Hi Nield, I've been to Vallee lakes five times now over the last three years. Had some good and bad times there, but only blanked once.
If you put aside all the true comments you read about Mark the owner, the lake and the fish are superb and well worth a visit. Sam the bailiff is a good angler, knows the lake well and can help a lot with all aspects of fishing the place.
I have fished the double swim 9 before but not 10. 10 is quite small and appears to be prone to flooding if it rains a lot.
As you will see from the website there are plenty of stunning fish in lake 1. The biggest I have caught there is 52lb 8oz mirror and the smallest 25lb common.
We have fished it in the spring, autumn and winter. Last year March and then October. What has worked best for us has by far been loads of maggots. Last time took 10 gallon between two of us. They seem to go mad for em.
Have tried all sorts of rigs and to be honest no one fairs better than others except if you do use maggots then we have found presentation is critical.
Now to the negatives. Mark is a total tightwad, he will bleed you dry of every Euro if you let him. Best take your own bait as his works out expensive and we have given his lake bait a try many times and does not work any better than other good quality baits.
He seems to me to be too focused on making money rather than keeping his guests happy. Sam on the other hand is the opposite, he knows what is boss is like and tries to make amends.
Only took the food package on the first trip, it was [censored] so since then have always taken our own. Talking to other anglers I don't think it's improved as most of it is prepared by Sam.
Mark is also very funny about where you put your bivvy. It has to go on the stones in the swim as he does not want yellow grass. We tend to ignore him and do it anyway as the swims are small and I have a two man bivvy so can't fit it on the swim.
The showers and toilets are clean but theres nowhere to wash up your pots and pans so take a bowl if you intend to DIY food.
As I say just be careful with Mark, check your change and make sure you still have your wristwatch after you shake his hand, he's that bad, no joke.
Hope this helps and have a good trip.
One last comment, don't be duped into fishing lake 2. He's only had the place 12 months, I'm told the facilities are very poor and it was fishing very badly late last year. Many people were blanking and Sam seemed to be only one catching on a regular basis. We will probably try it but in a few years time once he has sorted it out.
