Details of your catches:

Conditions proved difficult for us, with 30 degree heat on arrival, which switched the fish onto spawning until middle of the week, despite this we still managed over twenty fish, with the vast majority good twenties. The best fish of the session went 28.08lb.These fish really give a good account of themselves and fight like nothing I have experienced before.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

We took a good supply of Quest Baits, including 20kg of garlic feast particle mix, shelf life Rhaja and Liver B8 boilies in 10,15 and 20mm and also several kilos of maximum action pellets. The fish here are pretty hungry and responded well to baiting up. We caught on both bottom baits and pop ups, with nothing complicated in terms of rigs.

Were the facilities what you expected?

The gite is superb, spotlessly clean and typically French

Were you happy with them?

More than happy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

I would say this venue would be perfect for a family or two fishing couples

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

Vincons is a rural delight, set in the middle of fields with only the odd passing car down the track in the distance. The gite accommodation is superb, the fishing can be fast and furious when the fish get their heads down. With the average weight being around mid twenties, its a great venue for really bagging up, in lovely surroundings, with a great gite to retire to of an evening for a nice meal and a couple of bottles of wine...

Details of your catches:

21 twenties out of a total of 66 fish caught. Biggest Mirror 25lbs 6oz and biggest common 24lbs 6oz. Even caught the same 23lb mirror twice in 2 days! 11 year old Ashley caught 6 twenties including the biggest common, Dan who has only carp fished twice before caught 7 twenties. Only 2 singles caught, with a couple of Tench as well.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Tigernut and Cream boilies, used with pva bags containing broken boilies, halibut and betaine pellets. Catapult out 10/15 boilies by hookbait after recasting. Best swim is on far bank, go through white gate at dam end, and carry on to the last swim before you get to the big trees. If you tread carefully and fish quietly you can catch under the rod top. You need waders on that bank. Biggest commons were always caught from the dam wall. Don't dismiss the shallows (18 inches deep) at the far end of the lake, we caught quite a few there. Two were caught on floating bread within a foot of the dam wall, best time is when the wind is pushing the fish in and they can be seen patrolling the margins on the surface.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, lodge serves it's purpose, don't expect 5 star facilities.

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes, especially for easy fishing and those new to carp fishing

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

No night fishing and it rained most days. This is our 2nd visit and we may return if we fancy some easy sport, the long drive down is worth it. Plenty of wildlife about such as Coypu, Red Kites, Hoopoe, small Eagles, Hornets and bats.

Details of your catches:

Stayed in Cottage, which was wonderful. Probably would have done more fishing if we were in Lodge but it is basic and maybe not the best for a family but ideal for a party of fishermen only. Pool is wonderful. Only negative comment I have is that one rule you are not told about is that when stopping in the Cottage and another party are in the Lodge you are supposed to fish from half way up the dam wall up to far corner and al the far banking only. The dam wall is good fishing as is the far banking, however the far banking is overgrown and impossible to bivy up on (in fact difficult to fish from full stop). The Lodge gets to fish the other half of the dam wall and the side the lodge is situated. This is by far the best fishing. This rule should be changed or at least stated up front. By all means reserve 3 or 4 pegs outside the lodge but not the whole banking. Luckily the party in the Lodge were very friendly and let us fish where we wanted otherwise it would have spoilt the holiday - Many Thanks for that.104 fish caught between my 13-year-old son and myself.Average size 19Lb 1Oz.Largest 29 Lb.On average a fish caught every 50 minutes, when fishing well every 15 minutes. 40 of the fish were above 20 Lb. and 10 above 25 Lb.Only night fished once and only had 2 fish. Also on average only fished 6 hours a day due to it being a family holiday and spending time with my wife and daughter. If it were just a fishing holiday the catch rate would be double at least I would think. However because the fishing is so great there was no need to fish any longer and a good night sleep is essential for the action the next day and so would not recommend night fishing.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Simple rigs with bottom bait and a few freebies (not many). I ordered my bait from Quest and had it delivered directly to the venue to save space in car. The bait is excellent and reasonably priced especially the pellet mix and prepared hemp. However I also took some other bait all of which caught including old boilies with no smell left at all, sweetcorn, luncheon meat and tiger nuts. Could catch on anything here.Nothing much on pop-ups.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Better. Cottage is absoluyely fantastic. Swimming pool excellent

Were you happy with them?

More Than

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Absolutely. Already have done.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes, already have done

General Comments:

Unless you are only interested in 30Lb+ fish this venue is a dream. The Bouchot family are wonderful friendly hosts.

Details of your catches:

76 Carp, including 21 x 20's

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

All tactics and baits worked.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes

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:

3rd visit to this prolific venue. Very suitable venue for anyone looking for a lot of action. Would suit any "first timers" to France as is a great water to learn on.