Exclusive Angling Holidays News
Keep up-to-date with all the latest Exclusive Angling Holidays news right here. From catch reports to future plans and as many photos as we can gather - it's all here to give you all the information you need before deciding to book with us. This page was started at the beginning of 2004; you can view all previous updates here, you can also now add comments to each new entry, by clicking the link at the end of each post.
Back again!
Having been away from France, the UK and all things fishing for the last 12 months, I'm glad to say that i'm now back in the Exclusive Angling Holidays fold again. 2 weeks ago I visited the lakes for a short holiday to catch up on the gossip and sneak in a few days fishing on Bleu. Safe to say, I wasn't disappointed with the outcome...
After setting myself up in my favourite swim opposite the island, i had a quiet first night with no Carp and plenty of sleep. However, the next day was a little more active with 4 Carp to 18lbs and another 2 slipping the hook. All the fish were taken on boillies fished over a small bed of groundbait.
Feeling more confident having netted my first Carp for over a year, i set up a Catfish rod for the second evening. Using the popular (and soon to become legendary) 'Dumbell rig', coupled with a 4.5lb TC ESP spod rod, big pit reel freshly loaded with 35lb line and a lively 6oz skimmer, I cast the rig into open water to my right. As dusk began to fall i was startled by a huge 'Slap!' as a large Cat hit the livebait. Waiting as the line pulled the bobbin slowly to the rod butt and line began to trail off from the baitrunner, my heart was in my mouth.
After what seemed like an eternity (but in reality was only a few seconds) i picked up the rod, disengaged the baitrunner and lifted into the fish. Feeling the prick of the hook, the fish accelerated at lightning pace and stripped a full 60 yards of line from my reel, even with the strong rod heavily bent. Realising that it was headed for the sanctuary of 'The Drain' at the bottom end of the lake, i picked up my net and began walking towards the next swim, from which i could gain a better angle to steer the fish my way.
Thankfully the ploy worked and i was able to work the fish out from the overhanging trees and back into open water. After a few more powerful, but mercifully short runs (my arms were tiring from the strength of the fish) the fish surfaced and was clearly ready to be netted...unfortunately it was still another 20 yards from the bank! After a nervous few minutes of gentle coaxing what i could see was a good fish towards me, it was withing netting range. However, despite my net's ample size, it was still something of a problem squeezing this 6ft long beast inside - eventually solved by physically folding the tail of the fish inside the net, whilst balancing net and rod in the other hand...!
The fish pulled the scales around to 65lbs, and is now my second largest from the lake. Slipping it gently back into the water as the sun set, i couldn't help but let a little "Wahoo!" disturb the tranquility for just a moment. A very memorable single-handed capture.
Sadly there are no pictures as i was fishing alone.
That fish proved to be the highlight of the week for me, although being accompanied by 3 20lb+ Carp (2 from vert in one afternoon!) and several more Cats up to 25lb. All in all it was very enjoyable to get back into the carping scene, and as ever, the setting didn't let me down.
The good news is that i'll be back next year for some more of those big Cats, and hopefully some of those great big Mirrors and Commons that have so far eluded me...
Over the next few weeks and months i'll be looking to update several areas of the website. In particular, i'm looking for any pictures you have of this year's fishing. If you could send them to info@exclusiveanglingholidays.com, i'll get them added to our exctiting new gallery...
Tight Lines
Will James
Leave us a comment by clicking the link below!
Having been away from France, the UK and all things fishing for the last 12 months, I'm glad to say that i'm now back in the Exclusive Angling Holidays fold again. 2 weeks ago I visited the lakes for a short holiday to catch up on the gossip and sneak in a few days fishing on Bleu. Safe to say, I wasn't disappointed with the outcome...
After setting myself up in my favourite swim opposite the island, i had a quiet first night with no Carp and plenty of sleep. However, the next day was a little more active with 4 Carp to 18lbs and another 2 slipping the hook. All the fish were taken on boillies fished over a small bed of groundbait.
Feeling more confident having netted my first Carp for over a year, i set up a Catfish rod for the second evening. Using the popular (and soon to become legendary) 'Dumbell rig', coupled with a 4.5lb TC ESP spod rod, big pit reel freshly loaded with 35lb line and a lively 6oz skimmer, I cast the rig into open water to my right. As dusk began to fall i was startled by a huge 'Slap!' as a large Cat hit the livebait. Waiting as the line pulled the bobbin slowly to the rod butt and line began to trail off from the baitrunner, my heart was in my mouth.
After what seemed like an eternity (but in reality was only a few seconds) i picked up the rod, disengaged the baitrunner and lifted into the fish. Feeling the prick of the hook, the fish accelerated at lightning pace and stripped a full 60 yards of line from my reel, even with the strong rod heavily bent. Realising that it was headed for the sanctuary of 'The Drain' at the bottom end of the lake, i picked up my net and began walking towards the next swim, from which i could gain a better angle to steer the fish my way.
Thankfully the ploy worked and i was able to work the fish out from the overhanging trees and back into open water. After a few more powerful, but mercifully short runs (my arms were tiring from the strength of the fish) the fish surfaced and was clearly ready to be netted...unfortunately it was still another 20 yards from the bank! After a nervous few minutes of gentle coaxing what i could see was a good fish towards me, it was withing netting range. However, despite my net's ample size, it was still something of a problem squeezing this 6ft long beast inside - eventually solved by physically folding the tail of the fish inside the net, whilst balancing net and rod in the other hand...!
The fish pulled the scales around to 65lbs, and is now my second largest from the lake. Slipping it gently back into the water as the sun set, i couldn't help but let a little "Wahoo!" disturb the tranquility for just a moment. A very memorable single-handed capture.
Sadly there are no pictures as i was fishing alone.
That fish proved to be the highlight of the week for me, although being accompanied by 3 20lb+ Carp (2 from vert in one afternoon!) and several more Cats up to 25lb. All in all it was very enjoyable to get back into the carping scene, and as ever, the setting didn't let me down.
The good news is that i'll be back next year for some more of those big Cats, and hopefully some of those great big Mirrors and Commons that have so far eluded me...
Over the next few weeks and months i'll be looking to update several areas of the website. In particular, i'm looking for any pictures you have of this year's fishing. If you could send them to info@exclusiveanglingholidays.com, i'll get them added to our exctiting new gallery...
Tight Lines
Will James
Leave us a comment by clicking the link below!
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