News

Firs Stocking On Tuesday 15th November, we took delivery of 63 stunning carp from Micheal Bigot Piscicultre, these were mainly mid to high twenties. fifteen thirties and 2 low fourties. 

Willow Drain down over the weekend of 12th / 13th  November, we took around a metre of water out of Willow to enable us to net the lake and take stock of the fish. the results were very pleasing, the largest Carp was "Chloe" at a staggering 52lbs, closely followed by "Single scale" at 49lbs and a further 7 other fourties,  many thirties and twenties. We also removed over 40 small Catfish.    

2011 Catch Report

1st-8th October Willow Lake Mr Sessions managed 10 fish, including Carp to 30lbs and a Catfish of 50lbs. This was tough going as the weather was in the 80's for a couple of days then dropped 15 degrees with cold wet winds.  

24th -1st October Mr Sargent s stay at Willow was slow, he caught 2 mirrors of 36lbs and 39lbs

17th-24th September Willow Lake. Mrs Nicholls said-  What a lovely home  / place to be. Have not really heard of the men since we arrived.  We arrived enjoying the peace and quiet. Mirror 46.8 ( PB ) 21.8  23.8  27  17.8  24  34.4 ( PB ) 28.4 18  25.4 Common  27.7  23.8  17  12  13.8  21.16  1 x baby cat  1 x Pike 13.4  Fully scaled mirror 21.4  All fish caught at night except 1

10th-17th September Willow Lake Mr Wagstaff fishing days only, caught 7 Carp including 3 thirty pound plus and a Catfish. 

3rd -10th September Willow Lake Mr Westgarth yet again had a cracking week, 43 Carp in total, including "Chloe" at 48lbs 4ozs, and "Single Scale" slightly down in weight at 45lbs 10ozs, still a very nice fish to catch. There total weight of fish was just over 1075lbs thats over half a Ton !! with an average weight of 25lbs+ This family really know how to haul. Top bait was Malarki, or Quad boilies over small amounts of bait / particle. Top swim was Jims swim.

27th August - 3rd September Willow Lake Mr Hotchkiss had a tough week, but did manage to catch 7 Carp to 32lbs and a couple of Cats to 51lbs.

20th -27th August Willow Lake Mr Bagley Nothing Caught.....

13th-20th August Willow Lake Mr Waddilove caught 20 Carp this was made up of 3 thirties to 34 lbs 10 ozs well done Tracy, 10 high 20's and 7 mid teens, the weather has been up in the high 20's 

6th-13th August Mr Walker Arrived at Willow Lake in anticipation for a fab weeks fishing after reading all previous feedback reports, we have been waiting to fish this lake for the past couple of years, but it has been booked on the dates we wanted. As we arrived earlier than expected we were greeted by Brian & Linda who were very helpful with useful tips on how to fish the lake. Our first impression was WOW, everything was as we expected, then couldn't wait to set up camp. It was not long till the fish bit.

14th -21st July Willow Lake Mr Hills Had a very rough week weathger wise, he caught Cats to 55lbs   

9th-14th July Willow Lake Mr Maskell had a quiet week, he caught Carp to 38lbs and Cats to 49lbs.

2nd -9th July Willow Lake Mr Smith had a very hot time at Willow with tempretures over 30 degrees some days, they still managed to catch 2 x 50lb+ Cats and a few smaller Cats and 10 Carp to 26lbs some of which fell to zig rigs with black foam. He did manage to have a few days out too.

25th June-2nd July Willow Lake Hi Hugh,  it's Neil from the Schofield party who fished Willow's from the 25th June - 2nd July. A brilliant weeks fishing and a pleasure to stay, my only regret was not doing two weeks and having to pull my rods out of the water.

A total of 32 fish caught with a total weight of 911 pounds. The biggest catches include Cats at 47, 49 and 51 pound and carp at 47 and 48 pound.

The overall number were 9 x 10's, 12 x 20's, 6 x 30's, 4 x 40's and 1x 50. Top baits were fake corn fished 'KD' style, Odyssey xxx, cell dumbell's and source boillie.

11th - 18th June Willow Lake Mr Peacock  had a fantastic week fishing days only and having the odd day out, he caught over 20 fish including two fourties topped by Single Scale at 49lb15oz ( how honest is that !!) he fished small amounts of bait over mixed seeds. Top angling Roy.

4th-11th June Willow Lake Mr Mitchells party  had a productive week catching 16 fish, this included Mirrors too 49lbs, Grass Carp too 33lbs (new Lake record) and Cats too 58lbs. They also lost two VERY BIG FISH.........?? Top bait was Fruity boilies or Hallibut pellets.

28th-4th June Willow lake Mr Stevens had a good week, he caught 24 Carp including 2 x 40's, one of 48.14 and his daughter Ellie, caught one of 47.08. sorry 47.12 good angling, dad taught you well....Top tatic was making sure his lines were well pinned down, Maize or Tigers was top bait fished over small amounts of  particle, he also caught a few on Boilies. He also banked 3 Cats to 28lbs Mr Stevens, or Kevin has written a couple of  very good blogs on Firs last year and the year before, read it, as "His wish is my comand" !!    and here is his latest Willow Blog...

Willow Lake – May 2011 – Stevens Family Blog

Following trips to Firs in the previous two years we decided to give Willow a go in 2011. We spoke at length with Hugh and booked a week at the end of May to coincide with the half term school holidays. After last years trip my Dad decided to join us again, so it was with a well packed car full of tackle, bait and people that we set off for the Friday overnight ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Caen. A fairly uneventful journey, both to the port in the UK, and from the port to Craon ensued. With a fatigued driver (me), and having arrived from a different direction to Hugh and Sarah’s directions, we proceeded to get lost. Re-trace the route back to Craon and then back to the village and lo and behold we saw the lake.

Ellie quickly found the house key and we walked through the entrance and out onto the decked area. With the lovely French sun shining on us we saw the lake properly for the first time. What a glorious sight. As tired as I was I walked the length of the lake thinking of where to set up. The carp helped, or didn’t, by leaping and rolling at either end of the lake, then on the far tree line, then just off the lily pads, then just off the edge of the aerator bubbles. The next fish jumped in the shallower water towards Jim’s Swim. That’ll do for me. So after a quick return trip to the Super U at Craon to stock up I moved my gear down to the chosen pitch. A couple of stubbies revitalised me and soon enough the bivvy was up, rigs out and tea was served.

The first evening brought something I had waited over 30 years to achieve – a forty. A slow run on the left hand rod placed on the far tree line produced a 48.14 mirror. Chaos ensued, photos were taken, and a dazed, tired and extremely happy angler retreated to his bedchair. I could scarcely believe it, having beaten my previous best of 38.8 from 2000. A quiet night followed a pattern that was repeated throughout the week with only one carp caught all week between 11pm and 5am, before a second carp of 27lb was landed at around 9am on Sunday morning.

Sunday, after the exertions of travelling, was a day of rest and relaxation! So games of pool were had in the house, books and magazines read and a few hours of kip recovered. The day was quiet fishing wise, but around tea time two rods went off at once. Thankfully Dad was there to hold on to one rod and both fish were safely landed – upper twenty mirrors. On Monday morning the constant crashing and rolling of fish on the dam wall made me up sticks and move. As the drizzle started to fall I set up camp in the Stile Swim, and we all went out for lunch in Chateau Gontier. I had caught six fish up to this point including a lovely 18lb fully scaled mirror.

On our return I sent the baits out – two to the dam wall and one to the far tree line. The benefit of only one angler on the lake was being able to move the rigs anywhere on the lake. By now Ellie had started to get interested in adding to her tally of fish, but runs seemed to occur whenever she wasn’t in the swim. Fish continued to come steadily (to me!), as did the Sparrow hawk who appeared above the far tree line to hunt at around 4pm several days on the trot. The swim move paid off with three fish on the Monday evening after our lunch trip. Best fish was a 31.7 mirror. At 11pm that night a run on the right hand rod resulted in a 28lb catfish. This fish just tripped line off a tight clutch and surfaced way down the lake. After a serious tug of war I won the contest on points netting the fish a long time after it was initially hooked.

After the catfish capture there was a lull in captures from Monday evening and throughout Tuesday when only a kitten of around 4lbs was caught. This was the only poor spell of weather of the week as the wind turned North-Easterly and quite cold, although the rain stayed away after Monday’s showers for the rest of the week.

Wednesday dawned bright and clear and although the wind was still coming from a Northerly direction it felt warmer than on the previous days. Having had a quiet night I refreshed all three rods at 6am using the bait boat to get some fresh bait into the swim. This worked incredibly as by 6.45am all three rods had received takes – a fully scaled of 18lb, plus mirrors of 23lbs and 27lbs 12ozs. What a great way to start the day! We again ventured out to Chateau Gontier for lunch and shopping late morning arriving back mid-afternoon feeling well fed and chilled out.

Baits were sent out again and this time Ellie stuck it out waiting for a run until the middle rod at the far end of the dam wall went off at 6pm. A good fight ensued and the fish soon rolled a few yards out – a rather larger grassie. It was certainly larger than any I’d ever caught. I didn’t manage to knock it off at the net and soon enough a 28.4 grass carp was being held up for the camera by me with the proud capture beaming over my shoulder. I now have the two women in my life who have a better species PB than me. This fish, and Nicki’s ‘monster’ perch from way back when. Oh well, just have to grin and bear it Kev!!

Two more carp, the second biggest of the week to me at 33lb, and a 23.10 mirror were landed along with another kitten before the carp did their usual night time closedown. I was woken Thursday morning at 5.20am by a 25.13 mirror followed by a low twenty an hour and a half later. Thursday was to be another day lazing by the lake so I re-tied all my rigs and sorted the fresh bait boat mix ready for a serious assault. The weather had turned a lot warmer over the last day or so and we spent the day chilling out with a few beers and a nice leisurely lunch. Either side of lunchtime I landed two more carp of 28lb and 32lbs 8ozs. Mid-afternoon and the ‘you haven’t made a cup of tea all week’ abuse started. I held it off for a while because the fish were obviously active and there was a chance of more runs. At around 3.15pm I made my way from the Stile towards the house leaving Ellie in charge of the rods. I had only made it to the top of the decking when the shout came. Right hand rod had rattled off. Ellie had tightened the clutch and struck and was well bent into a fish. She played it superbly like a true carping veteran with only verbal encouragement to assist her. As the fish got closer we could see from the boils it was sending up and the bend in the rod that it was a decent fish. However, even when it rolled into the landing net we didn’t realise how big it was. It was only when I came to lift it did it dawn on me. Onto the mat, check for the split left pectoral fin. Yes, it’s Chloe!!! Onto the scales and we settled on 47.12. I held her for the photos with a very satisfied Ellie beaming down again. Chloe gave me a beating on the mat, and then soaked me as she powered off back to her watery home. A very proud Dad and daughter sat for a while reflecting the moment before getting the rod back out. Surely this is a Craon record for a teenager? The cup of tea? Well everyone seemed to forget that in the mayhem. Two more twenties followed, including the first common of the week at 21.4, before I reeled in for decent night’s kip in the house.

