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Just had a text from a mate who runs his own bait company and owns lakes in France and the UK.... he's just been let down on one of his French venues by the prospective bailiff so is looking for a reliable, knowledgeable replacement that can start at short notice.... as soon as next week for example!!!!! I can't post the detail of the deal here but if you're looking for a change and an opportunity to get well and truly stuck in to making carping your way of life, this is your chance to grab it with both hands. send me a pm if interested and I'll pass on his contact details. cheers Gary

I'll be going in June so will give some feedback when I get back mate

Nice one Sue.. email on its way

thanks both and hard luck CTCs... looking forward to it , just need to choose a date to go... was thinking about May time a couple of months before going to Le Horre or may hold back the eagerness, and go later in the year... decisions decisions as anyone been there? this will be the venue's second season so I'm thinking it'll be best going earlier in the year before the fish get too clued up?

I've had a pretty bad run of luck recently.. my wife's been diagnosed with some sort of viral/joint infection with symptoms like arthritis and is on long term medication, I bust my first bone (Elbow) in 44 years at christmas and I've not been fishing since November due to work pressure... feeling sorry for me yet? Anyway's.. I was reinstalling everything after a laptop rebuild and near death exerience with the wife Got to firing up the email again and up popped the usual 100 spam emails but neatly tucked away in the middle of it all was an email from a forum admin saying I'd just won a free weeks fishing in France for two Couldn't believe my luck I rarely, if ever win anything.... well chuffed.

I usually use a drennan micro ring on the hook shank and bait floss loop with an granny knot secured in place with an overhand knot to stop it slipping... I'll hide the knot inside the popup when pulling it through with a baiting needle.. if I'm not sure what height to popup, the size of popup to use or even if I want to use a snowman or double popup... I'll use a variable length hair that requires no hair changing to facilitate any of the aforementioned baiting options... hard to describe but I'll have a go... thread the line through the eye of the hook (just the once with no whipping around the hook shank) and secure it in place with a line aligner made from stiff rig tubing, use a small sliver of the same tubing on the shank blowback styly.. here's the neat bit, instead of using the drennan ring on the hook shank, tie it to the end of the single strand hair using a grinner knot... that's the rig complete and you'll be able to vary the length of the hair by pulling the drennan ring end to increase it or pulling the hooklink end to decrease it.. the key is to use the right internal diameter tubing to match the size of hook... larger eye, use larger diameter tubing, it needs to be a close enough fit so that it provides sufficient tightness to stop the hair slipping on the cast (it's easier than you think)... the drennan ring is just the right size for pulling through the popup with a baiting needle and acts as a bait stop to boot, the sliver of rig tube enables you to adjust the point along the shank from which to popup from as usual. on a take, the hook is pulled along the hair until the drennan ring is pulled back towards the eye eventually pushing the line aligner back up the hooklink and jamming the ring in the eye of the hook.. sounds dodgy, but I've not lost a fish yet due to a problem associated with the ring pressing against the hook eye and I've had fish over 40lbs on this rig...... please note, I've specified drennan rings throughout as they are made from circular metal so won't severe the line when under pressure... other manufacturer's use flattened metal (think the fox one's are like this).. a diagram or photo would have been better but a bit tired froma hard days graft at work so it aint going to happen tonight

I'd imagine it'd be a cup hook job to secure the bivvy... seem to recall they had tie down rings on the platforms too

That makes 2 of us then

oh dear.. my sense of humour's a tad too dry tonight, best I wet it with another can of beer

Not fished the place myself but have been told there's a large yellow buoy towards the north of the lake that's worth a cast or three

I can see the entry in the club book already "Drayton management have decreed it acceptable for the sun to pass below the horizon from this point forth"

link to low quality image of the Val Dore complex in google maps... follow the road up or down and you'll be amazed just how many lakes there are in this region... Vallee' lake is one of them I think http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=49.890154,1.7024813&z=16&t=h&hl=en

Trev (Pellethead) has fished the place and from what I recall, it was very swimmy.. the guys on the opposite bank to him was having the runs and there was a set pattern as the moved along the bank each day from the bay at one end to the bay at the other... the guys at one end on that side caught in the morning, the guys on the other end caught in the evening...

