In my previous article I chose April as the best month for fishing at Oakview in 2009. The summer months were easily the best for the number of runs per angler and obviously for the weather, which was glorious in 2009.
So why April in particular?
EXCITEMENT is the word that best sums it up I guess. For a few short weeks every year, a number of factors all come together at the same time. I call it ‘the angler’s magic window’ and it can start to open at any time from mid-March…
• The winter rainfall has given the lake several complete changes of water and the water quality is at its best
• The spring breezes help to ensure that oxygen levels remain high
• The sun is strong enough to warm the banks and the water temperature starts to rise
• The hunting season (la chasse) is over and the roe deer lead a host of other animals out of hiding
and put on a display for the visitors
• AND THE CARP GO ON THE FEED.
For the carp, it’s simply a race against nature. They need to eats loads and quickly in order to build up their strength before spawning. For the anglers the magic window opens up on lake records, PB’s and action packed fishing.
Here’s some of the highlights from the 2009 April catch reports:
1st April The Hunjan Bros 4 x 20’s in a day
7th April Blackman family 4 x 20’s in a day
8th April Blackman family 39lb 8oz PB and Lake Record
10th April Blackman family 3 x 20’s and 1 x 15 in a day
13th April Jake & Kerry 4 x 30’s in a day
14th April Jake & Kerry 5 x 20’s in a day
15th April Jake & Kerry 3 x 20’s and 1 x 30 in a day
24th April Tony and the boys 4 x PB’s in their first 24 hours
25th April Tony and the boys 9 x 20’s and 1 x 30 in a day
26th April Tony and the boys 2 x 20’s and 2 x 30’s in a day
27th April Tony and the boys 4 x 20’s and 1 x 18 in a day
BAITS – The Blackman family caught on Ian’s home made baits. All the other fish were caught on Quest Baits available on site.
Martin
April sunshire
39lb 8oz
4 x 30's in a day
5 x 20's in a day
4 x PB's on day one !
10 fish out in a day
Date:
January
2010
Details: FISH STOCKS BOOSTED
Lake News - We have recently stocked another 15 mid-twenties as a replacement for the small fish we netted out last year. You will be able to see the stocking video on our page shortly.
The overall result of the netting and stocking is that average catch weights should now be well into the mid twenties with hardly any fish less than 20lbs. Lake stocks remain at around 100.
The new fish should keep things fresh as none of them will have been caught before. They came from the same place as usual, so they are all young fast growers.
The overwhelming feedback from our anglers in 2009 was that it would be nice to have a couple of cats in the lake. We are trying to get hold of a couple of 30lb+ cats but no luck yet – we will keep you posted as soon as we have some news on this.
Weather - This winter has been almost as bad as the UK, so the lake has been frozen for long periods this year with little or no sign of fish activity. You can see from the photos that Team Bigot had to break the ice to let the fish in.
It’s much nicer weather now with bright sunny days and chilly nights and the carp are crashing all over the place so we've re-started the winter feeding programme.
Fishing - The lake hasn't been fished since the autumn so we are looking forward to a spring that should be even better than last year. My next news will be the ‘Best Time to Fish Part 2’, when I will give a detailed look at spring fishing here.
Anglers and Guests – We would both like to take this opportunity to give a huge thank you to all of our guests who visited us in 2009 and especially for the incredibly kind comments that you all wrote. It was a great pleasure to meet each and every one of you and it is thanks to you that our new business took off so well in its first year.
We are really looking forward to giving a big Oakview welcome back to the many who have booked again this year and of course to those who have booked for the first time. Not long now!!
Martin & Shirley
Pretty but cold - minus 8
Big Emmerich dwarfs a 23lb Mirror
Ice Breaking Team
Another mid-20
26lb 8oz Common
Last one goes in - thank goodness, I'm freezing
Date:
November
2009
Details: BEST TIME TO FISH
When’s the best time to fish at Oakview?
