Angling Lines News Report – December 2005
Well now we are all entrenched in mid-winter, just counting the days 'till spring, it is still a fairly busy time for the behind the scenes stuff in the Angling Lines world.

The last weekend in November saw us at the Carp Society winter conference at Sandown Park . You can see a short video of this event on our site in the Video News section. The weekend was a great success for us. We were proud of our stand, and met an awful lot of people, all hands were on deck to meet anglers and answer queries on the holidays available. As well as the large plasma video display, we had the range of the new baits on show, including a really impressive corner run by the lads from A&J Euro Carp Sessions, proposing their fabulous trips to the Etangs de la Croix Blanche venue, who were also present to reply to any questions about the trips they offer. The 'Guess the Number of Boilies" competition caused a lot of interest and was won by Tom Luke who guessed correctly with 2138 boilies. He wins a holiday and 10kg of bait.

So now that we don't have many catch returns to report on it is perhaps an opportune moment to take a look around the venues and to see what improvements, stockings and innovations are taking place and to highlight one or two new venues for 2006.

NEW VENUES

La Sauvellière
The Etang La Sauvellière is a 3.5 acre lake set in the Mayenne, less than 100 miles from the Normandy ferry port of Caen .  The venue is extremely private set in its own fenced grounds in a tranquil and peaceful area of Normandy . The lawns are beautifully kept with a number of trees and bank side vegetation adding to the extremely attractive appeal of the lake.

Click here to learn more about Sauvellière

Vivier Lake
The lakes are located just south of the Loire valley, about an hour from Orleans .  They are situated close to a medium sized town with all the usual shops and other facilities, including a superb supermarket which is about five minutes away. They are set off a quiet country road in beautiful, wooded countryside. The venue is owned by an English couple, Ian Turk and Pennie Cullen, who have transformed the lake. The accommodation is basic and intended for serious anglers.

Click here to learn more about Vivier

Stockings

A number of the lakes have taken advantage of the winter break to improve the carp stocks in their waters. This traditional cold weather activity in France , gives owners the opportunity to purchase more or larger fish, and thus improve the sport for the anglers visiting the venues.

Old Oaks
A new venue for 2006, that could be called Laroussi 2, as it is run by Medhi Daho the owner of the superb big fish water Laroussi. He has acquired the lake right opposite Laroussi and has undertaken the improvements necessary, and more importantly to us anglers.. the stocking.

So far he has received three batches of carp for his lake. The first which arrived late November consisted of 20 superb fish, mirrors and commons for an average weight of 30lb. The second batch was of selected young, fast growing fish, with a variety of body shapes. In all 54 carp were introduced: 27 thirties, including 8 different 33lb'ers and one common at 30lb, 27 carp from 24lb to 30lb, 2 forties, 1 grass carp at 30lb and 2 catfish at 44lb and 33lb. This last catfish is very rare and very beautiful.... green and yellow. So now there are more thirties than twenties in the lake!  Two out of every three fish of the total stock is a thirty pound plus specimen. Finally a group of 16 big grass carp: from 22lb to 40lb were stocked, most of them from 30lb to 35lb. The biggest a 1.15m powerhouse of 40lb. This lake promises to be something special!

Island Lakes
This lovely gravel pit in the Seine valley has been earning a reputation for the quality of the fish it has been producing, and despite a minor problem with mortality, due to the hot dry summer, it has still been coming up with the goods, producing fish to 46lb as late as the end of October. It has now received some more large fish for visitor to go at.. Carp of 37lb 05oz, 38lb 12oz, 41lb 02oz, 43lb 10oz, 41lb 06oz, 44lb, and 45lb 07oz were stocked into the lake this week.  More fish will follow in the next few weeks.

