The last farewell

As the week went on the bites slowed up which was good because it was giving me and martin time out to have socials with the other two Andy and Merv had had a steady week with Merv catching most of his fish at night.
As with every trip friday is always the downer because the week is nearly over so packing away stuff you wont be needing making it easier in the morning rush to get off the lake before the new lads take over for there week. With stuff packed and tea out of the way me and martin have a chat about how the week went for us all in all it was a great week with a new pb under my belt and martin having a cracking stalked fish yes it had been a really good trip. But it was not over yet not till 10.00 am we still had the night to go. It was 8.00am Saturday morning when the middle rod burst into life an uneventful fight and a big mirror was netted All that noise of the buzzer never woke martin i had to get him up to do the photo's
41LB MIRROR

This was to be the last fish of the week leaving the rods till the very last second before breaking them down and putting them away in the back of the van for the long ride home back to Grantham which none of us was looking forward too. We said our goodbye's to our host's and wish them luck as this was there 1st year at being the owner's of the lake.
This was it i took my last look at the lake as we drove up the lane to the main road and said farewell as it was the last time i will be fishing in France (unless i win the lottery ) yes i was sad and on the way back martin noted that i was silent for the first hour as i was deep in thought on the past trips i had done over the years from the very first time 18years ago to Les quis to the great trips to suvjia the home of 40lb carp.

Now it was time to move on its still only the start of june and the new syndicate ticket has just started so was so looking forward for the challenge ahead another water in the nene valley in search of the nene water pigs

My next blog will be about how i tackle what has been the hardiest water's i have fished in 30 years of carping

Till next time
Russ

Lac Naploen 1 part 3

Things was looking up for me but not for martin he was getting the fish but losing so many. After a walk round the lake martin came back to the swim and was unpacking rods going threw bags telling me at the same time " There under the trees in this back bay and i am going to have one " He was setting his staking rod up which didn't take long and with a bag loaded up and on his back and net and rod all set up he headed off to the bay where he had seen the carp.

After 20 minutes it got the better of me and i just had to go and see how he was getting on. Martin was laid down watching the margins i crept up beside him and looked over the edge where i saw 8 carp heads down and tails up the smallest was lower 30lb with the biggest upper 40lb Martin had put sweetcorn maize and hemp down after they moved out and they was digging and rooting at it big time after coming back and finding the food. Martin lowered the hook bait right in the middle of them within seconds the float dipped and the whole margin boiled as the fish spooked the other's was off like greyhounds as martin started to play the hooked carp we didn't no which one it was big or small??

Martin had the carp under control but playing it under the trees was a challenge he was stood in between 2 bushes that was cutting into him he then told me to get ready with the net. Bloody great i thought now i have to suffer the bushes too but with the fish getting beaten and ready for netting i never had time to worry about the bush i just got in there and slipped the net under the carp. Martin was over the moon he loved stalking carp and this was with out dought the biggest he had stalked because laid in the net was a 37lb mirror and it was a cracker too.

I am sorry but to upload the video was taking too long so i will put links up to youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooSkSgpB4X4


I spoke about the swims that we choose to fish for the week here is some photo's of the lake from our swims

Lac Naploen 1 part 2

Martin was gutted to say the least and he then refused to go get the breakfast from then on so that job was left to me every morning. There was a bay to martins left that went to the back of him every night there was loud crashing coming from there fish was getting up there so a rod was put in there nothing to lose i thought. At 8.30am the next morning martin was snoring away and i was sat having the 1st coffee of the day when a one toner was heard i looked at my rods nothing then i got up and checked martins nothing ??? Then it came to me the rod in the bay was away i rushed to the rod that was still running and hit into it game on it was a mental fight with it making its way to the snags several times which was heart stopping stuff in the end it seemed to get a gulp of air and was beaten a few pumps of the torrix and the mirror was in the net.

