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News from Villefond lake

Jan 2012

A look back at January 2012, 30th Jan

Quick Review

During January fishery owner John Lambert, Lake Manager Mark Lambert and a friend Gavin Rose have spent a few short sessions on Lac Du Villefond field testing the range of baits that are available to our customers. Despite the cold winter weather the Villefond fish have been feeding well and on there first 24hr session eight fish were banked all over 30lb and four of these over 40lb. The next session was a day only session and the guys still managed four fish, two 40’s to 44lb one 30 and one 20+ common.

This is good fishing for any time of year but especially during the winter months and really shows the quality of the bait and how much the fish like to eat it. With 50% of the fish caught being over 40lb in these first short sessions of the year, Villefond is looking like having another good year with fish reaching even higher weights. And with the lakes real biggun’s yet to make an appearance and so many fish still never to have graced the bank anything is possible in 2012... so watch this space!

Fish of the month

This fish of the month sector will be a regular segment from now on and my choice will not just be decided by size. For me fish of the month does not equate to biggest fish banked that month. I will take into account many factors for example fish that are rare visitors to the bank, fish that are particularly stunning, fish of the month maybe one of the lakes real unique characters, it maybe a fish that has shown massive weight gains or simply a fish caught in bizarre circumstances.

Despite only a few sessions being fished on the lake through January my choice for this month has been a tough one as some of the lakes character fish such as Pink Flash and Nemo have already been banked. Also several fish have topped the 40lb barrier for the first time and one of our 2011 stockies that was stocked at 24lb has been banked over 30lb for the first time... a huge growth in just one short year.

The carp I have chosen as my fish of the month for January 2012 is a fish known as Mick’s Mirror - to call this fish elusive is an understatement. Mick’s Mirror did not grace the bank for several years after stocking and when it did it already weighed a hefty 36lb, it seemed to be a fish destined for big weight gains. But strangely the fish just disappeared.

She went the best part of two years before slipping up again in the beginning of March 2011. The strange thing about the capture was her weight had stayed around the same, in fact she weighed a little less at 34lb 5oz, so it appeared she may have peaked. Nearly a full year has passed since that capture and this tricky fish has made yet another winter mistake.

There is one thing about this capture that is glaringly different however, instead of Mick’s Mirror remaining at a steady weight, in the long time between captures this time its weight has rocketed weighing in at an awesome 43lb 4oz. This is a weight gain of nearly 10lb in less than a year.

Although it once seemed that she was avoiding angler’s baits and therefore avoiding capture it would now seem she is just getting away with it. Like many of the big Villefond fish she has become quite clever. What a lot of the big fish seem to be doing is once hooked instead of running for freedom they sit put and try to shed the hook. That was certainly the case for this capture and the only indication given was one beep and several violent knocks on the rod tip. Some may easily have dismissed this as nothing more than a line bite.

Micks Mirror January 2012

Jan 2012

Villefond's Big 5, 13th Jan

It has been a real pleasure to watch Villefonds fish grow into some real monsters and it has been discussed for a long time about which fish are going to be the next biggest caught so I decided to compile a list detailing the top 5 to date, as at January 2012;

1. BIG JOHN

Big John is currently considered the lakes largest resident carp even though it was knocked off the top spot back in early 2011 when the number two big fish came out heavier. Big John is a extremely long common and has massive potential to grow huge and was the reining heavy weight champ right up to 2011, however Big John is a far longer fish and has never really been a fat fish or had big shoulders. One interesting fact about Big John is that it has never been caught during the night.

Heaviest weight to date; 51.2lb

Weight last caught; 50.2lb spawned out

Date of last capture; May 2011

Swim most caught from; 3

Prediction for the future; I think he could be well in front of the others right now as it was caught nearly a year ago spawned out at 50.2lb. Some of the other carp spawned out as much as 10lb! This means Big John could be sitting on the plus side of 60lb right now so the next capture of him will be very interesting.

2. ARTHUR

Arthur is the owner of two titles, the first is the lake record for heaviest carp and the second is record for heaviest original carp as it is the biggest fish so far not stocked by us. Arthur is not nearly as long as Big John, it is a rather stockier common carp and it is also much darker in colour.

Heaviest weight to date; 53.6lb

Weight last caught; 53.6lb

Date of last capture; May 2011

Swim most caught from; 5 & 7

Prediction for the future; I believe Arthur won’t reach the heights of Big John because it is much shorter in length but because of Arthur’s character and it is a much more wild older looking common it will remain on most peoples to catch list.

3. ARNOLD

Arnold came out of no where to make the top 5 and got the name Arnold because it had massive almost unbelievable shoulders like the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold has had some of the most massive weight gains and if it keeps going could move up the rankings very quickly.

Heaviest weight to date; 50.10lb

Weight last caught; 50.10lb

Date of last capture; November 2011

Swim most caught from; 3 & 4

Prediction for the future; Arnold is quite often caught because of its massive appetite which made it so large and if it keeps going at the rate it is Arnold could be one to watch.