Friday dawned gorgeous and bright again and I had the rods out by 6.45am. It took half an hour until one of the rods went off giving me a 27.9 mirror. Rods were reeled in again late morning so we could take a walk down to the bar in the village for lunch. Nicki and my Dad had popped in for a coffee/beer a couple of times earlier in the week and the 3 course ‘plat du jour’ menu had looked excellent value and rather good. And so it proved. Serge the bar owner has no English, but with many hand signals, some Franglais and we had ordered. A huge plate of Charcuterie to start (we thought the first one to arrive was to share between the four of us), followed by steak and chip like potatoes cooked with lardons and onions, then a cheese course (plate with several cheeses and a knife were left with us until we had our fill) and then dessert. These were homemade Creme Caramel or a blackcurrant tart. All washed down with beer, white wine, Coke and coffee. As good meals as we’ve had in France for many a year and there have been plenty of meals! The cost? 48 euros all in and that included a couple of baguettes for tea. If you visit the lake then a trip to the bar for a meal is a must.

After a slow wander back to the house the reality that our holiday was nearly over was slowly dawning. One of those happy/sad moments. Anyway, it was time to pack away the gear so the rods were slung out from the Armchair swim. At 8pm the right hand rod signalled the final take of the holiday and a long, lean fighting machine of a common weighing 21.14 was landed. Shortly after the rods were packed away and it was soon time to head home.

The tactics for the week were simple. Maize, tiger nuts or chopped Cell boilies over a smattering of particles. I always use a piece of plastic corn on my baits. Just a confidence thing, but doesn’t seem to do any harm. When I used pellets I had catfish so avoided them as I prefer to catch the carp. I didn’t find that I had to be really tight to the tree line or the dam wall to get runs, but recasting to another spot if it went quiet often got a quick response. Rigs were blowback or popup rigs nothing too fancy.

As you can guess I didn’t spend a great deal of time in the house. However, the facilities were very good and there was no single item that we wished we had that wasn’t provided. The pool table was great, but the jury is out for me on the karaoke machine !  The surrounding area is lovely and the views stunning. The wildlife was exceptional and the cats, dog and chickens friendly. The frogs in the reeds.....well they were the noisiest thing at the lake!! All in all we had a fabulous time and I am planning a return trip in April 2012 with a fishing/work colleague. Well, Hugh said I was ‘unlucky’ in the number of 30lb+ fish I caught so I have to really. As a family I’m sure we’d all like to return as soon as we can.

Thanks to Hugh & Sarah for allowing us into their lovely home.  I hope everyone that visits the site in the coming weeks and years enjoys it as much as we did.

Kevin, Nicki, Ellie & Paul Stevens

21st-28th May Willow Lake Mr Millard had quiet week, he caught Carp and Cats to Mid thirties 

14th-21st May Willow Lake Mr Perkins had a tough week, with the carp spawning for most of it, but he still managed to catch carp to 35lbs, and cats to 38lbs.   

7th-14th May Willow Lake Mr Mansbridge had a great week to start with, including 4 fish on the first night. but by Monday things slowed up a bit as the fish started to get ready to spawn. He ended up with about 20 fish including carp to 49lbs 8ozs, grass carp to 32lbs 8ozs (new lake record) and cats to 54lbs 10ozs. Top bait was CC Moores  Odyssey XXX fished over a couple of handfuls of crushed Trgga boilies, Hemp and corn. Well done

30th-7th May Willow Lake Mr Grypicz had a great time,they managed to bank 36 fish including 3 lake records !! bigest Mirror, "Chloe" at 49lbs 8ozs, Biggest Common at 43lbs, and biggest Grass carp at 31lbs 6ozs. they also managed another new 40lber (Popeye) 10 x 30s 7 x high twenties and 8 doubles. Again Maggots proved a winning formula, or small boilies presented with a small ammount of pellets and particle. 

Our Head Baliff Brian Langley managed to squeeze in an afternoons angling at Firs over the weekend and managed to winkle out 3 mid 20's to 28lbs, good angling Brian considering whats been going on there. 

23rd-30th April Willow Lake Mr Shepherds party all beat there PB's, best Carp was 39lbs  

16th-23rd April Willow Lake Mr Potterills party caught 45 Carp including 2 fourties, 13 x 30's, 20 x 20's (14 were 25+) and 10 doubles. best tatic was little and often, small CC Moore boilies and Hemp seed.  

9th-16th April Willow Lake  Mr Aziz and family caught 10 carp including 2 fourties, one of 46lbs and one of 40lbs 2ozs. The weather was hot 30 degrees some days. They did have a few days out sight seeing.

2010 CATCH REPORT

25th September -2nd October Firs Lake Simon Gupita had a relaxing time having a couple of days out sight seeing then the other days he fished days only, he managed to catch 12 carp to 33lbs and he lost 5, top bait was small Trigga, or Cell boilies fished over particles and a handful of boilies. 

25th September -2nd October Willow Lake Mr Collins Had a good week, They caught 16 carp to 37lbs and a Catfish of 40lbs. They used small amounts of bait fishing for one fish at a time.

18th-25th September Firs Lake TBC

 18th-25th September Willow Lake Mr Mitchell caught 8 Carp including a new lake Record Carp of 47lbs. this fish is known as "Single Scale" and not "Chloe" as first thought. -well done

11th-18th September Firs Lake Mr Lane  caught 8 carp to 33lbs and a Catfish of 34lbs. 

11th-18th September Willow Lake Mr Haywood had a tough week due to an algae , he caught 2 carp to 35lbs.

4th-11th September Firs Lake Mr Westgarth and sons had a good time, they caught 28 carp to 33lbs, most were high 20's. The weather was hot 27 degerees some days, and heavy rain others, top bait was Premiere Baits new "Quad" 14mm  or malarki, fished over a handfull of boilies. Stalking rseulted in a few fish too- good angling 

4th-11th September Willow Lake Mr Goodenough again had a tough week due to algae , but he caught a carp of 30 lbs and one of 40lbs.

28th August -4th September Firs Lake  Mr Wagstaff had a hot week ( 25+).He caught 8 Carp including a 30lb Common and a 30lb Catfish the others were mainly mid twenties. All the fish were caught between 8pm-10pm 

21st August-4th September Willow Lake  Mr Goodall had a relaxing time with days out and a bit of fishing here and there, this was tough going due to an algie bloom, but he caught a few fish topped by a 32lb Mirror,  

14th-28th August Firs Lake Mr McMillans party had a good week, they caught 40+ fish including 10 x 30's to 35lbs, and a faw Cats to 36lbs. Top bait was Trigga. 

14th-21st August Willow Lake TBC

7th-14th August Willow Lake Mr Baldock had a good week including 19 carp to 42lbs, this was made up of mainly high twenties to mid thirties. Top bait was fake corn or Tigernuts fished over Hemp, pigeon conditioner and maize. he also caught Cats to 52lbs.they fished 6pm -11pm. 

7th-14th August Firs Lake Mr Dennis had to cut his holiday short, but still managed 14 carp to 36.5, he fished 7pm - midnight. Most fish were caught on tigers popped up with fake corn.  

31st July-7th August Willow Lake Mr Blackwell caught Carp to 38lbs and Cats to 53lbs 

31st July-7th August Firs Lake Simon Likes family had a good week, fishing mainly mornings and evenings  and going out during the day, they caught mirrors to 37lbs and a common of 32lbs.

24th -31st July Willow Lake Mr Robbins had a hot week, they caught 17 fish this was made up of 6 cats to 53lbs and 11 carp to 37lbs all the fish were caught at night. Tatics were Source boilies Tigernut boilies or plastic corn. 

24th -31st July Firs Lake Mr Byatts party had another hot week, temp. up in mid 30"s, so fishing from 9pm until 9am they caught 10 fish, this was topped by mirrors of 37lbs, 36lbs  and 32lbs, the rest were twenties or doubles. The main bait was either plastic corn or boilies.   

17th-24th Willow Lake Mr Cox had a very good week banking 35 fish including a new lake record of 45lbs 4ozs. During his stay he used amongst other things, 3 gallons of maggots to get the fish feeding. Hookbait was hair rigged maggots, or critically balanced Pepperami.- Good angling Garath, trying something different. 

17th 24th July Firs Lake Mr Nicholls fished mainly from 9pm -10am the following day, as he had a few days out. he caught 11 fish and lost a couple, these  were between 16lbs and 28lbs. The weather was hot for the first few days, then they had a thunderstorm which clearerd the air and the fishing picked up. He used Active 8, Tiger nuts or Brazil Nuts as hook bait. 

10th-17th July Willow Lake Mr Sargent again had hot weather, but managed to catch "Chloe" at 42lbs 40zs three times !! he also caught 4 other Carp.

10th-17th July Firs Lake Mr Ellison had a very hot week with the temp. around the mid thirties making the fishing very hard, but he managed 7 carp to 29lbs. these were caught on Trigga/cranberry snowman or pop-ups on a chod rig. he only fished nights. 

3rd-10th July Willow Lake Mr Hassan had a scorcher of a week with temperatures topping 40 degrees c. !! He caught 2 grass carp to 31lbs a common of 31lbs, and a few Catfish, the biggest being 43lbs. Hallibut pellets or Fushion Boilies were the top bait. 

3rd -10th July Firs Lake Mr Robinson caught a few fish

26th June -3rd July Willow Lake Mr sessions had a good week considering the weather was 30+degrees C. He caught 15 Carp to 34lbs and 6 Cats to 40lbs. He mainly fished early evening until midnight fishing tight to the far margin with chopped down Trigga tipped with plastic corn over a small amount of bait.

26th June - 3rd July Firs Lake Mr Lyes tbc

19th - 26th Firs Lake Mr Thorpe had a slow week, he fished nights and caught 3 carp to mid twenties, so he found time to have a few trips out including local restaurants,  the caves and the chocolate factory twice !! 

19th - 26th June Willow Lake Mr Birch caught a 20lb Carp and lost a couple. The weather was very hot, the fish spent most of the time on the top. he only fished days. 

12th - 19th June Firs Lake Mr Wordsley fished mainly nights as the weather was hot, he caught 12 carp between 20lbs-25lbs and a Catfish, these were caught mainly on trigga boilies either tipped with something or re-shaped and fished over small amounts of free offering at various spots around the lake.

12th-19th June Willow Lake Mr Peacock had a nice relaxing time eating and drinking and generally chilling out, he still found time to catch 18 fish including carp and cats to mid thirties, these were mainly caught on finely balanced sweetcorn fished in PVA bags or over a small amount of pellet 10ft off the far margin.   

5th - 12th June Firs Lake Mr Sargent Caught just one carp of 30lbs and a Catfish of 33lbs

5th-12th June Willow Lake Mr Schofields party had a very stressful time, this started before they even arrived ! but once they had sorted things out, they managed 11 Carp to 30lbs and a Catfish of 33lbs. 

29th-5th June Firs Lake  Mr Miller caught 10 fish including 4 x 30,s to 33lbs

22nd - 5th June Willow Lake Mr Campbell had a slow time, real mixture of weather, they caught a few carp, including a 42lb 12oz  common. 

22nd-29th May Firs Lake Mr Evens had a slow week, fish spawning and  variable weather, not ideal, but he did have a few fish at the end of the week. 

15th-22nd May Willow Lake Mr and Mrs Jackson managed 11 Carp, dispite them spawning for 3 days, these were topped with a stunning  mirror of 44lbs 1oz. caught by Julie, her new PB, they also had 3x30's to 39lbs and 3x 20s. they fished mornings and evenings.

15th-22nd May Firs Lake Mr Cooper had a quiet week, not a lot happened for the first five days, as the weather was cold north easterly winds, then the weather changed and they caught a few carp to 30lbs and a cat of 20lbs. 

8th-15th May Willow Lake Mat Mitchell had a cracking week banking 34 carp, these included 2 x40's to 43lbs 12ozs, 10 30's of which 7 were 36lbs+ 16 x 20's and 4 doubles. (not bad for a 2 acre lake!) The favoured bait was carefully balanced Tigers on long hairs, everything was well pinned down. Top Angling Mat

8th-15th May Firs Lake Mr Perkins  had a grim week weather wise but he still managed to bag 10 fish, including a new lake record carp of 42lbs 8ozs, he also caught another 40lb carp, 2 x 30's to 36lbs and the rest were 20's these were caught mainly on Trigga.    

1st-8th May Willow Lake Mr Mansbridge had a challanging week with cold northeastly winds.Fishing days only, they caught 1 x 40 ("Chloe" at 44lbs 6ozs ) 6 x 30's to 39lbs 12ozs, 9 x 20's and 4 doubles.

1st -8th May Firs Lake David Posse and his wife had a great week dispite the weather being a bit grim with mainly cold north easterly winds and some scattered showers and only the odd sunny day.But, he managed to catch 22 carp, this was made up of 7 x 30's to 37lbs 8 ozs, and the rest were 20's except two high doubles. He also caught 5 x Catfish. Most of the fish fell to Matrix boilies fished over about 20 freebes.

24th April-1st May Willow lake Mr Thorpe had a good week, fishing days only and having a couple of hours off for lunch,(when in France do as the French do! ) he still managed 16 fish including "Chloe" at 44lbs and a Common of 36lbs the rest were mainly 20's and 30's. He also caught a Catfish of 35lbs.

24th April-1st May Firs Lake Mr Waddiloves Party had a good week, they caught 5 x Cats to 32lbs, the carp included 5 x 30's to 35lbs, 17 x 20's to 29lbs anb a few doubles. they fished days only. The weather was hot 25+ most days.

17th -24th April Willow Lake  Mr Jamieson was our first client, as we had the first 2 weeks of April, He was there with his wife and 2 young sons,. Fishing mainly afternoons and evenings he managed 12 carp, this was made up of 2 doubles 3 high 20's,  a 29lb grass Carp, 5 x30's to 37lbs and a beautiful common of 41lbs 3ozs. Top tatics was to use trimmed down Tigernut boilies, fished over beds of hemp, maize and chopped tigers.       

Firs Lake – The Return

Following our initial visit to the venue over Easter 2009 we made plans to return as soon as we were back in the UK. After consultation with the school holiday calendar we booked the same week again at Firs for 2010 to see if we could conquer some of the venue’s 30’s that had eluded us in 2009.

Plans were made, ferries booked, rigs made, and soon enough Easter was upon us and we made the trip down to Portsmouth for the overnight ferry to Caen. As well as my wife and now 14 year old daughter my Dad was joining us on this trip. The car was a bit cramped but everything was squeezed in and we arrived on a sunlit Saturday afternoon to find Hugh making some final tweaks to the new swim at the road end of the lake. A quick chat and it became apparent that the first week had been a bit of a struggle. However, the weather had been set fair for the past couple of weeks and looked good for our seven days so I set about setting the rods up for the first night full of optimism. Rods out, bivvy up, dinner demolished and the sun set around 9pm without a bleep from the Delkims. Being the approach to a New Moon it was really dark once the sun had faded away.

Last year the fish showed themselves regularly and this year was to be no different. They were again tucked in tight to the margin by the roadside. The LH rod was in pole position and it was this rod that signalled the first run just before midnight. A strong fight in the pitch black, but soon enough a 30.7 mirror lay in the net. Time to wake the house up to do the photos as was the deal ! The same rod was launched into the darkness and was away again a couple of hours later with a 19.6 common. Morning arrived and my daughter joined me hoping to up her PB. A run on the LH rod and she was in. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing a new PB of 28.6 lay beaten on the mat. Excellent ! The rods were repositioned so that I had 2 rods on the margin as all runs had so far come from the LH rod. Over the course of the next night and day I had 3 further fish, all 30’s, with a best of 35.14. The RH rod had remained silent, and the fish continued to crash out of easy casting distance past the island on the LH margin, so despite 4 thirties in 2 nights a move was on the cards. The reasoning behind this was to get all 3 rods fishing, and by moving to the new road end swim this was possible as I could get all 3 rods onto the margins where the fish were still showing on a regular basis. Even on small venues and early in the season pressure moves the carp and you have to follow them. I also made sure that I kept everything pinned down and matched to the lakebed and that lines were slack, as inconspicuous as possible once the commotion of getting the baits in place was done. The move paid off as fish continued to come at regular intervals, and at all times of the day and night. Ellie managed to catch two more mirrors of 25lbs and 27lbs, and we even had a double take ending up with 2 twenties on the bank.

The most memorable session lasted only 4 hours following a lengthy lunch in Vitre. I had two runs resulting in mirrors of 32.14 and 36.6. I stayed in the road end swim for 3 nights before a move back to the house end was made for the Thursday night. A few more carp were caught following the move including a mint 34.2 mirror and the smallest fish of the week at 13.6. This little common pinched my hookbait in the early hours of Friday morning from a spot that had previously only produced big fish. No chance to get it back there until after another nice lunch on the Friday. I only had a few hours to fish so I chose to fish 2 rods only. At 6.30pm on the Friday one took off as I slowly packed away and the final fish was landed, a mirror of 31.12. This made our tally for the week 20 fish with 8 thirties, 10 twenties and 2 doubles. I am sure that there will be many greater catches throughout the year, but I was happy with what we had caught so early in the season.

If any lessons are to be learnt it would be ‘follow the fish’. Even if it’s a pain to reel in and re-cast just 10 yards either way it could affect things for the better. Don’t sit in a swim because you’re too lazy to move a couple of hundred yards. It only takes an hour or so on a lake of this size. Keep the rigs pinned down, use back leads and slack lines, and rigs you have confidence in. Use enough bait to get a bite and then start again. I also found that going into the local towns for a meal or shopping, and resting the swim (as well as keeping the rest of the party happy) often resulted in a quick run soon after starting again. Take a bird and wildlife book with you because whilst waiting for a run there is loads to see ranging from birds of prey and red squirrels to any number of birds you don’t often see in my back garden in Milton Keynes ! Luckily my Dad was there or many would have remained a mystery. As you can guess the time I spent in the house was minimal, but the house and it’s amenities were more than my wife, daughter and Dad required. Really we couldn’t find much to fault at all. So the cooker was hard to light (keep the dial pushed in for at least 60 seconds), or better still go out to lunch !  Sarah and Hugh have listened to requests from last season and the new shower is great. The unhooking cradles are also superb so the fish can remain in excellent condition throughout the season. All the fish fought hard and were in excellent condition as you can hopefully see from the photo gallery. I hope to come back to Firs again sometime in the future when the carp have grown further, but Willow is calling for 2011. The quest for a 40 begins now and we’ll see how we go with that….

Tight lines to all who fish Firs this season. It’s a great water but you’ll only get out what you put in.

Kevin, Nicki, Ellie & Paul Stevens

10^th to 17^th April 2010

10th - 17th April Firs Lake  Kevin Stevens had another fantastic week, he caught 20 Carp including 8 x 30,s to 36.6lbs, 10 x 20,s to 29.10lbs and a couple of doubles. These fish were mainly caught on maize or chopped boilies over small beds of hemp chopped tigers and maize with a blow back rig, his main line and "last yard" was all well pinned down. During his stay he moved 3 times to stay on top of the fish. Top Angling Kevin, Those who put in the effort reep the rewards. He still found time to visit the Zoo and go to the market at Chateau Gontier.     

3rd-10th April Firs Lake Mr Marcham had a slow week, he caught 5 carp to 28lbs. The weather was a bit chilly with a cold North Eastly wind. 

2009 CATCH REPORT

24th-31st October Willow Lake Mr Goddson had a great time, dispite an algie bloom they caught 2 x fourties (40lbs 11ozs and 44lbs 12ozs new lake record) 8 thirties and the rest were mainly mid or high twenties. Top tatics were either Zig rigs or single pop-ups over a handfull of  Bankside baits boilies and "Gruba Pellets" most of the fish came from the silty gully. - Good angling lads.

10th-17th October Willow Lake Mr Waddelove and son had a good week, they caught 30+ carp including two fourties 5 thirties, and the rest were mainlly 20's 

3rd -10th October Willow Lake Mr Walters had t tough week,  they caught 3 carp to low thirties. 

26th Sept-3rd October Willow Lake Mr Dickins had a slow week, he caught a couple of low thirties. 

19th-26th September Willow Lake Mr Westgarth had a busy week, they caught 28 carp, including 2 x fourties (42lbs 8ozs and 42lbs 2ozs) 7 x thirties to 39lbs 4ozs, 12 x 24lbs+, and the rest were low twenties or high doubles.    

12th-26th September Firs Lake Mr Pottier caught 13 carp to mid thirties.

5th-19th September Willow Lake Mr Dunns party had a quiet first week but it picked up a bit the second week, but the weather is still very hot there. They ended there holiday with 11 Carp including 9 x 20's and 3 x 30's to 39lbs and a few Catfish to 40lbs.   

5th-12th September Firs Lake Mr Sargents party had a quiet week, they caught 2 thirties and 4 twenties. 

29th-5th September Firs Lake Mr Henley had a good week fishing, they caught 31 fish, this was topped by a Mirror of 38lbs 8ozs, and a Catfish of 40lbs 3ozs, Dave caught 13 carp 2x30's the rest were 20's, Matt (aged 12) caught 7 carp including a 33lb Mirror and a pristine 34lb 7oz Common beating his PB twice ! Jane caught the rest - not bad as they only fished days.  

29th-5th September Willow Lake Mr Cox had a hot week with the weather hitting 35 degrees for the first few days making the fishing tough, but they ended the week with 14 Carp, the biggest being a beautiful Common of 36lbs 9ozs, this was backed up by two other mid 30's, 7 x high 20's and 4 doubles and 4 Catfish. Top bait was Trigga or Tigernuts tipped with fake Corn.   

22nd -29th August Firs Lake Mr Waddelove and family on there second visit, had a hetic start to there holiday, as they  had caught 30 fish by Tuesday of there weeks holiday, then the weather changed and things went quiet. They ended the week with 35 carp including 6 x 30's and a new lake record mirror of 39lbs the rest were mainly 20's.Top bait was Tigernuts or Pineapple Pop-ups fished over pellets. They only fished days.

22nd-29thAugust Willow Lake Mr Wagstaff had a very pleasant week, the weather was mid 20's with lots of sunshine. Fishing days only, they caught 20 Carp including 2 thirties to 33lbs, thirteen twenties and the rest were doubles. Cell boilies and tigernuts were the successful baits,   

15th- 22nd August Firs Lake Mr Stewart had a very hot week with temp, well into the mid thirties, but using either a snowman rig or single pop-ups, he caught 15 fish including a 29lb common a 32lb Mirror and a 30lb Catfish the rest were 20lb+. these came from mainly the the pads, or the l/h/s or r/h/s of the island fishing from the house swim. 

15th-22nd August Willow Lake Mr Lane again had a very hot week with the temp. into the 30's, but he still caught carp of 40lbs, 35lbs and 30lbs. His son did very well banking around 15 Carp including a masive 42lb Mirror, 3 thirties, 2 grass carp of 30lbs & 28lbs, the rest were mid twenties. They only fished days. 

8th - 15th August Willow Lake Mr Schires had a hot week with the weather up to 35 degrees some days, but he still managed 41 fish including Cats to 50lb+ and Carp to 40lbs+ ,he mainly fished nights as the weather was so hot. The favoured bait was Trigga, Maize or Cell. 

8th - 15th August Firs Lake Mr Clive caught 30 fish including 6 x 30's biggest mirror was 36lbs2ozs, biggest Common was a perfect 32lbs2ozs. He also caught 5 x 27lb-29lb Carp, 11 other twenties and 11 high doubles. He still had time to do lots of trips out during the day including going to the local markets, sight seeing and as the weather was hot one day he went swimming. He fished 5 nights and a couple of days.  

1st August - 8th August. Willow Lake, Bert and Family had a very productive week fishing, He caught 32 Fish including 7x30's to 36Ib and the rest were mailnly 20's and a couple of high doubles. He also caught 7 Cats to 40Ib. His favourite tactic was feeding a few spots in the margins around the lake with hemp,cat food and other particles, and float fishing over them with finely balanced plastic maize and a 360 degree rig.  He only fished mornings and evenings.

1st August - 8th August. Firs lake, Mr Marshall had a busy week, Fishing mornings and evenings only, and site seeing during the day. He managed to catch 29 fish including 7x30's to 34Ib 10oz, 18x20's, 9 of which where 25Ib plus and the rest where high doubles. All these fish fell to stalking methods

25th July-1st August Firs Lake Mr King had a busy week, they caught 27 fish including mirrors of 35lbs4ozs, 35lbs, and 30lbs, 15 x 25lbs+, the rest were high doubles or low twenties. He also caught 2 x Catfish and "The Sturgeon" Most fish came during the cooler times of day or at night. 

25th July-1st August Willow Lake Mr Gyngell had a hot week, but they managed to catch 6 Carp including 3 x30's, one of 34lbs and one of 31lbs. 

18th-25th July Firs Lake Mr Roberts on there second visit had a good week catching 17 Carp including fish of 36lbs, 32lbs 29lbs 28lbs and 13 other 20lb+. they also had 5 Cats of 30lbs, 21lbs, 15lbs 13lbs and 12lbs.  

18th-25th July Willow Lake Mr Peter Smith and his nephew had a very busy week, they managed to bank over 60 fish ! Peter caught 40 fish including 6 x 30lb+ and one 40lb+ and 13 x 20lb+. his tatics was plastic corn fished over a mixture of hemp and corn.

11th-18th July Firs Lake Mr White caught a Catfish of 29lbs, and Carp of 31lbs 32lbs and a few others of between 12lbs and 28lbs.  

11th-18th July Willow Lake Mr Larcombe had a real mixture of weather, including rain, gale force winds, and sunshine, but his party still managed to catch 28 fish including a 41lb mirror and "Chloe" at 38lbs 5ozs, also 5 other 30's. there tatics were to fish boilies or maize over Redband pigeon conditioner and maize soaked in honey-deadly  

4th-11th July Firs Lake Mr Hobbs had a very relaxing time "chilling" and sun bathing. they found time to catch afew fish too,-19 in fact, these were mainly 20's to 29lbs but they also caught 3 x 30's to 34lbs.

4th-11th July Willow Lake Mr Sessions had a very warm week, but they still managed to catch 24 fish fishing days/late evenings, this included carp to 39lbs8ozs. and Cats to 51lbs. they fished in open water for the Cats over beds of pellet, and tight to the mangins for the Carp, which included 3x doubles, 11 x mirrors of 20lbs+, 3 x 30's+ a 30lb Common and the rest were Cats. Top baits were Trigga or Cell and Hallibut pellets for the Cats.   

27th June-4th July Firs Lake Mr Thorpes party (3rd visit) had a real scorcher of a week, by Wednesday the temp had reached 43c !! They spent most of the days on trips, but did do a few nights and managed to bank 12 fish with Carp to low 20's and a new lake record Catfish of 39lbs. 

27th June-4th July Willow Lake Mr & Mrs Osborne-Carey had a slow start to there week as the temp. sored to the high 30s. then on Wednesday they had a massive thunderstorm and Robert caught 4 Carp in quick sucession. He ended the week with 14 fish topped by a beautiful 39lb8oz Mirror and a 38lb Catfish, these fell mainly to Mainline Cell boilies fished over mixed particles. His prefered spots were inches off the far bank. He also managed to stalk 3 or 4 fish from the margins to the right of Jims swim.  

20th-27th June Firs Lake Mr Peacock had another warm week, they had a few trips out during the days and fished the evenings until about 1am.  He managed to catch 8 fish to 28.8lbs, these fell to a couple of tigernuts on the hair over a bed of hemp and particles.

13th-27th June Willow Lake Mr Mitchells party had a warm couple of weeks with the odd thunder storm. They still managed a few fish inc. a Grass Carp of 29lbs, mirrors to32lbs, and a few Cats including one of 49lbs and another of 52lbs,these fell to Tuti Fruity boilies or small Hallibut Pellets.

13th-20th June Firs Lake Dels party had a quiet week, they caught 6 fish to 29lbs, but they did have a few trips out.

6th-13th June Firs Lake Mr Atkinson had a very wet and windy week, but they still managed to catch a few carp to just over 30lbs.

6th -13th June Willow Lake Mr Powleys party had a very busy time, they caught an incredable 65 fish,the biggest carp topped the scales at 37lbs,followed by 8 other 30's, 27 x 20s,and 28 doubles. 

May-6th June Willow Lake Mr Wiles and family had a warm week and the fishing was a little slow to start with due to the fish spawning, but by the end of the week they caught over 20 fish including  "Chloe",who is now 40lbs 10ozs!- another 40lber. They also caught a 40lb Catfish.  

30th May-6th June Firs Lake Mr Mitchell had a very hot weeks fishing, most days the temp. was in the 30's, but fishing nights only, he still managed 34 fish including a new lake record of 38lbs 15ozs, a 37lb mirror and 4 other 30's, he also had 16 x 20's, the rest were doubles and "Armless". Mr Mitchell caught well as he stayed mobile and fished for one fish at a time using just a handfull of Hemp and a few "DT" boilies fished just a couple of feet off the margins. 

23rd-30th May Willow Lake Mr Miller and family had a quiet week to start with as the fish were spawning for 3 days, but afterwards the fishing picked up and they ended the week with 20 Carp including a superb 42lb Mirror, they also caught 5 x 30's, 7 x 20's and a few doubles. Top tatic was hair rigged hemp seed / particles, and a medium rare steak to tempt a Catfish !

23rd-30th May Firs Lake Mr Blackwells party had a quiet week, they only managed to bank 9 carp, but it did include a common of 32lbs. 

16th-23rd May Firs Lake Mr Jackson and his wife had a great week here fishing days only, they managed 39 fish between them, this included 9 x thirties,including a 34lbs 4oz mirror and a stunning 34lb Common, 7 fish of 25-30lbs, 11 fish of 20 -25lbs 8 doubles a Cat of 23lbs "Crackle", our resident Koi, and "Armless" our resident Sturgeon.Top baits were Dynamite Chocolate Malt and Spicy Tuna. Most of the fish came from the road end of the lake.

16th-23rd May Willow Lake Mr Parks had a very busy time at Willow lake, he caught 36 fish, including a 37lbs8oz Common and four other thirties, 15 twenties,11 doubles, 5 Cats to 48lbs and he only fished one night ! The favoured tatics were big beds of bait with two rods on it, and a roving rod with a solid bag with a white pop-up, and this rod kept on producing.                               

9th-16th May Firs Lake Mr Perkins managed 33 fish, this included 9 thirties to 36lbs, 16 twenties four high doubles, a Catfish, "armless" the sturgon and two Tench, not bad for one angler fishing days only !

9th - 16th May Willow Lake Mr Hannaford fished days only and managed 22 Carp, this included 8 x 30,s to 39lbs and 9 x 20's and 5 doubles. He also caught 13 Cats 3 of which were 40lbs+ to 44lbs. His magic bait was Greenlip Mussel Pellet hookbaits, fished 2-3 feet off the margins.  

2nd -9th May Firs Lake Mr Wilkinsons party caught very well, 44 fish in total this included 7 thirties to 36.2, 2 small Cats a Sturgeon and the rest of the carp were 20's. These all fell to Sensa Pro Biotic or Active 8. 

2nd-9th April WillowLake Mr Possee had a very good week, banking a total of 42 fish and he only fished days ! These included 6 thirties, 24 twenties and the rest were high doubles. The tatics used were PVA bags with a few pellets and 40-50 loose Matrix boilies. 

18th April-2nd May Willow Lake Mr Henleys party had a fantastic 2 weeks banking 77 carp including 4 x 40's to 42.5, 33 x 30's to 39lbs12ozs, 33 x 20,s to 29lbs 15ozs, 25 doubles to 19lbs, and a couple of stockies of 9lbs. They also had 5 Cats to 40lbs. Of the three anglers, only one did 6 nights, good angling! there tatics were Trigga boilies, fished over mixed seeds / pellet.

9th April-2nd May Firs Lake Mr Thorpe on his second visit to this venue, managed 12 carp and 3 catfish. The largest carp, a common, was a scale perfect Common of 30lbs, the rest ranged from high doubles to high twenties. The largest Catfish was 27lbs. The tatics used was fishing for one fish at a time with PVA bags with pellet and a few B5 boilies. The weather was a real mixture of heavy rain, sleat, frost and sunshine !  

ADDITIONAL STOCK AT FIRS

In February 2009 we added a further 25 carp to Firs Lake, these were mainly high doubles /low twenties, this will add to the already impresive stock of high twenties and thirties to the new lake record of 38lbs caught by Mr westerman in early August.   

 2008 CATCH REPORT

25th-31st October Willow Lake Mr Henshall managed to ca