I thought right away it was bigger than the 53 we had before we got everything ready and got the big fish on the scales they went round and this time settled on 50-00 was i a happy man and Andy and Merv new it with the shouting that i was making so happy i was shaking just could not belive that after 18 years of going to france i had got a 50 on my rods i love it when it all comes together my last trip and it could not of ended any better

Lac Napleon 1

What a trip this turned out to be. The crew that was on this trip was my son martin brother andy and a good friend who we had been on loads of trips with Merv. We always travel on a friday so we get to the lake nice and fresh saturday morning. We had done all that traveling threw the night on past trips and you just spend most of the saturday trying to catch up on sleep so we now do it friday's.

We met our host and had the rules pointed out to us before the walk around the lake once done we all picked our swims me and martin picked a swim that could take both of us easy. To be honest the swims was the best swims i have ever seen with Wooden gazebo's for a cooking area and all the swims wood chipped
Martin choose to fish to the left had side of the lake and i fished the other side as we was sat on a kind of point i was fishing into a bay but because the fish held up in snags the baits where placed tight to them. we never new it was snag fishing when we booked to go something that none of us had done before so it was a 1st for everyone.



After 2 days the 1st fish came to martin but due to the way he was fishing the snags by the time he got to the rods the fish was already in the snags. They was just to fast with him so tight aganst it was one after the other of lost fish and it never got any better for him over the rest of the week He fished different parts of the lake but it was just not working out for him and to add injury to insult we both took turns in fetching the breakfast that was being made for us each morning. It was the tuesday morning both looking forward to the bacon and egg in french breadstick and martins turn to go get them. At napleon they give you pushbikes to get around on so off he went he got to the next swim where my brother was when his left hand rod went into melt down I hit into the fish and the fight was on within minutes martin had hread the buzzer and was stood next to me gutted 3 days with out a fish in the net this one did the right thing and ki8ted to the right out towards the middle of the lake. I told martin to take the rod but there was no way he was taking it as far as he was concerned it was my fish But i didnt want to claim it too.


After a 10 minuate battle the carp went over the cord and it was massive could this be a new french pb for me and martin. It did turn out to be a new pb for both of us it went on the scales at 52-14 a stunning mirror It was hard pill to swollow for both of us but thought as it was my last french trip i would have a piccy with it because it could be the biggest carp i will ever hold or so i thought.

A long time

Its been a year since i last updated the blogg. So over the next few weeks I will update you on what has happened over the past year. As you all no the lakes all froze over in what was one of the worst winter for something like 20 years so fishing was out of the question which was alright gave me a lot of play time to be with the grand kids.

Back in February i was taken into hospital with blood poisoning in the leg i spent 2 weeks in hospital and another 5 weeks off work which took us into april. I was having problems with the leg so i never went fishing till we was due to go to France at the end of may.

Because i was off work my ticket renewal came up for wellingborough lakes. Well i never had the money at that time so had to say goodbye to Heron and Island lakes which was sad really as i had met so many new mates down there and had caught loads of fish had pb commons and mirrors but needs are a must and i had to let the ticket go.

All was not lost and things was looking up i had a french trip booked to a new lake called Lac Napoleon 1 at the end of may plus the best news was i had a ticket offed to me that was full of big fish just across the river from wellingborough lakes so happy days to come.

That is where i will start my next blogg all about the fishing at napoleon then i will move on to the new water and tell you how things have panned out over the year on there.