Every angler who fished Oakview in its first year will know that we keep detailed catch reports. So what’s the best time to fish? – well, that depends on what you prefer really. Here’s a month by month account of the fishing:
March If it’s excellent value you are after. First three weeks are half price with a great ferry discount too. Weather is often cold and sometimes wet and windy but you can always retreat inside the luxury lakeside lodge. Fishing – no idea. You would be the first ever anglers to fish here in March.
April is the month for excellent catch reports and the fish near their heaviest. April 2009 saw a high proportion of 30’s and the lake record mirror at 39lb 8oz. Weather can often be glorious but this is not guaranteed. Fishing – its all about gambling on the timing and the stakes are high. The later you leave it, the better the weather and the more chance you will be the first ever to bank a 40 pounder at Oakview. Leave it too late and you might get stuck with early spawning.
May is the best month really to strike it lucky with the weather and the fish sizes. Glorious weather is much more likely and May 2009 saw the highest average sizes of just under 29lb. It also saw carp spawning though. Fishing – High risk – high reward. Catch them just before spawning and the chances of 30’s and 40’s are at their peak. Catch them just after spawning and it would be runs, runs, runs, but some of the lower 30’s will now be upper 20’s etc. Catch them during spawning and well, that’s your luck.
June. Glorious June. 37 out in a week by one day fishing angler, 21 out from another and consistently high catch rates during the day. Average fish sizes had dropped but boy were the anglers happy. You have to get in really early for June at Oakview though. No availability until 2011.
July and August.. As the weather gets warmer and warmer, the fish show the first signs of having binge-eating parties followed by a hangover. They appear to move around the lake en mass, pick a lucky angler for the day and then go off to sleep. Fishing – one angler saw 5 on the bank in a day, but nothing the day after, then it would be another angler’s turn. Still, 21 out 2 weeks on the spin in the height of an exceptionally hot August wasn’t bad.
September. September is said to be an excellent time for fishing as the weather starts to cool a bit. In 2009 it didn’t cool down at all and the near drought conditions continued right up to November. Nevertheless, September 2009 saw some anglers averaging more than a fish a day without even night fishing.
October. Early October saw a short cooler spell and a bit of much needed rain. Enough to put 5 nice carp on the bank in one day for the lucky angler who was here fishing alone that week. Total catch was 7, so patience pays off. Fishing – one of our control fish was caught and it showed that at last the carp had started to put some decent weight on again after the exceptionally long hot summer. October is often much warmer than March and the last 2 weeks are half price for 2010, so great value as well.
So there you have it. The best fishing months at Oakview in 2009 were June for pure runs, April for runs and fish sizes and mid-May to mid-October for fishing plus good weather.
Watch our for our next news, which will be a blow by blow account of fishing at Oakview in spring, the time of the lake records, PB’s and runs galore for those who fished here in April.
Photos below show April weights of some typical 30’s before spawning. Others are of our control fish, showing how its weight varies during the year. He joined us in November 2008 weighing 29lb exactly.
April 09 - 39lb 8oz
April 09 - 34lb 4oz
April 09 - 36lb 6oz
Spring 09 - 32lb 6oz
Summer 09 - 29lb 5oz
Autumn 09 - 30lb 12oz
Date:
July
2009
Details: NUISANCE FISH REMOVED
When anglers start seeing 2lb fish coming out on boilies, it’s time to take swift action. Luckily for us we had a free week this week (July 27th) with no guests on the lake and we called in team Bigot (Lake Owners 4th Emergency Service) to net the lake.
A quarter of a ton of small carp was removed, ranging from 3 inches up to 2lb in weight. As Michel Bigot’s team netted around 95% of the fry, this gave us the opportunity to choose a small number of the more unusual mirrors and ghosties to keep.
As always a professional job done by a top class team with minimum stress involved for the stock.
The larger fish are now free to range across beds of bait and snap up the odd tasty boilie without interference from their offspring.
So that's how they do an island
The net closes
The return of
Bye bye small fry
Michel Bigot tots up the kilos
Laurent Bigot and the team
Date:
July
2009
Details: Second angler storms Lodge Swim with 21 out
The end of June saw another bonanza at the Oakview Lodge Swim. Robert Carey came for a what he called “a relaxed week of fishing” with his family and decided to set up in front of the lodge.
