Details of your catches:

In total we had 29 fish, 3 of us had 8 fish each. 1 angler had 3 fish and 1 angler had 2 fish. This broke down to 27 carp (24 mirror and 3 common) , 1 pike and a bream. The mirror carp weights ranged from 27lb to 46lb. The Common carp were from 14lb to 16lb.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Margins both near and far produced all of the carp. I found using my Bait boat extremely valuable in ensuring my hook bait was given the best opportunity of producing bites. Minimum of a size 6 hook is essential. Across the 5 anglers a mixture of flavoured coloured boiles produced fish. Pop ups, wafters and standard boilies ranging from 15mm to 22mm boilies over a bed of mixed boilies is what I used with effect.

Were the facilities what you expected?

The lake is absolutely stunning with picturesque scenery, The lake is situated just 10-15 minutes from shops and fuel. There is an electrical hookup in the kitchen cabin area with uk conversion extension leads for phone charging etc . A tv with UK channels provided. Fridge Freezer microwave and gas cooker, all the pots, pans, plates and cutlery are also provided. Toilet and shower facilities too.

Were you happy with them?

Everything was working but I would suggest an update of the kitchen area. The cooker took forever to warm up. Also a weekly detail clean of the kitchen area before the new anglers arrive. As when WE arrived we had to empty the fridge of the previous parties perishable food only to be told by Joanne that she was "pissed" that we had disposed of food already in the fridge as this was to used for parties with the food package. Joannes freezer in the outhouse was full of half containers of butter and croissants etc. I would suggest that if Joanne wants to reuse the perishable goods left then these must be removed from the anglers area before the new party arrives. I want to make it clear that I'm all for reducing food waste and it's perfectly fine to reuse certain goods. For e.g we tried to buy gravy in the French supermarkets to no avail. Luckily there was already gravy in the kitchen which we used for our Sunday Roast.

*Angling Lines note* We apologise for the miscommunication with the contents of the fridge. Indeed Joanne does use some of the fridge and freezer for storing ingredients used in the food packages and this is what was thrown away - understandably your party were entirely unaware of this and we have asked for this to be communicated to anglers in the future.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Absolutely 100%

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes. I would say the whole experience was positive only slightly tainted by Joanne's encounter.

General Comments:

its clear to see that Phillippe is passionate about wanting to do the right thing by the angler and the welbeing of the fish. He takes feedback seriously and acts accordingly to any suggestions. We gave a suggestion around making the pegs safer in the rain and even whilst we were still onsite and about to leave Phillippe and assistant were already making changes to one of the pegs.

Details of your catches:

15 fish, biggest 56lb, numerous 40’s and 30’s smallest 21

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Big bottom baits far margin

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes excellent food package was outstanding

Were you happy with them?

Yes, although a little maintenance on the fishing platforms is needed. Very slippery and the back of platforms can restrict your casting

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

No, this is purely because of a severe crayfish problem

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

Severe crayfish problem. I was fishing swim 1 (damn wall) and I couldn’t leave a bait in water longer than 15 mins without it being harassed by crayfish. This really effected my fishing. Nothing worked to combat them including shrink wrap, hard hookers, tigernuts and pop ups. It was that bad I can’t believe it’s not came up in a review before. The other end of the lake was fine.

*Angling Lines note* Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry that you had an issue with crayfish - as you mentioned this hasn't come up as a problem before and we will now seek to rectify this with the use of traps. The swims are also going to be recovered to improve the surface.

Details of your catches:

15 fish in total
1x50, 3x40, 6x 30, 5x20
Largest was 56.1 mirror

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Large bottom baits worked well to the far margin.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Reading the previous reviews we knew what we were expecting. Kitchen was tired and shower area was ok. We had the food package which was brilliant. Sylvie who was covering Joanne was was really good, she couldn't do enough for you. Philippe was really helpful

Were you happy with them?

Yes facilities were fine tired but did the job.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Definitely communication was brilliant and when I needed to swap a vehicle over they were more than happy to help.

General Comments:

Classed as a runs water which I don't think it is anymore. Crayfish were a real problem in peg 1 you couldn't really leave a bait in there longer than an hour. That's why we didn't fish peg 1. Coypu were a problem in peg 3 trying to get your bait. The venue was kept nice and tidy but the pegs need to be looked at as they can restrict your casting and staging was slippy when wet. The weighing sling was faulty on peg 2 so we told them in the morning and by the afternoon Philippe had bought a new one to the swim. We did have a chat with Philippe about the crayfish and he did say he was getting some traps so be aware when casting in the bay in peg 1.

Details of your catches:

9 fish, fishing tues 24th to sat 28th. 2 x 40's, 2 x 30's, 2 x 20's and few smaller. Same amount of fish again lost to snags on the lakebed

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Krill pop up's and bottom baits tipped. Most fish tight to far margin at night.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Kitchen and shower a bit tired but ok

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Definately not

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

No because this lake is marketed as a runs water which it no longer is. Angling lines should visit and reassess stock levels and change their advertising so as not to mislead future bookings

*Angling Lines note* Classing a lake as a runs water is a very subjective thing, and we can see that the fishing has become harder on La Fonte, therefore we have updated the description. Fishing becoming harder on a lake is something we see over time with some lakes as a response to pressure or perhaps features on the lake changing, or even just a bad year weather wise. We react as quickly as we can to amend descriptions as lakes change over time, however, your comment regarding the stock levels on the lake having changed is incorrect – the number of carp in the lake has not reduced.

General Comments:

We deliberately booked this venue having fished harder waters in the belief that it was a well maintained, well stocked, runs water which it definitely is not.
Things to put right inc, mesh on all wooden platforms (very dangerous as it rained most of the time we were there), removal of branches underwater, general tlc needed, but it seems the current owner has lost interest in the venue. Also the maize that we paid for was a burnt soggy mess. On the plus side Joan was fantastic and the breakfasts were great. Clearly she is left to do far more at the venue than cook food.

*Angling Lines note* We have discussed this feedback with the owner. The mesh on the platforms will be addressed later this week. The traps will be emptied (he was unable to at that time) and a work party will tackle the snags at the end of the year. Regarding the maize, we do ask anglers to mention any issues at the time, this could have been discussed and rectified if necessary.