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The session of a lifetime with catfish of 107lbs and 104lbs, 2 x 40lbs carp and 7 x 30’s. Incredible fishing!

Starting on the right track with our Beausoleil tutorial

This week we had the pleasure of welcoming a new group to the venue. Dad Tony, son Ashley and Uncle Mark had really done their homework before their trip and decided that to get the very best from their holiday, they’d take a 24hr tutorial. As usual, my tutorial session starts at 10am on Sunday morning and apart from a few cups of tea and a break for a late afternoon snack we worked through till 5pm when it was time to get some rods in.

30 minutes after setting our first trap, Ashley was into a very nice carp that turned out to be a new PB of 35lbs! He told me that it fought better than a 52lb mirror he banked last year… happy days!

Ashley with a 35lb common

Also out during the 24 hrs was the first catfish of the year at 90lbs that made the trip for Tony and he was bouncing off the walls! Not to be left out Mark also had a 30lbs mirror while Tony was battling with the catfish.

Go to the March 2018 Gallery to see all the fish caught this week.

The guys really enjoyed the tutorial and said they couldn’t believe how much they learnt and what a positive impact it’s going to have on their future fishing sessions at home and abroad. For a full report of the tutorial, click on this link.

Applying the knowledge

When we saw them again on Wednesday, Tony said he had met a couple of our smaller c3 carp but didn’t care if he blanked for the rest of the week after his big catfish! Mark actually banked a nice mid twenty while we walked round.

Mark with a mirror carp of 26lbs 4oz

Over in the Big Double, things were very different and Ashley was absolutely smashing it! Using small bait boat traps, he’d banked six different 30’s including the very rare Box Common at 35lbs and a 40lb mirror. His smallest carp was 30lbs…. nice!

Big congratulations to Ashley for getting all his tactics spot on. He used various feature finding techniques to target a variety of different spots and successful laid trap after trap to induce the mistakes. At one stage Mark and Tony asked him not to put a rod back out on this one spot as they were too exhausted from weighing and photographing his previous fish! I call that catching at will and it’s something we rarely see at Beausoleil. Skills! All fish, including the massive cats, were taken on Beausoleil ready tied rigs, Beausoleil bait and hook link and 25lb Big Game.

Ashley-with-the-Box-Common-at-35lbs-b
For the first time in two years, the very elusive Box Common at 35lbs

A bit of Beausoleil magic

With an early departure on Saturday we called in Friday to say cherio and sure we were expecting to see a few more fish on the bank but what the guys told us next was just incredible.

Ashley had gone and bagged a second 40lb carp and while they were dealing with that his other rod went. After an intense 35 minute battle, he banked a 104lbs catfish! Ashley very badly wanted a catfish and there was plenty of friendly banter among the family as you can imagine!

great fishing holiday for angler with massive catfish and big carp
What an evening: a brace of 100lbs+ catfish and a 40lbs carp!

While Mark was taking the photos, he “jokingly” said “knowing you, you’ll bank something bigger”. And guess what? Four hours later he did… with another massive catfish of 107lbs! It was pure madness really.

Ashley becomes the first ever angler to bank a brace of 40’s and a brace of 100lbs catfish at Beausoleil. Great angling!

“Now I can get in the ring with Mike Tyson”

After his epic catfish battles, Ashley was “now ready to step into the ring with Mike Tyson… no way he fights harder than them”! Needless to say Ashley was buzzing his little socks off and we could barely calm him down enough to tell us all about it. He did pick up two injuries during the week though … one from a catfish whose teeth penetrated the protective glove he was wearing. The other was a blister on his reeling hand from hauling so many big fish…. it’s a tough game!

Mark was having a quieter time of it but still managed three good carp from 26lbs to 30lbs. Dad Tony spent most of his time feeding and watering the crew and photographing Ashley’s successes which I’m sure adversely affected his own scorecard.

Beausoleil can be a fickle water and while it can appear to be generous to some, it can be a little mean to others. Not that Tony or Mark felt hard done by; they were basking in the reflected glory from Ashley.

Mark with a mirror carp of 29lbs

Zero losses, it’s no accident!

All the guys had spooled up with 25lb Big Game for the session and it stood up to the test extremely well with no failures despite some serious battles! They’d also put their faith in our new Beausoleil hooklink and were fishing with our readymade rigs. They loved the extremely solid hook holds my setup delivered and apart from keeping the hooks sharp they lasted for the entire session. The hooklink also easily withstood the extreme violence of the encounters with very little damage. At Beausoleil, it’s all about the detail and you can have total faith that the materials we sell or recommend are up to challenge that anglers face week in week out.

It was a great pleasure to meet Tony and his family and spend some quality time on the bank with them. They really wanted to improve their fishing and we would encourage anyone that feels a little inexperienced, rusty or just plain confused about the whole carp fishing business to book a session with me. I guarantee it will be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made!

Catch report & Feedback from:

Tony, Ashley and Mark
Dates at Beausoleil: 24th to the 31st March 2018
Number of anglers: 3

Brief details of your catches:

15 total over 25lbs
8 x Mirror Carp: 40lbs 8oz, 40lbs, 33lbs, 33lbs, 30lbs 8oz, 30lbs, 29lbs, 26lbs 4oz
3 x Common Carp: 35lbs, 35lbs, 31lb 4oz
4 x Catfish: 107lbs 8oz, 104lbs 4oz, 90lbs, 50lbs 8oz
3 x c3’s
1 x kitten

What did you find were the best swims/tactics/baits?

Best swim was the Big Double, fishing with Matt’s advice and investigating the swim via boat, leads, fish spy and deeper pro.

How was the weather?

It rained most days with a change in the afternoon. Cold overnight.

How did you find the accommodation?

For a fishing venue the accommodation is excellent, as are the pegs.

What could we do to improve your holiday?

A tumble dryer would have really helped as you go through a lot of clothes catching these big catfish but I’m just being picky.

Would you recommend our venue to a friend?

Yes without a doubt

General comments

An absolutely stunning lake and venue. Our hosts were amazing. The weather wasn’t bad for this time of year (a little wet for my liking). The wildlife, if you take to time to watch is really cool including red squirrels. I would recommend the venue and the tutorial to all.

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