Fishing summary for 3rd to the 24th of August

An unusually mild August with temps in low 20s. Mixed results on the fishing front but the oxygen has been stable all month.

At the beginning of this month we welcomed Peter and Janet to the venue. This would be their 2nd visit to us this year and they’ve been regulars for a few years now. After some 5 trips I leave them to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the place with as little interference as possible (aside from a few oxygen measuring visits). This trip was all about some much needed R&R with a little fishing along the way. Peter caught a few using the methods he’d learnt his first trip. It was a delight as always to see them and we hope to see them again soon.

Following on from Peter, we welcomed Garry and Karen. This would be Garry’s first French fishing adventure. He was keen to put his skills to the test and take the venue on without any support so after a quick spin around the lake, we left them to enjoy the place on their own. I popped in a couple of times to do my readings and it was good to see that he managed to bank a couple of carp. They really loved the place and are planning to return in 2026.

Next up we had Lee and his family. His two sons Ethan and Oliver would also be fishing. Oliver only started carp fishing 18 months ago, Ethan and Lee visited France for the first time last year. Lee’s been targeting carp for the last 15 years and his son Ethan for about 8 so they had a few years of experience between them. They opted for the tuition to get them off to a good start and that really paid off! As a family they openly admitted that they had a bit of a reputation for blanking.

The oxygen levels were good, the temperature was good and these conditions were set to continue all week long so I was very confident that if they could apply ‘the method’, they’d have a good week’s fishing. As a ‘target’ I thought 10 specimens (not including the kittens) was realistic and they arrived at that point by Wednesday! When I first suggested that 10 was a perfectly achievable number, it was met with a degree of disbelief and scepticism. By Wednesday, they were riding high on adrenaline and brimming with confidence and it all seemed very easy (which it’s not!).

It all started at 5am on Monday morning when everyone’s rods bust off one after the other. In the space of 4 hrs they’d banked 5 carp! It was great fishing and just goes to show what can be done when you join up the dots. Well done guys!

Oliver really wanted to catch a big catfish and luckily got to start with something relatively small (….for us). Don’t get me wrong a 65lb catfish is a very large and powerful animal but when you have specimens twice this size… It’s a baby! He then went on to catch a 90lbs specimen. Oliver also got a taste of just what an even larger specimen was like. We have no idea what he hooked but it made it to the other side of the bridge and cut him off. Oliver was fishing at the other end of the lake in the Big Double and there wasn’t much he could do. Lee also had a taste of the unbelievable power of these beasts as he also got smashed up.

Lee and Ethan were bivvied up in the point swims and Ethan concentrated on point B and point A using just two rods each. The catches were split fairly equally and the biggest carp went to Lee’s with a 37lbs mirror. 

On the bait and rigs front, the guys stuck to my tried and tested blowback multi with Scopex squid boilies, flakes and pellets with plenty of oily hemp and small seed mix. Using a combination of rowing boat and bait boat to set the traps, it really was a question of reset, repeat. They certainly didn’t fish it full gas, they often didn’t get fishing until mid afternoon and if they caught one at night the rod never went back out. They also only used two rods each which does make sense when there are three of you fishing.

Congratulations guys, we’re so pleased you had such a successful trip.