Aug 2022

Summer of ‘22, 5th Aug

There are certain summers that stick in your memory. For me and any kid brought up in the UK during the 70’s it will be the Summer of ’76. Boy was that a hot one! Kids playing in the streets in vests and pants. Mums putting out washing up bowls of water for us to splash about in.

For us, and many French lake owners and farmers alike, the Summer of ’22 will definitely be one to remember, but perhaps not so fondly. With unprecedented temperatures reaching into the 40's, and at one point the entire country placed on high alert, farmers are working tirelessly through the night as it has become too dangerous to take the tractors out during heat of the day for risk of fire. Further down the country in the Southwest, more than 20,000 hectares of forest have already burned in La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras. 

During any normal summer, we would expect a certain level of evaporation across the lake. Four to five centimetres, give or take, is perfectly normal on our Specimen Lake. And levels on the stock lake, being shallower at one end, it is often a bit more than that.  

This year however, in the unrelenting heat and without a drop of rain for weeks, levels on the main lake dropped by about 20cms. 

Therefore, whilst we are still in a position to do so, we made the hard but necessary decision to pump approximately 40cm of water from the stock lake in order to retain the integrity of the Specimen Lake. Fishing will not be allowed on the stock lake for the rest of the year as this will put increased pressure on fish in an already stressed situation.

The pumps were set up on Monday to syphon water from one lake to the other, and we can already see levels on the main lake have risen by 4cms. We are looking to raise levels by another 12-15cms and envisage this may take a few weeks. Moving water like this isn’t something that can be rushed as it puts the stock of both lakes at risk. Whilst we tested both lakes in terms of Ph. etc. beforehand, heat and other factors has an effect on this and needs monitoring. 

In the meantime, the fish in the Specimen Lake are enjoying the flow of cool freshly oxygenated water; we are staying ahead of the evaporation and praying for rain.   

Jun 2022

Lovely carp, 25th Jun

Managed to bank a nice 34lb'er using our Ouest Bourbons in a short 3 hour session. Well happy!

Jun 2022

The BIG COMMON Keeps Piling it ON!, 23rd Jun

Lakeside regular Alex Harrocks, here for the week with good friends Justin Baines, and Keith, Barry, and Conner Smith, was looking forward to a good night’s sleep, but the BIG COMMON had other plans for the 66 year old retired Pole Dancer tester from Spearmint Rhino.

Having cast out for the night with a mix of Blood Worm boilies over pellet, Alex was coolly confident. And so he should be. The whopping Carp came in in the wee hours of Monday morning along the gorse bank, just a third up from the BBQ corner.

For the record, Alex Harrocks is the current Men’s Common Carp Lake Record holder as of 01:45am on Monday 13th June 2022, having captured the BIG COMMON at her heftiest to date - 52lb 4oz!

To celebrate, as is our tradition, we presented Alex with a bottle of wine for his trouble.

Well done Alex! Don’t let it go to your head!