moorsey

Indeed it was. I was lucky enough to be shown it before KM publicised it and if I hadn't seen it in use I would have considered it a practical joke.

I have used the same rig for several years and it has worked well for me in English gravel pits and the Thames as well as French lakes and the river Saone. The most important thing is to put that rig in the right spot.

Lol. That's the first time I've ever been accused of being shy. Thank you for your wishes and I hope you also have a very good 2011. Keith

Just a quick update that the last 24 hours have seen another new forty common at 43.15 lb plus another mirror at 49.06 lb and a new lake record in the shape of Clover at 57.14 lb.That now gives us 13 fifties banked this year and 12 different carp of 48.00 lb or more. Keith

Not on my lake it's not.

couldnt agree more!! Same here, but it's difficult to educate people when you have Jim Shelley advocating using 30 feet of the stuff. Slowly but surely the angling world is realising the dangers of leadcore. Our best hope is that more fisheries ban it. Well said stoogi. The worst thing I ever did was inventing a knot for the stuff and the best thing I ever did was banning it on my lake. At least some of us are learning.

Why does it always seem to be me that has to ask? Why do you want to use lead core? How do you see it benefitting your fishing?

Sorry I can't leave it at that because you don't seem to realise the extra danger that you are putting the carp under by using any kind of leader. With any leader you have the knot joining it to the mainline as the weakest point so any snap off [casting, during the fight or pulling for a break] will potentially leave a fish towing a length of very strong line. As that leader is designed to be heavy and sink it is likely to get caught up in roots or snags and could then tether the carp to a section of line which it will not be able to break and the best it can hope for is to rip its mouth open in order to escape or die. There have been several published accounts of fish being severely damaged or killed because of leaders.

I'm afraid you've got it completely wrong fella. The wording of "safe zone" was to produce an area around the bait that the fish considered safe it does nothing to reduce damage to the fish during the fight. In fact, by moving the weak point [first knot] further up the line you are creating a rig which is more likely to harm the carp after any kind of snap off. We have banned leader here for several years now and our carp are all in mint condition and even the fifty plus common doesn't have a single scale out of place. The only part of your posts that I would agree with is that you should use tubing with braided main line.

Is that right Keith you have only had approx 400 fish out this year. As Coops says over 1 in 4 being over 40lb and you've had 100 forties out to 200 anglers. That equates to just over 400 and only an average of 2 fish per angler? No mate the totals include over 400 thirties plus the forties and fifties. In order to avoid confusion I have listed below the carp caught to date. 816 carp landed 41 doubles 74 low twenties 187 upper twenties 414 thirties to 39.15 lb. 88 forties to 49.15 lb 12 fifties [commons to 51.02 lb & mirrors to 56.12 lb] You will see by the list above that, of the 816 carp landed, 514 have been over thirty pounds and we have several more fish to be added yet before we complete our 200th angler.

Yes mate it is the half lin. Talk about luck, I only decided to fish this week because we had a couple of late cancellations and it only left 3 anglers on the lake. It has been really bitter cold and the water has dropped to 9.5 deg's so I wasn't really expecting too much. She wouldn't be the obvious choice for biggest fish in the lake and I'm waiting to see if "Clover", "Minty", "The Eighteen" or "Benign" steals the title and completes the tenth different fifty. Watch this space.

Just a quick update. The last two weeks have seen four more fifties and four more forties banked. The latest fifty was the 100th carp above forty pounds this year and was also a new lake record at 56.12 lb.We could now see the first sixties next spring.

You're welcome mate. We've had another fifty and two more forties out this week already mate so there will be some real bigguns waiting for your next return mate [along with the banoffee pie lol]. "Jog on you ............." Classic.

You holding fish is all I have seen this week - in flesh and print . Keith - the article in said Freespool magazine, along with Jamie and Lewis' reports of your lake really make me regret not being able to make the trip with them. Would take a lot to stop me next time! You'd be made very welcome mate. Keith

Hi Jamie That fish that you're holding in Freespool has come out this week at 51.00 lb mate. Martin's doing alright mate but he has lost a few including a mid forty that I got a good look at when I untangled it from some weed. In hind-sight I wish I had netted it for him then. He has had cats to 50.00 lb commons to mid thirties and mirrors to 37.04 lb so he is reasonably happy mate. Keith

Thanks for that. In fact I have just realised that we won't have reached our "200 anglers" until the 30th October so we are probably running at an average of one forty for every second angler at the moment. We have also already seen another two fifties this week [The Half LInear at 51.00 lb (new fifty) and Clover at 51.02 lb] plus another new forty at 44.08 lb so we may just be able to reach the 100 forty plus carp by the end of the season to keep up the average. Personally I am convinced that the key to the big growth rates was getting rid of all of the silver fish and introducing the snails as these seem to have spread everywhere and every lilie leaf or piece of weed is festooned with them.

Hi David. We only ever seem to see odd comments from you about other fisheries in France. It gives me [and another couple of fishery owners that I know] the impression that you are worried about the competition. None of the anglers who have fished here have "been doing anything wrong" as you put it. This year we have now seen 90 carp over 40.00 lb banked including 7 fifties [another new one this week already] and that shared between 200 anglers is a good average in my book. As anyone with half a brain would understand, it is the luck of the draw as to who catches which fish and our lake tends to reward the better angler because it is normally those anglers who are prepared to work that little bit harder to find their fish. Moorlands will never be a goldfish bowl nor will it ever have one or two swims that you must get into in order to catch. It is proper carping and I [and quite a lot of my customers] love it just that way. As far as advertising goes I will continue to do it my way and when I feel that I need some advice I will be sure to ask. Keith

The lads have just left and the totals for the week are:- 3 catfish 31 carp made up as follows:- 2 doubles 1 low twenty 6 upper twenties 17 thirties 4 forties [commons of 40.00 lb & 45.00 lb (Nelson)and mirrors of 48.00 lb (The Eighteen) & 48.00 lb (Lumpy)] 1 fifty [mirror of 51.00 lb (The Hoover)] Overall average weight for the week of 33.12 lb.

Thanks Gazmeesh and can I just say that part of the reason that Maison was sold was that their customer base had declined so far that the fish were losing weight through lack of feed. I don't fish on here very often but really look forward to my oportunities when they come round. Keith

Hi David. I am somewhat surprised that you suggest that Robin could be lying and I will get him to answer you in person when he gets back from his trip to another French lake where he is taking the place apart at the moment. Personally I get a big buzz from fishing my own lake and I will continue to do so and will publicise my captures in order to show its potential. I also feel that the only way to be able to give anglers good advice is to have fished the place regularly and that advice has payed off this week with one new angler upping his PB from 26 to 38 to 51.00 lb. I like the way my lake is progressing and so do most of my regulars but thank you for your concern. Keith

I have just bade farewell to last weeks "Full House" crew and although I am waiting for the detailed breakdown of their catch I can say that they caught 39 carp and 4 catfish and the carp included at least 17 thirties [to 39.15 lb] and 10 forties [to 49.15 lb]. Well done fellas it has been a pleasure to meet you all. [especially Chris the top netsman. lol.]

The day has started bright clear and calm with early morning mist and water temp of 19 degrees. The 7 departing anglers have just left and none of them fished last night so there is nothing to add to their 6 day tally which ended as:- 27 fish landed including 5 cats to 61.08 lb carp of:- 1 double 2 low twenties 4 upper twenties 7 thirties 6 forties [40.00 lb, 40.02 lb, 44.01 lb, 45.02 lb, 46.00 lb, 47.08 lb] 2 fifties [50.08 lb, 52.09] I'm sure that all of the lads would admit that most of them were here for a social as much as the fishing and were happy to pick a swim and remain static rather than moving onto fish so with that in mind I think that, as a group, they did pretty well with the big fish. I would just add that the beginning of the week saw a LOT of fish lost because of tight clutches and trying to bully them so some of those lost fish would have included some more big fish without doubt. Keith

Let me know where you're fishing and I'll drive over and tie some rigs and cast them out for you.

It would be good to see you again mate. We do still have spaces form that time next year. Let me know how many of you and I'll give you some suitable dates. Keith

Well we are in the middle of our two weeks summer hols and have just returned from a relaxing stay in the camargue. With the lack of fishing while the lake and its stock get a well earned rest and some free food I have been able to look back through the catch records and they suggest that we have seen more than 180 carp [possiblt 200+] of 36.00 lb or greater banked this year already, with the big weight gains still to come. Our average weight now appears to be around the 33.00 lb mark and growing. I would just add that there are obviously still some twenties and even the occasional double to be seen but it seems that you are more likely to catch a thirty plus than one below this figure. Keith