Details of your catches:

26lb and the 50lb that got away!

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

The Villefond rig was the best. All advise given by the owner was spot on.

Were the facilities what you expected?

It was very good. Just what we had been expecting. Nice hot shower. Everywhere very clean and tidy.

Were you happy with them?

Yes very happy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

We would definitely recommend Villefond to friends

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes. As always very efficient and helpfull

General Comments:

Beautiful lake. Really lovely lake owners who could not have been more helpful. The lake had its own idiosyncrasies and the fish were canny but had I paid attention to the owners sooner I would probably caught more. Thoroughly enjoyed the lake and surrounding French countryside. Great holiday.

Details of your catches:

Van broke on the way down near Boulogne and did not arrive at the lake until Monday night so only fished from Tuesday am to Sat am. Fishing slow due to weather and extended spawning period. Total carp catch was a 34 & 38, 38 & 36 & 25. One blanked (me).

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Tried lots, fishing was very slow due to weather etc Weather was very hot. Owner Mark was very helpful and well worth listening to. The video where Mark describes the lake and fishing on the Angling Lines site is spot on. If you watch this you know exactly what your going to.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, totally as described and sufficient for our needs.

Were you happy with them?

Yes, could have done without the breakdown though! Will be back!

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes, enjoyed my time being there. Its a sharp clever lake, a lake to test your skills and it's beautiful. You can really sharpen your skills here.
They even made us a complimentary meal on arrival after the disaster of a breakdown left us stranded up in Boulogne for 2 days.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes. already have & I'm recommending you to everyone. Will definitely use you again for my next trip and that will be a trip back to Villefond. I have some unfinished business!
Thanks for all your help.

General Comments:

Proper anglers water, I'd liken it to a Redmire, tough but you just have to fish there!

Details of your catches:

Angler No 1 - No fish caught
Angler No 2 - 1 x 9lb Common
Angler No 3 - No fish caught
Angler No 4 - 1 x 22lb Mirror & 1 x 47lb Mirror
Angler No 5 - 1 x 23lb Common & 1 x 51lb Mirror

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Non-conclusive

We bought over 500 euros of Lake Villefond boilies. Not only did we have a shockingly poor return on fish caught throughout the week but the fresh bait we purchased appeared to go mouldy after a couple of days. We can only put this down to the owners statement that "no additives are used in our boilies" Our advice to anyone fishing lake Villefond would be to consider very carefully the baiting options available.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Absolutely not. Our group has been making annual fishing trips to France for many years and the unaminous view was that this was our worst experience by far. Lake Villefond cannot facilitate groups of 6 or more, fact! We paid £200 for the use of the mobile home merely for cooking. There was no electric lighting so any cooking was done under candlelight. The cooker was probably manufactured in the 70's/80's and without a grill which did not make cooking for six easy at all. The small fridge/freezer was totally dependant upon the electric being supplied from a solar panel source. The power supply was erratic and as a result we had to throw away meat. Although the owners did kindly offer us a service whereby we could refrigerate or freeze food at their home and call it off as required, this was not an ideal situation.

The wiring for the solar panel generated electric was dangerous to say the least, wires left hanging mid-air with a conservative amount of insulating tape wrapped around it. The two experienced and qualified electricians on our trip were quick to point out this potential death trap!

The shower in the mobile home did not work although we had use of a shower in the toilet block.

We requested on several occasions for the only dustbin provided outside of the mobile to be emptied but this fell on deaf ears until the penulitmate day of our stay. Lets say the area got rather messy after a few days as we had nowehere to put our waste.

Were you happy with them?

No

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

No

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Unsure

General Comments:

We paid over £2k for a weeks fishing at Lake Villefond (not including the extra 500 euros we paid for on site boilies) and to say we are extremely disappointed is the understatement of the year. Although the owner did spend less than an hour with us showing us his rigs and advising on best swims, we felt thoroughly let down. When explaining our frustrations we were given every possible excuse for why we were not catching. The fish were not spawning, we were using the correct bait, the correct rigs in the correct swims so why did we catch so little throughout the week? Answers on a postcard please!!

The owners themselves appear to be nice people but we do feel they need to address as a matter of urgency some basic requirements to bring the venue up to scratch.

If this holiday had been purchased through an ABTA affiliated holiday company we would be demanding a refund, this is how aggrieved we feel.

**Angling Lines note** The owners dispute the above feed back. The facilities are limited compared to some venues but are as described on the website. The anglers the following week gave entirely different feedback despite a similar low catch ratio (due, we believe, to the unusual weather conditions and prolonged intermittent spawning).

Details of your catches:

Unfortunately we came to the conclusion fish were still spawning as we tried every tactic, well balanced pop ups, caught fish on our last evening and day 16lb 14lb 6lb 34lb and a couple lost, so much for no small fry

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Any plastic pop ups, we sat with owner one day took the time out to show us the how to put together the rig he used

Were the facilities what you expected?

Facilities were A1 for a carp angling holiday.
The lack of power supply at venue was great too as owners came every evening to take anything needing recharging.

Were you happy with them?

Lovely lovely people, beautiful location, I wouldn't be selling anglers baits if you know there still spawning kinda leaves a sour taste..

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes and No venue just to much of a mission to get too actually nearly a 5 hour drive from caen

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Cannot fault your service apart from the below

General Comments:

Wont be gambling on spawning season again to much money to spend without a real possibility of good fishing, wished i was given a little more advice on fisheries you advertise if they have or haven't spawned

**Angling Lines note** We're afraid spawning date can NEVER be guaranteed - its a function of daylight hours (guaranteed past end April) & temp being stable for long enough (hugely variable). We do ask lakes to tell us when it's happening via their latest news section though and apologise if you weren't kept up to date.