Details of your catches:

1 x 60 3 x 50 s 10 x 40 s 4 x 30 s 2 x 20 s 5 fish lost

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

All baits worked well hybrid and b5 tipped with small pop ups and plastic corn done the trick Putting baits on showing fish worked well with small amounts of bait

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes very clean and tidy

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes very good service thank you

General Comments:

Mehdi is a top bloke he showed us around and pretty much left us two it all week but was on hand if we needed anything would like to say a big thank you to him and what an amazing lake with a big head of 40 lb plus fish

Details of your catches:

"On The Bank Live"/First4Fishing visit to Old Oaks - Winter Social!. Well... after the great week we had in October we just had to come back for more. We had yet another amazing week with PBs broken all round. We were the second group on this year and the lake hadn't quite woken up however we managed 21 carp in total, 1 carp less than we managed in October session..... Tom Robson - 13 Carp - all from Peg 4 (fishing towards peg 5) 1 x 50s -55.02lb (Personal Best Mirror - same Mirror I had in October at 53lb) 5 x 40s (49.10, 48.05, 43.12, 42.14, 40.02) 4 x 30s (39.14, 34.08, 34.06, 32.04) 2 x 20s (27.14, 25.12) 1 x 10 (16.00) Rowan Charnick - 8 Carp (Peg 2 and then Peg 4) 1 x 50 (52.08 Mirror - PB) 5 x 40s (49.05, 43.4, 42.12, 42.02, 41.08) 2 x 30s (35.02, 37.00) Average Size: 39.08lb As like before we will be putting the DVD from the trip on youtube (aiming by end of March) which will accompany the last DVDs we did of Old Oaks (Youtube - On The Bank Live - Old Oaks) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Utls5-JRg

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Same tactics as before: Boilies/Plastics - First4Fishing Redball - Victory Baits Bedlam - Korda IB/Fruity Squid Plastics - Quest - Raja Spice The fishing wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Unlike October the fish didn't show themselves at all and we really had to work hard to get on them, casting around every hour or two to find them. With temperatures dropping below freezing at some points during the week and strong northerly winds the fish were mainly on the back of the wind in peg 5, which is where we caught the predominant bulk of the fish (18 out of 21). They were grouped up which meant once you found 1 the action came pretty quickly (we had 10 takes in 24 hours). The bulk of the fish came on the bottom of the ledge in 11 foot of water although we had one very productive spot slight further up the ledge in 9.5ft of water by the Fox bush in peg 5. We had nothing in depths above 8 foot i.e. the tight far margin. Baiting wise as you would expect, no heavy baiting given the time of the year, although we did put out a kg of boils after every capture.

Were the facilities what you expected?

As always, the facilities are superb -hot shower and clean toilet - everything you need to survive the cold in the depths of winter

Were you happy with them?

yes, very much so

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes, 100%. For anyone looking for their first 40lb or even 50lb fish I can't think of a better venue in France. The ratio of fish above 40lb is second to none - between the October/Feb trip we managed 43 Carp, 24 of which were over 40lb and 6 being above magical 50lb mark.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes, the ladies at angling lines are always very helpful and willing to help wherever they can.

General Comments:

I have to make one very special thank you to Mehdi Daho who went beyond the call of duty to help us. We had to be off the lake by 5:30am on the Saturday morning so we could get back to the Calais shuttle in time to get to London for my flight home to the Dubai at 5:30pm. Due to us forgetting to turn the lights off in the van we managed to drain the battery so the van wouldn't start. We called Mehdi at 4:30am to ask for help and he was with us within 10 minutes to help jump start the van in the pouring rain... obviously the van started and we go back just in time... Amidst this all Mehdi still managed to keep a smile on his face... Absolutely amazing service and a huge thank you for going beyond the call of duty. Cant wait to get back to Spay however after our 4th visit to Old Oaks the next stop is Laroussi ... Cheers

Details of your catches:

9 carp, 1 x 50, 4 x 40s, 3 between 38-39.12, and 1 double

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

I moved 3 times in 48 hours, once the fish felt pressured they moved off so was just a matter of finding them fizzing or lunking. I caught on singles, pop ups, baited areas so everything worked mainly fishing boilies.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Brilliant, I took the kitchen sink with me and there was lots of room, shower was nice, warm and clean, fridge and freezer were also clean.

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Would recommend to anyone.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes, very helpful, even altered my ferry to come home earlier than planned due to needing to get back.

General Comments:

Medhi is a great guy, really helpful and goes out of his way for you, the girls at angling lines also, I even got texts on Christmas Day and New Years wishing me luck and asking how I was getting on from Medhi and Bridget. Lake is amazingly stocked and run what more do you need? Great holiday over all.

Details of your catches:

2 x 30's 10 x 40's 3 x 50's

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

We found the best tactic was to bait tightly and most fish would come within an hour of baiting up

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes been before

Were you happy with them?

Yes been before

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Already have

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Already have

General Comments:

Haven't fished old oaks for a few years, and the fish are just getting bigger and bigger. Our average size was around 45lb.