He did manage to get quite a bit of relaxing time in at the lodge terrace, but lakeside it was non-stop action. Robert ended the week with 21 carp averaging 22lb The catch included 15 x 20s and a 32lb 4oz mirror. Most of them (15) came out in daylight hours, which was an added bonus.
The majority of the fish came from the left margin. Good job Robert went with his instinct and ignored my advice to go for the back right margin and island. Just when I thought I was becoming an expert on my own lake!
Very well done Robert. Your week of ‘relaxed fishing’ has seen you storm into second place on the Oakview catch list.
Martin
One of Robert's high 20s
Still smiling as a 32lb 4 oz is returned
Average size of the week's catch
Date:
June
2009
Details: THE LADIES OF THE LAKE
It’s been just 12 weeks since we welcomed this lake’s first ever real-life angling guests and the guys have clocked up some pretty impressive catches since then. But this article is about the ladies.
Now we all know that ladies have some mysterious advantages based on something that I can’t understand or even spell, but boy do they make fishing look easy.
Often just fishing the odd afternoon or morning session and rarely bothering with complicated rigs and tactics, they seem to be able to put big carp on the bank whenever the mood takes them.
Why not pop to the market, have a spot of lunch, get some pressies at the chocolate factory and pop back to the lake to bag a nice 30 ponder. May as well go for a bike ride now and maybe have another go tomorrow if it’s nice.
Linda from Angling Lines showed a hint of things to come way back in the summer of 2008. She had a go at the half-stocked lake and banked a nice 15 pounder after just 10 minutes in. Since then, 5 more ladies have had 12 fish between them, including nine 20s and two 30s.
All 5 ladies have new PBs and the current lady record holder is Sandra. With an incredible average per fish of 29lb 8oz, she even tops the best of the men in this category!
To all of our ladies of the lake, we salute you. Long may you continue to grace our banks.
Linda
Sue
Sandra
Paula
Jackie
Jenny
Date:
June
2009
Details: Single angler takes 37 carp at Lodge Swim.
A combination of excellent fishing conditions and experienced angling meant that David Keep was able to bank 37 carp single-handedly in front of the lodge this week. With an excellent average size of 24lb the total catch added up to well over 800lbs.
Why such a bonanza? One reason could be that Oakview attracts many family groups as well as angler-only groups, so pressure on the fish is often not full on. This was certainly the case in the run up to David’s visit.
Oh, and I guess that David’s 25 years experience fishing some of the world’s top carp venues could have had something to do with it. Having the whole lake to yourself is also a massive advantage of course.
Nevertheless, that was some fishing experience and it was a privilege to see the man in action. I learned a huge amount from his willingness to talk about his tactics and demonstrate his techniques.
Details of David’s catches and his comments can be found in the Oakview Customer Feedback section.
If you would like to know all about what tactics and techniques worked, you can see David’s full report in the Oakview Article section, which will be available very shortly.
Despite this incredible week of fishing, John Lindley still holds on to his record of 28lb average per fish and Si Blackman still holds the current lake record with his 39lb 8oz mirror taken a few weeks ago.
Martin
The haul starts with a 28lb 12oz mirror
Lodge and swim + Oakview scarecrow
The first of David's five 30s
Date:
May
2009
Details: Haul of 27 gives another 4 PB's and a legend is born!
Tony and his mates saw 27 carp out during their recent visit to Oakview. 5 over 30, a host of upper 20s and just 2 high teens added up to 700lbs of carp averaging 26lb per fish!
Some of the guys blanked last year in France (not at an Angling Lines venue) and this time they wanted to put the record straight. The action started before they had finished setting up and by the morning of day 2, all 5 had got off the mark with a mix of high 20s and 30s.
By the end of a hectic week, 4 more carpers are off home with new PB's and 3 of them now have PB's well into the 30s. Tony with a previous PB into the 40's was the only one not to break his this time. He organised the trip of course. There’s your luck Tony.
