It's 2011 and I'm heading to France for my annual weeks angling with my good friend Matt Pizzey
it's an all inclusive trip which includes pick up from Dover, ferry, fishing and two meals a day thanks to Angling Lines carp fishing holidays
the venue we had both chosen to fish that week is called Roseau, the venue has two lakes on the complex one which is roughly just over an acre in size and can be booked exclusive and another which is much larger holding ten swims and is offered on a swim only basis, that is the lake me and Matt were on
both lakes are well stocked with Mirrors, Commons and Grass carp with the odd Sturgeon and Catfish
the smaller lake holds the bigger residents but the lake me and Matt were angling on still contains fish up to 40lb and possibly bigger?
the weeks angling began on the Saturday afternoon once all the other anglers who were fishing there that week had arrived and the draw for swims was made
we soon discovered the fishing was going to be prolific catching plenty of carp throughout our stay with the average carp weighing in at 25lb we were told by the resident bailiff numerous times at meal times that the slightly better and bigger fish would fall foul to our tactics before our departure and so true he was
if my memory serves me right it was the Thursday evening? and me and Matt had just returned from our evening meal and we settled in for another nights fishing, I can clearly remember hearing the rumble of thunder in the distance for hours and hours every now and then the flash of lightening lit up the evening sky, as previously mentioned the fishing was quite prolific but that evening the action had slowed down picking up the odd fish now and then
around about midnight? I received a full blown one toner on my middle rod and after picking up the rod and making a connection I soon found out that this was a better fish, moving on I went onto bag a stunning Common of 31lb
I have to tell you a lovely story before I show you this capture in all It's glory, on the smaller lake their was a lad on their called
Dave who I had been talking to a lot throughout the week, Dave was a returning customer and he had fished the swim I was in on this session the year before, he was telling me about a common he'd caught from here last year at 33lb and he even had the pictures at hand to show me
I'd only gone and banked the same fish, spooky or what it was down in weight but I didn't care when they look like this!
it's an all inclusive trip which includes pick up from Dover, ferry, fishing and two meals a day thanks to Angling Lines carp fishing holidays
the venue we had both chosen to fish that week is called Roseau, the venue has two lakes on the complex one which is roughly just over an acre in size and can be booked exclusive and another which is much larger holding ten swims and is offered on a swim only basis, that is the lake me and Matt were on
both lakes are well stocked with Mirrors, Commons and Grass carp with the odd Sturgeon and Catfish
the smaller lake holds the bigger residents but the lake me and Matt were angling on still contains fish up to 40lb and possibly bigger?
the weeks angling began on the Saturday afternoon once all the other anglers who were fishing there that week had arrived and the draw for swims was made
we soon discovered the fishing was going to be prolific catching plenty of carp throughout our stay with the average carp weighing in at 25lb we were told by the resident bailiff numerous times at meal times that the slightly better and bigger fish would fall foul to our tactics before our departure and so true he was
if my memory serves me right it was the Thursday evening? and me and Matt had just returned from our evening meal and we settled in for another nights fishing, I can clearly remember hearing the rumble of thunder in the distance for hours and hours every now and then the flash of lightening lit up the evening sky, as previously mentioned the fishing was quite prolific but that evening the action had slowed down picking up the odd fish now and then
around about midnight? I received a full blown one toner on my middle rod and after picking up the rod and making a connection I soon found out that this was a better fish, moving on I went onto bag a stunning Common of 31lb
I have to tell you a lovely story before I show you this capture in all It's glory, on the smaller lake their was a lad on their called
Dave who I had been talking to a lot throughout the week, Dave was a returning customer and he had fished the swim I was in on this session the year before, he was telling me about a common he'd caught from here last year at 33lb and he even had the pictures at hand to show me
I'd only gone and banked the same fish, spooky or what it was down in weight but I didn't care when they look like this!
Common 31lb...
I was totally blown away if you have read any of my blogs or watched any of my videos before? you'll of heard me banging on about Commons I love any carp and they are all welcome what ever size or weight but Commons to me are just that little bit special
so fish returned safe and sound, the spot topped back up and rod on it, still buzzing and taking it all in within minutes the same rod was away again
this is the stuff of fairy Tales and this ones even bigger, it's a Mirror another stunner and weighing in at 38lb
Mirror 38lb...
A brace of 30's within minutes...
May 2016 I'm heading off again for yet another French adventure I've been trying to work it out and by my calculations this is my ninth trip over the channel in search of French carp?
on this trip I'm joined by good friends Marc Copson and Marc Scott, the venue choice is one of famous fish farmer Lauren Bigots waters called Commons Lake
we had to book well in advance twelve months in fact as this venue is very popular indeed, the venue roughly contains one hundred fish consisting of Commons, Mirrors, Grass Carp and Catfish
when booking we were told that the carp went into high 50's, 58lb to be exact
but were we in for a surprise during the duration of our stay, banking over fifty carp with the smallest being low thirty and the largest reaching sixty pounds
Marc Copson kick started the hit of sixties with a beast of 61lb, and yours truly smashing his current French Common PB by over twenty pounds with this stunning Common pictured below of 60lb 4oz
totally blown away and the stuff of dreams!!!
Current French common PB...
September 2018 and France is calling once again, this time around I'm heading to a venue called Old Oaks which is situated not far from Le Mans
without boring you with the details of the previous four days of the week long session I'll get straight to day five which was the Thursday which turned out to be a Red Letter day
temperatures throughout the week were experienced well into the mid 20's and the only thing I had caught up until Thursday was a tan, the fish that had showed and graced the bank during the week had come from the other side of the lake where the other two members of my party were fishing from
but everything changed come midday on the Thursday, a drop in air temperature, an overcast sky, and the wind had changed direction and began to blow to my right with plenty of momentum into a little bay
suddenly carp began to show, another, and another, and another they had arrived! without any hesitation a fresh twisted multi rig was attached to my third rod which was presenting a 15mm Amber Strawberry pop up which was then spotted into the bay to my right were the carp had been showing
what I went on to experience in the next two hours was magical, three carp graced my net two of them were captured within the hour
all three carp were mirrors the smallest went 35lb the other two were mid 40's one of them being a new French PB, another Red Letter day achieved!
