Vindage at Remy

Just after first light on this bright November morning we were on the banks of the Etang de Rémy in northern France for the bi-annual vidange. Overseen by prominent French fish farmer Patrick Bachelier, who runs the venue, the lake had taken some eight days to drain down the level seen today. A 'Vidange' is the French term that basically involves the emptying of the lake. Fish stocks were then checked, counted and small silver fish, pike, tench and zander are removed for sale or for the table.

All the fish in the venue were checked for mouth damage, fin damage and general condition. When the fish had been visually examined by bailiffs Paul and Franck, they were slipped back in the main lake, the other side of the Senne net.

The majority of the carp that I was able to witness and capture on video was in the mid twenty to mid thirty bracket. This coincided very closely with what we caught during carp fishing sessions at the venue last summer.

In all some 280 carp were returned to their habitat to provide sport and pleasure for the anglers coming to the venue next year. The average size of the fish was very encouraging with the largest specimen going well into the mid-forties.

Despite the fact that the majority of the carp that were caught last summer were commons I was pleasantly surprised to see a good number of big, fat mirrors amongst the stocks.

Damaged and under sized fish were placed in plastic basins and removed from the fishery.

Once all the carp had been returned the remaining silver fish were netted out, loaded into the lorries and transferred to the fish farm for future sale.

As the fish farmers finished for the day and put away their nets I was able to survey the fish in the shallow water. I think this is one venue where there can be little doubt about the numbers and quality of the carp stocks. The Etang de Rémy is then, not only one of the most attractive waters I've fished anywhere in France , but the fish stocks are of a quality that it would be hard to beat anywhere in the country. So if you fancy a crack at Rémy give us a call or check out for further details on this website.

Click here to see a video of the vindage in progress.