{"id":3289,"date":"2010-04-07T11:31:27","date_gmt":"2010-04-07T10:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/?p=3289"},"modified":"2013-11-27T08:51:07","modified_gmt":"2013-11-27T07:51:07","slug":"buying-a-carp-lake-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/buying-a-carp-lake-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying a carp lake in France… pt.3"},"content":{"rendered":"

John & Lesley London of Bletiere<\/a> continue their very popular series on fulfilling every carp anglers dream.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Part 1 is here.<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Part 2 is here.<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

La Bletiere<\/p><\/div>\n

Well hopefully you have now moved into your new home and are sitting there with plans going through your head about opening for business.\u00a0 Well I am afraid unless you have purchased a up and running fishery forget it for at least 6 to 12 months.<\/p>\n

As we stated before on the previous blog posts, these are Lesley\u2019s and my own views and the things we did and the mistakes we made, so I will now explain my opening paragraph. \u00a0When we moved in I had not really appreciated the amount of work we had to do to get the lake ready and the facilities up to an acceptable standard that I believe anglers expect today. \u00a0Our lake had never been fished before and consequently had never been cleared out of branches and leaves, or had a drain down for years we guessed\u2026 we had a blank canvas!<\/p>\n

We sat down and planned the lake as we wanted it to put in all the things that I would expect if I paid to fish here. \u00a0I will list below some jobs and things that seem obvious now\u2026 and some things we have learnt along the way and these may help others think about their plans.<\/p>\n

\"\"Job 1.\u00a0 Does the lake need dredging or draining?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is important before you even think about putting fish in.\u00a0 You need to know what state the lake bed is in and if it is full of snags. We decided to have one end of the lake dredged as it had silted up badly over the years.\u00a0 This was the first big cost we incurred and one that was not planned for!\u00a0 It took 4 days (and that\u2019s only 1 acre) and it cost 3,000 euros, but this did include all the mud being leveled over the field. \u00a0Give this serious thought as it\u2019s the last thing you want to do once your fish are in the lake, and it\u2019s something that takes a few months for nature to recover from.<\/p>\n

Job 2. What carp are in the lake?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all heard the stories of people buying lakes and being told there are carp to 30 to 40lb in there and after moving in finding nothing, so we took the view there was nothing in ours.\u00a0 As it turned out this was not far from the truth, certainly as far as size of the carp were concerned. \u00a0We spoke to several people for advice and also Angling Lines who really helped us a lot.\u00a0 We decided to have the lake netted to ascertain exactly what stock we had.<\/p>\n

This was big unplanned expense number 2\u2026 it cost us 1500 euros 3 years ago. However, I believe this is money well spent as it will show you exactly what is in the lake and more important the condition of any fish, after all you would not want to put your new stock into a lake full of diseased fish. \u00a0It also gives you the chance to remove any nuisance fish and any species you do not want in your lake.\u00a0 The fish farmer will pay for these and it helps with the cost.<\/p>\n

When we netted it was a hard day\u2019s work, but exciting as that net reaches the end and you see what you have inherited!\u00a0 In our case it was about 200 carp of all species but none over 5lb!\u00a0 We also had 340kg of small roach removed.<\/p>\n

As a keen koi keeper in England and obsessed with water quality I had ours checked at the local \u00a0government laboratories.\u00a0 For 50 euros it was again money well spent as it showed top quality water and no problems\u2026 it all helps to make life easier and less stressful.<\/p>\n

\"\"Job 3.\u00a0 Plan your lake<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now sit and plan your lake swims and where you want them.\u00a0 Give this a lot of thought as you don\u2019t want to spend days building swims to find them in the wrong place.\u00a0 Think how you would like to fish and the swims you would expect. Ours was easy as we only wanted to fish one bank so all I had to do was choose the spots and build the swims.\u00a0 Take into account things like trees, is it muddy, are the banks high, is the access easy, do the anglers have to walk far to the facilities?<\/p>\n

The final decision is what to build the swims out of.\u00a0 I have seen people put gravel or decking down, but for me this is too noisy.\u00a0 We used wood chip instead which is quiet and drains easily if you get a down pour.\u00a0 It\u2019s also pod and bank stick friendly.<\/p>\n

\"\"Job 4.\u00a0 Stocking the carp <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the biggest expense you will encounter and the one you have to get correct as it will be the future of your fishery.\u00a0 There are a few good fish farmers in France and people will always put you in touch with the one they use, but I suggest you look around.\u00a0 We used one at the start that was 2 hours from us.\u00a0 A journey of this distance is stress for the fish and makes for a long stocking day as you have to go to the farm to agree on the fish and check every one you are going to buy.<\/p>\n

Totally by luck out driving one day we found a fish farm only 30 minutes from us who sold great fish.\u00a0 This distance caused a lot less stress for the fish.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sad fact I\u2019m afraid that you will probably lose 10% of the fish you stock due to stress\u2026 but there is nothing you can do about it.<\/p>\n

You have to order your fish well in advance and they will normally only deliver late in the year when it has cooled down and the fish have the winter to rest.\u00a0 So don\u2019t expect to have fished delivered when you want\u2026 just plan well ahead and make contact with your chosen farmer and arrange the stocking.<\/p>\n

Depending on the size and quantity of carp you buy you will be looking at about somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand euro\u2019s at least.\u00a0 Over the 3 stockings we did we spent more than that\u2026 but we have a lot of fish in La Bleteiere as the water is spring fed and the oxygen levels are good and constant.<\/p>\n

Just to give you an idea, for the last 3 big carp we managed to buy, as big ones are getting hard to get at a price you can afford, they were all around 40lb and they cost about 1100 euro\u2019s each\u2026ouch!<\/p>\n

Job 5. \u00a0Plan the look of your lake<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This is really just a thought that may save you time later; think of how you want your lake to look in a year\u2019s time, not now when it may be muddy or overgrown. We had the choice of how we wanted our lake to look and we opted for the natural look.\u00a0\u00a0 We cultivate the wild flowers that were growing naturally here and this is great for the wildlife. You could go for the tended look and grass.\u00a0\u00a0 Grass is easier to cut obviously, but for us we prefer the natural look and we will continue to develop this over the years.<\/p>\n

This is a snap shot of things we did and I\u2019m sure some people will disagree with some things I have said and say there are easier ways.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure there was but it\u2019s all a learning curve and all part of the challenge of getting it as you want.<\/p>\n

But do we regret the move?\u00a0 Well in a word NO\u2026 not even when it\u2019s cold and wet and you are clearing the banks.\u00a0 When you stand still and the only noise is the cry of a buzzard circling overhead you know it\u2019s all worth it!<\/p>\n

Until next time and please leave some comments good or bad so I know what you want to read.<\/p>\n

Tight lines,<\/p>\n

Lesley and John London<\/p>\n

La Bletiere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John & Lesley London of Bletiere continue their very popular series on fulfilling every carp anglers dream. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Well hopefully you have now moved into your new home and are sitting there with plans going through your head about opening for business.\u00a0 Well I am afraid unless you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying-a-carp-lake"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}