Fishing report end March/start of April

An excellent start to the season with carp to mid 40s, lots of 30s and cats to “very large”!

Week 1

To start the season, we welcomed back Peter and Janet to the venue for their 4th trip. Peter prefers to leave the carp in the cradle for photos so there’s not much to share on that front but he shared his cradle shots with us and he hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to tricking them! He caught steadily all week, fishing the days and nights and raked up 8 carp to mid 30, Sammy at mid twenty and three massive catfish. The catfish stayed in the landing net and even then, they had to be folded in two to fit! It’s impossible to say how big they were. Probably approaching three figures. It doesn’t really matter, they were simply very large!

Peter landed everything he hooked which is a rare feat and if you know how hard our cats pull you’ll understand why we reckon Peter did very well indeed! Peter’s wife Janet had once again a very relaxing time but was also involved in the fishing.  They absolutely love their visits to us and we look forward to seeing them again next year. 

Best week’s fishing ever! Everything was perfect. Stunning venue, picture perfect, peaceful. A great place to relax. The tuition was great. Don’t fish without it. Thank you so much guys! It was perfect!!

Week 2

Next up we met Chris and Laura for their first visit to the venue and their first fishing trip to France which is always exciting! They are both into their fishing big time and like me, Chris caught his first carp back in the early/mid 80s. We were delighted that they took the tuition with me on Sunday to set them on the right path quickly and we had a fantastic day together. Despite all their skills and years of experience, they gave me “carte blanche” to review their setup to give them every chance of success.

At the start of the rig session, I asked Laura how much of the prep she got involved with and all the rig prep was done by Chris. Laura firmly believed that rig prep wasn’t something that she could master. That sounded like a challenge to me and within 30 minutes Laura was tying her first rig. Another 30 minutes of practice, her rigs looked identical to mine.

It turns out that being good at crochet is the perfect training for rig tying. Laura absolutely loves her fishing and now she’s found a new skill, it enables her to get even more deeply involved in a key aspect of the sport.

Chris and Laura soaked it all up like sponges and by late afternoon we were dropping rigs on spots that we had identified earlier. Now it was just a question of waiting for the magic to happen!

First thing Monday, Chris reported that they’d had 3 carp to mid 30… What a way to start the session! I’m sure that Chris and Laura would have got there on their own but a week is not a long time and if the weather starts off favourable, then turns bad, by the time you’ve worked it out, the window may have closed.

Ready to race?

Now they had the keys to the Ferrari, it was simply a question of reset, repeat, and enjoy! When I called around Wednesday the smiles had grown even wider.

They both really love big catfish and fish with catfish spec rods and reels for all species. It’s unusual actually as most anglers that enjoy carp and cats opt for beefy carp rods and reels rather than go all out on the big boy gear but this gave them the best chance of banking a big catfish when it did come along.

It’s crazy to say this but an upper 60 and a mid 70 is not large for us but they were both PB’s for Chris. Laura did have an encounter with something massive one night but these things are challenging enough in daylight, at night it gets even more difficult. In the end, the catfish made it to the bridge and the mainline failed. With the size of the fish we have, and the best prep, banking these creatures is not a foregone conclusion. It’s another reason why we are very glad that we made the switch to barbless hooks as it’s far safer for the fish.

Rigs and bait

On the technical front, I set the guys up with my blowback multi rig which has been a go-to solution for my tuition session for quite a few years and consistently delivers. 

Bait was our standard mix of Scopex boilies, flakes, pellets and syrup set in trap format using one small scoop of each ingredient per rod. All rigs were driven into position using an RT4 bait boat. 

Modern Technology

One point of interest when it comes to modern technology. Despite having an echo sounder, even a top end bait boat won’t tell you as much about a spot as a basic leading rod will. It’s not something Chris was used to and he was blown away at just how hard and how savage our lake bed is and how quickly it transitions from one to the other. I’m not anti technology, far from it, and a boat is great for driving the rigs out but it’s difficult to beat the old fashioned feature finding tools!

Wandering lead

The wandering lead syndrome is nothing new (to me) but it was for Chris when he went to wind in one of his rods and realised it was actually connected to two other lines. It’s not that he was using low end alarms either. The ECU units are quality alarms giving both forward and backward bite indications but they didn’t let out a beep on this occasion.

Even with the best hooks, the best rigs and a trick lead setup, these carp can still take the mickey out of us! As he was using one of my pickup indication solutions, he knew exactly what had happened. It definitely wasn’t aliens!

What a way to finish!

With an early start on Saturday, Thursday night was to be their last serious session but what a way to finish with 4 more fish on the score sheet! Congratulations guys, what a great session for your first trip to Beausoleil, you were masters at executing the plan!

Chris and Laura had a fantastic holiday and have already re-booked for next year. It was a joy to meet them. We really love it when our guests love the place as much as we do. We very much look forward to seeing them again next year.