) all caught from the summerhouse swim which is Andy’s favourite these days as you don’t need to use or dry out the bivvy.
The bait he used was his usual cream flavoured boilies and 30lb line due to the big catfish we have now.
The weather this week was sunshine and showers all week but daytime temperatures were good for November at around 15 degrees and no frosts.
Lots of fish activity everyday but water very coloured due to the rain.
Fed the fish every day on cooked wheat and maize.
John (owner) Andy H (Stanford Le Hope, Essex)
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Fri 3rd Nov 2023
Only the two of us this week John as Nick needed to pull out last minute due to his dad needing to go into hospital.
I’ve spent the week in the summerhouse swim and Jack spent the week in the cabin swim.
The weather has been rain on and off pretty much the whole week but the fish have been feeding like mad (low pressure maybe?) and we haven’t done any nights.
We have 39 fish landed and lost around another 15.
Biggest catfish was 82lb (Jack) and biggest carp was 36lb 7oz (Mike).
Mike - Summerhouse
56lb catfish
36lb 7oz mirror
33lb 8oz common
32lb 2oz catfish
29lb 1oz mirror
28lb 10oz common
27lb 11oz common
25lb 3oz mirror
24lb 12oz mirror
22lb 6oz common
21lb 9oz catfish
20lb 7oz common
19lb 4oz mirror
19lb 1oz mirror
17lb 5oz mirror
16lb 8oz common
14lb 12oz common
12lb 10oz mirror (fully scaled)
11lb 8oz common
10lb catfish
Jack - Cabin swim
82lb catfish
72lb catfish
46lb catfish
35lb 1oz mirror
30lb 7oz mirror
30lb 0oz common
29lb 12oz mirror
29lb 4oz common
27lb 7oz mirror
27lb 4oz mirror
26lb 7oz catfish
26lb 7oz mirror
24lb 11oz mirror
22lb 5oz common
21lb 0oz common
18lb 2oz mirror
17lb 10oz mirror
16lb 3oz mirror
15lb 7oz common
The bait we've been using is receptor marine, cell and krill boilies.
Another great weeks fishing although the weather could have been a bit dryer but at least it wasn’t cold.
We plan to come back again next year and will sort the dates next week.
Thanks a lot.
Mike B and Jack W (Harlow 2nd visit)
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Fri 27th Oct 2023
Hi John,
Loads of heavy rain this week but luckily it’s not affected the fishing.
So far this week we’ve had 37 carp and 9 catfish.
The biggest carp was caught by Harry with a 37lb 2oz mirror which he was over the moon with as it’s a new PB for him.
We had 2 more 3O’s at 31lb 9oz and 33lb 2oz.
Of the other 34 carp, 23 of them were over 20lbs.
The biggest catfish was caught by Alan at 79lb which put up a tremendous fight and the 30lb line he was using saved the day as it got around the back of the island and we thought it was going to be lost.
We also had other cats at 65lb, 41lb, 35lb and the smallest was 9lb.
The bait we have used was sticky krill and Manila boilies and feeding with Maize and wheat.
Can you book us in for the same week next year and we will sort out the deposit next week.
Once again, a great weeks fishing.
Terry W, Alan W, Harry M (East Grinstead - 6th visit - rebooked for 26.10.24)
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Sat 21st Oct 2023
Hi John
Fishing report
Weather:- talk about all seasons in one week, arrived sunny and warm, next day clear skies but very cold wind 10 degree drop, followed by warmer but very wet flooding rains.
Fishing:- as we said we were trying to target predator fish, unfortunately no zander or pike caught but the catfish put on a show 15 landed from 6lb to 62lb about 9 lost by them running around the island.
Carp - 16 caught, biggest 32lb mirror, 31lb common, 29lb mirror.
Bait:- sticky baits krill and Manilla bailies 12mm and 16mm and paste. Boilies topped with a yellow dumb bell pop up. Dynamite 30mm moggy chunks for catfish (although biggest carp was also caught on this)
We had a great time fishing as a family again, thanks.
Chris H and family (Meautis, France. – 1st visit)
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Fri 13th Oct 2023
Hi John, so to start off with, what a beautiful lake this really is, really clean and well looked after and the cabin and pegs were very clean!!
Catch reports
I fished in the cabin peg all week and landed 24 carp and had no catfish definitely lost a couple of big cats you just can't stop them, I went in with a big baiting approach that didn't work as the first days were slow so I changed spots and fished singles with throwing a few boilies over the top and that got them going!! I caught all of the fish on bright pop ups that did the trick.
Scott also fished the cabin peg and landed 6 carp and one catfish, he had a very hard time with the catfish just kept losing them.
Matthew fished in the summerhouse peg/pines and he landed 12 carp and no catfish fishing was hard in the summerhouse he was getting a lot of bream so he moved into pines and got into the carp.
Andy fished in the outfall swim landing 5 carp and no catfish. Andy only fished a few hours a day as he enjoyed walking round and seeing us he didn't fish nights so he didn't do bad at all.
Andy and Matthew had to leave early Thursday morning so they didn't do bad for the time they was here, all the fish was absolutely stunning and in really good condition and fight like absolute monsters!!
It was Jared and Scott's first visit to La Ridelee and we definitely will be coming back next year, it was Matthew and Andy's 4th time here, they love it.
So the biggest carp caught was 29lb 12oz. (Most of the carp were over 20lb) And the only catfish to come out was 22lb.
Total of fish caught, 47 carp and 1 catfish.
Thank you for a great week see you next year!!!
Regards Jared C (1st visit - Bridlington)
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6th Oct 2023
No one fishing at the lake this week due to last minute cancellation so just Yves and Eloise doing maintenance work.
John (owner)
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Fri 29th Sept 2023
Another great weeks fishing, the weather has been sunny all week with very little rain. Temperature not too hot.
I’ve fished the cabin swim all week from approximately 10.30am until dusk, no night fishing.
Most of the carp came from the right of the island fishing towards the summer house swim and the adjacent swim with the rest coming from the left of the island when fishing got slow.
The two large Cats came from directly in front of the island, it’s a hit and hold tactic which is easier said than done with a 108lbs Cat.
I’ve used cell boilies all week and fired out a fair amount of cooked maize which always seems to help.
Over 50 carp and cats caught this week, best carp 36 Common and best Cat 108lbs Fantastic weeks fishing in anyone’s book.
I’ll be back again next year as always.
Saturday:
Late start 4pm
20 Mirror
28 Mirror
Sunday:
19 Mirror
22 Mirror
28 Mirror
Lost big Cat
14 Mirror
18 Mirror
12 Common
Monday:
98 Cat
27 Mirror
16 Common
27 Mirror
24 Mirror
Tuesday:
26 Common
108 Cat (new lake record)
14 Mirror
22 Common
14 Mirror
14 Common
26 Cat
18 Common
23 Mirror
27 Common
Wednesday:
18 Mirror
19 Common
26 Common
4 Bream
22 Mirror
24 Mirror
30 Common
17 Common
23 Mirror
31 Mirror
12 Mirror
Thursday:
30 Common
28 Common
22 Common
23 Common
28 Common
22 Mirror
11 Common
12 Common
23 Mirror
25 Common
36 Common
24 Mirror
Friday:
20 Common
31 Cat
28 Mirror
24 Common
23 Common
27 Mirror
Stuart P and wife (Runcorn - 16th visit)
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Fri 22nd Sept 2023
This was another maintenance week for myself and Andy, with Andy fishing in the afternoons and a few nights.
Until 4.30pm today Andy's had 19 fish (not including small stuff on the float) and time for a few more yet.
He’s had 17 carp and 2 catfish including two 30lb carp (32lb 13oz and 31lb 2oz) and a monster catfish which Andy caught in the night (I was in bed asleep) which he couldn’t lift to weigh. Andy’s previous catfish PB was 75lb but this one estimated at 85-90lb.
He told me “I’ve just caught the biggest catfish I’ve ever seen!”
Smallest carp caught this week was 16.5lb.
Andy only fished the summerhouse swim this week.
He used a mixture of fish meal boilies and cream boilies.
Also did a bit of float fishing with luncheon meat and sweetcorn and had loads of Rudd and small carp. (This year’s fry).
The weather this week started at 30 deg and sunny but the week averaged out about 22 deg with sun and heavy downpours of rain all week.
Water oxygen level 6.7mg/l (good) water temperature 22 deg.
Loads of grounds and lake maintenance done.
John (owner) Andy H (Stanford Le Hope)
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Fri 15th Sept 2023
Not many fish this week John.
Arrived Saturday 9pm and didn’t get set up until 3pm Sunday but 1st fish out was a 31lb carp.
The weather has been mixed with thunder storms, rain and some sunny days up to 26 degrees.
Total fish for the week was 12 carp with only 1 under 20lbs and 1 catfish at 28lbs. Also lost one of your big cats.
We caught all the fish on sweet corn this week as we couldn’t get a bite on boilies! In saying that we have needed to learn to cast again as we normally use bait boats and we know you don’t allow that.
We mainly fished the cabin swim and had a couple out of the pine tree swim.
Loads of fish boshing out of all the swims all week.
Nice place - lovely week - see you next year.
Steve L and wife + Friend and wife (1st visit)
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Fri 8th Sept 2023
Hi John,
There have been two of us fishing this week. My son, Lawrie on his 2nd visit and first for me. Lawrie has fished a couple of nights pulling in the rods as he caught. No nights for me.
We've had a good week with 47 carp, 5 catfish and a few bream.
Biggest carp were 31lb & 30lb, with 23 over 20lb. The biggest catfish was 59lb, next being 23lb.
