Browsing Posts in French Carp Venue News

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve just taken delivery of 5 sets of Nash Carp Cradles & Weigh Slings here at Joy Lake (the same type as pictured below with Scott Gilfillan holding an early season ‘30’ in March last year).

French carping at Joy Lake

If you’ve not seen the Nash Carp Cradle, it’s basically an un-hooking mat raised off the ground which ensures the carp don’t ever come into contact with the ground as they can’t slide off (no matter how much they flap around!).

From watching visiting anglers who already had these, the carp also seem to behave themselves better with this type of unhooking equipment, and this obviously means less chance of a fish getting damaged/injured.

We decided to include the weigh-slings (which un-zip either end) so that we are providing a complete ‘fish-care’ equipment package – we pride ourselves on the condition of our carp and want to look after them, keeping them in tip-top condition (and already insist on the compulsory use of antiseptic mouth treatment on all fish as part of our lake rules). We believe the financial out-lay for this equipment is well worth the extra safety this gives the fish.

The cradles and slings will be made available to all visiting anglers FREE OF CHARGE, which means;

-          More space in the car (those beanie mats can take up a lot of room!)

-          Two less smelly items of tackle for the journey home!

-          Two expensive items of tackle you don’t now need to buy if you don’t already possess them, or were going to upgrade them for your holiday.

The only condition we will impose is that any damage through neglect will be chargeable @ £50 for the cradle and £20 for the slings.

Tags:

The First Snow of 2012 at Bletiere

Tags:

Terry with a fabulous winter carp from Lac du Val

On deciding to fish for a day for a break after 14 days constant work in rain, rain and more rain, I contacted my mate Terry and asked him to join me, he agreed with not much hesitation.

We conmenced at 9am in horrible fog and rain and my first run came at 9.55 on the new 2012 bait.  I had decided to wrap the paste around a cork ball & this really worked well as we finished off the day at 6.15pm with 3 x 40s, 5 x 30s and 4 nice 20s.

12 cracking fish thanks to Shaun’s new bait for us in 2012.

Another day in paradise!

Regards, Dave

Tags:

Mirror carp from VillefondMick’s Mirror at 43.04

Quick Review

During January Villefond owner John Lambert, Lake Manager Mark Lambert and a friend Gavin Rose have spent a few short sessions on Lac Du Villefond field testing the range of baits that are available to our customers. Despite the cold winter weather the Villefond fish have been feeding well and on there first 24hr session eight fish were banked all over 30lb and four of these over 40lb. The next session was a day only session and the guys still managed four fish, two 40’s to 44lb one 30 and one 20+ common.

This is good fishing for any time of year but especially during the winter months and really shows the quality of the bait and how much the fish like to eat it. With 50% of the fish caught being over 40lb in these first short sessions of the year, Villefond is looking like having another good year with fish reaching even higher weights. And with the lakes real biggun’s yet to make an appearance and so many fish still never to have graced the bank anything is possible in 2012… so watch this space!

Fish of the month

This fish of the month sector will be a regular segment from now on and my choice will not just be decided by size. For me fish of the month does not equate to biggest fish banked that month. I will take into account many factors for example fish that are rare visitors to the bank, fish that are particularly stunning, fish of the month maybe one of the lakes real unique characters, it maybe a fish that has shown massive weight gains or simply a fish caught in bizarre circumstances.

Despite only a few sessions being fished on the lake through January my choice for this month has been a tough one as some of the lakes character fish such as Pink Flash and Nemo have already been banked. Also several fish have topped the 40lb barrier for the first time and one of our 2011 stockies that was stocked at 24lb has been banked over 30lb for the first time… a huge growth in just one short year.

The carp I have chosen as my fish of the month for January 2012 is a fish known as Mick’s Mirror - to call this fish elusive is an understatement. Mick’s Mirror did not grace the bank for several years after stocking and when it did it already weighed a hefty 36lb, it seemed to be a fish destined for big weight gains. But strangely the fish just disappeared.

She went the best part of two years before slipping up again in the beginning of March 2011. The strange thing about the capture was her weight had stayed around the same, in fact she weighed a little less at 34lb 5oz, so it appeared she may have peaked. Nearly a full year has passed since that capture and this tricky fish has made yet another winter mistake.

There is one thing about this capture that is glaringly different however, instead of Mick’s Mirror remaining at a steady weight, in the long time between captures this time its weight has rocketed weighing in at an awesome 43lb 4oz. This is a weight gain of nearly 10lb in less than a year.

Although it once seemed that she was avoiding angler’s baits and therefore avoiding capture it would now seem she is just getting away with it. Like many of the big Villefond fish she has become quite clever. What a lot of the big fish seem to be doing is once hooked instead of running for freedom they sit put and try to shed the hook. That was certainly the case for this capture and the only indication given was one beep and several violent knocks on the rod tip. Some may easily have dismissed this as nothing more than a line bite.

Tags:

Arctic conditions create the perfect backdrop for filming the colourful wildlife at Oakview in February 2012.

From red squirrels and roe deer to green woodpeckers and gold finches and not forgetting those glorious panoramas that this time of year can bring.

Tags: