Details of your catches:

Bit patchy as weather was very hot for the first 4 days, but mirrors caught
25lb x 2,
33lb x 1,
35lbx 1,
36lb 5oz x 1,
38lb 10oz x 1,
27lb 10oz x 1 grass carp,
Catfish 59lb 2oz x 1, 13lb 6oz x 1
Bream 8lb x 1

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Tried most tactics and baits, most results on bottom bait boilie, essential cell, CC Moore various, big catfish 21mm Halibut pellet with a scattering of Halibut pellet. Seems if you feed heavy, the Catfish take over the swim and push the carp out. There are measures in place to remove the catfish, there is a holding tank to put the cats in and the owner will remove them to another lake, a nice reward for doing this is given (bottle of champagne for every cat).

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, this is a very well kept lake and a pleasure to fish there. The kitchen has all the things you need, fridges, hotplate and microwaves. The other hut has a large freezer and battery charging for the electric boat plus a spare battery. The shower and toilet were clean and in good order, no smelly water as others have reported.

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:

We all enjoyed the holiday and were very happy with the choice, one downside to the lake was the amount of bottle tops and discarded line around the swims !! There is no excuse for it as there are bins everywhere and Bernard empty's them every day if they are full.

Bernard and Sophie are wonderful hosts and can't do enough to help you, if Bernard could speak English he would spend more time chatting and helping you with the reading of the lake, his Koi pond is a beautiful testament to his love of carp, that's what we couldn't understand people leaving so much crap in the swims !! Its a hazard to the lovely wildlife and true anglers. A big thank you to Bernard and Sophie, and Angling Lines for making this a most memorable holiday.

*Angling Lines note* Thank you for letting us know about the bits around the swims, we will pass this on to Bernard and Sophie.

Details of your catches:

Fishing was hard as weather was hot with no rain for weeks but still managed to pick up a couple of small carp and a lovely 42lb grass which we thought was the record for grass carp in there according to the pics in the hut, I also had a number of catfish all under 50lb.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

I used a mixture of tactics, fished tight and slack lines, 3oz leads on a breakaway on safe zone leaders with a short stiff 1q2 hook length and a size 6 hook as the water in this gravel pit is crystal clear

Were the facilities what you expected?

Facilities were ok, fridge and freezer washing facilities and bins all round the lake

Were you happy with them?

Yes Sonia and Bernard were nice, Bernard even gave me a bottle for catching the grassy. Would I go back again yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes at the right time this venue would fish well

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes Angling Lines were helpful and arranged for me to stay an extra week on another lake and changed my crossing etc the phone operator was very helpful

General Comments:

Overall a great experience

Details of your catches:

4 anglers fished, 25 carp plus four cats.
45, 44, 43, 42, 41 carp plus new lake record 58lb 01 0z

100lb 60z cat new lake record also cats also of 82.04 ,78.08.

Lots of mid thirties, few twenties, also couple of bream to over 10lb. Angler average over 30lb

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

All areas produced cell, ib, nutcracker, bottom and pop ups plus snow man also. Cats came on 24mm trout pellets which one angler fished for.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Cannot fault the place to be fair. Great facilities.

Were you happy with them?

Very pleased

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes great place to take a party of anglers for a social.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yed

General Comments:

Had to fish hard for results but two anglers both had new lake records; 100lb cat, 58lb 01 carp

Details of your catches:

Around 14 carp and I catfish, carp to 46lb cat to 35lb, the majority of the fish came to the corner swim nearest the river as the previous group found.
Several dead carp found during the stay, a couple that were already in the lake, and a couple more when we left.
Temps at night were down to minus 2 and sunny but cool during the day apart from one hot day.
Water levels looked to be normal according to pictures seen in the blog, dropping slowly through the week.
Banks can be quite muddy as the water recedes, no swims are prepared for anglers therefore not level or prepared, this is quite manageable but the mud can be a pain if wet.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Wafters seem to do the trick

Were the facilities what you expected?

We were very disappointed with the showers and washing facilities, although blogs from previous years mention the problem you would assume it had been dealt with. None of the pipework looked to have been changed recently, the water stank and stained the sink and shower when ran. The family were kind enough to offer us the shower at their home, but when fishing you don't really want to leave the water.

One member of the group was quite ill whilst there and the family kindly ran him to the doctors for a look over and medication. However two people had the runs (not the Carpy variety) whilst there after attempting the showers at the end of the week, I would not use them personally as the smell was rank.

The big chest freezer and charging points were fine, also the boat with engine and batteries was great, but we were told to supply life vests which we did, only to find they were some when we arrived...currently putting them back on eBay!

*Angling Lines note* We ask anglers to take their own life jackets if they wish to use the boat as often the ones at the lake can be mistakenly taken home by previous anglers and potentially not replaced in time. For insurance purposes the owners of Beaurepaire must make sure that anyone choosing to use the boats is fully prepared and this forms part of those requirements.

Were you happy with them?

Not really as the water problem has been reported many times previously and I couldn't see any recent efforts to change anything. The pipework looked as it had remained the same for some time, and the was no evidence of work outside the facilities either.

A week with no washing facilities is a bit much for the price, and people don't want to leave the venue to drive for a shower to the owners as kind as the offer may be

*Owner's note* At Beaurepaire the shower water comes from a well which fills via the water table. On the rare occasion that the water levels in the lake are very high (usually caused by a large storm/heavy rainfall), the water can overwhelm the well and leave impurities. When the lake level drops, the impurities remain in the well and we must clean the well using a system of chlorination to remove impurities and change the filters of pumps, the water then becomes perfectly clean for washing and showering but is still not drinkable (as stated in the rules).

Any problem with the water should be informed immediately to Sophie and she will take action. For the vast majority of the time there are no issues. The entire team of the Lake of Beaurepaire is sorry of the inconvenience caused by the bad weather prior to your holiday.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

No, not unless they don't want to shower for a whole week! I would advise you take hand sanitizer rather than using the hot water as if there are any bugs in it you might not have the best of weeks if you too get the trots. Make sure you take your own toilet rolls, none were provided.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes your services have been great

General Comments:

I won't be returning, far too patchy with most of the fish coming from one swim, the spit is quite shallow underwater and I think the fish have to make a deliberate effort to cross into the other side of the lake which is then compounded when the levels drop further. One half had fish jumping with plenty of activity, whilst the other half had almost none. We found 5 dead fish in the one week, I'm not sure if the owner has a restocking program in place.

*Angling Lines note* During each Spring it is commonplace for a few carp die naturally and they can often be found when the weather begins to warm up and the water temperature rises. This is quite normal and something good fishery managers take into account. The stocking in Beaurepaire is in our opinion ideal for the size and health of the lake.