Sep 2013

A recent report from ESP Angler, 2nd Sep

ESP’s Sean Trafford recently convinced his family to take their holiday at the beautiful La Gléhias fishery in France, landing a great selection of fish, including this 32lb beauty!

We took our yearly trip to France last week but this one was slightly different as my partner and our little one came along to see what the fuss was all about. We arrived at the lake and what a beautiful sight it was! Just as we started to walk around the lake a mid-30 head & shouldered out of the water tight to the far bank (always a good sign when seeing a new lake for the 1st time).

After a walk round with the owner Lee, we had decided on the swims we would fish. I treat France as a holiday and if you catch a few then it’s a bonus! After a few casts around the swim with the marker rod I had my 3 spots chosen and marked down. We choose not to fish the first night as we were still tired from all the traveling, so everything got set up with a little bit of bait trickled in over the spots and then it was time to catch up on some lost sleep.

We caught frequently during the week and only fished from early evening to mid-morning in order to give our swims a rest. Between the 3 of us fishing, we had a total of 38 fish with a combined weight of 809lb 07oz which included 14 Mirrors, 14 Commons, 3 Grass Carp, 1 Koi & 6 Catfish.  All fish were caught using ESP Original Camo Leadcore with an Adjustable Lead Clip down to ESP Two Tone 20lb in Green or Brown, to either an ESP Big T Raptor Size 5 or an ESP Curve Shanx Size 6. Bait-wise, the fish were caught on Oxford Carp Baits & Quest Baits Boilies over lake pellet.

La Gléhias was a new venue for us so we weren't too sure what to expect from it – but we were more than happy with the end result!

You can see the write-up on the ESP website here

Aug 2013

Cracking Lake Shots, 17th Aug

Here are a few lake photos taken by Peter Wickham who was fishing here recently with his son Jack.

Aug 2013

Once… Twice… Three Times a Winner Wendy!, 1st Aug

Here for the week with Husband Steve and children, Ryan (14), Shana (11) and little cutie two year old Harvey, mother of four and East Kent Trim Supplies Administrator Wendy Calthorpe goes back to Tunbridge-Wells at the end of the week with another bottle of La Gléhias wine, complete with bespoke label detailing the record breaking catch, to add to her collection!! Having briefly held the Ladies Lake Record Common back in August 2011, Wendy returned to swipe the title back from reigning champion Jenny Handley with a beautiful 37lb 8oz beast. Wendy said “It put up a great fight!” and landing the lump was made even more difficult for poor Wendy having been in a ‘pellet’ accident only two days before; sliding over on some strategically ‘dropped’ ground bait, and nearly ending up in the lake; putting her back out and leaving her a bit twingey. Husband Steve is still very apologetic about the incident and has promised to be more ‘careful’ in the future. The Record Breaking Common came in from the Irises over in the shallows this Wednesday afternoon at around 16:00 on a half and half Tutti-Crunch and STC Steamie over a bed of maize and Tutti-crunch pellet; a concoction thought up by Shana as the record was in fact broken on her rod. This fabulous fishing family have banked over 500lb of fish this week so far, including a 38lb 6oz Mirror, a 35lb 12oz Common, and a 30lb 2oz Mirror for Steve, a 30lb 6oz Mirror for Wendy, and a 32lb Mirror for Ryan, plus numerous fish of 20lb+ and 4 Catfish - all taken on a mix of Tutti-Crunch and STC Steamies on the carp rods and 20mm Halibut pellet on the cat rods with a hint of the Calthorpe’s secret ingredient - Garlic Oil!...not bad going by anyone’s standards, especially when you consider all have been in the daytime as no nights have been fished, and they still have the rest of the week to go! Wendy also still holds the Ladies Lake Record Grass Carp, which she got the ball rolling on last year. Well done (again!) Wendy! You are a star!! ☆