Catch reports 02/08/08

Rouge

Jason and family are on Rouge for two weeks, so their update will follow next week. Plenty of fish coming out though, along with some decidedly mixed weather!

Vert

Returning after a five year break, two anglers on Vert (ably assisted by their other halves) had a superb week's fishing. Both landed carp over the 20lb mark, including some cracking big commons. I Vert is getting a bit of reputation for these, they seem to keep popping up at ever increasing weights. To top the week off in style Steve landed the biggest catfish of the lot on his last day - a beauty that broke the 40lb barrier, well done mate.



Bleu

We had the pleasure of welcoming back two long standing customers onto Bleu this week. The competition wasn't fierce between the two as they battled it out for the biggest cat of the week - it was much more serious than that!

Fishing mainly with livebaits and large pellet hookbaits, they had successfully banked two cats over the 80lb mark by mid-week, along with a generous helping of nice carp up to high twenties. However the most spectacular result was saved for the end of the week when, on reeling in a rod, Alan met with firm resistance, that then started to move! After a lengthy battle a 99lb cat was banked - foul hooked in the flank. No doubt one of the beasts that regularly slip the hook and leave our anglers vowing to come back for another shot. The fish was returned in good health after a couple of pics to prove the size of it.



Nice one guys!

Tight Lines
Will James

Catch report 26/06/08

Rouge

5 Dutch lads arrived to fish Rouge this week, and made the perfect start to their holiday by banking a 31lb mirror within the first hour of having rods in the water! The sport continued in both the summerhouse swim and the roadside double as 3 more thirties fell throughout the week, topped by Rouge's biggest of the year at 37lb. On of this two scale-bottoming catfish came out of the summerhouse swim, and plenty of smaller specimens. Though the numbers of fish caught were fairly low, the quality and size of fish was excellent as ever.



Vert

Regular visitors Wayne and Richie brought brought along the third generation of the Hall family with them this year, as they once again set out to top their PBs. Richie showed up Dad and Grandad on the first day with a whopping 40lb+ cat, and went on to bank another 2 40lb+ specimens. These accounted for a sizable chunk of his weekly 700lb+ catch, with the rest made up from just 38 further fish - notably 'Big Head'/'Humpy' at 22lb 8oz and a couple of other 20lb+ carp.

Dad, Wayne, was focused on breaking the 1000lb barrier for the week, and did so at the final chance with another 100lb day on Friday whilst packing up. Though he didn't get any of the 40lb+ cats in the net, he managed a stunning 28lb common along with several other 20lb+ fish. A total weight of 1088lb represents a lot of hard graft, and a fantastic achievement - nice one!

Dave, a former match fishing legend by all accounts, took his own time getting used to the different techniques that Carpers employ, but found his feet soon enough, banking 550lb for the week. This was made up of mostly carp, including 6 over twenty pounds topped by a stunning 25lb 8oz common - a new coarse fishing PB.

Thanks for a great week fellas - very enjoyable :-)



Bleu

After hearing all Wayne's stories of the 'Carp of Papillon' from 2007, Karl couldn't resist booking his own lake and getting a slice of the action this year. Three anglers fished and had a fantastic time on their first trip to France. During the week 3 30lb+ carp were caught, with the biggest weighing in at 34lb - a fish that was weighing in at 28lbs at the beginning of last year. Despite getting smashed by a few of the bigger cats, all three anglers were delighted to land sizable specimens, to just under 50lbs during the week. One angler passed 1000lb for the week, whilst the other two made up 1200lb between them to bring up a fantastic total for the week, with an average fish size hovering around the 20lb mark.

Well in guys, and get some of those monster cats in next time!

I write this update with news of a 99lb cat for next week's bulletin - but from which lake?! You'll have to wait and see :-)



Tight Lines
Will James

Catch results 20/07/08

Rouge

Returning for their third visit Leigh, Ben, Matt and Eamonn fished Rouge in baking conditions. Despite the hot weather the fish continued to feed, and all anglers banked some cracking fish. The highlight was a 30lb+ Carp for young Ben and a whopping 40lb+ cat for Matt. In addition to this they managed plenty of stunning carp over the twenty pound mark, a few cats in excess of thirty pounds and a few smaller fish of both species.



Well done guys!

Tight Lines
Will James

Catch results 5/07/08 and 12/07/08

Rouge

After hearing that their target fish "The biggun'" (or "Scarface" as it is now known), had been out the previous week, Alan and Lee opted to drop onto the vacant Bleu in the hope of being the first to bag one of the 100lb+ Cats that we are sure inhabit the lake.

Vert

For the first week of their holiday our other visiting party fished Vert. This was their first week fishing in France, and proved to be very successful! Fishing daytime sessions only, David and Julie banked plenty of carp to 23lbs 9oz and catfish to 43lbs 1oz.

The majority of the carp were caught using both our own Premier baits boilies and strawberry boilies brought from home, whilst the cats fell to triple 22mm halibut pellets (a couple of the bigger carp also fell to this rod, somehow wedging all that bait in their mouths, along with the hook!).