Well done to Si, Baz, Les and Dan for all the excitement and action. I think we saw a new PB 11 times during the week!
I was a bit worried that 5 anglers would find it tight at Oakview but you all seemed to find plenty of open water and features. There was certainly no shortage of decent catches to go round.
Special well done goes to Les, who now holds the lake record for the biggest common out so far. A 32lb 6oz mirror-shaped common which Les has called ‘The Legend’ because he is sure that it will become one in the future. Well, it did come from the same stock as the recent 71lb whopper common we saw from Michel Bigot’s Margot, so who knows?
You can see details of the catches and tactics, as well as the guys own comments in the Feedback section.
From us, a big thanks to you Tony for choosing to bring your mates to our venue. Glad that we didn’t disappoint.
Martin and Shirley
Dan starts the PBs rolling in
Si with a PB on the far bank
Les and the Legend!
Date:
April
2009
Details: 39lb 8oz new lake record and PBs galore
Within just 2 weeks of opening, Oakview has already seen 5 happy carpers go home with PBs. The previous lake record of 27lb has been equalled or beaten 6 times and now stands smashed at 39lb 8oz.
Si Blackman beat his own PB twice and out-fished his aunt and uncle, who briefly held the lake record themselves with a 29lb mirror. Si even managed to out-fish his Dad Ian , who was quietly clocking up his own respectable haul of 20s.
21 out of the 24 carp banked during Oakview’s first 2 weeks have all been over 20lb. 5 of these being between 27 and 30lb. Plus of course the 39lb 8oz mirror, which Si has named Buba.
Buba wasn’t just a lucky strike for Si either. His other mirrors included one at 27lb and two at 22lb and his commons weighed in at 24lb 4oz and 15lb 8oz. An average catch rate in excess of 25lbs plus a new PB and lake record of 39lb 8oz is great angling in anyone’s book.
Congratulations to Si. No doubt Dad would tell you he’s very proud, if you would only stop ribbing him.
New PB on the way?
Si Blackman with the 39lb 8oz Buba
Ian Blackman with a 25lb 4oz mirror
Date:
January
2009
Details: STOCK POND DE-SILTING
The Oakview stock pond has been emptied in preparation for de-silting later in 2009. It will therefore not be available to guests this year.
The stock pond is not visible from the main lake area so the empty pond will not spoil the Oakview ambience in any way. More importantly, no work will be carried out on the pond until after the angling season, so anglers and their families will not be affected.
The pond is spring-fed and its level rises and falls with the water table. This means it can only be emptied and dried out in certain conditions. The low winter rainfall in 2008/2009 has provided us with the perfect conditions to drain it and let it dry out so that de-silting can take place before next winter.
We apologise to any younger anglers who may have enjoyed having a go on the stock pond this year but 2010 should see it 3ft deeper and full of healthy young fish again.
Martin & Shirley
Oakview Stock Pond
A happy young lad's first try at fishing
The smile says it all
Date:
December
2008
Details: GREAT WINTER FISHING AT OAKVIEW
Oakview kicks off the year by really showing its potential as a superb new venue for 2009.
Tony Waterman, who only got into carp angling in the last couple of years, banked a 27lb mirror during a 2 hour session here on Sunday afternoon (18th January).
He also managed to clock up a load of firsts into the bargain:
• Tony smashed his PB, which stood at 20lb 8oz
• He’s the first to fish the lake fully stocked
• First fish banked at Oakview in 2009
• Tony has broken the lake record, which stood at 25lb 12oz
Oakview, like nearly all French lakes had been frozen solid in the big freeze right up to the day before, so it’s probably one of the first carp caught in France this year!
Congratulations to Tony on this superb piece of angling and you can check out Tony’s feedback to see how he did it.
Tony's Swim a few days before
That's a PB!!
Great winter fishing!
Date:
November
2008
Details: WINTER RESTOCKING COMPLETE.........
As promised, we are pleased to tell you that Oakview has now received its final delivery of carp from the famous Michel Bigot fisheries and this completes our stocking programme (at least for 2008).
