Monthly Blog

January - February

We have yet come to the end of another very successful season on la saule paquot once again surpassing our expectations with some memorable moments along the way. Many of the anglers that have visited paquot have been blown away by the sheer quality and size of its inhabitants with the average going over 30lb, you would be just unlucky to catch a fish under 25lb.

The year started off slow with some very unsettled weather but some of the biggies still graced the banks and after speaking to other lake owners nearby who I wont mention because I feel its unfair too experienced much the same conditions as we did but that’s fishing for you and some of the owners wouldn’t tell you the truth or facts anyway.

I was very pleased to see a fish landed by mark appleton in august that had been dropped by an angler  during a tour way back in Oct 2006 a period of ten months .although it had lost a couple of pounds it was still in excellent condition. This is just one of the reasons why we are going to have a more hands on approach so that we can try to avoid accidents of this nature and hopefully help anglers of a lower experience to enjoy the occasion with a beautiful specimen on the bank.  The fish in paquot are truly awesome and many have put on staggering amounts of weight over the last two  years with the lake record now topping 57lb 12oz caught by Kieran gavin  from Liverpool on a tour with a few of his mates organised by the positive futures crew, their choice of music on the minibus needed to go out of the window though, ymca   do I need to say anything else,,,  but who cares lads gavo got the biggie out.

As well as the big mirror coming out a new lake record common also graced the banks in the shape of a bin lid at 47 lb in September a lovely fish that came after a recommended swim change and a few other lumps to complete a fine week for Kevin edge from Stafford.

I have noticed that on some of the tours this year quite a few anglers didn’t bring a marker rod with them , this is an important part of your kit so that you can find features and bait up accurately you may also want to  bring a spod rod too or a bait boat if you’ve got one. Elsewhere on  the web site there is a map of the lake and a swim description to help you during your stay. So please come prepared.

The lake is now closed for the winter so that the fish can recharge their batteries for the forth coming year and also to give us a chance to do some work around the place we open the gates again in march but I just cant wait for the new forth coming season.  Oh and not forgetting tom who had the scar at 49lb 12oz in November that 50 will come  one day mate.

Just before we where due to do our monthly visit to the lake for january to make sure everything was in order, we where kindly offered the chance of a stand at a charity carp show in Manchester from saul gardner who runs the Scottish carp society  which we gratefully accepted. The show seemed to be a big success with plenty of visitors,

Trade stands and also some high profile speakers / anglers who gave up their time to attend for a good cause ,so many thanks to saul.

After the show had finished on the Sunday evening it was straight off to france arriving Monday morning with a quick stop at the shops for supplies and off to the lake. The Monday was spent getting set up and we quickly banged the rods out and then grabbed some much needed sleep.

The first night passed without any action and to tell the truth I was pleased with the sleep. The next day was quite warm with a bit of sunshine on the water so the shallower areas looked more appealing. After a chat with john I put a rod on a spot that had produced fish in the past for him and guess what later that night a steady take produced a superb long mirror in its winter colours and a new pb of 44.10 . it was very welcome as I didn’t expect it as the night was very clear with a full moon, not the best of conditions. The next day was very cold and as night set in so did a heavy frost ,but yet again the same spot produced the goods this time after a very spirited fight a mirror of 42.06 was on the bank.

February-May

 Hi everyone,

Since the last time of writing I have been back to the lake to get everything in place for the opening week of the season and two trips have passed  by quickly .  Once again I had the chance to get the rods out as I was going to be there for a three week stint with my mate Brian or bfg as some of us know him.

We had all sorts of the worst possible weather chucked at us during our stay and we also spoke to some anglers from the uk in the local town who had packed up ready for home after only three days of fishing.

We where both very pleased to have the log burner in the lodge so that we could get

Warmed through and dried out. It was so bad some days that I never even bothered putting my rods out I didn’t think that it would be worse than our January trip but it was. I did get my reward though as I managed to bank a beautiful new Pb common of 41.08  in perfect condition making this fish my second Pb during winter.

Anyway now onto the opening week and I had a bunch of blokes from crawley some had brought their sons along with them as they did last year so I was looking forwrard to seeing them all again. During the week I was asked how I would write about this tour as many may think that I was just filling people with a load of bull.

As the lakes level was up about 3ft  with a load of extra cold water I didn’t expect what was going to happen for the week and I feared the worst! A load of blanks and a few long faces at the end of the week. But early on the Sunday morning I was awaken to go and do some pictures for one of the young lads called Jordan hall who banked a common of 35+ and he showed his joy at catching it in the privacy of his bivvy , if you know what I mean, doing what young boys do!.

Later that day just before the evening meal Dave Bartlett landed a superb mirror of 54.08 smashing his Pb, during the pictures Dave even went in the lake with the beauty and let me tell you it was absolutely freezing but it didn’t faze him one bit as he was right up to his chest and I thought these southerners where softies, how wrong I was

Total nutters more like.