The weather has been so warm, above 30 every day, so we have stayed in the cabin swim, close to refreshments and the shade. The first 3 days we had a strong breeze into us, and the fish came at frequent intervals. But for the remaining days, there had been no wind and with the hot weather a bit slower.
We have mainly caught on krill and manilla wafters. Using same flavour boilies with corn, hemp, and hallibut pellets for spod mix.
Going to stop fishing at 7 today for an early departure for the ferry tomorrow morning.
All in all a great week with excellent fishing.
Thanks
Jason and Lawrie A (Nottingham 1st/2nd visit)
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Fri 1st Sept 2023
Hiya John,
Good week again with 42 carp, 11 catfish and 7 bream.
The biggest carp were 34lb and 31.5lbs and we had 21-22 over 20lbs as well.
For the catfish we had them at 69lb, 68lb, a couple at 25lb and the rest were smaller.
We mainly fished the cabin swims but my boy also fished the outfall swim and behind the island.
We went to Laval peche fishing shop and used their oyster and crayfish boilies which were excellent for the catfish. Best presentation was PVA bags and single hook baits.
The weather this week was mixture of sun and rain.
We are in Dieppe right now as we are on the midnight ferry as we have stuff to take care of tomorrow, so we left at lunchtime today.
Speak later.
Neil B (Bridlington - 5th visit)
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Sat 26th Aug 2023 (Updated)
Hi John
Here is the catch for this week.
We have landed 34 carp, 4 catfish and 2 bream this week.
The biggest carp was a 35lb 2oz mirror caught by Dennis (PB) but 25 of the carp were over 20lb and to be fair only 7 of them were under 20lb.
The biggest catfish was 21lb but we lost a few big ones and was thinking of going to the tackle shop in Laval to get some bigger hooks but in the end we used what we had.
The bait we have used was scopex, squid and Indian spice boilies with pellet and hemp.
Of the 2 bream we had, the biggest was 8.5lb and put up a fair fight.
The 3 of us all fished the cabin swim and we haven’t moved all week.
The weather has been beautiful with temperatures 28-30 deg C and yesterday we had a bit of rain but we just sat out in it as it was nice.
We lost about 15-16 fish due to hook pulls and barbless hooks.
Perfect week. We are looking to come back either late March or early April next year.
Brilliant lake mate - really is.
Be in touch.
Karl S, Aston S, Dennis G (Daventry - 1st visit) - (rebooked for 23 March 2024)
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Fri 18th Aug 2023
This week it’s me, my son Lewis and Andy on another maintenance week.
Lewis and Andy have been fishing early mornings and evenings / couple of nights and been helping me with loads of grounds maintenance in the daytime.
Lewis fished the whole week in the cabin swim and Andy fished the summerhouse swim.
They caught the following 44 fish between them:
30lb carp = 2 at 32lb 12oz and 31lb 2oz (1 each)
20lb carp = 14
Doubles = 14
Catfish = 8 (biggest 81lb 0oz caught by Lewis)
Bream = 6 (all caught by Lewis up to 8lb due to pellets)
Rudd = lost count but likely to be over 100 up to about 7” all caught by Andy on the float.
Lewis was using active 8 boilies and pva bags with pellets and feeding with vitalin balls and wheat.
Andy was using cream flavoured boilies and pva bags.
Loads of grounds maintenance done, bank strengthening, tree cutting and grass cutting.
Weather this week, sun, cloud, rain. Humid 29 deg C today.
Loads of fish moving every day.
John (owner) Lewis, Andy h (Stanford Le Hope)
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Thu 10th Aug 2023
This week we have caught 42 carp and 10 catfish until lunchtime today.
The reason for the early catch report is that we are leaving Friday morning as my daughter is about to have her baby and we don’t want to miss that.
Carp over 30lbs = 2 (31.5lbs and 32lbs)
Carp 25- 29lbs = 7
Carp 20-24lbs = 26 (so 33 total over 20lbs)
Carp under 20lbs = 7 (15.5lbs smallest)
Catfish 1 = 82lbs
Catfish 2 = 71lbs
Catfish 3 = 63lbs
Catfish 4 = 45lbs
Catfish 5 = 36lbs
Catfish 7 = 28lbs
Catfish 8 = 23lbs
The last 2 cats were smaller.
The bait we used was the same as last week - sweet chilli/chorizo boilies and milky based boilies.
We are still in the cabin swims and we have not needed to move since we arrived.
Still pulling in at about 10.30pm so no night fishing.
The weather’s been good this week and today it’s 27 deg C and mostly sunny so I’m going home with a suntan!
We spotted the deer again but couldn’t get a photo as I only have an iPhone.
Seen the red squirrels again and a black one!
Been lovely as always.
Thank you.
Lucy and Simon Nash (Dunstable - 4th visit - 6th week) - week 2 of 2
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Fri 4th Aug 2023
This weeks highlight was a catfish caught by Simon at 83lb and he is very happy.
We have also had 40 carp including 3 at 33lb, 33lb and 32.5lb.
We had another 20 carp over 20lb and 17 double figure fish.
Total catfish were 7 at 83lb, 35lb, 30lb and another 4 under 20lb.
The weather has been very wet and the lake level has been filling up nicely but we are dry though as we have a big 2 man bivvy and a large heavy duty waterproof gazebo.
The weather man is promising sunshine next week.
For bait Simon has been using sweet chilli/chorizo boilies and I’m using milky based boilies. Simons bait was the best and we tried sweet corn as well but didn’t get one bite as yet on that.
Loved seeing the family of deer on the opposite bank.
We’ve also seen a pair of herons and a tern.
We have not night fished, pulling in around 10.30ish.
Lucy and Simon Nash (Dunstable - 4th visit) week 1 of 2
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Fri 28th July 2023
Hello John
Another good week with 58 carp and 15 catfish for me and my two teenage boys.
The biggest carp this week was 34lb (had 5 over 30lb) and the biggest catfish was 29lb.
We also had 30 carp over 20lb and 23 double figure carp.
For the catfish we had 15 in total but no monsters this week and the biggest at 29lb.
Details
Carp over 30lb = 5
Carp high 20’s = 11
Carp low 20’s = 19
Carp (17-19lb) = 21
Carp (12-16lb) = 2
Catfish = 15
The baits we used this week were sticky krill and sticky Manila boilies and robin red pellets.
We mainly fished the cabin swim (best) but also had a few out of the pine tree swim, island swim and summerhouse swim.
We haven’t done any nights and been pulling in at about midnight and the boys have been laying in until mid morning but I’ve been getting the rods out some mornings at 6.30am.
The weather has been perfect (22 deg C average) and cloudy mostly with a bit of rain this week.
See you again - brilliant.
Peter B, Jake and Kian (aged 16 and 18) Maidstone Kent (3rd visit)
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Fri 21st July 2023
Hi John
Biggest catfish this week were 91.08lb and 71lb both caught from summerhouse swim and the one next to it.
Biggest carp were all 30lb or just slightly over and I had 4 of those.
Here is a breakdown of my catch. (28 fish total - No nights this week)
Sunday
15lb mirror
30lb common
60lb catfish
Monday
24lb common
43lb catfish
91.08lb catfish
30lb mirror
17lb mirror
Tuesday
17lb mirror
14lb common
30lb mirror
20lb mirror
Wednesday
18lb common
17lb common
17lb common
18lb mirror
27lb mirror
Thursday
71lb catfish
18lb common
24lb mirror
25lb mirror
30lb mirror
29lb mirror
17lb common
14lb common
Friday
20lb mirror
16lb mirror
18lb mirror
Best baits this week were Cell and cc Moore live system boilies plus halibut pellets and dynamite trout pellets for the cats. Best swim was the summerhouse but also caught fish from cabin swim. The weather this week has been lovely with just the odd shower.
Wednesday we tried the restaurant in the village and it was fantastic. 3 courses with steak and wine was 15 Euros!
Really enjoyed the week - probably come back again next year - be in touch.
Paul C and Rachel M (Romsey Hants - 1st visit)
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Fri 14th July 2023
This week was another maintenance week for myself and Andy with lots of tree cutting carried out in the pines swim and field swim to open them up. Also lots of grass cutting and bank strengthening and other lake management carried out.
Carp started spawning at the end of April and continued off and on for about 5 weeks and now we have thousands of perfect little stocky carp between 2 and 3 inches long.
Most of these will get eaten by the catfish but some always manage to make it.
Weather this week was sun and cloud with temperatures between 24-28 deg C.
Water oxygen at 7mg/l (good).
Andy fished afternoons and evenings and on Wednesday set up the float rod and had about 40 Rudd on sweetcorn and luncheon meat from the cabin swim by the Lilly pads and also 1 carp at 9lb.
Biggest Carp this week were 33.04lb and 30.02lb. Biggest catfish was 55.06lb. Andy only fished the cabin swims and mainly used cream flavoured boilies for bait.
Other carp and catfish caught by Andy.
Saturday - catfish 55.06lb.
Sunday - Mirror 23.06lb, catfish 17lb, catfish 18lb.
Monday - Common 24.04lb, catfish 10lb.
Tuesday - Mirror 22.07lb, Mirror 18.08lb, Common 17.02lb.
Wednesday - Mirror 30.02lb, Catfish 35.10lb Common 9lb and 40 Rudd up to 7”.
Thursday - Common 29.13lb, Mirror 33.04lb.
Friday - Catfish 19lb, Catfish 12lb (packed up early 4pm).
Good luck to all those coming over in the next few weeks.
John (owner) Andy H (Stanford Le Hope)
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Fri 7th July 2023
Hello John
What can I say! I’ve been fishing for 45 years. This is my first time fishing in France. I can say this is the best fishing experience I’ve ever had. I was the only Angler but my wife and son came with me.
We got through Customs OK and I brought 15kg of 18 mm DNA S7 Boilies, along with 15 kg of Fishmeal pellets plus various pots of Wafters. I also ordered 15 kg of Krill boilies from HNV which were delivered bang on time (probs overdid the boilies)
I only fished from 7 or 8 am up to about 1 pm, then from about 5 or 6 pm up to 10 pm every day. I didn’t have a Bivvy or a bedchair.
The week started slowly and I realised I was only getting to grips with the place. I only fished the cabin swim.
I would say about half my fish came about 20 foot in front of the left aerator (between the grey branch thing that sticks out and the Aerator). The rest of the Carp came from the left side and the right side of the island.
I was using 2 x 3.25 TC Rods for Carp and I had a 4.5 TC rod out for Cats. I made the foolish mistake of thinking my 20 Lb line would be enough. After getting smashed up by 3 Cats I went to the nearest tackle shop and bought some 35 Lb line for the 4.5 TC rod. This helped me land my first Catfish of 27 Lb on the Tuesday. As the week went on I had another Catfish weighing 31.8 on the Thursday (on standard Carp rod)
I lost a few other Catfish on my Carp set up and if there’s one bit of advice I could give anyone is come tooled up with at least 25 Lb line and 3 TC rods as a minimum to stand any chance with these Catfish (even on your normal Carp set up)
Tuesday was my best day where I caught 9 but lost a couple from hookpulls. The fishing was manic.
Most of my fish came to DNA S7 wafters in the earlier part of the week but from Tuesday onwards I caught all my fish using a Snowman presentation which was an 18 mm S7 Bottom bait topped off with a 12 mm DNA S7 half tone pop up.
All fish fell to Heli rigs using a 2 oz flat pear lead to combat the silt you told me about.
I also had a few Bream and 2 small 10 inch Catfish. The place is alive with Carp Fry what I often found in my net.
Fish were crashing in every swim on the lake all week.
The place is a dream. The exclusiveness of the place is unreal. Loads of different types of birds, Jays, Kingfishers, Egrets, Buzzard. The Lodge was great and we had a few meals overlooking the Lake. The surrounding area is beautiful and the Super U at Meslay Du Maine has everything you need.
Fishing beyond all my wildest dreams and I would urge any Carp Anglers who like a lot of action to visit this place.
I’m sending this report at 12.30 pm and I’m still getting runs in the heat of the day.
Saturday.
18lb Common
14 Lb 4 oz Mirror
Sunday.
21 Lb 3 oz Mirror
16 Lb 2 oz Mirror
Lost Catfish
Monday.
17 Lb 4 oz Mirror
19 Lb 10 oz Mirror
23 Lb 8 oz Mirror
Lost Catfish
Tuesday.
Lost Catfish
21 Lb Mirror
16 Lb 2oz Mirror
22 Lb 12 oz Common
15 Lb Mirror
21 Lb 3 oz Mirror
16 Lb 2 oz Common
18 Lb 6 oz Mirror
27 Lb 6 oz Catfish
20 Lb 3 oz Common
Wednesday.
Lost 3 Catfish
17 Lb 3 oz Common
20 Lb 3 oz Common
Thursday.
16 Lb 4 oz Mirror
20 Lb 14 oz Common
31lb 8 oz Catfish
21 Lb Mirror
20 Lb 14 oz Common
18 Lb 8 oz Common
15 Lb 14 oz Common
18 Lb 12 oz Common
Friday.
30 Lb 14 oz Mirror
31 Lb 4 oz Mirror
16 Lb 4 oz mirror
Darrell Brown and family (Durham 1st visit)
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Fri 30th June 2023
No one fishing this week due to cancellation so just Yves and Eloise feeding the fish on wheat and maize, grass cutting and painting.
John (owner)
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Fri 23rd June 2023
John, what a great week we have had.
We have caught loads of fish (42 total) and the weather’s been sunny and fine all week.
It’s been 5 years since our last visit and we can see all the improvements you have made.
Catch for this week,
Summer house swim - Trevor.
34lb common
31lb mirror
29lb mirror
28lb mirror
27lb common
27lb mirror
26lb catfish
24lb common
21lb catfish
21lb common
20lb mirror
19lb mirror
18lb common
17lb catfish
Cabin swim – Mark.
65lb catfish
63lb catfish
37lb mirror
35lb mirror
28lb mirror (dog biscuit off the top by Lilly pads)
28lb common
27lb catfish
26lb catfish
25lb common
25lb mirror
24lb mirror (dog biscuit)
15lb mirror
14lb mirror (dog biscuit)
Island swim – Jeff.
78lb catfish
67lb catfish
34lb mirror
28lb mirror
26lb mirror
26lb common
24lb common
23lb mirror
21lb common
29lb common
19lb mirror
15lb catfish
19lb catfish
8lb bream
7lb bream
We come to France each year and we all agree this is the nicest, well kept, lake we have been to.
Can you keep our deposit and book us in for 6th July 2024 please and I will send you the rest of the deposit next week.
Trevor, Mark and Jeff (Ashford Kent - 2nd visit - rebooked 6.7.24)
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Fri 16th June 2023.
Hi John,
This week we caught 48 carp, 17 catfish and 1 bream. (66 total).
Of these we had 3 carp over 30lb with the biggest at 33lb.
We also had 26 carp over 20lb and 19 double figure fish.
The biggest catfish was 56lb but we also had them at 52lb, 45lb and 24lb, and we lost a few of the bigger ones in the snags.
The bream was 8lb.
The second half of the week was more productive than the first half as this is our 1st visit and it took a few days to get used to it.
The best swim this week was the pine tree swim and I had 8 fish from there just this morning. The deeper end of the lake up by the summerhouse has not been very active and that’s where we started so moved after a couple of days.
Best baits this week were DNA - the “bug” (insect bait boilie) and S7.
The weather has been roasting all week.
I’ve still got 2 rods out as although I caught the most I’ve not had a 30lb fish yet!
Going to leave at midnight tonight for the train from Calais to get home in good time tomorrow so please let Yves know he can get in early tomorrow.
Great week John and a fantastic lake.
Stuart H, Danny P, Steve H, Ryan Y (Skelmersdale - 1st visit - rebooked for 15.6.24)
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Fri 9th June 2023
This was another maintenance week for me and Andy.
As usual Andy helped with site maintenance in the daytime and fished in the late afternoon and evenings.
Andy caught the following.
Saturday
21lb mirror
23lb mirror
15lb mirror
21lb catfish
18lb catfish
Sunday
31lb mirror
8lb catfish
Monday
20lb common
22lb mirror
43lb catfish
Tuesday
33lb common
15lb common
20lb mirror
55lb catfish
Wednesday
75lb catfish (new record for Andy but lake record 98lb)
Thursday
61lb catfish
29lb mirror
Friday
No fishing due to thunderstorms.
Summary - 10 carp biggest 33lb, 7 catfish biggest 78lb.
Bait was Andy’s normal cream boilies with pva bags.
Weather this week sunny and warm every day except Friday average temperature 25deg C.
Andy mainly fished cabin swim for convenience but most carp observed in the outfall swim.
Oxygen this week 4.9-5.9 mg/l, water temperature 21 deg C.
Everything looking good at the lake.
John (owner) Andy H (Stanford Le hope Essex)
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Fri 2nd June 2023
This week we have caught the following fish;
19 carp until Midday today with the biggest at 28lbs and 9 of these were over 20lbs, We also had 19 catfish the biggest being 74lbs and 3 bream up to 6lbs (so 41 total).
The bait we have been using were fruit and butterscotch boilies and pellet.
The best swim is the cabin swim casting to the left of the island as there are always fish over there. Although I spent a bit of time in the pine tree swim and one morning I had 4 carp in 4 hours out of there but the best bit was seeing your red squirrels down there!
The weather has been fine and sunny all week and the fish were spawning again when we arrived Saturday.
We also fished the summerhouse swim and there are fish in the margins all the time along the drive.
Beautiful venue you have here and I would like to bring my wife back and her father at some point in the future.
Be in touch.
Richard G (Plymouth 1st visit)
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Fri 26th May 2023
Hi John
We arrived Saturday to great weather and carp going wild spawning.
In total we have had 36 fish and we still have a few hours to go before we pack up.
Today we landed a 90lb catfish from the outfall swim on a 36mm halibut pellet and in total we have had 21 catfish as glenn has specifically been fishing for them.
We had a few catfish which straightened the hooks and 1 fish snapped the stem on a big pit reel!
We had 15 carp so far with the biggest at 29lb but lost a bigger one at the net.
13 of the carp were all high 20s and we only had 2 doubles.
The weather has been high pressure and sunny and we haven’t seen a cloud all week.
The bait we have been using is krill and banoffee boilies and we fished mainly cabin swim and summer house swim. Summerhouse swim produced most fish.
All the fish were in excellent condition.
Great time again - can you keep the deposit and book us in for 25th May next year please?
Mel E (Ringwood hants - 7th visit - rebooked for 25.5.24)
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Fri 19th May 2023
Catch report this week-
8 mirror carp - biggest 35lb (also had 1 at 31lb)
7 common carp - biggest 30lb
11 catfish - biggest 65lb
1 bream
Lost quite a few cats and carp.
Thanks for a great week, plus the good weather was a bonus.
Hope to be back in the future.
(update Saturday morning - had another 3 carp during Friday night in addition to the above)
Cheers
Wayne F (Rotherham - 1st visit)
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Fri 12th May 2023
Hi John,
Stayed in Rouen on the Friday night and arrived at the lake at around 13:30.
On arrival the lake was alive with spawning carp.
The weather was cloudy but mild and the rain started in the evening.
Rods set up Sunday in the mixed bag of rain and sunshine.
No nights fished and no fishing on Tuesday and Wednesday as the rain has been constant all night and most of the day, this intern has switched off the spawning for the moment. Most fish caught have spawned and are showing scaring on both sides.
Fish so far:
Summerhouse swim:
24lb Common
23lb Mirror
24lb Mirror
31.08lb Mirror
25lb Mirror
27lb Common
18lb Common
23lb Mirror
20lb Common
Cabin swim:
14lb Mirror
18lb Mirror
23lb Mirror
23.07lb Mirror
20lb Common
20lb Mirror
25.07lb Mirror
28lb Mirror
23lb Mirror
24lb Mirror
22lb Mirror
Baits used: Cell essential Wafters and Krill Wafters but the cabin swim has produced on mainly maize.
No cats so far but both swims have lost a number of runs.
Weather forecast doesn’t look great and it’s still raining as I type this, one bbq managed this visit.
As always, keep deposit John and I’ll confirm dates on Monday with you for June 2024.
Tony, Mick and Paul (Great Totham and Thurrock)(12th visit - rebooked for 29.6.24)
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Fri 5th May 2023
Hi John,
Catch results below. (Saturday to Thursday only - departed late Friday morning)
Dave
22lb Mirror
22lb Mirror
23lb Mirror
26lb Mirror
26lb Mirror
18lb Mirror
26lb Mirror
12lb Mirror
12lb 10oz Common
Steve
6lb Catfish
22lb Mirror
23lb Mirror
28lb 8oz Mirror
16lb 8oz Mirror
Vic
32lb 10oz Mirror
12lb Catfish
19lb Mirror
23lb 12oz Mirror
19lb 14oz Common
23lb Mirror
31lb 12oz Common
17lb Mirror
7lb Catfish
28lb Mirror
23lb 4oz Mirror
26lb 4oz Common
24lb 12oz Mirror
19lb 8oz Common
19lb 4oz Mirror
23lb 8oz
Fish have been spawning for 2 days and were still doing so as we left.
The bait we have used was cell and chickpeas.
We have mainly fished the cabin swims to the right margin and open water to the left of the island.
Summary -
30s x 2 (biggest 32lb 10oz)
20s x 16
Doubles x 9 ( but 4 of these @ 19lb)
Catfish x 3
We had a great time at La Ridelee and will certainly return in the future.
On the boat now just coming out of Caen.
Cheers Vic, Dave, Steve (Welling Kent - 1st visit)
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Fri 28th Apr 2023
This was another maintenance week for myself and Andy after travelling over Friday Newhaven to Dieppe and staying in the ibis in Dieppe overnight. (Recommended to break the journey) Arrived at the lake Saturday morning 11.30am to brilliant sunshine and fish topping.
Andy got set up quick and had 3 carp before our evening meal.
As usual Andy helped me with the grounds maintenance in the mornings and fished in the afternoons and evenings.
Catch list.
Sat.
20-08 ghost carp.
27-06 common
19.00 common
Sun.
26.00 common
33.11 common (not Pierre!)
20.02 mirrror
Mon.
54.00 catfish
23.00 common
Tues.
34.12 mirror
17.10 mirror
26.11 mirror
22.00 common
30.00 catfish
Wed.
25-11 common
Thur.
35-01 mirror
26-12 common
No fishing Friday as we have the evening ferry from Dieppe.
Andy used cream flavoured boilies with pva bags and only fished the cabin swim and pine tree swim and had equal numbers of fish from both.
In summary 3 x 30’s, 9 x 20’s, 2 x doubles and 2 catfish.
The weather this week has been very wet but there was couple of sunny days where we got one of the fields cut and all the grass around the lake and took some trees down in the pines to make it more accessible.
Oxygen level = 8.5mg/l (good). Water temperature 16 deg c. Air temperature 17 deg C.
Everything looking good.
John (owner) Andy H (Stanford Le Hope)
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Fri 21st Apr 2023
Another nice relaxing week at La Ridelee for me and Maggie.
This week the weather has been fine and sunny for the most part with a bit of light cloud and the fishing’s been great with 29 carp and 18 catfish.
We normally just fish the cabin swims but the fish were few and far between there so we have moved around a bit but the island swim and the pine tree swim were the most productive.
We used our usual bait of cell and maize with a small amount of pellet.
We’ve had 3 carp over 30lb - biggest 35.07lb. Another 19 carp over 20lb and 7 doubles.
On the catfish front the biggest was 78.02lb and we had another at 47lb and the rest were between 12-31lb. (Lost a few of the bigger ones)
Once again great week - Can you keep our deposit and book us in for 27th April next year please?
Peter and Maggie B (Sevenoaks Kent 7th visit)
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Fri 14th Apr 2023
Hi John,
Weather this week has been horrible.
Started ok on Saturday and was sun bathing in the summerhouse swim!
Major hail-storms and wind this week followed by tons more rain!
Difficult week, but that’s the risk of Northern France in April. But they need the rain….
I’ve caught half a dozen carp to 26lb mainly from the right hand margins to the right of the rock.
I’ve also trickled bait into the pines swim, and seen several carp right by the boarding over the stream. Tried this without success.
Hooked and lost two big catfish on Tuesday afternoon. But an inch of rain cooled the lake, and nothing Wednesday.
I spooked a big catfish there when walking around - right by the stream entrance…. huge swirl as it exited rapidly.
Tried there without success - probably sheltered from the cold winds.
I didn’t fish today (Friday) and left early due to rain and temperature drop to 7.5 deg C.
I’m on the midday ferry tomorrow, so didn’t want to do early start and I’m in Dieppe right now.
Going out to eat shortly.
Cheers
David C (Ross on Wye - 7th visit)
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Fri 7th Apr 2023
Hi John, what a great week we’ve had… weather was cold at the start and we did struggle early on, only a couple of fish each day but Monday onwards the sun started shining and we started catching a few.
Most of our fish came from the margins, a handful of bait left for 20 minutes of so might get a very quick bite but they kept us guessing and we all moved around a bit during the mornings looking for bites.
Mostly we’d settle in swims for the evening where the cabin LHS casting to the margins of as productive as was the pine tree and the summerhouse.
Our totals for the week are 38 Carp, 3 x 30s, 17 x 20+ and 18 mostly high doubles.
We’ve had 11 Cats, an absolute monster that bottomed our 88lb scales, a 76.10 and another at 55. The rest were 20 or lower. Oh, and one bream!
Thinking back on my first visit, this one has been less prolific in terms of fish caught but more satisfying because of the work we’ve had to put in.
We celebrated my son’s 16th birthday here and he’s had PB Cat (he had the monster) plus PB mirror and common (which we’ve happily identified as “Pierre”) whilst my mate Dave upped his PB from 12lb to 31.09 with the first fish he caught! When he then had a 76lb Cat, he told me - “we’re making life memories here” and he’s not wrong!!
Please keep my deposit for the time being and we’ll be in touch on that!
All the best,
Jim Crosskey (Oxford - 2nd visit - rebooked for 27.7.24)
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Fri 31st Mar 2023
No one fishing this week, so just Yves and Eloise feeding the fish on wheat and maize and painting.
John (owner)
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Fri 24th Mar 2023
This was another maintenance week for myself and Andy with lots of painting, bank strengthening, grass cutting and tree cutting carried out. As usual Andy helped in the mornings and fished in the afternoon and evenings.
He caught 12 Carp and 2 Catfish.
Biggest Carp was 31lbs 1oz and biggest Catfish was 33lb.
Most of the fish caught this week in the shallow end and behind the island as it warms up down there quicker in the mornings.
Bait used this week was cream boilies and fed with cooked wheat.
This week weather has been very wet with torrential rain some days but we had 2 days of good weather with temperatures up to 18deg C when we got all the grass cut including the 2 fields.
Good luck to all those coming over the next few weeks.
John (owner) and Andy H.
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Fri 17th Feb 2023
This has been another maintenance week for us.
Myself and Andy arrived last Thursday (after staying the night in dieppe) to cold but sunny weather.
Lake management carried out including lots of bank strengthening, lots of tree cutting due to fallen trees, swim maintenance, grass cutting, painting, platform maintenance and building’s maintenance.
The weather this week was sunny every day with a few frosty mornings.
Water temperature at 10 deg C.
Average air temperature 12 deg C. Although some afternoons it was very warm and no coat was needed.
Oxygen level at 10 mg/l (very good).
The fish were fed every day with cooked wheat.
Yves has been feeding a small amount of cooked wheat all through the winter to give them the best start for 2023.
There were a few Carp showing on days 1 and 2 but then it got colder and they were then less active.
Andy only fished for a few hours each afternoon and had 12 Carp between 18lbs and 31.09lbs all from the summer house swim.
Yves and the family came around on Tuesday evening and we had a few beers with them.
Good luck to all those coming in 2023.
John (owner), Andy, and Yves. (Caretaker)
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2022
Fri 11th Nov 2022
Travelled over on Friday with DFDS ferries from Newhaven and stayed in Dieppe Friday night in the Ibis and had a nice meal opposite the marina in my favourite restaurant. Up early Saturday morning 8am and arrived at the lake 11.30am.
This has been another planned maintenance week for myself and Andy with snag clearance, grounds maintenance, bank strengthening, grass cutting and seed planting, bulb planting, roof maintenance, painting and other misc. maintenance actions carried out.
As normal Andy helped in the mornings and fished in the afternoons.
The weather has been mixed with some sunny days with heavy rain mostly during the night and the lake has now come up to the maximum level.