None of the test anglers had the opportunity to fish the fully stocked lake, but they still had some great things to say about our brand new venue. The last two deliveries from Michel Bigot has since boosted the average weight of carp to over 20lbs and this fact alone should grab your attention if it meets your definition of quality fishing.
We received a phone call from Laurent Bigot (Michel’s son) who said “We have netted nearly a thousand carp over the last few weeks and they are now in our stock ponds. The weight range is between 24lb and 41lb and they are all beautiful fish. We can now complete your order as promised. Come over and pick what you want”.
We were very excited but we knew that it was going to be hard because we were determined to stick to our carefully thought out stocking plan. Being happy with our existing numbers and average weights, all we needed now was to get those 30+ pounders in. To say that it was hard turned out to be the understatement of the century. We could have stocked our lake several times over with the fish that we had to reject!
The other problem we had on the day was that the process of netting, choosing and weighing each individual fish took all afternoon and it was already dark when we all arrived back at Oakview. So no video this time and the photos we took were mainly for later identification, rather than nicely posed ones. Thanks to our great friend and mentor Howard, we did manage to ‘pose’ a couple though.
WHAT’S JUST BEEN ADDED?
A 25lb leather, a 29lb common and 8 mirrors between 30lb and 38lb.
WHAT’S IN THE LAKE NOW?
The smallest fish stocked was a 9lb common in March 2008. The largest fish stocked was a 38lb mirror in November 2008. In addition, about 30 or so jack pike were introduced in November 2008 to clean up after spawning time.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO CATCH?
We have chosen, weighed and logged every carp that we have put into Oakview Lake and we have photos of most of them (and all of the mirrors) over 25lb. We have avoided the temptation to introduce loads of carp between 10 and 15lb.
So, your average carp at Oakview weighs over 20lb and they all still think that a boilie is food and not bait – now’s there’s an interesting challenge!
The usual warm welcome from Michel Bigot
31lb 5oz - oh yes - greedy guy. The 'dustbin lid'
38lb. Fit, fat and 40 by spring??
34lb - he's only 6 years old, bless him
29lb - OK, I'm biased but isn't she a stunner?
Laurent Bigot and helpers have a well earned drink
Date:
November
2008
Details: LAKE RECORD FALLS IN NOVEMBER
By Paul Jeive
OK I admit that a newly stocked lake that has so far only had a hand full of test anglers makes it a pretty easy record to get! I won’t shout about the fact that Martin and Shirley had added another 37 decent size carp since the last test anglers fished it back in the summer heat (one of those venue testers was me of course). Still, it’s the current one to beat and it was caught in November!
It started when Martin and Shirley called me and said that they were about to get the final delivery of carp. They were introducing the expensive 30's and they asked me to come over to check that the existing fish were healthy before they gave the final OK for the delivery. I couldn’t really afford the time off work but I as a venue tester, I had to oblige and managed to get a couple of days away. Hard work but someone has to do it!
I expect this lake record to stand at least until the spring, unless Martin wants someone to check out the health of his fish again before that. Here’s how my two winter afternoon sessions went:
Day 1 - No time to bait up and the breeze was all over the place so I decided to concentrate on the area where Martin feeds them every day and the island. A couple of line bites and a drop back was all I got for my troubles. Nice and warm in the afternoon sunshine though.
Day 2 - Stuck to my tactics of the island and the feeding area with my two right-hand rods but played a wild card with the third, casting long to the far left corner where I had seen one jump the day before. The joys of having a whole lake to yourself! Just settled down for a snooze when bang - a run on my left hand rod. I played him for a good 10 minutes until he started to tire and then juggled one-handed with my phone to call Martin. By the time Martin arrived it was banked, inspected, weighed and ready for a photo.
Details of catch – The 25lb 12oz mirror was caught on Quest Baits, which is the house bait. I had decided a bit of heat might be needed in the cold water and chose a Rahja Spice pop-up, which turned out to be the right choice on this occasion.