Daves brother Mark the very next day and almost at an identical time banked another biggie a 50.08 mirror known as the long one .what a fish and a pleasant surprise as it is the first time its made 50lb making it yet another 50 for the lake and a superb Pb for Mark and not to be out done by his brother he too went in the lake. Oh I forgot to say that we also woke up to a covering of snow that day. Then after meal time 15 yr old

AJ Kirrage done very well to land another 50lb mirror and I must say that all the  young lads showed concern and looked after the fish well on the bank ,so well done lads thank you. Aj also done well during the pictures as the big mirror was abit of a handful for him and he too went in the lake as well, a brave lad, especially wearing a arsenal shirt !.

We then had a spell of very cold nights with heavy frosts a wind direction change with some rain and little action to shout about. It kicked off again with 15 yr old Dan, Marks son banking a mirror of 30lb on his dads rods and yes he too went for a swim.

His dad then banked another 3 fish during that day the best one tipping the scales at 51.08 in the shape of a recovering mirror called general cluster, how pleasing it was to see this magnificent fish pilling the pounds back on after an unfortunate accident in 2006. This fish also beat Marks previous Pb caught earlier in the week and he also caught the smallest of the week a 24.08 mirror, who put that in !.

The week finished off with a few more fish and a Pb common for Dave of 28.08 what a way to start the year. Some of the lads couldn’t wait for next year so they booked some remaining spaces later in the year, my two mates Brian,Alan and myself had a great week with you all and had a good laugh so thanks very much from us all cheers lads.

Just after moving off the lake my French mates where due to do a session and they also had a few fish the best one a mirror of 54.08 to fabrices rods and his young son Quentin landed two 30+ fish the first time he has carp fished here as he normally goes for the pike and is abit of  a specialist at it for an 12 yr old.

 The next tour we had some more of our regular customers who have been travelling to France with tag for about 6 years now so I must be doing something right. The weather again was going to play a big part in the weeks fishing as it started off wet and cold again ,but these lads from Leicester are serious carpers and appreciate 

 What affects the weather can have on your fishing. The week started slow and as I had a chance to put the rods out again I banked the first fish on the Sunday a fine common of 37.08 and very welcome too.

The next person to catch was Dave Geary who landed a new Pb mirror of 47.lb this came after he spotted a load of  fish in one area and went in hot pursuit of them, good

Angling mate but you do need to eat more weetabix so that you can hold them up for the pictures. Then my mate Terry landed a pasty of a mirror at 26lb ha ha the smallest of the week. Things did start to warm up slightly and one morning I landed a brace of commons getting the second run as I was putting the first one back, they tipped the scales 40.08 and 41.00 so that was job done for me and I packed up after a fine hat trick of well conditioned fish as I had to give Terry a chance of catching me up.

During the fog one early morning Mick Geary finally managed to land one of the lakes biggies she was down a little in weight but in excellent condition as I was informed so I was very pleased for Mick to catch it at 49.04.

When we where just enjoying abit of sun Mark Dimmock landed a fine common of 37.08 from the shallows a nice round golden bin lid of a fish.

A new lad joining the Geary and law party Dave Taylor made a swim change later in the week and dually landed a long common of 38.12  a new Pb and at the same time  Dave Geary banked a mirror of 48.08 another Pb and two cracking fish. A while later Dave Taylor managed another two fish, the first a mirror of 27.14 and as he was weighing it one of his other rods roared off, as he fought with the second fish the other Dave (Dave G )was looking after the first one, he placed it back in the water, secured it while the other fish was on its way to the waiting net ready for pictures of a nice brace

But guess what ? it got out back to freedom, I can remember the name numbty coming up in conversation for some reason ,unless it was the amount of beer he drank.

But Dave G was soon forgiven as the second fish DT got smashed his Pb that he caught earlier beating it with a mirror of 48.04.

As the week drew to a close the weather warmed up slightly and fish where crashing all over the lake, if only it had been warm at the start of the week, but just before it was packing up time in the early hours of Saturday morning Aaron Boniface banked a hard earned mirror weighing 42lb which was a new Pb for him and he was over the moon. It was a tough week due to the unsettled weather but at least we had a few good lumps on the bank again and still keeping the average weight in the forties and it will only get better. It was great to see that all the fish that I got involved with on the bank for weighing and photos where in excellent condition and looked after superbly by everyone and I know that the rest of the fish over the two trips would have been in safe hands.  Some of the lads are booked on for a trip in September so lets hope they have a good week then as well. I will just Finish off by saying that I yet again had a enjoyable week with another good bunch of lads and looking forward to seeing you all later in the year, so thanks very much lads till next time.    

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