4. BENNETT'S

Named after one of its captors this fish is a real brute of a fish, it is a huge solid fish who hasn’t ever had big shoulders or a belly just a very large framed fish with a lot of potential. Bennett’s has had a tough year spawning heavily twice but it is expected to pack on size over winter again to fill its massive bulk.

Heaviest weight to date; 47.4lb

Weight last caught; 45.6lb

Date of last capture; September 2011

Swim most caught from; 5 & 7

Prediction for the future; Bennett’s has been up and down with its weight this year due to the fact they spawned out heavily twice but never dropped lighter than the low forties so given the bigger fish spawn up to 10lb he could well be going over 50lb after a good feed in winter.

5. ROSE

Now 5^th place is really a tough call as many fish are now well into their forties and fish are still turning up in their forties which have never been caught before. Rose has only been caught four times herself in the four years since it was stocked. Rose came out of the blue to pip some of the other fish to the 5^th spot.

Heaviest weight to date; 45lb

Weight last caught; 45lb

Date of last capture; August

Swim most caught from; 7

Prediction for the future; Rose’s spot in the top five is going to be really tough to keep. With well in excess of 30 different fish over forty pound in weight now the competition is really tough. With so many fish biting at its heels and so many that haven’t been caught for a long time which could be already a lot heavier and the fact there are still fish coming out never caught before over forty pound I believe Rose’s rein as a top 5 fish is going to be short and glorious one. Rose is a stunning fish but unless it feeds and grows at the rate of some of the others Rose could just drop short of the top 5.

This top 5 list was made in January 2012 and will shortly be rearranged after the coming years fishing.

Big John

Arthur

Arnold

Bennett's

Rose

Jan 2012

A day at Villefond in the winter, 12th Jan

We arrived at the lake at 7.30am just before it got light. There were three of us fishing, Myself (Mark Lambert) the owner (John Lambert) and our friend Gavin Rose. Just as it became light enough to boat the rods out I put my three rods on my spots. John also got his two rods out and I moved to his swim to talk. Just then we heard a very pleased yell from Gavin he had only got two rods in the water and he was already into a carp.

As I moved round to help with the fish he yelled again as his second rod took off. He landed both fish the first a lovely 44.10 mirror the other smaller at 30.8. What a start we thought and I hurried back to my rods in anticipation. It was not one hour before Johns rods screamed off and after a fight all in at the margins we slipped the net under a 43.10 mirror.

The mirror later identified on Villefond fish gallery where we keep track of all the fish photo’s we get had shown a 10lb growth in under a year! The rest of the day was quiet until in the evening Johns rods went off again and we slipped the net under a small but really fat 23lb common, a stocky from the beginning of the year.

The day was uneventful for me but we went home with impressed again with how the bait is pulling the fish out even though the temperature didn’t rise above 2 degrees at its hottest.

43.10 caught by John held by Gavin due to injury

23lb common again held by Mark

Jan 2012

24hrs winter fishing at Villefond, 11th Jan

January 11th saw myself (Mark Lambert Villefond fishery manager) and a friend get a chance to fish on Villefond for a quick 24hr session. I had been feeding the fish on our brilliant new range of boillies all winter and knew from previous catch reports the fish loved it and with it being really good for them I knew they would continue to put on really healthy weights feeding on it.

As I arrived I choose to use the tiger nut type boillie and dipped it with a PVA bag in our glug and fired it out to my chosen spot with a few scattered freebies. Within the hour I had my first run after a hard fight I slid my net under an immaculate 41lb mirror. As soon as I got the fish back I put my rod back on the same spot. I didn’t have to wait long and under two hours later I had my second stunning looking carp, a 34lb short chunky mirror on the bank.

Being January the nights got dark really early and by half six it was pitch black and without a cloud in the sky the temperature dropped fast. My friend had now got his rods out and had gone for the coconut type boillie and it wasn’t long before he got his first run, again a big healthy 41.4lb mirror. He continued catching right through the night despite the frost and temperature well below freezing.

By morning my friend went home and after a busy night photographing his fish and not so much as a beep on my rods I decided to stay just a couple more hours. It turned out to be a good choice and I quickly banked two more immaculate fish in quick succession.

Our expectations for the 24hrs were one fish each with it being so cold and in January but the bait really excelled itself. In that short pace of time I finished up with 4 fish;

* 41 mirror

* 39.4 mirror

* 34 mirror

* 36.12 mirror

My friend had managed 5 fish in one night;

* 41 mirror

* 40 mirror

* 30 common

* 28 mirror

I think your agree not a bad result. With luck I hope to try at least one more 24hr session before our bookings for the year start and I have to watch people hauling monsters, while I am waiting for next winter before I get a chance to try my luck again.

Mark
Villefond