Angling Lines Blog

65lb 8oz

I have been to Margot several times & thoroughly recommend the place to anyone looking for big carp but with runs too. To me it is a lake of Dreams.

This April trip was my seventh trip to the lake and it just keeps getting better and better and has never let me down. I organised the trip with a group of 7 friends all eager to fish the lake I keep talking about. So in a way pressure was on me for the lake to deliver.

This time round the fishing got off to a great start, normally we wait 36 + hours to bank a fish…. but Craig Holt was quick to get his rods out first and managed to bank a 47lb common before any other person in the group had even put their rods out.  That’s when I knew we was in for a good week, it was a slower start for me like always, but that was soon to change.

My aim was to bank a 50lb this time round as I have had plenty of 40s here before but never a 50lb or a 60lb so that was my aim…. but I was soon into something that sure felt like a 50lb and couldn’t wait to get it into the net. The fish was soon netted and weighed, a big  mirror that weighed in at 65.8oz. I was over the moon I had to weigh the fish several times because I couldn’t believe my eyes, I had jumped from the 40s straight to a 60 but I wasn’t complaining. Soon to follow was a stunning 52lb mirror…. so you can see why I said the place fulfills your dreams.

My tactics are always the same, running lead system with a 6in dacron braid fishing a pink 14mm pop up, must be pink, popped up 2in with a stick of pellet mixed with halibut stick mix. Feed the fish plenty but not all at once coz they won’t bother at all. Feed them half a kg every time you get a take to keep them there, but only do this when fish are there and until that your stick alone is fine.

My personal tally for the week was - 52 carp, made up of 1 x60, 1 x50, 11 x 40s, 24x 30s and the rest 20s and only 3 carp under 20.  I also banked my 3rd 30lb koi in the last 5 years.

Amazingly our group banked 143 fish with a total weight of 4,736lb.

I have to say I love the new bakers delivery service, which was eagerly awaited at 10am each day. Gorgeous!!

Follow my tactics and I’m sure you won’t go wrong, tight lines.

Rob Allen

Carp fishing in France at Margot

50+ sharks in a feeding frenzy filmed off the coast of Perth, Australia.

Have you ever seen anything like this?

Steph Dagg is the owner of Notaires & Alder carp lakes.

To celebrate (Chris and I), and at the same time commemorate (Caiti and Rors), the last official day of the winter holidays (weekends don’t count), we headed off in the sunshine this morning for another spot of geocaching. It gets us out, we all enjoy it and it’s nice family time. We found 3 out of 4 caches again – a 75% success rate seems to be our specialty these days!

This afternoon we had the plumber out. The chaudière (boiler) for the gîte succumbed to le grand froid, despite Chris’s best efforts to keep it going. The cold was just too much. Le plombier has done what he can for the moment, but Chris still has a few more fuites (leaks) to fix. He’s been soldering for most of the week. Every time he thinks he’s done the last one, he discovers another one. None of us is over-optimistic that the boiler can be saved. It’s likely the main unit of it has burst in the cold, so we’ll be looking at a new one. Which is bad news this week after discovering that the Renault’s repairs have come to a staggering €2,500. Although it’s only some kind of electric motor that’s gone wrong in the power steering unit, the only way to repair it is by replacing the whole steering column. It’s a sealed unit and alone comes to a few cents short of €2,000. That seems absolutely wicked to me. We’ve contacted Renault Ireland (we bought the car before we came here) to complain vociferously about this policy of supplying car parts in big expensive chunks instead of cheaply and separately. It makes us feel a bit better, even if its likely success is minimal.

Anyway, back to pipes. Once Chris has finished soldering, we’ll be trying the boiler out to see if it still leaks. And if it does, then we need to call the plumber’s colleauge out. He’s the fuite d’eau guy. Our chap today was the broken boiler guy. He was a little out of his comfort zone. Apparently I should have said that there was a leak in it rather than simply declaring it broken on the phone, and then the most appropriate technician would have been sent out. Well, they didn’t ask for specifics, and beyond the fact that elle ne marche pas, I couldn’t really elucidate them further! The plumber was far from impressed with the original plumbing for the boiler. At the time were a little surprised at the web of pipes leading everywhere, but you rely on a qualified expert to know what he or she is doing. It looks like some of them don’t.

Plum dumb is also the proud headline from the government announcing its wonderful road safety figures for February. At 201 casualties, they’re down a quarter on last February. This ‘historic’ reduction is being attributed to the zillions of new speed cameras that have been going up. Which is crazy. February was the month of le grand froid. Hardly anyone could go anywhere due to the icy roads and the snowdrifts! Several official commentators share this view, and another campaign body sensibly adds that the rocketing cost of fuel is meaning people are driving less. But the government prefers its version!

And talking of politicians, Francois Hollande still wants €2 from me. Not this week, mon brave.

Steph Dagg runs Alder & Notaires carp lakes.

I haven’t  been cheesing for a while, so a bit of a catch up this week.

Louche cheese

First up some local cheese. This is the product of the Orval fromagerie in Berry. Louche means ladle and a louché cheese is one that has been hand ladled into its mould. These are usually plastic these days with drainage holes. Once the whey has dripped off the cheese is trundled off to be packaged.  This cheese is made from pasteurised cows’ milk. In theory it’s spreadable, and it is slightly crumbly, but you don’t get a smooth layer with it.

I have to say that I can’t admit to being very fond of louché. Most likely it’s an acquired taste. It’s certainly a bit odd. None of us like it that much on its own so I’ll use it up in cooking. Rors had developed an addiction to leeks in cheese sauce, so no prizes for what cheese I’ll incorporate into that dish!

Sheep are very much in the forefront of our minds as we continue to be kept waiting by our ewes for a lamb delivery. Rameses has got a bit bolshy with me and Caits lately, so his future may now involve the freezer. I’m using a vinegar/water spray to stop him from butting me when I go into the field, as per the advice on a website. It didn’t take him long to cotton on to that one.

Etorki cheese

So I bought some sheep milk cheese this morning. It’s from the Basque region and is called Etorki. I thought this might be something exciting, but it turns out it simply means ‘origin’ in Basque. That is a slightly lame name for a cheese. It’s a very pleasant, mild and light cheese, but with a slight tendency to stick to your teeth, I find. However, that could just be my teeth so don’t let that put you off trying it. This might be the first sheep derived cheese I’ve eaten, and I’m very impressed. But not to the point of planning to continue milking numbers 27 and 28 (the ewes formerly known as Lavenham and Debenham) after they eventually have their lambs.

So, one highly recommended cheese, and one less so.

Are you preparing for a carp fishing trip to France in 2012?

Via a series of Blog posts & a video diary Paul Cooper will take you through his preparation routine for a trip to Blue Lake.

Part 1 is here - http://youtu.be/k4U6stV_utQ
Part 2 is here - http://youtu.be/EDqwU1oEXrk
Part 3 is here - http://youtu.be/rQCoZ0b2i2g
Part 4 is here -http://youtu.be/Ee_HpYflgB8

Fishing France at Blue Lake