Will all so be adding videos to the blogg too

Give me a day or two to write it up As i have said before i am not that good at writing so my grammar is poor but i will do my best to make it a entertaining read as possible

Good evening
Sorry it's been a while but since my last write up i have not caught anything. Heron lake has not done a fish in over 3 weeks now so friday night saw me head around to the Island lake it just seemed that it would be my best bet for a fish or two.
Now the night's are drawing in and the clocks was due to go back on saturday night it means i get down there in the dark so i normally just put some singles out and see about putting the rods right in the morning at first light which i did early morning.
At a round 10.30am and after seeing a few shows the middle rod burst into life. Fighting to put the waders on and the run of the carp slowing down i struck into what i new straight away was a big angry carp it took a long run before turning and heading into my margin where it plodded and rolled and dived trying to get away. I had seen the fish roll and that's when i new how big it was and that it was a type of carp i wanted. It was a Linear i could not believe it I was over the moon all i had to do was get it in the net easier said than done twice i thought it was ready and twice it made a dash for it but i held on and i was telling myself "please don't lose it" The fish was ready for the net and as it's head went over the cord it just seem to look at me wink and spit the hook out. I have never felt so sick before over losing a fish before. I just stood there in the water as i watched it slide back into the lake. Normally i would just laugh it off because that's how it goes some you win and some you lose But this was different i was gutted i have never been like it before after losing a fish. Not sure why it was not a fish i was targeting it was just a linear fish which i said i would like to catch as i have never had a linear before i was not that bothered how big it was. It was a bonus that the fish was going to be 35+ i just wanted to catch any linear.

The rest of saturday went with out any action. Smithy turned up for the night and set up in the next swim his wife was down and staying the night for the first time .The dark had returned and we sat having some hot food which Trudie had got for us and having a good old natter about anything and everything when the middle rod once again burst into melt down. Making sure the hook was set this time it came straight in making one or two small attempts to break free from the hook. I asked smithy to hold the rod while i put on the waders again. By the time i had done that the fish was in the margins and i put the net under it nice and easy. It was a cracking looking fully scaled mirror. we put it in the sling and weighed it and took a few photos before slipping it back unharmed.

The next morning Smithy came round to my bivvy saying he had just lost one which was bad luck really as he has not had a fish in a while so hopefully this weekend he can make amends and bag one. This weekend is a bit of a social weekend as Paul from Abs baits is coming up to fish so i am looking forward to to seeing him as its been a while.
Till next time be lucky
Russ

23-07 of scaly mirror

What a weekend

What a wet and horrible weekend we have just had it never stopped raining all day friday. Lucky for me when we got to wellingborough lakes at around 8.00pm the heavens finally stopped its downpour just long enough for us to set up the bivvy's and get the rods out before it started again.
With just singles being put out for the night it was not long before the kettle was on and a brew was made Before getting in the sleeping bag for the night. I was up early saturday morning just after first light only to watch the lake disappear slowly behind a thick fog so i went back into the sleeping bag for another hour or two. It was a little after 11.30am when the hanger on the middle rod slowly tightened and started its merry dance as line peeled from the spool. I was in after its first run and i stopped it dead in its track's the fish boiled to the top before it dived down trying to get its head in to the weed. But i held tight and pulled hard and kept it out after that it was soon under the rod tip and was plodding back and forth before it was netted. It was another stunning common with a back as black as coal they are stunning the fish in welly that's for sure.
That was the last of the action for a few hours till i was sat chatting with my brother when his left hand rod burst into life and he was soon into the fish which turned out to be a lovely looking stockie mirror of around 10lb. After telling my brother that i had never had a fish at night at 10.10pm my left hand rod was in melt down by the time i had got out the bag put my shoes and coat on and hit the run i felt it go solid it had made it's way into a weedbed. After trying to get it's head up with out success the only thing i could do was put the rod down and wait. It was 20 minutes before it started to take very small amounts of line i sat on my hands waiting for it to take a run for it. I must have fallen asleep because when i did open my eyes it was daylight i new right away that there was no chance the fish was still on i had another go at putting the pressure on but it was still solid and i never felt anything from the fish he had slipped the hook. I now no that the very small movements of line was the fish getting rid of the hook.
All though the wind got up and the rain started to come down again which made it impossible to pack up so we just sat and waited for a break in the weather before finishing the weekend with no more fish. Still it was a good weekend despite the weather and am looking forward to getting down there again soon hopefully to bag a autumn 30 who knows.
Stay lucky till next time
Russ