Nov 2013

Annual Netting at Brocard Large, 22nd Nov

Around this time in France fish farmers are busy in full swing managing the nettings on their many lakes. It is because of this that Heather and I made a trip over to France this November. We called in to visit the Bacheliers, who were going to be netting both Jonchery and Brocard Large over two days.

The dates of nettings are pencilled in as autumn approaches so a ‘window’ for our visit was set. The wet weather was to play a huge part. Normally the first netting of the season is the top lake at La Horre. However Paul Bachelier had kept me updated and even 10 days after the start of the drain down the lake was still full(!) simply due to the volume of constant rain. As the labour is already organised, they opted to drain Jonchery first as this lake's water level was more easily controllable so, with 1 days notice, we packed the warmest clothes we could find as well as all our photography gear and waders. 

Day one was spent documenting the netting at Jonchery, which you can read about here. On our second day we were up bright and early to make the 30 minute drive from Jonchery over to the Brocard Complex. Arriving at the lake, even with the water drained down to leave all but a large puddle, it never fails to amaze me how lovely the setting is. It really is a natural beauty, exactly what you would expect from a centuries old lake nestled into a forestry reserve.

Now on to the real business... 

The team tackle the job a section at a time, doing partial nettings around the remaining pool and pulling them steadily back to the bank. It is here that any large carp and catfish netted are checked and passed back over. Small nuisance catfish, carp and silverfish are then removed and placed into buckets. These are hauled up and sorted into aerated tanks on the back of the lorries heading for Pisciculture Bachelier HQ, where they are then transferred to smaller stock ponds.

We saw a huge selection of the scaley mirrors the Bachelier waters are reknown for, plenty of sizeable commons and around twenty large catfish.

Oct 2013

Nice and Easy Does It, 31st Oct

The flames of a soothing fire are flickering away taking the slight chill away from what was an empty house last week. It is the first time I have had to light it this autumn but I guess I have finally admitted that winter is gently knocking on the door.

Outside, the sky is heavy and leaden with rain, whilst the wind blows a storm of leaves from the trees in my garden. Inside I feel a warm glow of inner contentment whilst allowing time to relax in my favourite chair and look back over this last week which has provided me with so many more fond memories. I have had an incredible year this year angling wise and as the weather finally looks as though it could be starting to close in and end another summer of my life I feel I have said goodbye to it in a fine way indeed.

As much as I love my winter angling I think as the years progress I now prefer the warmer months. Summer seems to fly by each year, whereas the older I get the longer the winter months appear to take to pass. Because of this I try to get away from our shores at the end of each winter to start a new summer and again just before the really cold weather kicks in to say goodbye to the warmer weather...

You can read the rest of Shaun's article here

Sep 2013

The Ultimate Barbless Hook Rig, 3rd Sep

All Bachelier waters, including the two Brocard Lakes, enforce a barbless hook rule.

One of our expert field testers, Paul Cooper, has come up with the highly efficient 'Ultimate Barbless Hook Rig' which has proved successful on these waters. Take a look at the video below...