LES MONTAUTIERS
20/03/04 TO 27/03/04
Andy Nethercot
| The day had finally arrived, a day that Paul and myself had been looking forward to for what seemed like ages. We met at Paul's house at around 6.30pm to load up. By 7pm we were stood scratching our heads as the car was full and we still had the bait boat and patio heater on the side of the road. After countless suggestions about what else we could leave behind we decided that we didn't really need the patio heater ( a decision that we came to regret ) and we could hire one of the bait boats at the lake.
After an uneventful drive to Portsmouth we boarded the overnight ferry to Le Harve and headed straight to the bar. We were told to expect a rough crossing with winds up to force 10. Because of this we decided that the best thing to do was to stay in the bar and drink as much as we could to help us to sleep through the night! We arrived in France at 8am the next day feeling a little under the weather, but full of enthusiasm for the coming week. Even a 3-hour drive with the world's worst hangover couldn't spoil things. |
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After getting lost several times our 3-hour drive turned into a 4-hour drive, but as we were the only ones on the lake it didn't bother us. When we finally arrived at the lake Lee met us. The first thing he did was to make us a very welcome cup of coffee and show us the facilities - which were spotlessly clean - the showers and toilets are the cleanest that I have ever come across in France. There is also a kitchen area for anglers which was more than adequate, again this was spotlessly clean.
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Lee then took us around the lake and pointed out the hot spots. We decided to fish the Island Double as this gave us plenty of water to fish, tight to the islands and open water. Whilst we were setting up Lee came around with the bait boat (£40 for the week and the Bait we had ordered).
Just as we were cooking our supper one of my rods screamed off, after a short fight I had my first fish of the week in the net. Although it was only a low double common it was in perfect condition. After re-baiting and finishing my supper I decided on an early night as the journey and last nights brandy had started to catch up with me. |
That night I slept like a baby, even Paul couldn't keep me awake with his incessant snoring. The next morning Lee came around to see if we had had any in the night, as we hadn't he came up with more suggestions as to where to place our baits. After taking Lee's advice we cooked the obligatory fry up and settled down for a relaxing and fishless day.
After 48 hours and one low double we were beginning to think that we were doing something wrong, but all that was about to change. Just after six in the morning one of Paul's rods went off and he landed a low double, then at 10 o'clock he landed a 20lb common and at 4.30pm he had a 25lb mirror, all of which were in perfect condition.
At last Lee was pleased, you could tell that he was really keen for people to catch, and if you were struggling for a bite he would help as much as he could.
On one of his many visits Lee had told us about the work that he had done over the winter. The lake had been drained and virtually re-dug and re-lined as it had been leaking over the summer. The average depth of the lake is now around 4 feet with deeper holes of about 5 to 6 feet where the fish tend to hold up in the colder weather. Whilst we were there most of the banks were quite drab (all of the swims are gravel), however, Lee has seeded all around the lake so that by the summer all traces of the previous winters work will have been covered.
| By the time we woke up on the Tuesday morning the weather had completely changed, the mild southwesterly wind had been replaced with a very cold northerly with very frequent hailstorms. Now was the time that we started to regret not bringing the patio heater! We both thought that this was the end of the fishing and that our alarms would remain silent for the rest of the week. Wrong! At 9.30am on the Tuesday Paul had what I can only describe as the fastest most violent take I have ever seen. After a 30 minute fight which not only wiped out his other rods, but mine as well, he landed the lakes largest resident, a 60lb Sturgeon! This is a real beast of a fish; we had to lay two unhooking mats next to each other to fit it on. Luckily when it's out of the water it's pretty quiet. After the photo's it was held in the water for about 10 minutes to help to revive it. Seeing that fish swim of into the water is something that only an angler could appreciate. What a fish! Unfortunately none of our photo's came out. Paul dropped his camera as we were packing up and the back sprung open hence ruining the film. |
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On Thursday morning Lee suggested doing a BBQ that night to give us a break from eating out of tins. He did the shopping including the wine and cooked us a fantastic meal. On that showing I wish that I'd opted for the meal package on offer. At around midnight we returned to our bivvies (don't forget the torch, with no light pollution it gets very dark), we decided not to put our rods out that night, we needed some sleep.
Over the week we managed 19 fish between us, 1 sturgeon, 1 x 30, 9 x 20's and 8 doubles... not bad considering the weather.
Despite the weather we had a fantastic week, the facilities are great, the location is great and Lee can't do enough to help. I can honestly say that this is the best fishery that I've been to in France, and one that I will definitely return to.
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