Details of your catches:

Peg1:30.8', 33.10, 36.2, 43.8, 49.10, 33.8, 30.02. Peg 2: 42.2, 32.2, 39.10, 42.10 Peg 3: 49.12, 34, 22, 25.12, 40 Peg 4: 30.4, 38.8, 34.8, 30, 42, 23.8, 35.10, 41.8, 39.14, 29.4 Peg 5: 38.4, 46.8' 33.12, 42.14, 41.2, 32.14, 34.2, 43.12, 35.6, 34.8, 42.2, 43.14, 36.14, 30, 30, 51.5, 33.4, 31.6, 38.4, 48.12 There were 48 fish in total with 17 forties and 1 50. Apprx 15 fish lost to the snags.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Fished to margins with Shoreline Bailts GLM Sausage Oil bottom bait 18mm. Sit on your rods and rest your swim daily.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes. Everything you needed for a drive and survive trip.

Were you happy with them?

Absolutely. I had read lots of reports before coming to Old Oaks and was not let down. Mehdi the owner was extremely helpful and a really nice guy. After showing us around he left us to get on with it. At one point we need some terminal tackle (take plenty of back leads) so Mehdi sorted that out for us. My only gripe and it is a small one is the swims do need a little TLC. They are very sandy and stony and I bent a few pegs trying to get them in the ground. Pegs 4 and 5 are quite small so if you are taking a large 2 man bivvy it will be tight!!!

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Without any hesitation YES

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes, made life very easy

General Comments:

This was my first French trip. I plan to visit Mehdi's other lake Laroussi very soon.

Details of your catches:

Great week 19 fish including 3 40's 11 30's and the rest upper 20's

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Small amount of bait at the start of the week. Mainly caught on boilie

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes

Were you happy with them?

Very happy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Definately

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Definately

General Comments:

Medhi the owner was brilliant , helpfull and pleasant to deal with. Will return. Was very impressed with angling lines the ferry and everything else was a breeze. Couldnt have been easier. Many thanks will definately book through you again

Details of your catches:

Luke Sellers peg 5, 6 mirrors from 29lbs 12oz to 38lbs 2oz. Adam Watts peg 4, 5 mirrors from 33lbs 14oz to 40lbs 3oz and 1 common at 43lbs.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

We started fishing on the Saturday in pegs 3 and 5 as we knew going by the feedback reports this end of the pond produced the bulk of the fish over the year, we were fishing to the snags on the far side, the feedback reports suggested most fish were hooked from this area. We rented a bait boat from medhi and was delivering our rigs with small parcels of bait to these areas, we were fishing depths of around 5 to 8 feet of water. We had no joy on the first night, on the Sunday night we had seen a few fish show infront of pegs 1 and 2 so decided Monday morning a move was the right thing to do, when I reeled the rods in from peg 5 on the Monday morning 1 rig had a tiny jack pike on it and another rig was also void because the hair which the bait was attached had been bitten off leaving the rig baitless, we put this down to the poissen chat as we knew the pond had a reputation for these in the warmer months, this further confirmed we were doing the right thing moving. I set up in peg 1 and Adam fished from peg 2, we blanked again on the Monday night, we decided Tuesday morning to reel the rods in again and check the rigs to make sure they were not void after what had happened in peg 5, to our horror 3 out 0f the 6 rigs were baitless as the hair had been bitten off again. The pond is riddled with rats, after a brief discussion we came to the conclusion it was not the poissen chat biting our hairs off it was the rats diving down on the baited areas and doing it, basically we were fishing to shallow. The marker rods came back out and we both found features we were very happy to fish in depths of 9 to 11 feet of water which left our rigs in open water. On the Tuesday night we were talking tactics and both decided a different approach was needed to put some fish on the bank, like I say we knew the majority of fish were landed from pegs 3,4 and 5 so decided the Wednesday a move was on the cards again, we once again decided we needed to be fishing depths of 9 foot or deeper, we found a nice clear area in the middle of the pond between pegs 4 and 5 which were both happy to put a rig on. Instead of dropping rigs with small parcels of bait we decided to pile the bait in because at the end of the day these fish are big and a kilo of boilie is just a snack to them, we baited our spot on the Tuesday night with about 3kg of boilie and planned to fish over it from the Wednesday. As it goes we blanked again on the Tuesday in pegs 1 and 2 even though we were fishing deeper, to our delight though when reeled the rods in before we moved down to pegs 4 and 5 all the rigs were spot on and not voided. Wednesday came and we moved on the baited area in pegs 4 and 5, by the Wednesday tea time my bite alarms finally started making sweet music which resulted in a mirror of 38lbs 2oz, long over due. From the Wednesday tea time when the first fish came to the morning we left we managed to put 12 fish on the bank, all things considered it was not a bad effort. We were using nash black squid and purple squid boilies, its worth noting we both felt if we had used lighter coloured boilies, for example maybe mainline cell, we would have caught a few more fish as areas of open water were quite silty and maybe the fish would have been able to identify the food source faster if they were of a lighter colour. We used a few different rigs over the session, we knew our rigs do a job for us and catch fish because of our fishing at home, we felt it was more important on this pond as to were you put the rig, although its worth noting 4 out of my 6 fish from peg 5 fell to the withy pool rig but only 1 fish out of the 6 from peg 4 fell to a pop up style rig. Peg 5 was most active from 3 in the afternoon till 9 on the night with only 1 capture in the early hours, on the other hand peg 4 seemed to be more of a early hours peg, worth taking into consideration if your lake exclusive and are going to be targeting this end of the pond.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, the facilities were as described on the old oaks page, working toilet, hot shower, drinking water, big fridge for food and big freezer for bait, all you need for a bivvy only lake really. Only suggestion for the cabin is it could probably do with a microwave, medhi seems a decent bloke im sure it could be sorted.

Were you happy with them?

Yes, like I say for a bivvy only lake the facilities are good. Only complaint really is the pegs are in need of some repairs they are very sandy and have been back filled with rocks, bivvy pegs and bank sticks will go in the ground but with a struggle best bet is to take the biggest mallet you can get your hands on with you and probably take a rod pod with you to make your life easier.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes, we would both recommend the venue to a friend, very mature pond, but probably would not recommend going the time of year we did as tempetures make the fishing difficult. If we were to book this venue again we both agreed the best time to target the venue is march/april time or late September/ early October time.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes would 100% recommend angling lines to a friend, its the 2nd year in a row we have used them and cannot find fault with them. If you have any sort of a issue theres always someone on the end of the phone who is helpful and can solve problems. Very realiable and efficient service. Great customer service.

General Comments:

Tough weeks fishing but all thing considered happy to put 12 fish on the bank, medhi's always on the end of the phone if you need any help. Like I say the pond is riddled with rats so go prepared and take lots of rat killer also we found the pegs are infested with ants so worth taking ant killer with you aswell. If you need any more help or guidance on the venue tweet me @lukesellers_5. Tight Lines

Details of your catches:

5 mirror carp,1 common and 8 grass carp to 28lb.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Tough fishing and no method stood out.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Its not the ritz but more than adequate for a drive and survive.

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

The grass carp were very active and caused us a few problems. A nice lake but the fish are no pushovers especially at this time of the year.