Angling Lines News Report – February 2006
You can tell that the time we are all waiting for is just around the corner. yes spring is almost here! Last Saturday it snowed here in France . in fact they even closed a couple of motorways in the north of the country. Yet today the whole country is bathed in glorious sunshine. The last grasp of winter is slowly but surely losing its grip, the trees are in bud and the carp are starting to move!

This coming year of 2006 should certainly be an exciting one in the domain of French carp angling, not only are there a number of new venues for you to try out - Old Oaks, Sauvellière, Vivier and Robin Lake to name a few, but some of the more established lakes have had a facelift and some carp stocked too. Margot is back to its former glory and the Etang de la Botte has returned to the fold.

On the bait front the excellent catch reports on the new Quest Baits range continue to come in, and we are looking forward to seeing how these excellent carp catchers perform in France this year. Watch this space!

Margot
Many of you will have already seen the restocking videos I shot at the famous Etang de Margot where it was reunited with its precious carp stocks.

Following problems with low water levels caused by last summer's drought, the lake closed in August 2005 and was netted to remove the bulk of the fish to a safe holding pond.  With the water now back to safe levels it was time to return the carp to their rightful home.  After a day netting the venue to count those fish that had evaded the rescue operation, the 156 large original fish were returned from owner Michel Bigot's fish farm to Margot.

There has been a lot of speculation about what the stocking level would be for the 2006 season - the Internet Forums have been alive with unfounded rumour - so we ensured we were there to record the whole operation on video.  This should reassure everyone that Margot will rightly reclaim its position as one of the very best stocked waters in France .

The star of the bunch was undoubtedly a massive Common that tipped the balance at 59lb 4oz. In all there were ten fish over the magical forty pound mark and 57 over 30lb.

All the fish were in absolutely mint condition, having benefited greatly from their enforced exile in the unpressured holding pond.

Other improvements have also taken place - terracing work to improve access and raise the banks, plus a total renovation of the lakeside lodge.  We firmly believe Margot will be better than ever in 2006.

Click here to learn more about Margot

Mas Bas
After last months report of the new stock fish at the charming Mas Bas lake in the south of France near Villeneuve sur Lot , reports have reached us this month of a huge mirror banked in a winter session by Paul Abrahams. The giant carp tipped the balance at 57lb and constitutes a lake record by some considerable margin.

Paul only fished for a long weekend - the weather was wet 'n' windy!  He was set up by Thursday 17th February around 5pm , using a size 8, D rig with 27cms of fluorocarbon and trout pellets. Fishing in the margins (about 2m out on the main lake) this 57lb beauty was the first run of the evening - he landed it around 11 pm . 

During the weekend he had 6 fish altogether 2 x 22lb, 2 x 18lb and 1 x 15lb. plus the whopper.  He left Sunday evening feeling rather pleased with himself! This catch is a real result on a venue that can at times prove tricky. But get the right tactics and as we saw last summer there are some lovely fish to be caught.

Click here to learn more about Mas Bas

Botte
The étang de la Botte will be familiar to a good number of our customers, as it was us who put the lake on the map as far as UK carp fishing goes, but due to a variety of reasons we were unable to continue to offer the venue. Now we are pleased to be able to offer this fabulous lake once again.

For those who do not know, the Etang de la Botte is a 35 acre gravel pit in the lovely Champagne region of France , just next door to the Goncourt complex. If you like a good bend in the rod and the chance of a real biggie (they go to 57.5lb), Etang de la Botte is the place to go to! It has 20 swims (12 anglers max. or 14 if booked exclusively) spread out around its perimeter.

Botte is situated about 4 hours drive from Calais , close to the famous Lac du Der Chantecoq.  The lake itself has a square shape and has a lovely island in it, providing you with a splendid view and exciting features such as gravel bars, plateaus and the odd patch of weed in the summer. The site has been regularly stocked over the last few years by the previous owner and has a good head of carp to 55lbs. This unspoilt venue will suit the independent carp angler who's looking for something off the beaten track.  The lake stock is over 700 carp of all sizes with a good head of 20's and 30's and a number of fish over mid forties - there are now 4 different fish over fifty. The average depth is around 6 feet, with a few deeper areas to around 9 feet. The bottom is a mixture of clay and gravel and there are no significant snags.

Boats, including baitboats, are now allowed, but stringers, PVA bags & spodding have also produced excellent results. Moderate baiting is recommended.

The lake has clean facilities with a shower and an English style toilet - the water on-site is not suitable for drinking however, so we suggest you bring bottled water. There is a separate room with fridge and limited freezer space. Access is very good all around the lake and all pegs can be reached by car. The whole perimeter is fenced in and the gates locked at night - a key is available to the anglers.  There is plenty of room for an angler who would like to take a caravan or motor home.   

