News at Joy Lake

What a way to celebrate your first ever trip to France, with not only a new PB, but also a NEW LAKE RECORD Mirror of 39lb 2oz!!!

This is exactly what happened this week at Joy Lake to Richard Pearce, who visited us with girlfriend Shannon.

And just to prove it was no fluke, Richard also banked back-up 30's of 38lb 3oz (although Shannon is claiming this one as she chose the bait and cast out the rig!), 2 different 36's, 32lb 4oz, 2 different 32's, 31lb and a 30lb - not to mention a host of 20's. Quite a first trip to France!!

Richard weighed the new record Mirror twice, and I verified his scales using both my Fox Digitals and my Avon's the next day. The fish came from the Point swim @11.30pm on the Sunday night, and fell to a Quest 20mm Surf N Turf boilie.

The second biggest fish of the week @ 38lb 3oz would have also been a new lake record had it come earlier in the week. This fish came from a stalking session in the Withy swim, and as mentioned Shannon is claiming this fish (or half at least!), as she picked the 20mm Fruitalicious Pop-up hook bait (because she liked the bright orange colour - who says carping needs to be complicated?!) and put a lovely cast between 2 set of pads. Richard landed the fish however!

Not only were we delighted for them both, but also to see the fish have packed on some weight in the mid winter - making up for the previous harsh winter where the lake froze over for several weeks.......

Many congratulations to Richard and Shannon for a superb week!

Neil & Caroline.

The new lake record at 39lb 2oz	and from another angle!	This ones not bad either! The 'other' record at 38lb 3oz.

In June 2010 we introduced 20 small Grass Carp to Joy Lake, to help combat a growing weed problem.

One year on and we’re pleased to say the measures have been a great success. To show the difference they have made take a look at the photos below, showing the Brace swim last year and again this year (trust me, it’s the same swim!)......

There have been numerous sightings of the Grassies themselves, and boy have they grown!!! They’ve obviously been doing some serious munching, as the ones spotted by visiting anglers are now between 4-6lb, not bad considering they were stocked at around 12oz only a year ago! They should provide some great sport in years to come, especially if they keep on growing at this rate....

Neil.

The Brace swim - Summer 2010	The Brace swim - Summer 2011

It’s been a frustrating couple of months here at Joy Lake, and it’s nothing to do with dropped runs and line bites!!

In February of this year we began correspondence with the local authorities to obtain permission to net the lake, remove the majority of the silver fish, and whilst the lake was partially drained down, de-silt the shallower areas of the lake (which in turn will help reduce the surface weed/pads.

Our target date for the work was October, however as summer progressed and the lake level dropped more than usual (due to a drought), we decided to bring the works forward to September. At the same time we also decided to close the lake in early August, as the low water levels in front of some swims meant it was too shallow to safely land fish – hence our lack of feedback in August/September this year.

Unfortunately, our region was now classed as in “severe” drought, and consequently the authorities would not allow any fish movement or any pumping water into or out of the nearby river until “at least November”. Thankfully, at long last, things have started moving again with the welcome autumn rains (and not so welcome snow & ice!), and we are now having our plans analysed (again!!) by the authorities.

All being well, we are now planning to net the lake early in the New Year, weather permitting of course, and get the digger to work in the shallow/silty areas (mainly the Brace, Point, Pads & Kingfisher swims). We intend to create some channels and deeper holes in these swims to improve the lake bed/fish holding features in these areas, and help to get rid of the surface weed that stems from the silty areas. We will also increase the depth in front of the swims to assist with landing/netting fish in the summer months.

Once the silver fish population (including everyone’s favourite bream!) is dramatically reduced, we will then introduce further carp in the 20lb+ category to the lake, and expect the existing residents to start gaining more weight than at present with much less competition for food. More details and photos on this to follow...

We’ll keep the website up to date with progress as soon as the works begin, and include plenty of photos. In the meantime, many, many thanks to all of you who have emailed us about the work and offering your support and encouragement – it’s much appreciated especially when we’re wading through the French administration red tape!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all! Neil, Caroline and Family.

Weed can be an amazing thing - when we first bought Joy Lake two and a half years ago we had almost no surface pond weed. Last summer it appeared and began to spread the more we tried to control it.

Whilst it is not impacting on the fishing yet, if we take no action this year it will almost certainly become a problem next year. Having spent many hours in the boat & waders hauling out more and more of the stuff, we decided we needed re-enforcements - 20 young grass carp. Although only averaging around 1lb in weight at the moment, these fish are the ideal age to tackle our weed as they feed ravenously, and in years to come will eventually switch onto anglers bait to give an added attraction at Joy Lake.

For now though these fish have a job to do.......

One of the young Grassies - held by big Emerique!	Go feast fellas.........	The surface pondweed - dinner for the grassies.

Carl Taylor had one of those magical carping moments that don't come around very often, on a recent visit to Joy Lake.

Having just landed a new Common PB of 27lb 14oz, and whilst still posing for the camera, one of his other rods tore off (Carl's Dad Bill can be seen over Carl's shoulder on the photo below, going for the rod!!!!).

The Common was quickly slipped back, and Carl soon had a new Mirror PB of 33lb 10oz in the net after a good scrap.

Nice one Carl! (and Bill of course!!)

Grab that for us Dad!!	The 33lb 10oz Mirror