Watersmeet
This quality venue in Normandy has already a stock of some impressive fish. Our colleague David Keep landed two large mirrors to 38lb during his holiday on the venue last summer. In late November a group of large commons were introduced that will make the venue extremely interesting in 2006. The fish weighed in at 36.05, 37.08, 35.03, 36.12, 35.07, and 35.10.  The strain introduced was Royale/Czech, fish of 6 years of age only. So combined with its first class accommodation and superb carp stocks this is a small venue that will appeal to the specimen hunter who wants to take his family.

Lac du Val
This charming and pretty venue has been slowly improved year by year by its owners David and Sammy. Accommodation has been built both by the lake side and further back near the farm house, which is spacious and comfortable. The picturesque lake has been throwing up some good catches, but it has received the icing on the cake in the shape of a stocking of carp that will make a huge difference. The new carp consisted of 1 x 52lb 4oz mirror, 7 x 40s and 5 x 30s, giving the venue an impressive head of big fish.

Ribiere
Finally Ribière is another water that has slowly improved his carp stocks every year, and now must undoubtedly have one of the best stocked venues in France. The numbers of 40's and 50's banked last year was extremely impressive, coupled with the setting in its magnificent park. A total of thirty fish were introduced in December. They are again of the fast growing Royale Czech strain. The weight is between 28lb and 33lb and their growing potential can be as high as 12lb per year.

River Ebro
This river system is absolutely awesome if you want some seriously big fish. The giant Wels catfish are just incredible creatures to catch. We were on the venue during the second week of December, for one of A&J's Worldwide Angling guided trips, and to shoot some video material.

The weather was very cold early in the mornings, with ground frosts and freezing fog. But the high pressure that was in place during our visit saw the sun quickly add some warmth to the day, once it got above the surrounding hills. The river was high and coloured, as is to be expected this late in the season.
We fished two different stretches during the week, and all enjoyed it immensely. The now, usual tactics of Halibut pellets fished carp style over a large bed of the same free baits saw a number of good cats come our way. I personally managed my first 100lb'er with an arm wrenching 107lb Siluro. This was accompanied by two others of 75lb, and 85lb, before I put the rods away and picked up my camera!

In all we banked 25 catfish of which 9 were over 100lb. The largest landed by Rob Hunter was 135lb. Karl the Croix Blanche bailiff did the best with three tons the best going 123lb. Everybody managed at least one 100lb plus cat, which is quite remarkable for mid-December. Karl commented: " It was an awesome week, I beat my PB Cat over and over again. Loved every bit of it!"

Bait News:
Shaun Harrison Joins Angling Lines!
Major news this month on the bait front. After 25 years of service at Nottingham 's Walkers of Trowell fishing tackle shop, well known big fish angler, Shaun Harrison, has left to pursue a new angling career with us here at Angling Lines to develop our bait business.

As many of you will know, Shaun has been around the UK big carp & bait scene for a great many years. During the early 80's he was selling bait ingredients and helping anglers formulate their own base mixes. By the end of the 80's Kevin Nash had snapped him up on a sponsorship and consultancy basis and subsequently several of Shaun's ideas were marketed and are still to be found on the Nash bait list to this day, some, such as Sting Oil, still carrying his name. He's a regular contributor to most of the major carp fishing magazines and during his long career at Walkers he's helped countless thousands of anglers begin & pursue their carp fishing passion.

Angling Lines Managing Director, David Keep, said "Shaun is widely respected as one of the very best carp anglers in the UK and he brings with him an extensive knowledge of bait. We are very serious about developing our bait business and Shaun will be instrumental in helping us to achieve this. We consider it a considerable coup to have secured his services"

Shaun commented "First of all I really must thank David Bardens at Walkers of Trowell for the support and experience he has given me over many years. Also my thanks go to Kevin Nash and Gary Bayes for believing in me and supplying me with top quality bait for these past 15 years or so - this has certainly been a big factor in the catches I've made. As far as my future is concerned I'm very excited by this new project. Angling Lines have really impressed me by their professionalism and attention to detail in everything they do. The bait side of things is one that is very close to my heart and I have many ideas for the future."

That's all for now.

See you next month.

Gareth