Andy spent all the week in the summerhouse swim and caught the following 16 carp and catfish.
Sunday - 18lb 2oz common, 22lb 4oz mirror.
Monday - 19lb 5oz mirror, 17lb 5oz mirror, 31lb mirror.
Tuesday - 37lb 3oz catfish, 43lb 5oz catfish, 22lb 10oz common, 18lb 0oz common.
Wednesday - 22lb 5oz mirror, 20lb 2oz mirror, 26lb 14oz common.
Thursday - 24lb 15oz mirror, 22lb 4oz mirror.
Friday - 23lb 1oz common, 27lb 1oz mirror.
Best baits this week were a mixture of cell and scopex boilies.
Average weights for the carp are coming up nicely and on average the fish have put on about 2lb each this year and we now have more carp over 20lb than doubles.
I fed the fish every day with cooked wheat and maize. No pellets due to water temperature.
Yves and Eloise (caretakers) came over on Monday we had a few beers with them and they have their list of jobs for the winter.
Good Luck to all those booked for next year.
John (owner) and Andy (Stanford Le Hope)
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Fri 4th Nov 2022
Hi John here is the catch list for this week.
Only 3 of us this week as Dave had to cancel at the last minute due to family problems.
Nick fished the field swim and island swim most of the week, Jack fished the summerhouse swim and I fished the cabin swim.
All the fish were in excellent condition and hard fighting and they all looked bigger than when we weighed them but checked our scales and they were accurate.
We’ve had 34 carp and 7 cats so far with biggest carp at 35lbs 2oz and biggest cat at 51lbs.
Nick
32.07 mirror
34.06 common
22.05 common
20.02 mirror
24.13 mirror
26.12 mirror
20.02 mirror
18.01 mirror
27.07 common
37.12 catfish
33.02 catfish
Jack
35.02 mirror
30.19 common
29.05 mirror
28.08 common
26.12 mirror
25.01 mirror
24.09 mirror
23.05 common
23.01 common
22.04 mirror
18.07 common
17.02 common
16.09 mirror
48.07 catfish
Mike
31.09 mirror
29.00 common
27.01 mirror
26.13 common
25.07 common
25.03 common
23.11 mirror
21.08 mirror
20.04 common
19.00 common
18.09 mirror
15.00 common
51.00 catfish
45.00 catfish
15.00 catfish
10.00 catfish
For bait we've been using a mixture of receptor marine, cell and krill boilies but didn’t seem to matter what we used as all baits produced fish.
The weather has been very mild this week with some sunny days with lots of heavy rain.
We’ve had a great week and would like to come back next year so could you book us in for same week next year -28th October 2023 please?
Mike B, Jack W, Nick S (Harlow - 1st visit)
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Fri 28th Oct 2022
Hi John,
Another great week fishing and we’ve had 34 Carp, 4 Catfish and a single Zander that’s only fishing in the daytime as we don’t do nights anymore at our age.
We had 4 Carp over thirty pounds at 36lbs 1oz, 33lbs 6oz, 31lbs 7oz and 30lbs 3oz.
We also had 21 Carp over 20lbs and 9 doubles making 34 total.
Biggest Catfish was 65lbs, 41lbs, 29lbs and a tiddler at 10lbs.
The Zander was 14lbs and caught on a krill boilie!
Alan fished the summerhouse swim all week as that’s his favourite and Harry mainly fished the island swim. I moved between the cabin swims and the pine tree swim.
The island swim was the best this week and Harry had 2 x 30lb Carp from there and 10 x 20lb Carp and the 65lb Cat.
All the fish were in excellent condition.
We’ve been using our normal baits of Sticky krill and Manila boilies and feeding with maize and pellets.
The weather has been mainly sunny and very mild this week with temperatures up to 21 deg.
Yves came on Wednesday afternoon and brought a bottle of his homemade apple brandy! Strong stuff - not much fishing done after that!
Can you keep our deposit and book us in for 21.10.23 please.
Thanks a lot.
Terry W, Alan W, and Harry M (East Grinstead - 5th visit)
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Fri 21st Oct 2022
Hi John
The weather this week has been very good / sunny and warm this week and I’m sitting here in my shorts right now. Yesterday it was 22deg C and sunny.
On the fishing side it’s been high pressure at 1025 millibars which has affected the catch but we have still caught 25 Carp and Catfish all during the daytime as we haven’t done any nights this week. If we had done the nights we would have doubled that number.
Below are the fish we have caught.
Carp
Over 30lb = 2 (biggest was 32.02lbs)
Over 20lb = 16 (we caught one at 29.08lb which we caught last year at 27lbs so it’s put on 2lb!)
Doubles = 5
Catfish = 2 ( biggest 37.5lbs but lost 4 bigger ones which done us even with the heavy gear)
Best swim by far this week was the summerhouse swim 100% casting towards the drive.
The bait we used was delivered again by HNV and we used the krill boilies and the nutri-nut boilies but the krill was the best one.
Good week again.
Daryn and Liam M (Cardiff - 4th visit)
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Fri 14th Oct 2022
No one fishing at the lake this week due to a cancellation.
Yves made a couple of visits to feed the fish on wheat and maize.
The weather this week was sun and showers with a maximum temperature of 20 deg C.
Good luck to those coming over in the next few weeks.
John (owner)
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Sat 8th Oct 2022
Hi John
We took a leisurely drive down last Saturday after staying in Rouen overnight and arrived late afternoon with the lake looking great in the afternoon sunshine. We got set up on Sunday and my 1st Carp out was weighed at 33lb!
In total we caught 9 fish including 6 Carp, 1 Catfish and 2 Bream.
4 of the Carp were over 20lb and the smallest was 14lb. The Catfish was about 10lb.
The 2 Bream were about 5lb.
We have also lost a fair few in the snags as we are fishing quite close to them as the fish seem to be in there most of the time.
For bait we have been using sweet corn and peaches and cream boilies.
The fish have been active in the snags and they have been feeding ok as the water is very coloured where they are digging up the bottom.
We have been using helicopter rigs due to the depth of the silt.
We have had a nice relaxing week as the weather has been fair and my wife (who doesn’t fish) has been perfectly happy sitting in the sun all week doing her knitting whilst myself and Neil have been doing our fishing.
It’s a lovely place and we may be back in the future.
Mr and Mrs John M and Neil (Maldon Essex - 1st visit)
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Fri 30th Sept 2022
Just myself and Andy on another maintenance week with Andy helping me with grounds and buildings maintenance in the mornings and fishing in the afternoons and nights.
The fishing’s been very good this week with the following Carp caught:
Over 30lbs = 3 (at 32lbs, 33lbs and 34.5lbs)
Over 20lbs = 10 (21lbs - 28lbs)
Doubles = 5 (14lbs - 19lbs)
Total = 18 Carp
Number of Catfish caught = 5 (12lbs - 43lbs)
The best spots this week were fishing from the cabin swim casting parallel to the drive but about 30 yards away from the drive and also towards the summerhouse but slightly to the right side.
Also fishing from the summerhouse swim casting towards the drive but about 20 yards off the drive bank.
Best baits this week were a mixture of cell and scopex boilies and feeding halibut pellets.
Not many fish jumping this week but loads of fizzing/bubbling after rain when the breeze dropped to zero and it was dead calm.
We have had a fair bit of rain this week and the lake has come up about 1 inch.
The Carp were much more active after a spell of rain.
Temperatures this week 16-20 deg C.
John (owner) Andy (Stanford Le Hope)
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Sat 24th Sept 2022 (updated)
Hello John,
We was doing alright up until Tuesday but since then it’s gone a bit quiet on the Carp front with 15 landed up to 28lb. (13 of these over 20lb)
They were bubbling out in front of me yesterday morning but couldn’t get them to take the bait.
Had another 3 Carp and 1 Catfish last night.
On the Catfish front we have had about 11 up to 33lb. (lost some bigger ones)
Also had 1 Bream about 5lb.
Our last visit was about 12 years ago and we can see lots of improvements you have made since then.
Bait wise we've been using sticky baits krill and solar club mix and another called pub mix which I get from my syndicate.
Weather this week started sunny at 22 deg but today it’s overcast about 18 deg.
Enjoyed the week. Thanks again John, I'll keep your number on my phone if you don't mind as we may come again and I can call you.
Thanks again.
Simon P (Tiverton - Devon - 2nd visit)
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Fri 16th Sept 2022
Hi John
Arrived on the Saturday to lovely sunny weather around 24 degrees and spent the day changing the van brake pads at the lake as a warning light came on late Friday.
Lakes down a bit, water not even reaching the outfall and the inlet just a trickle.
No fishing Saturday, set rods up on Sunday afternoon and the outfall swim produced 1 mirror @ 26 and 1 common @ 27.
Monday was Mick’s 60th so again not much in the way of fishing, trip to the supermarket and a great bbq had for most of the day, weather was 32 degrees.
Mick had 4 Cats 60lb to 80lb the biggest, mirrors 16lb and 22lb and commons 19lb, 22lb, 23lb and 30.6lb.
Paul had mirrors 15lb, 17lb, 23.6lb, and commons 21lb, 22lb and 23.8lb.
Tony mirrors 16lb, 20lb, 23lb and 26.1lb commons 22lb, 23lb, 24lb and 27lb, Cats x 2 around 15-20lb.
Krill and cell wafters doing the business so far.
Tuesday, much cooler today and a heavy shower during the night, much more comfortable.
Outfall swim being the most productive with Carp, casting to markers in the middle.
Cabin swim so far all Cats.
Maize and hemp mix from the spod seems to be working well.
We will get more serious as the week goes on lol.
