Fishing report for 26 April to 10 May 2025

A tricky couple of weeks with big temperature differences and sporadic spawning making for tricky fishing

On the 26th of April, we welcomed back husband & wife team Sam & Steve and father and son team Dave & Daniel for their 4th visit. When Sam messaged me on Sunday morning with a new PB of 53lbs 🏆, I thought that things were really going to kick off on the fishing front but by Wednesday only two other carp had been caught.

Daniel had also smashed it out the park with a new PB of 45lbs and Dave had managed to trip up a pretty little mirror from the back of the island.

The group are massive fans of the venue and the YouTube channel and always have a few questions so we had a good chat running through a few bits and pieces. The lake has been fishing well recently so I really hoped that things would pick up for them.

The week was unseasonably warm for the last week of April with air temperature a full 11 degrees higher than average. The lake temperature had shot through the 18 °C point so spawning was always going to be a possibility and they started getting jiggy with it later that day.

This was bad timing for Steve as he was yet to get on the scoreboard and with the fish in his portion of the lake with only one thing on their mind it really couldn’t have come at a worse time for him.

Over in Island point and the Big Double, Dave and Daniel fared better and over the next few days raked up a good string of carp between them. Dave upped his PB from 37 to 38lbs. He’d really love to join the 40 club but somehow the stars just haven’t aligned for him yet.

Daniel loves the big catfish and was absolutely delighted with another 125lbs specimen. He’d tooled up with new 4.5lbs rods and heavy duty big pit reels for this session and what a way to christen them! Equalling his catfish PB with another 125lbs and a new carp PB of 45 lbs. Yeah boy, you smashed it!

In the point swim, the fishing was very hard. Sam managed to bank Sammy and fair play to her for getting in the water and nailing the water shot. He’s a lively character old Sammy, he nearly leapt for freedom over her shoulder! Steve banked a small catfish but it really wasn’t his year and sometimes that’s the way it goes.

It was great to see the Gloucestershire crew again and we hope to see them again soon.

Next up, we met Dave and brother Tim and along with wives Annette and Sam for their first trip to us. Dave has been away from the sport for 5 years but has fished in France quite a few times, as had Dave. They haven’t fished in the UK for many years and so their fishing is strictly limited to 1 week in France as and when they can. They’d booked me for a full tuition day on Sunday and as the day progressed it was clear that the type and style of fishing we offer here was different to what they knew. 

Nowadays night fishing does not appeal to them which can limit the chances of success here on a harder week. If your fishing time doesn’t coincide with bite time, then it’s going to be tough. We would always recommend guests to do the nights as the small hours of the night and the early hours of the morning are usually the best. It’s not that bites can’t be had during the day as many of our daytime catch pics show, but if night fishing isn’t your thing then you may struggle when the conditions are not optimal.

Sam & Annette don’t fish but sometimes enjoy sitting out with the boys when they are behind the rods. On Wednesday the group headed out to the mediaeval town of Vitre for some sight seeing and a spot of lunch. 

The North Easterly wind that swung around overnight when they arrived on Saturday literally halved the air temperature by morning so we went from “oh my that’s warm” to “blooming fresh” in 24 hrs! By Tuesday the lake temperature had dropped by 4°C which is huge. Carp like stable conditions because they are cold blooded. Rapid changes of water temperature and air pressure can seriously disrupt their digestive system. This combined with the normal time that carp take to recover from spawning made the fishing extra hard. Even for a skilled group that knew the venue, the fishing would have been challenging. For Dave and Tim on their first trip, the timing was unfortunate.

It’s called fishing and not catching for good reason but after a really strong start to the year it’s a shame that we’ve had a tough week. It’s crazy to think that over the 3 weeks previous over 100 fish were banked. This place can be kind and can also be cruel. Most of our regulars can regale you of tales of very prolific sessions with the odd ball buster thrown in to keep you humble. Love it, or hate it, if it was too easy, it wouldn’t be as interesting.