Capture one...
Capture two...
Capture three...
In 2016 I yet again ventured over the channel and into France for another week long session
the venue I'd chosen is a venue owned by famous French fish farmer Laurent Bigot called Commons Lake, the majority of the stock in the lake are carp and their are roughly one hundred of them?, it's also home to nine monster catfish
as always the main target species are carp, and all my rigs, tactics and baits used during that week were dedicated to catching carp
but with nine monster catfish also resident their is always a chance of picking one up, and on the Thursday during my week long session that is exactly what happened
I was in the process of reeling in my three rods and heading to the cooking area for my evening meal, I had reeled in two rods and was in the process of reeling in my third, I had just placed my hand on the third rod to pick it up when I spotted my bobbin move, thinking it was me who had done this I stopped and watched it just to make sure I had
I hadn't, a minute later the bobbin began to steadily move before it slammed against the alarm and line began to peel from the reel, fish on
as soon as I picked up the rod I knew it wasn't a carp, the early stages of the fight had all the characteristics of a catfish
to cut a long story short an hour later and I was still trying to make some ground on what turned out to be an epic battle, the total time from bite to when I finally slipped the net under my prize was a shade over an hour and fifteen minutes
the result one of the Commons Lake monster catfish
Catfish 81lb.....
The Cotswolds or as I like to call it gravel pit heaven, after purchasing a ticket and becoming a member of the Ashton Keynes Angling Club I had a vast selection of truly spectacular waters to pit my wits on
the decision process was not easy I can tell you, but I finally made my mind up and I decided to target two waters which were situated side by side of each other pit (A) and pit (B)
it will be no surprise to you the target species was carp, and both pits only contained a handful, IMO they were worth the effort chasing as the majority of them exceeded weights of forty pound plus
the challenge of slipping my net under one of pit (A) or pit (B's) residents was never going to be easy, and after twelve months hard graft flitting between pit (A) and pit (B) my efforts were not rewarded in the way of a carp
but what it did produce still till this day is the biggest tench I have had the pleasure of catching, to give everybody reading this piece some indication as to when I was angling in this stunning part of the UK is by telling you all what bait I was using at the time
Nashbait's latest release at the time was Monster Squid, and it had not long hit the market, I'd been steadily introducing it all Summer on both pits and the tench simply loved it!
Monster Squid.....
Both pits contained a large population of Crayfish and my chosen presentation was not only based on combating Mr Ronnie and Reggie, but also the heavy weed presence both pits provided
the Chod Rig was used for at least 90% of my angling, the remaining 10% a presentation change was used on the rare occasion I could find a clear spot?
so back to the tench, and after a real good crack on these venues my time came to an end leaving with a tench that pulled the needle around on my scales a shade under ten pound
those carp have been put on the back burner for now and hopefully I'll return for another go in the near future?
the Chod Rig was used for at least 90% of my angling, the remaining 10% a presentation change was used on the rare occasion I could find a clear spot?
so back to the tench, and after a real good crack on these venues my time came to an end leaving with a tench that pulled the needle around on my scales a shade under ten pound
those carp have been put on the back burner for now and hopefully I'll return for another go in the near future?
Big Tinker.....
It's been said that France is my second home by friends that I angle with and know through the trade and that is probably due to the amount of times I have crossed the channel to wet a line their
on this occasion I'm on the final day of another week long session at Lords Lake, I'd enjoyed some fantastic sport during the week achieving both a new common and mirror PB, at the time of this trip Lords Lake contained one sturgeon which I had seen show at least once a day through out the week
it showed a good two or three times near spots were I had placed a bait and I was very surprised indeed I had not managed to catch it heading into the final hours of the session
as I was packing up and loading the van (leaving the rods until last) I ventured over to the far margin which was only a short walk to retrieve a visual marker which I had been using to spot a rod against throughout the week
on my way back to my swim I noticed a serious amount of fizzing over one of my spots, when suddenly the resident sturgeon once again crashed out of the water, but this time it had something hanging from it's mouth, the rig from my middle rod
the short video clip below shows the sturgeon which I decided to name Cyrille which weighed in at a healthy 44lb below
Cyrille The Sturgeon.....
2016 and my second trip of the year to Pats Pool on the White Acres complex
it's the second week in October and for the time of year the weather is very mild indeed, apart from the mild air temperature it's also very wet
in fact it rained from the time I arrived until the time I departed, Pats Pool was looking a lot different to what it looked like on my previous visit earlier on in the year
it was also a lot quieter, the only angling pressure present was from myself and two other anglers who were located on the opposite side of the lake
arriving on the Saturday my session began on the Sunday and as previously mentioned the rain intensified as the week went on,
by the Tuesday the two other anglers had admitted defeat they pulled off and I had the lake to myself
Sunday and Monday produced no results and looking back on the session now I got my tactics totally wrong, I was convinced that the fish were up in the water and zigs were my chosen presentation
after introducing a good 3kg of Nashbait Coconut Creme before departing for the day on the Monday evening, by Tuesday the fish were on to it and the session sprung into life
my week long tally ended with an impressive 6 fish over 20lb, with the pick of the captures being a 26lb ghost carp
which at the time was the second biggest carp in the lake
26lb ghost carp, at the time it was the second biggest carp in the lake.....
