MAUREPAIRE CATCH REPORT 5TH AUGUST - 12TH AUGUST 2006

Dear Bridget
Please find below my account of a weeks visit to Maurepaire.

BACKGROUND
Having got back from a weeks fishing at Le Village De Peche, I had the option of choosing a second weeks fishing in France or concentrating on a UK venue for the rest of the season. As is probably the case with a lot of anglers I couldn't get my head around one particular venue this year for some reason, so I decided on another trip to France .

Leaving the booking of this week's holiday until the beginning of July I was expecting to find it difficult to get on a lake I would feel comfortable with, however after a quick look on the excellent Angling Lines DVD my angling partner and I came up with a short list of possible venues. A quick call to Bridget and job done - Pegs 1 and 2 at Maurepaire were booked.

Next job - get the bait ordered. Easy one that - Rahja spice from Quest. I have never really had a problem with regard to bait as I have full confidence in all the bait I use, however I believe this bait is exceptional and that bit different from all the fishmeals that almost everyone seems to be using.

THE TRIP
Friday 4th August seemed to arrive in no time and after picking Kev and his gear up it was back to my house to load the Peugeot with all our gear. It certainly isn't easy to get 2 lots of gear in a 206 especially when bait boats are added to the load!

With the car loaded we set off around 9pm from Nottingham for a steady drive to catch the 2am ferry. It's amazing the amount of carpers on that ferry every Friday night, all buzzing about the possibility of catching the fish of a lifetime.

Reset the watch an hour ahead and we are away at 4.30am French time. Bombing down the A26 a little too fast to start with, all the euphoria of the carpers on the boat slightly getting the better of me for a while. Tiredness soon caught up with me following other cars lights for mile after mile. A break for an hour until it got light and we were off again.

With good directions and quality co-driving from Kev we pulled into Jonchery car park around 10am . Having not read the paper work correctly I hadn't realised we weren't supposed to arrive until after 2pm . No need to have worried as Paul the bailiff said it would be fine for us to go on early. A quick check of our mats and slings and a reminder of the rules and we were away. Having read and heard that Paul could be a bit awkward you are obviously a bit cautious towards him. However this is really unfair on the guy, he is a decent bloke who is rightly concerned about the well being of his carp. Using the correct equipment and ensuring the fish are returned to the lake in a healthy condition should be everyone's priority.

After getting lost between Jonchery and Maurepaire (which is only about 3 miles!) we got a good look at the Orient. Wow that place is big! I recommend anyone going to Maurepaire take a five minute drive to see the size of it as photos just do not do it justice.

After a quick read of the directions we soon found where we had gone wrong and we were back on the right track. Pulling into the gate you see a beautiful reed lined lake of what I would say is around 20 acres. Having discussed the venue with Paul we had found there were 2 English anglers in peg 8 and a German and his son in peg 6. The week prior to our arrival pegs 3 and 4 had done the business with quite a few fish out to mid 40's. Looking at the pegs we had booked I really didn't like peg 1 as I felt it would easily blocked off by peg 2. We then looked at peg 2 and thought this was much better but if we could get in peg 3 and double up we could command a lot of water. A phone call to Paul and we were in no problem.

It was agreed I would fish on the right and Kev would fish on the left, making a divide in the centre of the swim. First thing get the bivvies up then store all the gear inside while we fetch supplies. We travelled to Troyes which is a good 20 minutes drive away but has a quality Intermarche and a petrol station. To find this just follow signs for Troyes centre. You will come to a roundabout where you need to go straight on, then turn right after around 100 yards and then turn right again and you are there.

Back to the lake and get everything set up. I took the marker rod over first with the boat to see the depth and get a feel of the bottom. The far bank is just a little over 3ft deep and silty with the depth dropping to around 4 to 5 ft in the middle. Next get the baits out there, rods positioned and relax with a well earned beer. During the late evening we had a pretty violent thunder storm, at around 1 am I awoke to a noise I wasn't expecting, not an alarm rattling off but a bloody great big rat trying to get in my bivvy door! A quick boot from my right foot and it soon scurried off.

