Jul 2007

Work Begins on Lake William, 1st Jul

The second lake at la Gléhias has been gradually drained down over the last two weeks and the bulk of the stock of small fish have been transferred into Lake Lauren.

Rumours of a large Catfish in it by the locals have been squashed as only small carp, roach, rudd and tench were found to be present.

Features found on the bottom include 3 hefty tree stumps, 4 large gravel bars and 2 large gulleys. The lake already has many marginal features such as large over-hanging trees and bushes and is reed lined the whole length of the back with a spectacular forest behind, these will make great holding spots for the fish and provide anglers with excellent areas to fish to.

The lake has a sunken forest in it and needs to be cleared as this would make it near impossible to fish, it also has a leak on the main sluice close to the bottom and this will be repaired while it is empty.

Plans are to construct up to 6 large decked fishing pontoons approximately 5m x 4m in size to jut out over the deeper parts of the lake. We are planning to stock a large head of carp of around 10-20lb’s to grow on with the occasional lump of between 30-40lb’s and also around 15 cats of around 15-20lb’s with a couple of 40’s.

The initial plan of large pike has been scrapped due to concerns of the species being too fragile for repeat capturing. Along with the large fish, we will be putting back an extremely high number of roach, rudd, tench and perch, partly as the staple diet for the cats but also for the anglers who want to fish for other coarse species in between the carp and cats.

We expect to have the bottom of the lake cleared of trees and have the platform stilts set by the end of august and refilling by mid September. We aim to stock the lake late in 2008 to open for the 2009 or 2010 season.

The lake will be ideally suited for up to 4 anglers who want drive and survive only at first, but long term plans are in place to provide accommodation as well. click on the photos to enlarge.

May 2007

Catfish Lake Record Broken, 1st May

The Simkiss party arrived on the 19th of May and have been faced with the challenge of fishing a lake waiting to spawn combined with bad fishing weather for the first two days and nights of their holiday.

The group had struggled the first few days to get many runs and had only managed to get one fish on the bank. Having lost several fish, including a large Catfish estimated to be over 45lbs, it soon became apparent that the Carp had something else on their minds….. So, with a change of tactics and a bit of heavy baiting, the Cats became the targets for the nights ahead.

The plan paid off on the first night of this approach with Lee Simkiss landing a new Lake Record Cat at 36lb 1oz from the gorse bank at 4.00am. The Moggy was tempted by two hair-rigged 25mm halibut pellets fished over a 2.5kg bed of 5 and 7mm halibut pellets and using an 80lb braid rig it was certain to make it to the unhooking mat.

Less than fifteen minutes later another of Lee’s rods tore off, and this turned out to be one of the smaller Carp named Nemo at 21lb 7oz, the same fish he had caught 3 days before at 21lb 8oz - What are the chances of that?!!!

With two days and nights to go, let’s see if they can find that elusive 45lb Cat. (Watch this space). The group are currently planning a return trip in September.

A well deserved bottle of wine! Well done Lee.

Apr 2007

Fun starts with Lake Record Cat, 1st Apr

Shaun Fox, a member of the Keith Judd party, has been breaking his Carp PB.

In fact he broke it three times in one night up to 33lb and then broke it a forth time the following night with a mirror of 37lb 4oz, and if that wasn’t enough, the night after that he landed his first ever Catfish at 35lb 8oz and set a lake record!

We thought it was time this man slowed down to have a drink, after all every other fish he has landed is a 30+. So it was a good excuse to invent the “Lake Record Drink”. Shaun (the fish magnet) Fox is the first person to receive a personalised bottle of wine with the catch details and date on the label.

We have decided to continue this and award every angler who sets a La Gléhias Cat or Carp record a similar personalised bottle as well. And with several Carp and Cats in the lake heavier than the current lake records, we expect to be giving out many bottles early on, so make sure you let us know when you catch one!

Well done Shaun