Jun 2018

Mandy Makes Waves, 16th Jun

Here for the week with hubby Terry and his son Carl and future daughter-in-law Karen, Mandy Osborne, the 53 year old personal shopper from Reading has made waves here at La Gléhias as she has broken the Lake Record Common which now stands at 49lb on the nose!

In her own words;
After struggling for a few days not catching, my husband lent me his boat. He spent a bit of time baiting up near the bbq area for me, and made me some rigs to send out on the boat with a Tiger-Nut boilie and some particle and broken boilies mixed in, there was nothing left to do but sit and relax. About 20 minutes later, the alarm went off. The size 6 curly Terry rig (or Ronnie Rig) made for me by Terry came in quite easy, not too much fight, but the fun started when we placed the record breaking Carp into the cradle. I got drenched; I looked like I’d taken a bath with it! Got Carl to grab the camera and we weighed it in the wet at 49lb 14oz. We called Lee and he raced round whilst having his dinner to confirm that 49lb (after taking 14oz of for the sling) was a Record Breaker!

Jun 2018

We Lost Some Fish...., 13th Jun

We lost some fish. Not anything any lake owner wants to happen, but it does, and it did, to us. A few weeks ago, our fish had been on again off again spawning whilst the changeable weather had one foot in Spring and the other in Summer.  A couple of fish floated up and dismayed, we put it down to casualties of spawning as the fish were quite young. Then a few more floated up and we realised we had a problem. We got the generator started and put the pumps on to get the water moving and push oxygen into the lake.

We took some water samples and it looked like we’d had an ammonia spike, probably caused by the sudden intense heat followed by torrential storms. We treated the lakes and continued to run the pumps, but for some, it was too late. Problems with ammonia make it difficult for the fish to take in oxygen and it was the weaker fish that we saw float up, twelve tweens and teens but still a few of note - a couple of mid-20s and a mid-30. As animal lovers, any loss is heart-breaking, but we were lucky to have caught the problem early.

May 2018

Saul's got it sussed!, 16th May

34 year old van driver Saul Mulvey from Worcester, here for a weeks holiday with best buds Merlin Barnes and Kaspian Askham, came with a plan to catch himself a big one. However, their trip did not get off to an auspicious start; on arrival, the heavens’ opened and hailed down great big balls of ice, and the following day, the smaller carp were seen following each other around in the margins, a sure sign of spawning. So, he pre-baited a couple of spots over the next couple of days, going back up to farmhouse to take advantage of the creature comforts there. Strategically resting the lake during the days, and the nights, deciding Wednesday, was the day to actually get his rods wet. You’ve got to be in it to win it after all!