I would advise anyone travelling to this venue to use a bivvy with a built in ground sheet such as an Apothesis and not a Velcro one such as a Viper as the rats will definitely be able to get at your supplies. We managed to catch a few fish and by Sunday lunch we had caught 3 each with the biggest being a 31lb 4 oz mirror to Kev.

The next problem we encountered were that the bait boat batteries didn't last as Kev's Annihilator only got 3 runs before the batteries needed recharging and the handset and boat batteries were no better on the Viper. Now I remember why I hate bait boats. The big problem being there was only one charge point at the venue between all the anglers and bait boat batteries taking around 12 hours to charge.

Due to this problem I made the decision to bait fairly heavily to my right with the throwing stick. I probably put around 3 kilo of 18mm Rahja spice boilies as far as I could stick them and then fished on the back left edge of the baited area. To be honest I wasn't expecting this approach to be particularly successful but I had to do something. After catching a couple of fish from this area on Sunday night my doubts were gone and I set about baiting this area daily. On Monday Kev caught his biggest fish of the trip with a lovely 37lb 8 oz mirror. On Tuesday morning at around 11am my right hand rod was away with my first 30 of the trip on the other end of the line, after a short but spirited fight a lovely looking 34lb 8oz mirror laid on the mat. During the rest of the week more and more fish seemed to be coming to my baited area.

I definitely seemed to catch the better sized fish from the cast rods to the baited area with mostly smaller fish coming from the far margin and tight baiting pattern of the boat.

On Thursday night there were loads of fish in the swim and I caught four carp in an hour. While I was just about to bait up my left hand rod my middle one hammered off, I quickly dropped the baiting needle and set about tackling an angry carp. The next thing I heard a tapping on the floor and upon looking down I could see my baiting needle with betalite being dragged under the boards by another rat, the cheeky b*****d I thought! It certainly made Kev laugh for the rest of the trip. Friday night came and we still hadn't caught a 40 between us which was a little frustrating as there are plenty in the venue. I needn't have worried though as at just gone midnight on the last night my middle rod which was now also on the baited patch was away and I was attached to my first 40lb common. I soon had the fish under control and plodding around in the margin, in the net and up onto the mat. Yes what a sight I was sure it would be a mid forty but when weighed it went 41lb 4oz not that I was bothered about the weight as it was a beautiful fish and in great condition.

Packing up on Saturday morning I felt mixed emotions as I felt sure that the big fish were in the swim and it was only a matter of time before I caught one of the really big ones, but I was equally ready to get back home to my wife. A quick shower (they are excellent) and back to Jonchery to say our goodbyes to Paul and pick up our deposits.

The journey home was horrendous as torrential rain swept across the region and restricted the speed to around 50 miles per hour whenever the rains came. Then back in England and the usual road works, I really do hate the drive home but if you want good fishing it's just something you have to put up with.

SUMMARY
During the week I caught 34 carp including mirrors of 37lb 8oz, 39lb 2oz, 39lb 4oz and a 41lb 4oz common for a total weight of around 950lb and an average size of 28lb. Kev didn't fare so well with numbers of fish but caught fish to 37lb 8oz and worked really hard with far fewer fish in front of him.

I would recommend this venue highly to experienced carpers as the rewards are there to be had and would advise doubling up in a swim by booking 2 pegs and then fishing together to assist with photos etc as the swims are around 50 yards apart and most fish come at night. Don't be put off by the rats - it may be that they were only in this one swim and attracted by food or bait discarded by the anglers the previous week.

Thanks to Paul the bailiff for making us welcome and for all the helpful advice. Thanks again to Bridget and all at Angling Lines for yet again supplying good advice and another quality venue for our holiday. Roll on next year and our next adventure I can't wait.

Best wishes

Jamie Simpson