Angling Lines News Report – March 2006
Despite the arrival of spring officially some two weeks ago, the weather doesn't seem to be taking any notice. The thermometer reads -2°c this morning and frost covered my car. The rain that much of the country has been lacking for a long time has arrived and has only served to make fishing conditions more unpleasant for the early birds.

Catches during these first few weeks have been erratic to say the least. On some waters guys have really been struggling to get a bite, where as on others it has been a festival of big carp. I think we can bank on the weather slowly improving as we move into April and hopefully soon we will be experiencing the ideal fishing conditions at what must be the best time of the year to be out in France carp fishing.

Wembley Carp and Coarse Show:
Angling Lines, in association with Quest Baits, had a stand at the Angling Publications show at the Wembley conference centre on April 1 & 2. This show was the last in a string of Carp and general fishing events that started in December at Sandown Park . I think everyone felt, at the close of this event, that it might just have been one show too many for the angling public. With the NEC & Five Lakes just weeks before, the turn out was somewhat disappointing, particularly on the Saturday. Sunday things picked up and although we were not rushed off our feet, the steady stream of anglers coming to the stand meant that I hardly had a moment to have a break or to look around at the other exhibitor's stands. The Quest Baits side of our stand caused a great deal of interest, and Shaun certainly seemed to get over his wealth of experience and enthusiasm for the new bait range, that is already proving to be extremely effective at catching carp.

Throughout the weekend we made a great number of contacts & spoke to some fantastic people. We were joined by the new owner of Justices and Chapel Lakes , Bob Williams , as well as the boss of A&J Euro carp Sessions Martyn Bocarisa .

So onto a round up of some of the early season catches in France .

Margot
After all the problems of low water levels, fish rescue operations and various bad press endured by this superb carp venue, we were more than a little anxious that the first anglers on the venue enjoy a top carp session. With the fish returned and the banks and facilities refurbished we had high hopes for the venue in 2006. Well we were not to be disappointed. The first group of anglers booked by Andy Lear had a fabulous session on this renowned big fish water. Their total tally for the week was 64 fish including 2 x 50s, 8 x 40s, 16 x 30s, 20 x 20s and 15 doubles including koi and catfish. The fifties were in fact the big common that tripped up twice in the week. In what were foul conditions weatherwise the group enjoyed the session of their lives.

Andy takes up the story: Firstly thank you for expertly organising our holiday - even though there was a few hiccups and a change of venue it all turned out great. We've all just returned from the best weeks fishing in our lives, were all still buzzing with the tales of the Margot monsters and have instantly booked for next year for 2 weeks ! We arrived at a very wet Margot about lunchtime to be greeted by Monsieur Bigot and his family who showed us the layout of the lake and swims (in a broken French/English sort of way) and also the newly refurbished lodge which was absolute heaven and had everything you need including full kitchen /diner 2 showers and drying room for your wet clothes.. as it was getting dark one of my buzzers burst into life and as I struck this huge tail came out the water. What the hell, after a dogged fight we netted a 44.12 sturgeon... I think it was Wednesday afternoon when Tim's rod ripped off and hooked into the fish of a lifetime, as soon as I lifted the net I knew it was the big common which weighed in at 58lb ... wow what a sight !!! By Friday we had all beaten our personal bests for carp and Really looking forward to battling with the Margot monsters next year! Thanks! Andy Lear

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Laroussi
Well this amazing lake, that never ceases to amaze us, has had an incredible start to the season. In atrocious weather conditions Wayne Naylor landed a fabulous 63lb 2oz mirror. This was the first fish out of the lake this year. what a start!! The anglers had a hard week though - but what they did catch was well worth the effort including mirrors of 41lb 10oz (PB) and 46lb8oz and a Sturgeon of 57lb (PB).

Wayne takes up the story:

We arrived back at the lake for the second time... on the Thursday night I had a slow take, I struck into it and straight away I knew it was a carp, after 20 min's it was in the net . I could not believe my eyes. another big mirror. It bottomed my 60lb scales out so Simon went to get Mehdi it went to 63.2lb WHAT A FISH!!! Another dream fish! ..we all had a cold but memorable time and can't wait to get back in July and who knows - could there be a 70?

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Old Oaks
This is a new venue opened for this season by Laroussi owner Mehdi Daho. He has worked incredibly hard to get the facilities, swims and fish stocks perfect for the new season, and despite some heavy rain making matters more difficult he has provided us with another top quality fishery, with some superb carp to go for.

Paul Ashley was on the venue from 25 March to the 1 April and managed to have some excellent fish, on the new Quest Baits Irish Cream boilies. Paul and his mate Darrin managed 25 superb conditioned mirrors; 5 thirties, 17 twenties, 2 doubles and one original single, including the current lake record mirror at 35.08lb. Their tactics were to fish tight to far bank under over hanging trees and bushes in depths from 4ft-7ft of water. The use of a bait boat was essential for tight precise baiting. Bait wise all fish came to 14mm pop-ups and triple plastic corn. Paul was using Quest Irish Cream boilies and M8 baits and placing 1 kg of hemp/Quest Irish Cream pellet with 40 loose boiles to each spot. Bottom baits did not produce nor did open water spots.

Paul commented: The lake owner Mehdi is an absolute gem. He is creating an excellent fishery which will be on par with Laroussi in the future. Old Oaks is a perfect exclusive venue with all the swims on one side of the lake so that there are no conflicts with other anglers. The stock fish which Mehdi has selected by hand are in excellent condition and are very hard fighters as are the beautiful original fish. My only wish was that the grass carp had fed, that 40lb grassy would have looked great on my unhooking mat!!!! Get on Old Oaks before everyone else does!!!

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Ribiere
Another fantastic venue in the Limoges region offering huge carp and three star Gite de France accommodation. It really is one of the premier destinations in France . A recent chat with Brian Skoyles who was at the venue to write an article for Angling Times revealed that he would love to fish this venue again and classes it amongst the best he has visited in France . The venue has been fishing extremely well so far this season with some exceptional carp banked during March. These fish included no less than four 50lb plus carp the largest tipping the balance at 57lb 10oz and also included a common carp of 50lb. Other notable fish included mirrors of 48lb; 48lb; 46lb 12oz; 46lb, 44lb 15oz.

Click here to learn more about Ribiere

Lac du Val
Following the restocking of the venue with some larger carp over the winter period Lac du Val was another venue that we were anxious to see results from at the start of the new season. Mid March saw the Barber party on the venue and as was the case with anyone venturing to France during this early period, they had awful weather conditions to contend with. To their credit they were able to get the venue off to an excellent start despite the inclement weather. They totalled 18 fish in all, varying from 16lb 4oz mirror up to 38lb mirror including two big 30s mirror and commons. Their tactics on Dave's advice were snowmen rigs; running leads, popped up and pellets Lac du Val baits. Most fish were caught on the opposite margins with the use of bait boats by both parties.

They commented after the session: Although the weather was against us with easterly winds and below zero temperatures we had 18 fish with Aaron landing his personal best twice mirror and common of 37lb 4oz on the first day and Jeff having a 38lb 6oz mirror again his personal best. Fantastic session!!. Bait boats we found to be a must. David & Sammy were cracking hosts and all-round very helpful. Aaron recommends Sammy's cottage pie. Hope to be able to come again. Barber Party

Click here to learn more about Lac du Val

That's all for now.

See you next month.

Gareth