Details of your catches:

I caught 45 "adult" carp with a total of 880 lbs. 2 fish 30 lbs 4 fish 25 lbs - 30 lbs 17 fish 20 lbs - 25 lbs 12 fish 15 lbs - 20 lbs 10 fish 10 lbs - 20 lbs Also caught 12 young carp weighing around 2-3 lbs

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Fished boilies over hemp and halibut pellets. About 50 yards out, in front of the chalet. Boilies were in for sometimes hours, never had an issue with crayfish.

Were the facilities what you expected?

This was our second visit. We were here also last year. The facilities have even improved. The chalet now has 2 comfortable beds and the new annex is excellent. The bathroom is refurbished, with a new walk-in rainfall shower. It has even a washing machine. The kitchen in the chalet had a brand new fridge with freezer.

Were you happy with them?

Very happy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

100 %

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

Alice and the whole Bouchot family are very friendly and helpful. The surroundings are beautiful. The swimming pool is a refreshing change in the hot afternoon. Since our last visit, the larger carp have not grown (the average weight then was 22 lbs, now 19 lbs.). Last year we didn't catch any young carp. They are a big feeding competition for the adult. I think it would be better to remove these smaller and young carp, so the larger carp have the chance to gain weight. Anyway, we will be back.

Details of your catches:

I had 30 fish for for 484lb 6oz. 10 commons biggest 29.8 19 mirrors biggest 25.10 1 roach 1.8 My daughter fished the odd time and had 7 fish for 70.4 Biggest being a 25.10 mirror. She also had 2 great roach of 2lb and 1lb 10oz. Our total weight was 554.10 for 37 fish. We only fished days. Some days not until the afternoon.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

I found double tiger nuts and DNA Bug waffles were the only baits to keep the crayfish at bay. These were fished over boilies pellets tiger nuts and liquids and glugs. Still they were getting to the baits so I was recasting after around an hour. 3 rods were fished over to the far side of the lake. About 30 yards of the wall. Bait boat charger died after 2 days so I was struggling to get over the far side. I then fished in front of the lodge to the left hand side and had success. Still troubled by the crayfish. Lake is not as easy as it looks. Fish very hard fighting and in great condition. Weather was very hot so some days I think this made the fishing harder. I found that from 6pm until I stopped fishing around 10pm were the best times for catching.

Were the facilities what you expected?

The facilities were great. Lodge is great for a base. Annex bedroom was spot on. Only issue was it was very hot in there. Pool was excellent and nice for a cool off as it was over 30 degrees some days.

Were you happy with them?

Yes very happy. Clean and tidy

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Absolutely already have. I will 100 percent be returning to this lake. I feel like I have unfinished business not catching a 30. I feel like if I had my bait boat for the full week I would have achieved this.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes. Angling lines were great throughout.

General Comments:

Vincons is a wonderful place. Lots of wildlife including various birds, lizards, bats and even seen a snake cooling off in the lake also and very peaceful. Host Alice was lovely and very helpful. Could not do enough to help. Local village was very nice and Alice pointed us in the direction of a market on Tuesday in St Auet which was lovely.

Details of your catches:

107 'proper' carp, averaging 23lb 12oz. 87 x 20's and 7 x 30+'s to a largest of 36+ (Common) and 34 (Mirror). Total weight of approx 2,471 lb. Please note that we did not fish over-night and didn't cast in until 9am most mornings. We did not fish at all whilst the fish were spawning (Wednesday morning through to Thursday afternoon). We only used three rods, shared between my 14 year-old son and I (although he spent most of the time in the fabulous pool, or searching for mobile data....). Other fish including several tench to approx 6lb. Two very large Roach. One large Rudd. Three smaller (under 5lb) Carp.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Fish were obviously in the shallows in numbers on arrival on the Saturday, so first we set up at the furthest fishable swim. Very shallow margins here which meant many fish were beaching/needing to be netted from the water (waders ideal). Casting approx 80 yards towards the far margin snags (no need to go close here, I was dropping a good 40ft short. There are submerged root systems and tree stumps in this area). I tried to 'play out' the fish quite hard early into the fight to then bring them in over the shallow margins to the net without incident. Be prepared for quite explosive runs close in if fishing towards the shallower end of the lake (we were three quarters of the way down on the lodge side) as the fish have nowhere to run, other than 'out' when they see the net. Note that the fish run too fast for effective backwinding, so a carefully set clutch when close in is a must. After 50+ fish line twist began to manifest so keep that in mind and check the line, reset the twist as necessary. Tactics were boilie (heavy initial feeds) then topping up 20-30 baits per fish with a throwing stick. Due to the many gaps in our fishing (use of pool, visiting the local shops, cooking dinner/lunch in the lodge, etc), I developed a pattern of baiting prior to reeling in to leave enough food to hold fish. I took an identical 5 rod set-up, leaving 2 rods rigged ready to go to save time between captures. A great tell-tale of carp in vicinity was the presence (or not) of crayfish/Roach activity on the baits. Crayfish were absolutely on the baits if waiting for the carp to arrive (anything longer than an hour without a fish). I meshed the hook baits in nylon which slowed the Crayfish down. The most fish caught in a day was the Monday (35 carp + 1 tench). Once the fish began spawning I stopped fishing for them in the shallows, and moved up to outside the lodge. Much deeper water here. Same tactics employed although one rod, fished off the dam wall was baited with a sloppy/cloudy mix of crushed boile, syrup, tigers, and sweetcorn. It was very noticeable that a larger average sized carp were caught at the deeper end (not surprising). I used approx 25kg of boilies (15mm and 18mm). A mix of frozen and shelf-life Scopex Squid (Nash). I also used tigers as hook baits on the slower rod(s) as necessary as a Crayfish prevention alternative to the meshing.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Excellent. Exactly what a fishing lodge should contain if traveling with a non-fishing 14 year-old. Plenty of space inside, cool from the sun, but retained warmth for the evenings/nights. Cooker worked well, ample fridge facilities. Shower facilities were good and short stroll from the lodge. The pool was excellent and well used daily.

Were you happy with them?

Very happy with all facilities. Alice was an excellent host. It was a real pleasure to stay at the venue.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Absolutely. Fish in excellent condition, very hard fighting, good facilities, great host, excellent pool...

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Very well organised. I haven't used such a service since the early days of "organised" french carp fishing in the early 1990's. A very good experience with the Angling Lines team. I wouldn't hesitate on recommending them based on this experience.

General Comments:

Whilst the fishing sounds easy (107 carp in daylight only, without fishing all day and no nights etc...), it was actually a little challenging. Getting the baiting 'right' to ensure consistent action, etc... Throwing stick delivery of 25kg of boilies... Shallow End: The shallow margins take some special consideration. Fish welfare takes some consideration (be prepared to go in the lake (its less than knee deep away from the lodge) to help fish recover - we had to do this a few times after explosive battles. Deeper/Dam Wall end: Fishing in front of the lodge means fishing from a rocky area so a good rod pod is essential. Special consideration to fish safety is needed here too as you're lifting fish from the rocky margins to a hard stoney surface outside the lodge. Good unhooking mats/means of lifting and returning fish is especially needed. We took three landing nets. At times, all three had fish in. Be prepared! I read that bait boats were essential for this venue. We did not use ours. In fact, I would advise against the temptation of doing so (too slow, unecessary, and putting your rigs potentially amongst snags).

Details of your catches:

Unfortunately on arriving alice informed us that the fish had started spawning friday before we arrived and they continued for the next 3 days on the 4th still spawning day we packed up and left

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Looking at the log book with fish of 90+ fish a week most tactics would work

Were the facilities what you expected?

The lake lodge and shower/toilet block was nice and clean, only down side the freezer was full on the lakes own bait so we had no were to put our bait, luckily we take large freezer boxes.

Were you happy with them?

Yes happy with it

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Probably not, all tho the lodge was nice the lake was not the best looking with broken concrete blocks around the margins, advertised as 12 acres the end away from the dam end about quarter of the lake was very shallow 1ft deep main lake 3 to 4 ft deep. Also was not told the lake has crayfish. *Angling Lines note* Thank you for your feedback. We do believe there is ample room for up to 6 anglers on the lake, although you are correct that some of the 12 acres is the shallow end which would have been more pronounced this year with the lack of rain. To our knowledge crayfish had never been a problem on the lake but of course you should be aware, thank you for bringing this to our attention and we have now included this in the description.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes we been happy with your services on all trips we have been on.

General Comments:

Alice was very helpful and generally concerned that the fish was spawning and we couldn't fish, Vincons is ideal for a family break with swimming pool and lot of fish action, you wouldn't need to night fish or group of anglers having a social trip with lots of action. Average size of fish 20+.