24 October 2015 – Catch Report: Arnold, Marry, Shirley & Jaap

An autumn carp fishing adventure for this lovely family from Holland!

This week we welcomed a new family from Holland that made the 7 hour journey to our small piece of carp fishing heaven. Arnold is a very experienced carp angler and fished with his daughter Shirley who’s been getting more into carp fishing thanks to boyfriend Jaap who’s also a seasoned carper. For Shirley and Jaap this would be their 4th carp fishing trip to France but the first that they’ve done as a whole family. With high pressures up to 1027mb for most of the week, bites were always going to be hard won but their skills and experience stood them in good stead and after a slow start they caught at least one per day.

Mid October is definitely not prime season for catfish but they did land a fine specimen of 76lbs at the end of the week. All but one bite came at night and Shirley landed a very fine mirror of 33lbs. We are definitely seeing more girls get seriously into carp fishing which is great to see. Shirley did draw the line at bivvying up though and preferred the warmth and comfort of the lodge at night. The ladies were very complimentary about the quality of the accommodation. The lodge is timber framed and well insulated and the electric radiators warm the place up in no time. It’s also south facing so it catches the winter sun and the views over the lake are lovely. Losses were minimal which is always good to see and testament to a solid approach. This was very much a family carp fishing holiday and they made good use of the huge amount of space available for multiple bivvies and shelters that can be erected in the point swims. It was an absolute pleasure to meet them and we do hope to see them again in the future.