it was two years ago mate and I think the setup there has changed somewhat since (new baliffs?)... all I can recall in addition to the original post is that it was very weedy in places around the island and in the little bay in front of the cabin... those that did well, did so through finding the hard spots on the lake bed getting the bailiff to go out in the boat and use the end of the paddle to find them for the anglers... don't get that sort of service at many venues.. sorry I can't help further, I'd risk misleading you if I did I'm afraid

lake 3 is a crackin lake... fished it last year. the near side bank seemed to be the most productive.. two going methods, large bed of particles, sit on it and wait for the hoards of carp to move in... or a scattering of boilies a rod length out from the bank between pegs 19 and 20 (the double swim on that side)... going boilies at the time were shelf life nash classic strawberry and nash scopex I think.. some nice fish in there to high 40's, possibly 50 but the majority are 20's and low 30's. clear lake bed with a few features.. to the left of 19 is a distinct drop off about two rod lengths from the left bank.

I was at the lake at the same time and was trying to be polite in my original post.. we did catch, nothing special really certainly not enough to say the noise was worth it... I guess the only thing to say is that I did my Sturgeon PB, I got mullered on my birthday and my boy was there with me to laff at the fact... take the noise away and make the island look a bit more natural and it'd be a decent enough venue. I'll not post the pictures of the gravel works as I'll leave that to Trev if he decides to.. they are an eye opener!!!!.. here's a few pictures of my best memories... think I've said this before, it's not so much the fishing on socials it's the overall experience and memories they form... great week from tht aspect Normally detest catching these things but this one was big enough to give a proper pull on the string.. 45lb I think. only 25lb but ws a nice fish don't yer love birthdays with the boys and who coud forget Captain Carpboy who did the dastardly deed above hats off to the bailiffs by the way.. fantastic food, got the cake and think they even put up the hppy birthday signs.. couldn't have asked for more really

for the life of me, I can't recall the name of the Danish base but will try and dig it out.. it was in the early 80's so a good few years back.... was based in Wildenrath at the time but popped over to Brugen, Rhinedalen and Jever quite often.. never really did much fishing out there, 19 years old and had my eye on other things, especially when in Norway and Denmark.. yummy oh yer.. the Norwegian base was near Fredrikstad or something like that

Hi and welcome to the forum... I've fished Denmark and Norway in the early 80's in my RAF days and only managed Pike.. we were fishing from canoe's in the Fjord's though... awesome place but didn't look very carpy

mine

hope you have a great time mate and have a few of those whackers out of there my missus is Scottish by the way, we used to live in Dundee for a while and then Inverness (Findhorn to be exact)... great for fishing the Loch's and rivers for the game fish but boy, did I miss my carp fishing... spoilt for choice these days down here

I've not fished it at that time Colin (August and Oct so far and had 50's each time)... however, speaking with Chris, he reckoned he 60 Common came out 3 times last year.. once early in the season, the week before we attended and clearly the week we attended... I'd imagine it'd fish very well weather permitting.. I guess the best advice I can give is have a look on the website as they do week by week accounts of fish captures... 2007 was quite an unusual year weather wise so bear that in mind. hope that helps

was a bit good wasn't it mate roll on August

pick a swim directly opposite the eating / shower area fishing in to the larger expanse of water, the other side of the island, fishing 2/3rds the way across to the island back towards the direction of the eating / shower area... eat the grub they put on, it's yummy or at least was a year or so ago.... stay clear of the road bank, they were the noisiest of all the swims from the adjacent gravel works... be lucky

you'll not go far wrong with Valdore lake 3 for what you're after.. not too sure about lake 4 as I've heard it can be quite weedy... Lake 1 and 2 can be fairly hard work so probably not best for a couple of days fishing. They'e opening a further lake, no suprises calling it lake 5.. was stocked late last year I think and according to a mate who's walked round it, it's a nice lake... could be worth giving that a chane as lake 4 fished it's nuts off in the first year so lake 5 may do the same.. I think all lakes hold 40's and most have 50's in them. French run so expect to get left to your own ways.. been twice and never once saw the bailiff do the rounds, go to the bar onsite and ask if you need to and they're very helpful/friendly. [edited to remove link]

Thought I'd post up the write up I did for a weeks fishing at La Frit duing the last week of October 2007.. only regret is not changing to the alternative baiting strategy sooner.. lesson learnt for next time, if it's not happening, make it happen Here goes: Saturday Was at the lake for the full 7 days this time with Saturday afternoon spent getting the bivvy sorted and pre-baiting the same area I fished the last time I was in peg 10. Jamie went in 9, Trevor in 8 and Al was in 7, this gave us the opportunity to cover the whole lake with only Chis the bailiff having other rods in the water from 4 occasionally. Saturday evening found us in a bar with neon lights on the outside and a red light within, serving only champagne by a middle aged lady in a tight fitting leather skirt, I quickly ascertained it wasn’t the place to take the kids and Trev quickly ascertained there was no beer on tap so we legged it, finally finding an Irish bar full of French but with a TV tuned to the Rugby finals... mission accomplished! We lost of course and decided we were too sloshed to risk putting the rods out that night, so it was an early night to bed with a heavy heart Sunday Sunday morning arrived and out went the rods on the pre-baited area with high expectations. Chris turned up mid morning and gave some advice about where to put the baits in peg 10 “in the V he said”.. I moved one of the 3 rods on to it later that day but not before it gave a few beeps from the pre-baited area, the bobbin stayed up so I hit it with a lovely autumn coloured 37.4 mirror on the bank, a nice start. It wasn’t to be the first time Chris turned up and one of the rods screamed off, just ask Trev and how he feels about the current retirement age in the UK Monday The cold clear nights and north winds throughout the day continued to keep the fishing slow with everyone struggling waking to a harsh frost each morning, especially Jamie who was on a blank. I could see him getting a little down heartened. I was fortunate enough to have another run off the baited area in the shape of a 30-0 mirror Tuesday Jamie’s 16th Birthday arrived far too quickly signifying we were nearly half way through the week with nothing much to show for us two with Jamie still blanking and myself on 2 x 30’s.. Cards and presents opened, we reeled in and headed off to town to have some nosh at a restaurant we’d spotted next to the Irish bar.. superb food, Jamie tried snails for the first time, I had foie gras followed by steak in stilton Jamie favoured the duck in honey, the mousse au chocolat was mouth watering and sorbet in vodka for me was not quite a cold Stella but nearly as good.. very yummy but bloody hard on the wallet! Fully fed and watered we arrived back to see nothing else had been caught, Chris was there again and helped munch a slice of the chocolate tart we’d bought in Vitry as a substitute birthday cake. We were all encouraging Jamie throughout the day.. I vowed “you will have a birthday fish son, I promise”.. must admit that I did start to panic a bit come 11:15pm (ish) but true to La Frit last knockings reputation, we had a screaming run… unfortunately, on my rods not Jamie’s.. Jamie stood by as usual after sprinting down from peg 9 to spend the next 15 mins watching me fanny about with what was obviously a powerful fish stripping line off a tight clutch.. Jamie expertly slipped the net under a common that I thought “mmmm, now that’s big, may even push 50”.. Jamie did some more sprinting to get Trev and Al in to the swim to help with the weighing and foto’s.. in fact, I couldn’t look so Trev weighed the fish with the words “you’re going to need bigger scales mate!” Heart in my mouth, I looked over his shoulder to see the scales way past the 60 mark (net hadn’t been zero'd yet).. The usual weighing of the fish, net, fish again, net again, call to Chris to confirm the math’s and two sets of reuben heaton scales later, we all confirmed the fish was indeed 60lb 2oz… I picked my boy up and held him high, …‘a 60 Common on Jamie’s birthday’… our return trip to La Frit had somehow started to surpass our first session of two years past. The bottle of Jack Daniels was opened and we sat in Jamie’s swim flabbergasted at what we’d seen on the bank. Wednesday Only 2 entries in the catch diary this day, one read “blank”, the other read “don’t care”.. not surprising really considering the amount of noise we all made on learning of the 60 common the night before. Trev was having it big time by now and Jamie stuck between the two swims was getting much exercise but he was way down in the doldrums and starting to believe his first trip to France fishing from his own swim was a step too far too soon. Trev kindly gee’d him up by letting Jamie land a lovely 30+ common after Trev found himself in my swim when he had a screamer.. nice one mate, not many would have done that for the lad. However, Jamie’s down at heart demeanor was soon scotched when he landed a couple of 20’s in quick succession that evening.. Yeee haaaaaa, the boy’s off the mark with his own rods and we could all rest easy in the knowledge that none of us were going back on a blank. Thursday Is it really Thursday already, I thought?! Am I really going to blank again today?.. come on Le Frit, the weather’s turned for the better and we’re now in the latter half of the trip where multiple runs per day are common.. it really wasn’t going to plan, big bed of bait, keep the swim quiet and wait for them to find it wasn’t doing the trick this trip… against all expectation, not a fish on the bank for Jamie and I that day.. even with the 60 and Jamie’s 20’s we were both feeling, ‘there has to be more’.. With nothing much happening we did liven our spirits with a few comedy moments remembering French fishing isn’t all about serious carp angling, beer swilling and the incessant shrill of the Delks.. it’s also about the experience of being there with a bunch of mates, no worries, no chores and having a laugh. … bagging the smallest French PB ever … Oh, there is one very notable thing about this day apart from the fact that a hundred rats seemed to have located my swim, Trev regained his crown as having the largest overseas pb of UK carpers by bagging a lake record 65lb mirror to improve on the session best 53 he’d had earlier in the week and his forum record 57 from Valdore.. a massive well done again mate for a truly awesome capture… I had the crown for a whole 48hrs or so Friday Blimey, the penultimate day.. the afternoon of the penultimate day even!! best we have a rethink!! I sat in my bivvy nursing a sore head after celebrating with Trev and Jamie until 4 in the morning following yesterday’s success with the 65 Mirror and then it occurred to me.. my almost immediate success with the 30’s earlier in he week had come to a particular baiting strategy forced in to play because I’d not had any particles ready in bulk!! I needed a “quick hit” strategy now, so out went ‘the alternative bait’ with pretty amazing results within 30 mins of boating out to the same baited area I’d been on all week 4pm saw a clonking 53.12 mirror being returned after what was a pretty disappointing fight on he left hand rod until it hit the margin area, where it woke up and took line for 5 mins or so… Jamie, true to form, was the perfect netsman and slipped her in the net soon after. 4.10pm 53 returned to the water, bait out and no sooner had I got the boat to the bank the middle rod was off resulting in a racing snake 26.8 common in the net 5.15pm came to the welcoming sound of the Delk’s passing line at pace on the right hand rod, after a hard fight, an admirable 36-8oz mirror was recorded and returned. 5.45pm and another 30 was on the bank in the shape of a gorgeous 35-04 Common off my left hand rod that had caught the 53 not 2 hours earlier.. this was getting silly The baiting strategy change had clearly done something so I went round to Jamie to convince him to take the same approach leaving my remaining rod in the water on the thought that if I didn’t have another fish I’d be happy and my time was better spent making sure my boy went away with the same feeling… only 16 hours to go but things had changed so dramatically for me, I was sure he’d have a similar result Jamie sorted and back to my swim to boat out the 2nd and 3rd rods at approximately 8pm. Job done and I headed off down the track with the remote in hand to check on Jamie and have a (nother) Stella with Trev.. I didn’t get far.. not more than a few paces from the bivvy and the rod I’d left in was away.. the fish came in remarkably easily almost feeling like it was swimming towards me.. another wee ‘un on then? The thought was dismissed when we saw the swirl a good few feet behind the point where the line entered the water with no sign of a fish.. whatever was fighting below had to be big to have that effect on its surroundings… comments of “he’s got a cat on” were uttered. After freeing the landing net from a marginal snag and several marginal lunges from what was clearly something big, Jamie slipped the net under a heftily weighted fish. On peering in the net and giving it a little lift, I looked at Trev and said “you weigh it mate I can’t look”, could this really be 50 number two in less than 2 hours! It certainly was, a very very long 53.4 Leather was photographed and returned to fight again, awesome! Nothing else occurred that night in terms of ridiculous number of runs and fish size apart from another 22-08 racing snake common shortly before midnight.. the lake was full of them and I didn’t feel the need to take a photo for this one, sleep was beckoning! Saturday Time to get the head down for the final night, get some sleep ready for the long journey home tomorrow… not a chance! The experience I had earlier that evening was to bestow our Jamie throughout the early hours of Saturday morning with a run every 2 hours culminating in him catching 20’s and 30’s and finally achieving his goal of catching his first 40 (exact weight to follow), an awesome way to finish the trip!! Well done son, left it a bit late mate Total for Gary 1 x 60 2 X 50 4 X 30 2 X 20 9 fish for 355lb average weight 39.5lb… slightly down on 2005 (41lb) Total for Jamie 1 x 40 2 x 30 4 x 20 1 x 10 8 fish for 220lb … average weight 27.5lb… great result A great week in great company!!