Mas Bas Lotus Lake

Details of your catches:

my wife caroline caught her first 20 lb with a mirror of 24.10lb then a 22lb commmon then she had a 40.10lb common on all in the first 2 days we had lots of carp all sizes doubles to high twentys we has about 10 grass carp to mid double the fishing was great day or night .we had a few bream and poisan chat (small cat fish) which was interesting they nibble your boilee down to nothing . the grass carp were being put in the big lake in a netted of area we had about 10 upto 16lb nevre caught one before they go nuts on the bank and there very slimy and fishy smelling but great fun i did have a bait boat for tight baiting not real nesassary but were on holiday so its a bit of fun i think the tight baiting helps but who knows

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

i was using the bait on site raja spice preserved baits which we bought on site 5kg which worked well but i made my own mainline cell at the lake 2kg a day i make them all sizes from 10 mm to 35mm the bigger the better seemed to be the way we used double boilee on all rigs . the lake level was a bit down about a foot theres a big airrater in the lake any hooked fish heads straight for this we lost a lot off fish on this and there was a few unseen snages which this fish found i dont like trying to pull a fishes head off to get them out of snags but with 15lb line sometimes it was the only way . i think it was mainly grass carp that we lost this way but who knows ,
i used very simple rigs with big hooks size 2 and 4 i tried every rig i could think of on another rod everything worked so i would say its an easy water but then we did go in august it was hot (lovely)over 100 degrees some days but its nice and cool by the lake

Were the facilities what you expected?

very very pretty lake the willow cotage we were in was great very clean we only stayed 2 night in the house we bivvied the rest of the week thers eveything you need to keep you comfy very immpressed

Were you happy with them?

very happy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

we will very much be going back we would like to try the bigger lake the people on that lake sounded like they were catching loads

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

allready have recommended angling lines iv been with angling lines 5 times now service is great never had a singke problem

General Comments:

we had a bit of a night mare holiday we went to france a week before we went to mas baswe drove down to monaco then nice then my car a mercedes c200 broke down in nice on the wednesday we had breakdown cover make sure you have this and buy the most expansive cover you can we got our car back 10 days after it broke down we lost 2 days at the lake we had to drive back to nice to get my car and it broke down again 100 k after we left nice french garages are dreadfull 2 weeks later my car is still in france waiting for repatriation . but mas bas was the bast bit of the holiday the house is lovely the pool is great you have it all to your self and lotus lake is great fishing and simply stunning to look at . we had a little problem with a hornet on the first night it got into the kitchen but we turned the kitchen light of and it flew out ther big a noisy but dont seem botherd by us

Details of your catches:

Three decent carp:-
One common 12 lb, One leather 20lb plus. I can't be more accurate as the scales failed!
Plus a 20lb plus lost at the net by my daughter. Two or three nuisance bream caught although they were all over two pounds in weight.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Keep it as simple as possible. Other than using safety tubing and lead safety clips we used 3oz leads and Asian spice Boilies.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes they were excellent. We did notice, however, that two items of cooking utensils were not provided, a Garlic Crusher and a Potato Masher. This however was purely a convenience fault.

Were you happy with them?

Yes, extremely happy.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Without a doubt.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes most certainly.

General Comments:

The one thing I would have changed was the journey from Caen to Mas Bas. Instead of doing the journey in one day as we did I would take an extra day with a break at La Rochelle. Doing the whole trip in one day is very tiring especially if you are the only driver.

Details of your catches:

Brilliant just fished at night and a little bit during the day. Caught well the 2 biggest were 40's, and loads of high twenties. only 2 or 3 were doubles. Water level was down a bit and parts of the lake were a bit snaggy. There was a holding pen to collect grass carp some of them were huge.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Each night I fished I ended up using only 1 rod. i found the bait boat was very useful as most fish were where the lake narrows. I ended up using 24mm boilies and was still catching some grass carp!

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, I loved it. A few cobwebs when we arrived. Kids enjoyed the cycling. Pool was still cold though. Perhaps a solar panel would get it a bit warmer???

Were you happy with them?

Yes, how could you want more. Peace and quiet with a pool and a lake in the garden. Would have been better with 2 anglers as I had multi catches rods were going off every half hour. Kids fishing for little bream and roach.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes, I would

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes.

General Comments:

Gilles put in a archery board for us, which was great. He was really helpful.

Details of your catches:

There was just myself fishing, too many fish caught to mention here but the highlights were:
PB Mirror 37lb in fact 1st fish caught! Double Mainline Cell 18mm with mixed pellet PVA bag.
PB Common 21lb 8oz Double Mainline Cell 18mm
Lots of 10lb + and mid twenty Mirrors and the odd common, also just a few Grass Carp up to 17lb +

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

First of all I must say I have only been Carp fishing for a year so I'm a complete Carping novice, but I have coarse and sea fished all of my life.
Main Tactics were big baits, big sharp hooks (micro barb is recommended by Giles) and big leads 3-4 oz as the fish have hard mouths, most bait worked, if you use small baits expect smaller fish.
Lead safety clips are a must - expect to lose leads!
I used 18lb Fox mainline to leadcore leader and coated hook lengths to size 4 Fox Arma Point hooks. Although Quest Raja Spice boilies were available, I found that most bait caught fish, I will next time however use just one type of boilie either Raja Spice 20mm, Scopex 20mm or Mainline Cell 18mm, and about 10kg is adequate for the week, scattering bait in a wide area brought in the fish there is no real need for bait boats on Lotus, dumping piles and piles of bait in one or two spots is frankly not needed, the fish do patrol from the shallows to the deeper water to feed, fish were caught from the shallows but it is very snaggy.
There was lots of fish caught, too many to list, I fished mainly in the afternoon and evening, I baited the left hand bank in the morning with mixed boilies went out to visit the local markets and towns and sight seeing during the day as the Carp tended to congregate in the shallows at the far end of the lake basking in the sunshine.
Nearly all my fish came from the left hand bank it was the easiest place to fish and bait, but beware there are a couple of sunken stumps and the fish know they are there! Only had to use the dingy once to rescue a fish which, I was told, looked hilarious as I'm not a small chap and its a very small dingy!

Were the facilities what you expected?

The accommodation was fantastic in Willow, dish washer, washing machine, fully equipped kitchen, very comfortable beds, the outside Gazebo made an excellent base to sit and wait for fish while eating and drinking, the Gazebo has a PowerPoint and two lights, one over the fishing platform, excellent idea Giles!
The hosts Leslie and Giles were brilliant, very helpful and nothing was any trouble to them to satisfy our stay, even Giles finding some maggots for us, top tip if you want to fish maggot or worm for the coarse fish take your own as the price of maggots is extortionate in France and not easy to find.

Were you happy with them?

Very happy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

This was not just a fishing holiday, this was a relaxing holiday for us as a couple, and my wife was really pleased with Mas Bas (phew!) and has absolutely fallen in love with the place and surrounding area. We drove down from Roscoff and stayed in Limoges over night and then on to Cahors and finally Mas Bas on late Saturday afternoon. It is a long drive but don't let that put you off, we avoided the dreaded Motorways and saved about £70 on tolls, to be honest the roads were fairly empty compared to GB and very easy duel carriageways.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

I have recommended to all my mates already and hoping to return August next year with all the family!

General Comments:

Just a brilliant venue