Mixed weather, really hot from arrival until Wednesday, rained Wednesday and Thursday but remained humid.
As usual no nights from us and no fishing Wednesday and Friday. It’s been a real chill out week for us and well deserved.
Cheers Tony S (Essex- 11th visit - booked again for 6.5.23)
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Fri 9th Sept 2022
Hello John
Myself and Aden have caught 24 Carp and 18 Cats this week so far and we still have the rods out so probably get a few more yet. We reckon we have lost a similar number to this as well.
The first few days we were catching mainly Catfish with the biggest at 60lbs but then we had a couple of heavy thunderstorms which switched on the Carp and one afternoon in heavy rain we had 3 mirrors and 1 common all bang on 30lb each which was strange and the rain really switched them on. We also had 7 over 20lbs, biggest at 27lbs.
For bait we were using krill boilies and pro-active but then switched to cell at the same time as the rain so it’s hard to say if the bait change had an impact.
We fished the cabin swims most of the time but had a few out of the pine tree swim which was good and Aden had a 38lb Catfish out of the outfall swim.
The water level has come up slightly as well with the rain.
In summary another good week and looking forward to our trip next September.
Speak later.
Neil and Aden (Bridlington - booked for 26.9.23 - 4th visit)
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Fri 2nd Sept 2022
Hi John,
So far this week we landed 26 fish total not including the small stuff the kids caught on the float. The split was roughly 50/50 between the Carp and the Cats.
The biggest Catfish was 56lb and the biggest Carp was 20lbs - most of the Carp were high doubles and one of the boys had one at 19lb.
The weather at the start of the week was up to 32 deg but it’s cooled off now and the last few days have been heavy storms and thunder and lightning.
The kids also caught a few bream with the biggest around 5lbs and the last couple of days they’ve been catching lots of small Carp up to about a pound on maggots down by the bridge and the Lilly’s.
The best swim was the pine tree swim and Tony had 4 out of there one day.
For bait we have been using squid for the Cats and krill boilies and the nutty one from HNV for the Carp.
Everyone’s enjoyed themselves - we had a great holiday, thanks a lot.
Maria B and family (Brixham, Devon - 1st visit.)
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Fri 26th Aug 2022
Hi John
Another great weeks fishing as usual.
Weather has been good all week but not too warm.
Steven and I have fished the Cabin swim all week and had approx 50 fish with half a dozen lost.
No big Cats this week.
The Carp are in excellent condition and most of the Carp caught around mid 20lbs and 4 thirties to 33lbs.
Steve had never caught a Catfish but has not had a problem this week, his biggest being 35lbs.
Thanks again we’ll be back next year.
Regards Stu and Steve (Runcorn- 15th visit)
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Fri 19th Aug 2022
This week was another maintenance week and there was 3 of us this time so we got loads of work done.
Andy helped with the work in the mornings and fished in the afternoons as usual.
Total fish for the week was 19 and the biggest Catfish was 50lb 10oz and the biggest Carp was a 31lb 4oz mirror.
Andy fished most days in the cabin swims but spent Friday afternoon in the summerhouse swim and had a nice mirror at 27lb 12oz from there.
He lost one of the huge cats on his 4lb test curve catfish rod with 50lb line but it managed to bite through the hook link.
Work wise we cut loads of big trees and bushes this week, cut all the grass and both fields, painted all the platforms and laid a new path in the back field where it’s always on the wet side.
Oxygen levels around 6mg/l which is not bad as it’s been very hot over the last few weeks.
Weather this week was very hot on Saturday then cooled off for the rest of the week which was around 24 deg with some light showers.
Most Carp observed this week in the pine tree swim, behind the island and in the deeper end of the lake.
John, Keith (owners) and Andy H.
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Fri 12th Aug 2022
Hello John
It’s been very hot again this week but we still managed to land 42 fish.
We’ve had 4 Carp over 30lb and Jen has broken her previous PB of 25lb with a nice fish of 31lb. We’ve also had 22 carp over 20lb and 11 doubles.
We’ve only caught 5 Catfish up to 12lb but I’ve had 3 that snapped me up.
We’ve mainly stayed in the cabin swim as you get a nice breeze coming through there but one day we had a session in the pine tree swim and Jen had one out of there.
The bait we have used is Manila, live system, robin red and scopex.
We did try krill but the catfish like them so we changed over as we want to focus on the carp.
No nights this week and latest we have fished is 11-12pm.
Absolutely beautiful here and Jen loves it.
Can you keep the deposit and we will sort the dates out for next visit next week.
Kev and Jen H (Staffordshire - 3rd visit) - rebooked for 17.8.24
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Sat 6th Aug 2022 (updated)
Hi John,
This week we have had 51 fish so far as follows:
Over 30lb = 4 at 30lbs 4oz, 33lbs 5oz, 31lbs 12oz and another at 30lbs 4oz.
Over 20lb = 24.
Doubles = 10.
Catfish = 13 (biggest 29lb).
All the fish were in pristine condition and we did hook one of the big Catfish but couldn’t land it.
The bait we used was krill and nutrinut from HNV and it was delivered a little bit late this week at 3pm as he said he was running late.
The best swims were the cabin swims although Josh and Aaron spent a couple of days in the summerhouse swim and had a few from there.
The weather has been roasting all week and it slowed down a bit mid week until thunder storms Thursday and since then it livened them up and today we have been getting a run every 10 minutes.
Aaron landed his personal best this week and both the boys have absolutely loved it.
We had an amazing time thanks John, the lake is stunning and you never know what you are going to get out.
The fish are in fantastic condition and it is a credit to how you run it.
Can you keep our deposit as we want to come back next year and we will sort the dates out next week.
Lee D, Josh and Aaron (5th visit) - rebooked for 19.8.23
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Fri 29th July 2022
Hi John,
This week we’ve had 12 Carp and Cats with the biggest Catfish estimated at around 90lb and the biggest Carp at 21lb. The 90lb Catfish took me around the back of the island so I needed to go out in the boat to land it. It towed me around the lake for over an hour before I managed to get it into the net but needed to unhook it in the net as between the 2 of us we couldn’t lift it out! Hence the estimate of 90lb.
We needed to go to Decathlon Saturday to get more tackle and to be sure to land the big ones I bought some 80lb line! I also landed a 65lb Cat which we weighed so this one gives us a clue to the weight of the monster.
Another highlight of the week was our trip to the Le Mans motor museum which was great as we timed it just right as there was a motorbike race taking place when we were there. We also got some maggots while we were at Decathlon and I fitted up the pole for Clair and she had some good fun catching some nice roach.
Only a few spots of rain this week but the lake water level is still good.
We have enjoyed the wildlife and you have 10 egrets nesting in one of the trees here as well as kingfishers and we spotted some dippers today.
This has been our 1st fishing holiday since 2014 and managed my PB for Carp (26lb) and catfish (90lb) on this trip.
Fantastic / Awesome break - couldn’t wish for a better holiday.
Barry and Clair W (Minehead - week 2 of 2)
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Fri 22nd July 2022
Hi John,
It’s been 10 years since our last visit and Barry wanted to beat his 19lb record from last time and he managed it straight away Saturday afternoon with a lovely 26lb common.
It’s been a nice relaxing week for us which is exactly what we wanted as we both have very stressful jobs.
The first part of the week was very hot with temperatures up to 38 deg, and on Monday we had a trip to Laval. Thursday Barry didn’t do any fishing really but the main event was a trip to the new restaurant in the village as it was Barry’s 60th birthday and we had 3 courses and 2 rounds of drinks for 70 Euros, it was outstanding. We will try and get there again next week.
The super u wine has been flowing freely this week and we are currently on our 2nd box!
Total fish for the week so far is 5 Carp up to 26lb and 2 Catfish up to 13lb, but Barry’s lost a similar number.
The bait used is krill boilies, trout pellets, ground bait and hemp. We have only fished the cabin swim so far.
We have enjoyed seeing the kingfishers, egrets, dippers, herons and other wildlife.
The lake is beautiful and we love it here. It’s been brilliant and we have really enjoyed it.
Clair and Barry W, week 1 of 2 (Minehead - 2nd visit)
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Sat 16th July 2022
This was another maintenance week for us but with scorching sunny days up to 36 degrees it was hard work. We managed to get another aerator fixed up so we now have 4 pumps and 2 floating units as they are talking about 40 deg next week!
My son Lewis helped me every day with grounds maintenance, cutting grass, bushes and brambles and fished each evening from 4pm until 10.30pm.
He landed 19 but lost a similar amount due to straightened hooks (Korda wide gate X) hook pulls, one broken reel and big cats getting in snags.
Biggest Carp this week was 33lb common and 31lb mirror. Biggest Catfish landed was 33lb. Couldn’t get the bigger ones in.
He only fished the cabin swims and bait used was active 8 boilies, vitalin balls, and halibut pellets.
Loads of wildlife this week including buzzards, egrets, herons, kingfishers, woodpeckers, golden orioles, wrens, etc.
Good luck to those coming over next few weeks.
John (owner) and Lewis
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Fri 8th July 2022
Hi John
Very hot week weather wise, mainly sunny with couple of cloudy days.
Best time to fish were the mornings before it got too hot and most of the Carp are in the margins where it’s shady and the water is cooler.
HNV delivered the bait for us and they turned up on time - very helpful.
Baits we used were the krill and the nutrinut. Nothing to choose between them roughly 50-50 of the fish on each.
Total fish for the week was 35 so far with the biggest Catfish at 42lb and the biggest Carp at 25lb but loads in the 18-20lb range and all hard fighting.
