Fishing report from: Rob & Simon

A good week’s fishing for these Beausoleil super fans with plenty of carp to 43lbs

This week we welcomed back Rob & Simon to the venue for their annual pilgrimage. Rob has visited us almost every year since we opened back in 2011 and has clocked up more hours on the bank than any other guest. Simon hasn’t been visiting us for as long but he’s clocked up a serious number of sessions over the years which also puts him into the veterans category 😊 It’s wonderful to know that even after all these years, Beausoleil still provides the challenge that they’re looking for in their angling.

To start this story, here is Rob himself, in his own words, describing his experience and journey at Beausoleil…

“Yet again upon arrival you’re instantly greeted by a beautiful lake that screams out the love, care and dedication put into a venue that I have yet to find anywhere else that comes close on my fishing adventures. Yet again the lake is a hard but fair beast to tame that will punish you for lack of attention to detail but reward you with some stunning fish for getting it all correct. The weather was all over the place during the week with some very cold nights. Matt’s knowledge level is in a league of its own when it comes to carp fishing and obviously his knowledge of his lake is superb. His advice and tips on tactics and set-up is not to be sniffed at. I’ve only ever left a better angler after spending time with Matt. My advice to an angler of any ability is watch Matt’s videos on YouTube whether you’re visiting his venue or not as they are full of tips and tricks that can only improve your results. His tuition is a must to get the best out of fishing Beausoleil. One can only say thank you for another brilliant time from me and Simon. I’m one day going to be able to pass all your tests which will only push me to be a better angler which will obviously make me get the best results possible wherever I am. I can say the smile on Ren’s face after looking at them pictures was the cherry on top of the icing on the cake. Still smiling ear to ear. Matt & Ren, two very special people. A class act in every way.”

(❤️ from us, we’re still smiling too)

Last week the weather was absolutely spot on for carp fishing but by the time the guys arrived the weather was on the change with high air pressures forecast and bigger swings in temperature from day to night. Monday and Tuesday saw heavy morning frosts and so the guys hit the pause button on Tuesday and retreated to the comfort and warmth of the house which was very sensible. 

Rob found himself fishless by the halfway mark but the conditions had softened somewhat and I was sure that he’d get his chance. Just to add to the pressure, Rob was christening new rods and new alarms for this trip. There’s nothing worse for putting the carp on their guard than buying new gear!

Simon was going great guns with five carp and the sturgeon by Wednesday. He’d even managed to up his PB of 43lbs. Okay he’d only upped it by 4oz and it was a repeat capture but hey a win’s a win! During the lake tour, it wasn’t difficult to see why Simon was having all the action. The carp were racked up “en masse” on his side of the island whereas Rob’s side looked a little quiet. After a quick review of tactics we left the guys to it and hoped for things to swing Rob’s way.

Simon was  fishing the island point margin which is not fished much. The carp do love this margin though. It’s not an easy margin to fish as it’s relatively shallow and slopes upwards so getting a decent line lay can be problematic. Slack lines are the order of the day but the slacker you fish the greater the chance of losing one to one of the massive undercut holes here. 

It’s a delicate balancing act and not the sort of thing many anglers get right. This is where Simon’s experience played a massive role and he managed to extract a carp or two on most days with zero losses so big congratulations for that!

When we called around on Friday we were delighted to learn that Rob had joined the party with a couple of crackers. One at 35lbs, the other at 38lbs. 

The 38lbs was his first of the session and with the unfamiliar rods and the excitement, it was a proper nervy affair. Just to up the ante, the carp fought extra long and hard. We are seeing a big improvement in water clarity which means that you can see so much more when you are playing a carp and Rob’s knees started to wobble when he clocked this one 20 yards out! 

The other thing that’s changed is the fact that you can see your bait now along certain margins. Rob was using pink Citruz on some spots which stands out very clearly. What was interesting was that despite these spots showing very little sign of carp activity during the day, the next morning every scrap had gone and Rob never received a single beep some nights. These carp are very very good at cleaning you out without giving any indication that they’ve visited your spots!

The average size here now is really very high indeed. In fact the smallest carp out this week was a 33lb common. That’s nuts when you think about it. I mean how many lakes do you know of where it’s a 30 a chuck? Rob was delighted with his brace. Both carp are quite rare captures. The Dark Knight hasn’t been out for two years and was looking amazing!

Simon used one of our Scopex Squid carp food packs for the whole session and it didn’t let him down. Rob mixed it up with a little Citruz. The guys like to keep their rigs simple and they stuck to tried and tested rigs that they know work well here. Congratulations guys on another memorable trip 😊