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.

Details of your catches:

17lb Common, 5 x 20lb Mirror, 31lb Mirror, 3 x 33lb Mirror Carp, 36lb Mirror, 42lb Mirror, 15lb Catfish, 65lb Catfish, 80lb +Catfish.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

The lake was extremely peggy. All carp came from the corner of the lake closest to the river to 1 angler. Not a single carp seen in the rest of the lake. The carp all fell to 7ft Zig rigs with small bits of black foam. The catfish were caught on chod rigs.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, absolutely perfect and everything we required. Everything was very clean and well looked after.

Were you happy with them?

Yes absolutely!

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes, would advise them to go later in the year though when the carp are more active and spread around the lake.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

The owners were extremely friendly and very helpful. Amazing hosts!

Details of your catches:

19 lb mirror
27lb mirror
4 big bream

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Small patches of bait to showing fish

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yea

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 arrived to find that the water levels had risen 3meters in the previous week and continued for another meter while we were there, this along with daytime temps 17-18 degrees then waking up with frosty bivvys did not help the fishing , nothing seemed to work but I believe this was due to conditions outside of our control, Bernard and Sophie are very friendly and approachable owners and we will be back again soon

Details of your catches:

2 20s, 3 30s to 38 and 10-12 bream which was a bit of a pain

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

I found small patches of bait to be best tactic boilies or particle . I used pop ups to begin with but as the week went on I found bottom baits to be best .

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes spot on

Were you happy with them?

10/10

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

I found it a little tricky as most of the fish were held up in one corner of the lake. Out of 7 takes I only had takes off of one rod which I found a little strange as my other two rods were fished about 8 ft to the right and left of the middle with same tactics but I suppose that's winter fishing for you