The best swims were the cabin swim fishing to the margin by the rock and had 8 fish from there. Next best swim was the field swim right opposite the cabin other side of lake. We can see lots of Carp in the shallow end today in the shade where it’s a bit cooler. Blisteringly hot today.
No nights this week, latest we fished was 1pm one evening.
Not sure if we are coming back next year yet as I’ve got to take my wife on holiday first- see what she says. Ha-ha.
Thanks a lot.
Jason C (Macclesfield - 2nd visit)
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Fri 1st July 2022
Hello John,
This week we’ve landed 26 fish so far but hoping for a few more yet before we pack up.
The biggest Carp was caught by my 77 year old father at 28lb which he was over the moon with as it’s the biggest Carp he has ever caught.
The biggest Catfish was landed by my (non fishing- I set him up) mate Bret at 61.5lbs which was a fight and half as it took him half an hour to get it in. He says he’s an angler now and wants to do it all again.
6 of the Carp were over 20lb and we also had Cats at 51lb and 52lb and loads over 20lb.
We had the bait delivered from HNV on your web site and they turned up on time as arranged. We used their nutrinut and krill but we think the krill was the best one.
We started off fishing in front of the cabin but mainly caught Catfish out in front there off the lilies on the island and later in the week moved up to the summerhouse swim where most of the Carp were caught. We also used pellets and hemp.
The weather was good until Thursday when we had a lot of rain and thunderstorms which killed it off a bit since then. Prior to that the water temperature was like bath water. No nights this week and the latest we have fished is about 1am.
Also lost loads of fish.
Cracking week – we’ll be back in the future.
Thanks a lot.
Paul M, and Dad and Bret (Suffolk - 2nd visit)
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Fri 24th June 2022
Hi John
Thanks for another great week’s fishing, not really fished hard this week mostly from lunch time into late evening, no nights.
Had 40 fish in total, the biggest Carp being 34lbs Mirror (4 x 30's) and lost a dozen or more.
Landed a massive 97lbs Catfish, the fight was unbelievable and not for the faint hearted but great fun! (It was caught on 50lb line and a spod rod with 2 x 30mm halibut pellets as bait)
The weather has been good this week just one day of thunder and rain.
Can’t wait to get back in August.
Here below are the fish we have caught.
Saturday
Lost big Cat
18lbs
Sunday
18 Mirror
28 Common
30 Common
27 Mirror
Monday
29 Common
18 Cat
24 Common
27 Common
12 Mirror
97 Cat
18 Cat
Tuesday
18 Common
28 Common
Wednesday
24 Common
34 Mirror
56 Cat
24 Common
29 Mirror
87 Cat
12 Common
12 Cat
12 Common
Thursday
22 Common
24 Mirror
28 Common
18 Common
22 Common
22 Mirror
33 Common
22 Cat
22 Mirror
21 Mirror
33 Common
Friday
15 Mirror
22 Common
28 Common
19 Mirror
29 Mirror
Regards Stuart & Lindsay P (Runcorn 14th Visit - booked for 20.8.22)
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Fri 17th June 2022
Hi John
This week it’s been very hot and sunny with temperatures up to 35 deg C.
The Carp were spawning on Sunday and they have been on top all week cruising all the time - hundreds of them.
Total Carp for the week was 27 with 17 commons and 10 mirrors.
The biggest were both mirrors at 30.04 and 30.00 but we also had them at 25.09 and 25.07. Most of the others were 18-25lbs.
We had 17 Catfish with the biggest at 17lbs but we had a number of big ones which we just couldn’t land.
We also had 1 bream about 5lbs.
The best bait was Cell and we have been feeding with maize.
We have had a number of Carp off the top on dog biscuits from the field swim, island swim and cabin swims but the best swim for Carp was the summerhouse swim and best swim for Catfish was the cabin swims. (No nights this week)
I’ve been coming to France fishing every year since 2002 and this is the most loveliest lake I’ve been to.
We’d like to say a big thank you for allowing us to stay here and fish your beautiful lake.
We have a very busy year next year with 50th anniversaries and 70th birthdays etc. so we are not committing to France next year but we will certainly consider coming here again and will recommend you to our fishing friends.
Thanks again,
Mick, Sandra and Paddy. (1st visit)
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Fri 10th June 2022
Hello John,
This week we reckon we’ve had 48 fish weighing in at around 800lb in total.
We had 1 Carp at 30lbs 0oz but vast majority of the Carp was over 20lbs.
The biggest Catfish was 61lbs but also had them at 53lbs, 51lbs, 49lbs, 47lbs and 42lbs.
As you said previously, best times were between 5pm and 10pm but we don’t do nights and we don’t cast out until about 10am as it’s a social thing with us with a few beers, bbq’s, relaxing with a bit of fishing thrown in.
All the swims produced fish and it was difficult to say which was best this week.
We’ve used all sorts of boilies but the best was probably krill from sticky baits.
Weather was perfect - bit of sun, bit of cloud, not too hot.
We want to come back again next year but we need to work out the best dates and will let you know next week.
Thanks a lot.
Mark D (Ringwood Hants - 6th visit - rebooked for 20.5.23)
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Sat 4th Jun 2022
This week just myself and Andy here again on maintenance week.
Main work this week, mornings was de-weeding the lake. We think this year is going to be hot so better to be safe than sorry so made early start.
All looking good but we left the shallow end a bit weedy on purpose as it’s full of bugs and good for the fish. Last time it was like this the fish were at their biggest and we want to bring them on.
Cut loads of grass and Yves came Monday and Friday so had a few beers with him.
Weather this week was warm and sunny every day up to 25 deg C and water temperature 22 deg C.
Carp spawned again Saturday and Sunday.
Oxygen in lake 7.5 mg/l good . Loads of fish in open water and behind the island cruising and fizzing. Some fish in cabin swims but less than elsewhere.
Andy caught 16 Carp and 6 Catfish in the afternoons, evenings and nights but best times between 5pm to 10pm stalking from island swim, field swim, outfall swim and summerhouse swim.
Biggest Carp was 31lb, but most over 20lb with the odd one at 15lb.
Biggest Catfish this week 28lb, but he lost 3 monsters and couldn’t get them in.
Best bait this week was Cell.
John and Andy
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Sat 28th May 2022 (updated)
Hi John,
Great week again with 29 Carp and 13 Catfish.
I’ve had 2x30s with the biggest at 30lb 2oz and the other bang on 30lb.
Mike has landed his biggest Carp for 17 years at 29lb 4oz and thoroughly enjoyed it as he’s done quite a lot of float fishing and caught a fully scaled 9lb mirror this morning on a piece of sweet corn from under the oak tree.
We have also had some lovely commons around the 26lb mark.
I’ve also had 1 Catfish at 65lbs, 2 Catfish at 50lbs and another at 35lbs.
I’ve lost 3 other big ones but as you know they are difficult to stop.
Bait we have been using are plenty of pellets and the boilies were delivered on time as agreed from HNV baits on your web site. The boilies we used were krill and we also tried the peanut flavour. Krill was the best one.
Mainly fished the cabin swims and summerhouse swim.
This morning it looks like they have started spawning again as they are crashing around all over the place.
Once again, a great week.
David and Mike (Ross on Wye - 5th visit - rebooked for 8.4.23)
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Fri 20th May 2022 (6 days only)
Hi John,
Arrived late Saturday pm and lake was looking lovely as usual.
Didn’t get set up until Sunday but soon got them feeding on our normal bait of cell boilies and maize in front of the Lilly pads in front of the island and had a couple of Carp around 20lb and a Catfish of 18lb.
We fished all week in the cabin swims and finished up with a total of 23 Carp up to 31lb 3oz and 21 Catfish including 1 at 53lb and another at 37lb.
We had a nice day out in Laval and had lunch at one of the waterside restaurants on Wednesday.
The weather this week was hottest on Tuesday up to 28 C, but it’s mostly been in the low 20s with a thunderstorm on Thursday.
Unfortunately needed to leave early Friday morning as we have a family function back in England this weekend.
Great week as usual.
Can you book us in for 3rd June next year please?
Peter and Maggie B (Sevenoaks Kent - 6th visit)
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Fri 13th May 2022
Hi John
This week we caught 17-18 fish with the biggest a Catfish at 35lbs and a Carp at 27lbs.
The Carp were spawning Saturday, Sunday and Monday and the weather has been warm and sunny all week up to 25 deg C.
Sunday we went to the local (new) restaurant in Le Bignon du Maine and 3 courses and 2 bottles of wine was 70 euros for 2 of us. (35 euros per person).
I must say it was very good.
For bait we have been using active 8 boilies with pineapple pop ups and pva bags.
Ronan spent a short time in the pine tree swim and had one or two out of there. I tried the field swim yesterday and had one off the top on a dog biscuit. (We have had a few on dog biscuits). Spent most of the time in the cabin swims.
No nights this week.
Nice place.
Ian and Ronan (Dublin 1st visit - rebooked for 15.4.23)
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Fri 6th May 2022
Hi John,
This week we have caught 71 fish up until 12.00 today, but we are fishing until 11pm tonight so we expect a few more yet.
The split is 42 Carp and 29 Catfish.
For the Carp the biggest have been 33lb 4oz and my brother had one at 32lb 0oz.
We have also had 17 Carp over 20lbs and 23 doubles.
For the Catfish the biggest was 55lb and we also had them at 47lb 13oz and another 4 at 30lbs. We had some bigger ones on but even with 30lb line and a stiff rod you can’t stop them without some luck.
We have been fishing mostly in the cabin swims with myself fishing to the left side of the island and my brother fishing the right side of the island. In the afternoons when it got a bit slow we have gone around to the pine swim or the field swims and we have managed a couple of 20s out of each of them.