I don’t know what made me go back to using pop-ups because I had gone right off them after watching some footage of carp feeding underwater. Maybe it was because I had confidently told Martin that I would catch where he fed them in winter and my third bait in the opposite corner was just a complete gamble in every way. My two sure-strike rods yielded nothing and my wild-card rod banked the current lake record. Don’t you just love carp fishing?
Every time Oakview Lake receives a new batch of carp, weights are carefully noted and Shirley ensures that a number of mirrors are photographed for future recognition and monitoring. Could this be one of them? After trawling through the photos later that evening, we had our answer. This carp had been delivered by Michel Bigot and his team in September weighing 23lb. It had put on nearly 3lbs in 2 months.
With its final delivery of 30lb+ carp due next week from the same source, it looks like Oakview is well on target to becoming a superb venue for angling in 2009.
25lb 12oz November 2008
23lb - being delivered 24 Sept 08
Date:
September
2008
Details: WINTER RESTOCKING CONTINUES
The second of our deliveries from Michel Bigot arrived this week. On 24th September we were once again invited to join Michel and his son Laurent at one of their stock ponds to hand pick the next batch of carp - the second step in completing our 2008 order.
WHAT'S JUST BEEN ADDED?
7 more pristine mirrors in the mid to upper 20's range. Not many, but an important step towards achieving out aim of providing a high quality fishing experience for carp anglers. As always with Michel's fish, the gentle netting process and the care and attention they received on their short journey to Oakview meant that they all arrived highly oxygenated and fighting fit. So much so that getting the pictures below was no easy task.
WHAT EXACTLY IS IN THE LAKE NOW?
Only carp, with just 2 under 10lb (a 9lb common and a 9lb 12oz ghost) - 97 to be precise and mostly mirrors but with a good mix of commons too. We have some beautiful fully scaled mirrors in or own stock pond but these are all under 10lb. We may consider transferring a few of these to the main lake for added interest, but only if our guests suggest it. Any future developments at Oakview will be determined by the feedback we receive.
WHAT'S COMING NEXT?
The upper 20's to upper 30's were originally due for delivery in November and this has been brought forward to October. Normally, we wouldn't dream of putting this in writing until they were actually in our lake, as the supply of big carp to order is very hit and miss, even in France. However, these fish will be netted from the large Bigot stock lakes which are brimming with carp and Michel has a well-earned reputation for being 100% reliable.
Watch out for our next update.
Regards, Martin & Shirley
Nice and gentle - no stress
Arrival at Oakview
Good job Alain remembers pounds and ounces
Enjoying it while I can, who will see him next?
Wonder who will be the first to bank this beauty?
When will we see you again?
Date:
September
2008
Details: WINTER RESTOCKING BEGINS
As promised, our winter stocking programme has now started with a delivery of 30 mirrors (upper teens to upper 20's) to add to our initial stocking of 50% mirrors and 50% commons.
We had the lake completely drained and cleaned last year and this has given us the rare luxury of being able to choose how to stock the lake in terms of the number and size of fish. Needless to say we are doing this with the carp angler in mind. You'll not be woken in the night to land a 5lb grass carp... or a 5lb anything for that matter.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS IN THE LAKE?
We are mid-way through our winter stocking, so keep watching this space. As of today there are 90 carp in the lake. There are just 2 under 10lb, a 9lb common and a 9lb 12oz ghost. The vast majority are between upper teens and mid 20s with a good number of upper 20s.
WHAT'S COMING NEXT AND WHEN?
Further stock ranging from upper 20s to upper 30s due to be delivered in October and November 2008. This should provide a catch rate of decent size fish with a good chance of an upper 30 too.
WHERE DO THE CARP COME FROM?
The Michel Bigot stock ponds. Michel comes highly recommended by Angling Lines as the finest carp supplier in the area and you don't get much better than that. Anyone who knows Michel's fish (Morgane, Commons and Margot Lakes) will know what I mean when I say large, healthy, pristine and quality carp.
SO WHY NO 40's YET?
They cost an arm and a leg and the risk of them going belly-up after a move is too high. Our aim is to provide an excellent week of quality fishing with first class accommodation. Our upper 30s could reach 40 in 2009. Watch for more news.