Click here to learn more about Botte

News in Brief

Sauvellière: As the final touch to the stocking of this delightful little venue in Normandy , the owners David and Chris Ayress added fifty further carp all from 15lb to 20lb to complete the winters stocking. There was also a Mandarin catfish of around 25lb that will add a splash of colour when he gets caught by the visiting anglers. He has been affectionately christened Ginger Tom!

In total the lake now has a total of 93 carp to 42lb. The first batch was of 30 fish for an average weight of around 23lb stocked in early December : 7x 22lb; 3x 23lb; 3x 24lb; 2x 25lb; 6x 26lb; 1x 28lb; 1x 30.5lb; 1x 34lb; 1x 35lb. A further 12 carp, all over 20lb, the largest a 42lb mirror were added later in the same month and now fifty further doubles and twenties to complete the venue's population of carp.

Old Oaks: Old Oaks has also received its final batch of carp which comprised of 16 mirrors and 2 commons.  They are all in mint condition with superb winter colours: 3 x 22lb , 3 x 24lb 4oz , 8 x 26lb 8oz , 2 x 30lb and 2 x 31lb. Commons:  22lb and 26lb 8oz.

So in total there are now 92 carp from 22lb to 40lb+ . without counting the lovely unknown resident fish!  Many of the fish are 30lb +.  16 big grass carp from 22lb to 40lb+ and 2 catfish to 44lb.

Quest Bait News: The final main piece of news this month is the official launch of our Quest Baits catalogue and the website which you can see at www.questbaits.com.

The glossy A5 catalogue offers the whole range of baits including Shaun Harrison's awesome range of boilies - Special Crab, Fruity Trifle, Rahja Spice, Tiger Nut Crunch, Smokey Fish and Irish Cream. In addition to the boilies there is a full range of pop ups, hard hook baits, glugs, dips and of course a massive selection of particle baits both dry and prepared, as well as ten top tips from Shaun himself to aid you in catching more carp.

The bait range is the culmination of the bait knowledge Shaun has gained throughout his carp fishing career, a journey which started in the 1970's. To quote Shaun himself:
If you've lost faith in the baits you are using then try ours. I assure you they are proven. So you are left with no doubt in your mind. If you are not getting action on these baits then you either need to check your rig or cast to a different area. Bait worries should be a thing of the past. Get out there and have some fun!

All the information contained in the catalogue is also available on the above website, with the addition of extra photos, and video clips where Shaun explains in detail the various aspects of the baits.


Jim Kelly's Mangrove result:
As if to back up this belief in the quality of these products we have just received a report from one of our Bait Consultants who has braved the wintery conditions to return an incredible winter five fish catch on the Fruity Trifle, including a 32lb Common. Jim Kelly takes up the story:

I arrived at the Mangrove at 9 am on Saturday morning, there was ice in the margins and it was foggy, not the best of conditions as it had been down to -4 during the night.

My mate Paul Cooper had been down on Monday and Tuesday and had blanked, he had spread 5kilos of Fruity Trifle from Quest around the lake. As I am on the same bait and the conditions were not good I decided to fish single hook baits. The theory being that there was probably some bait left and I didn't want to overfeed.

I whacked the rigs out to 110yds into the same area that I had caught a 25lb mirror two weeks earlier, during a 6-hour session m(see picture). To my great surprise I had a screaming take at 9:30 , the bait had been in the water about 5mins, this resulted in a 16lb 15oz mirror. The process repeated at 10:30, 12 30 and 16:30 resulting in fish of 22lb 1oz common, 25lb 1 oz mirror and a 28lb 4 oz common, unbelievable.

That was the end of the action for Saturday. Saturday night was again very cold with a heavy frost, see photo of the rods. An easterly set in on Sunday and it was freezing, I thought I had no chance. However, I had another screaming run at 14:00 . This fish fought extremely hard and took line immediately. After a difficult fight where the fish kept trying to get into the marginal snags, I eventually slipped the net under a magnificent 32lb common. What a session, obviously Quest's new fruity trifle is exceptional winter bait. What was really amazing was that the fish came in size order.

If you caught 5 fish on 120 occasions you would expect this to happen just once, as the probability of catching 5 fish in weight order is 1 in 120! Another amazing thing was the difference in weight. When several fish are caught on the Mangrove they weights are often similar, the difference in weights were 5lbs 2oz, 3lbs, 3lbs 3oz and 3lbs 10oz, very unusual. Truly an amazing few hours.

That's all for now.

See you next month.

Gareth