The best bait has been cell but my brother has tried a few other baits and caught on them as well.
The weather has been dry and sunny all week except for one day when we had a bit of rain.
Amazing week.
Paul and Dave C - Chingford (2nd visit)
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Sat 30th Apr 2022
Just myself and My son Lewis this week.
Once again high numbers of Carp cruising and crashing all over the lake, all day, every day.
Lake management carried out including bank strengthening, tree cutting, swim maintenance, grass cutting, platform maintenance and painting.
The weather this week was sunny all week apart from a thunder storm Saturday night. Average daytime temperature was 16-21 deg C. Water temperature 16 deg C. Oxygen level 7.5 mg/l (good).
Lewis worked with me every day in the mornings and fished the lake in the afternoons and evenings. He mainly fished the Cabin swims and landed 31 fish this time. 25 Carp to 37.5lb and 6 Catfish to 49lb.
Lewis had some good fun on the float under the oak tree and caught loads of Carp up to 25lbs mostly on sweet corn maggots or wheat.
The fish were fed every day with cooked wheat, maize and pellet.
Loads of Carp showing, fizzing, jumping all over the lake every day. Also coming in very close to the lily pads by the bridge and taking bread and dog biscuits off the top.
Loads of wildlife including red squirrels, woodpeckers, jays, swift’s, golden orioles and I found tracks in the mud round by the bridge which is either deer or wild boar.
When entering France there were no problems with customs and we brought all our food and bait with us without any problems, exactly the same as prior Brexit.
John (owner) and Lewis.
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Thur 21st Apr 2022. (Saturday to Thursday only)
Hi John, our totals for the week as follows - my 15 year old lad has had 55 fish in total, 28 Carp (7 over 20, biggest 28) and 23 Cats (9 over 15, biggest 47) and 4 Bream. I’ve had 23 Carp, (9 over 20, biggest 31) and 16 Cats (6 over 15, biggest 72).
It has been an absolute pleasure to be here, we’ve not seen a drop of rain during our stay. Wish we had the whole week now as junior is currently desperate for a 30 before we leave.
Bait has been maize and pellet along with Blake’s baits red fish pro and krinella boilies. Also caught on wafers and popped up plastic corn.
I will send you a few photos once I’m home and have sorted the gear out.
Thank you so much, this has been the trip of a lifetime! We’ve had such a good time.
All the best Jim C (Oxford - 1st visit - rebooked for 1.4.23)
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Fri 15th Apr 2022
Hello John,
This week we’ve had 70 fish so far but the lads are going to fish through the night so they will have a few more yet.
The biggest Carp was caught by me at 35lbs 4oz but between us we have had 56 Carp and 20 of these were over 20lbs. Also had 35 doubles.
The biggest Catfish was over 72lbs but didn’t get the exact weight as it broke the scales. The boys caught it in the field swim and I needed to go around to help them get it out of the water as it took 3 of us to lift it. We also had Cats at 35lb and 25lb with a total of 14 altogether.
For bait we have used big pellets, cc Moore boilies, robin red, sticky krill and maize.
We needed to go to the fishing shop (Laval Peche) one day as one of the boys broke a reel! Only took about 35 minutes.
We had a rain storm one day and it really came down and coloured the water but the rest of the week it’s been lovely and sunny.
The best swim was the cabin swims but most of the swims have been fished and produced.
Brilliant week.
Peter B and boys (Maidstone Kent 3rd visit - rebooked for 22.7.23)
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Fri 8th Apr 2022
Hi John sorry been busy packing up and cleaning ready for early start in the morning.
12 Carp mostly common. Biggest was at 29lb 3 all the rest over 20lb.
10 Cats with the biggest at 61lb. Rest all over 17lb.
Best swim definitely the cabin side. Biggest fish from summer house side by Diane.
Biggest Cat was caught by David W.
Weather conditions not too clever, Thursday, Friday very windy and very wet.
Most of the fish were caught on Thursday.
Tue 5th Apr 2022
Arrived late Saturday in sunshine with lake looking beautiful but no fishing as only had time to go to the supermarket to get supplies.
Until today (Tuesday) we have had 4 Carp up to 29lb 3oz on cell boilies and lost one other in the snags.
Dave B (Sheffield 1st visit)
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Fri 1st Apr 2022
Ok, arrived on the Saturday to lovely sunshine and temperature around 21.
Aaron (lhs) and I (rhs) were in the cabin swims and Mark and Brad the summerhouse swim.
As we stayed in Rouen the Friday night we were on the lake by midday and set up around 2-ish.
First rod out and straight into a 22lb Mirror from the right hand side of the cabin swim.
Main bait used this week was cell 18mm bottom bait and cell essential wafters.
Tony:
Mirrors x 13. From 16lb up to 33.6lb - 4 over 30lb. 2 @ 27lb the rest between 16lb - 24lb.
Commons x 5. From 16lb - 24lb.
Cats x 4. From 12lb - 24lb.
Aaron:
Mirrors x 9. From 14lb - 24.6lb.
Commons x 10. From 14lb - 32.3lb the 32 being Pierre.
Cats x 8. From 10lb - 39lb.
Brad:
Mirrors x 6. From 13lb - 31lb.
Commons x 10. From 15lb - 27lb.
Cats x 5. From 5lb - 28lb.
Mark:
Mirrors x 26. From 10lb - 36.7lb, 1 @ 35.4lb and 1 @ 36.7lb.
Commons x 16. From 10lb - 21lb.
Cats x 11. From 10lb - 80+.
Bream x 1 @ 7.1lb.
All Cats 15lb and below in pen. The fishing tailed off on Thursday as the weather deteriorated rapidly, sun, snow, hail, wind and rain for the last 2 days.
Great week as usual, roll on September 2022.
Summary 124 fish including 9 Carp over 30lb biggest 36lb 7oz and biggest Catfish 80lb.
Tony S (Essex- 10th visit - Booked again for 10.9.22)
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Fri 25th Mar 2022
This was our 2nd maintenance week and the weather has been fine and sunny all week with temperatures peaking yesterday at 20 deg C so we managed to get loads done this week.
Andy helped every morning mainly painting and fished every afternoon with a catch of 16 carp and 1 catfish. The biggest carp was weighed at 32.5lbs and he also had 6 over 20lbs. All the others were high doubles with a couple around 12lbs which we put in the town lake (with the mayors agreement) as we want to focus on feeding up the bigger fish right now. The catfish was 19lbs. (On fish meal boilies).
Loads of grass cutting done and finished strengthening the dam wall.
Brought the lake level up a couple of inches as summer now approaching.
Water oxygen level = 8.5mg/l (good)
Water temperature = 13 deg c (couple frosty mornings) Fed the fish every day on wheat and maize.
Loads of wildlife including red squirrels, buzzards, herons, king fishers, jays, blue tits, wrens, owls (heard them not seen them).
Andy spotted a wild boar in field on way to supermarket half mile from lake!
1st guest arrives tomorrow.
John (owner) and Andy H
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Sat 19th Mar 22
Arrived Wednesday 16th to open up for the 2022 season.
On arrival absolutely loads of Carp on surface which is unusual for this time of year but noticed the daffodils up about 3 weeks early and when we looked closer there was a fly hatch going on and the Carp were mopping them up. Andy caught his first Carp within 15 minutes of casting out with a nice mirror at 26lb.
As usual Andy has been helping me with maintenance in the mornings and fishing in the afternoons.
So far he has caught 12 Carp between 10lb and 29lb.
The mayor made a visit on Thursday at our request as we want to remove some of our smaller Carp and he has agreed to allow us to put them in the town lake and we put the first one in yesterday at 10lb.
So far this week we have been painting the platforms, doing bank strengthening on the dam wall, painting cabin, sheds and gates.
Weather started as overcast with this dust from Africa but now sunny and warm yesterday was 16 deg C. (Week 1 as we are here next week)
John (owner) and Andy
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Sat 26th Feb 2022
No fishing this week but Yves and Michel have laid another 3 tons of gravel onto the drive as it became quite muddy over the winter.
Yves also collected a replacement masonry BBQ from Laval as the current one is about 10 years old and seen better days.
Two more large trees cut down on the drive as they were leaning towards the lake and better to take them out with the tractor where we want them.
Fish were fed with wheat.
John (owner)
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Wed 16th Feb 2022
This has been another maintenance week for us.
Myself and Andy arrived last Wednesday to cold but sunny weather.
Lake management carried out including lots of bank strengthening, lots of tree cutting due to fallen trees, (needed to get neighbours Michel and Yves around again with the tractor to get them out) swim maintenance, grass cutting, painting, platform maintenance and building’s refurbishment.
Our neighbour Michel delivered another 3 tons of topsoil for us with his tractor to help us improve bank strengthening in some areas of the lake and also an extra 3 tons of gravel for the drive is coming this week.
The weather this week was mixed with showers and sun and a few frosty mornings.
Water temperature at 10 deg C.
Average air temperature 10 deg C. Although some afternoons very warm and no coat needed.
Oxygen level at 9 mg/l (very good).
The fish were fed every day with cooked wheat and maize.
Yves has been feeding all through the winter to give them the best start for 2022.
Few Carp showing on days 1 and 2 but then got colder and then less active.
Andy only fished for a few hours each afternoon and had 10 Carp between 15lbs and 28lbs all from the cabin swims.
No problems coming in and out of France. Coming in you just needed proof of vaccination and a lateral flow test in the last 48 hours which was £30.
Coming out you just need the vaccination proof and the uk passenger location form which takes 20 minutes to fill in on your phone.
Good luck to all those coming 2022.
John (owner), Andy, Yves & Michel.