Bleu

Alan and Lee are definitely big catfish anglers, and every time they come to visit they seem to bag a big one - many of you will recognise Alan's face from last year's lake record Catfish. Well, this year was no exception, but it was Lee's turn (long overdue by his reckoning!), Weighing in with another monster 90lb+ specimen. The fish is one they have caught before, identifiable by a 'Split whisker', but at nowhere near this weight - proving that the cats just keep on growing in Bleu. There can be no doubt that the 100lb barrier will be broken soon on this lake.

Pictures of all the guys' catch will follow.

Having warmed up on Vert, David and Julie dropped down onto Bleu for their second week with us, and continued catching at a very steady pace. The weather was disappointing during their time on Vert, but warmed up noticeably during their time on Bleu. This seemed to spur the 'smaller' cats into action, and throughout the week David had constant action. In addition he upped his PB yet again , from 43lbs 1oz on Vert to 49lbs 7oz, along with another two 40lbs+ fish - not bad for someone who had never caught a catfish before!

The carp fishing on Bleu started out a little slower, but fish came out sporadically during the week. The two biggest fish of the holiday fell to Julie at just over the 25lb mark, congratulations!

In total, over the course of their fortnight, 15 Carp over 20lbs were banked, and 29 smaller fish. On the catfish, a total of 43 fish were caught: 16 under 20lbs, 15 between 20lbs and 30lbs, 9 thirties and 3 forties. A fantastic effort, especially without fishing nights or late into the evening. Thanks for a great couple of weeks!



Tight Lines
Will James

Catch report 28/06/08

Rouge

As reported below, the three anglers on Rouge had a smashing week! Not only did the Williams brothers bank the brace of catfish I showed you in my last update, at 80lbs and 113lbs (new lake record) but, along with Terry, they also managed three thirty pound plus Carp, and a host of twenties.

Terry and Andy have been visiting our lakes for years, and have always done exceptionally well. Last year, Andy banked a 90lb+ Catfish from Bleu and lost another couple of biggies, so these guys are no stranger to good fishing, and big fish. However they could barely believe the pace of the sport that arrived on their second night, and improved again on their third when they banked the big girl. By resting the lake during the day, and stalking on Vert or in other areas of Rouge, they seemed to be able to get the fish feeding heavily over their baited spots. The frantic action started as soon as the rods went out at night, and continued until they were too tired to cast them out again.

It says a lot that during the entire week, I barely saw a rod in the water, and drove past a couple of times after 10am to see rods strewn at all angles, and a steady stream of ZZZs emerging from all three bivvies!

Charlie was on his first visit to Etangs Des Papillons and, indeed, his first serious carp fishing trip for 8 years. Needless to say, the carping bug came back with a vengeance when he saw the lakes, and I'm delighted to say he managed a thirty pound carp from Rouge, in addition to his stunning 80lb catfish.

The other two thirties were taken off the top by Terry from 'The Stalking Bay' and the double swim, the result of plenty of patient baiting, and the odd shenanigan too... :-)

Our own Premier Baits Lobster and N-Butyric GLM mix did the trick for a lot of the fish caught at night, fished in conjunction with plenty of pellet and other goodies.

Thanks for a cracking week lads!



Vert

A few of the fish taken from Vert during the day:



Bleu



Tight Lines
Will James

Special Update

Rouge

Last night, at around 11pm I got a phone call asking me to come down to Rouge. On my arrival there were two sets of car headlights on, torches darting around, rods everywhere and 3 very happy, if ever-so-slightly shell-shocked looking anglers.

Apparently, they had had a bit of a mad hour, and wanted a hand with some photos...

The first one out of the water (where they had been retained safely, with our permission) was a whopping 80lb Catfish - Very nice Charlie.

The second, made the first one look a bit...tiddly.The biggun that was weighed and witnessed by me and my Dad at a weight of 113lbs - a new lake record. Congratulations Andy!

The third was a cracking carp of just a shade under 30lbs, and what I didn't get to see were the two 30lbs+ cats that were caught in the same period, but didn't get weighed or photographed as there wasn't enough nets and mats to go round!

Incredible scenes, and more pictures to follow at the end of the week.



Vert

Also, you may remember I mentioned a young angler who had a spectacular afternoon on Vert a few weeks back. Well, here are his pictures (many thanks to Dad for sending them over again after I lost the first batch)



Nice one Liam!

Tight Lines
Will James

Catch results

Rouge

To say that the guys fishing Rouge were looking forward to their holiday would have been an understatement, and thankfully, to use Adam's own words, "It was a real treat and all we hoped for ... Thanks for an absolutely brilliant week at your complex". Both Trevor and Adam had carp over 30lbs (32lbs and 34lbs respectively), along with an impressive number of twenties. Of the 16 carp that Adam caught from swims 1 and 2, ALL were over 20lbs - including one caught on 6lb line and a size 16 hook intended for livebait! The majority of fish fell to our 'biopeche' boilies fished over beds of pellet.



Thanks for a great week, and see you again later on this year chaps!

Vert

In tense competition with their mates up on Rouge, the three lads fishing Vert had an extraordinary week's fishing. 20lb carp were coming out from all swims, and on all methods - in fact from what Dad tells me the rods were being brought in everyday just for a rest! Plenty were caught up on the surface, and off the bottom using Premier Baits boilies and pellet. The biggest carp went 29lbs and was just beaten by a catfish of 31lbs. Glad you enjoyed yourselves fellas, and hope to see you again next year for a re-match!



Bleu

Mike and Colin are some of Exclusive Angling Holidays' longest-serving clients, always fishing the same week in June on Bleu, and always enjoying a relaxing week of very civilised fishing. Without fishing nights, the guys managed a superb result on Bleu again this year. Each managed a carp over 30lbs, and several stunning big commons over the 25lb mark to crack a new set of personal bests. On top of that, Colin managed a lovely new PB catfish (pictured below).



Thanks for leaving everything in immaculate condition at the lake, and see you again next June!

Tight Lines
Will James

P.s. I'm back online with my Mac, so the updates will return to their regular weekly pace!

Catch Results 31/05/08

One party booked out the use of the complex this week, and on Saturday 9 anglers converged on Etangs des Papillons from the UK and Spain. Competing for the coveted, and according to Liverpool airport almost-too-dangerous-to-take-aboard-a-plane, 'Daddy Cup' the anglers switched swims daily, rotating between all three lakes to give everyone a fair chance at the bigguns.

Rouge

Rouge produced the biggest fish of the week to Steve, in the shape of an 80lb Catfish that earned him the 2008 bragging rights. The fish was taken on carp gear from the chalet swim (Or 'Casa Cookie'as it's now known). Congratulations mate!

The lake also produced four fish over the thirty pound mark, including this fantastic brace of 33lbs and 35lbs on Friday morning. Well done lads, one of my favourite photos from this year!





Vert

We let the guys have a crack on Vert to give everyone an equal chance of catching, and the lake threw up some cracking fish as normal. Following from Liam's excellent haul of twenties in an afternoon the previous week, I was hardly suprised to discover that, on arriving at the lakes by mid morning one angler had already bagged three twenties!

Vert also gave up some of it's prettiest specimens in the shape of these three fully scaled and heavily scaled mirrors.





Bleu

It didn't take long for Bleu to start producing fish. On Saturday afternoon, when the bivvies were still in their bags, Strotty managed his new PB with a lovely 21lb mirror that was determined to destroy the marginal lilies around peg two. They've just about grown back now :-)

As well as several carp over the 20lb mark, Bleu also gave up some lovely cats up to mid-thirties.



Many thanks to all the guys for a very entertaining week, and thanks to Carl for orgnaising the trip, we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Tight Lines
Will James

Tags: carp, fishing, france

Catch results 24/05/08

I'm still struggling with pictures, but the updates are piling up now, and I'm sure you're all keen to know how the lakes are fishing - so here goes (I'll add in pictures as and when I can):

Rouge

Kevin, Terry and Liam all fished from the double swim (1 & 2)and all used the same bait and rigs, yet the majority of fish fell to one angler's rods. Terry was fishing to the dam wall and picked up an incredible 50 fish during the course of the week, of which 44 were carp. Included in this monumental haul were two thirties, countless twenties and one of the two grass carp in the lake.

Here's the one photo i have that wasn't lost to the big Apple in the sky (as i'm now refering to my old Macbook):



Vert

Both Kevin and young Liam managed a few fish from Rouge, but it seemed as if the entire stock of the lake was hemmed into one corner, so by friday they were ready to take up our offer of a crack at Vert. As ever the lake didn't disappoint and Liam had a superb afternoon. I think his total for the afternoon ran into double figures, topped by a fish known as 'Big 'ed' at 26lbs and another two twenty pound plus carp. Vert really is a lake on form this season, producing twenties every week.

Bleu

Five anglers came for their bi-annual social on Bleu and had a reall ball depsite a wet start to the week. The biggest two carp of the week fell to John and John Jnr, at 28lbs 4oz and 28lbs 6oz respectively, meaning that, in keeping with our company logo, it was Johnny Jnr who walked away with the prize for the biggest carp of the week!Between the two of them they banked 27 fish, including, notably, a 20lb 4oz Mirror from Vert on a size 20 hook that fancied the single maggot intended for catching livebait.

All the other anglers caught consistently throughout the week, and a grand time was had by all. Thanks guys! (if you have any pictures, please send them over to info@exclusiveanglingholidays.com)

Tight Lines
Will James

Announcement

This is just a quick note to explain the absence of updates over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I've had some serious computer problems (hard disk crash - arghh!). I've dug out my old Dell, dusted off the cobwebs and if i can convince the hamster inside to keep turning in his wheel, we should be back to service as normal over the next couple of days.

The lakes have been fishing exceptionally, with 8 thirties to report from Rouge and another two from Bleu. More details to follow!

Tight Lines
Will James