We arrived at VinÇons at 11.30 on Saturday morning after a 14 ½ hour trip and
after 39 hours of no sleep. (Well, we did manage about half an hour at a
motorway stop on the way up).
Unfortunately, the owners were not expecting us and despite the fact that
Bridget had said she phoned and e-mailed them, they did not receive the phone
call and they were having problems with the e-mail. Bridget booked us without
any confirmation!!!! Something we will take up with her as this was
embarrassing and extremely unprofessional.
Despite this the family were brilliant and welcomed us very warmly and
apologetically and rushed around cleaning the cabin and bathroom for us. They
also brought a bottle of local wine and a bottle of champagne down to us at the
cabin on the Monday morning with more apologies.
The cabin was quite large, had everything we needed and was much warmer and
better equipped than I had imagined it would be. I called it "civilised fishing",
Den called it lazy fishing.
When we arrived the weather was gorgeous and the sun was very warm, but this did
not last and it gradually deteriorated during the week. I set up the bivvie
while Den set up the rods. I have to say that I have dabbled in piscatorial
pursuits but never on a serious level and was looking forward to learning more
about carping and actually getting my hands wet. Den was patience itself all
week and taught me loads. By the end of the week I was casting a fair distance
with some accuracy instead of walking my rod round the lake, as I was doing in
the beginning.
We chose our pegs and both Den and I had seen loads of bubbles at one particular
spot, which I chose to fish. I only used two 11ft Enticer rods with Enticer
reels and fished fairly close to the margins. One rod about 30 feet out and the
other about 80 feet out (this was the one I walked back with).
At 18.10 my optonics went and I could not believe I had the first take of the
week. I landed my first large carp – a mirror of 17lb 12ozs. I think Den was
more than a bit surprised as well, but he followed close behind with a common at
18lb 4ozs and another mirror at 14lb 8ozs.
We were both exhausted and just had to turn it at about 21.30. After an
exceptionally warm and fitfull sleep we woke at 9am (disgustingly late) to a
colder but still bright day which saw us both land our personal best commons.
Den had a 25lb 8oz at 11.20 and I had an 18lb 8oz at 13.20. It was a quiet day
by fishing standards but we were confident as there were lots of carp rolling
and topping in our baited areas, which were right outside the cabin – very handy
for keeping warm (I hate the cold). Den was fishing directly outside the cabin
to the right of me and much further out into the lake. He was fishing four rods
and had one down by the willow (as usual). The rain started that night so we
packed in fishing and retired to the warmth of the cabin. It rained and poured
all evening and all night and all of Monday too, but this proved great for the
fishing. Den had a total of seven fish that day and I had five. All between
17lb and 12lb. Den’s third fish was a really lo
vely large scaled mirror which weighed 14lb 4ozs.
It was unbelievably dark at night, the moon barely visible through the trees and
there was no other lighting. We were in the middle of nowhere (as we usually
are on our holidays) and even the lights from the cabin proved unhelpful as it
was covered in ivy and the light from any of the windows was useless. This
made it really difficult to fish at night – it really was pitch black. Monday
night it was still pouring with rain and freezing so Den packed up fishing again
fairly early. I was only ever going to fish during the day but Den was a bit
disappointed.
Tuesday we had to go shopping, but as everyone who knows Den is aware, this is
something he loves doing, especially in France – he was in his element. The
only thing that put a damper on this were the road works which we had to detour
round. These French!! The detour put an extra hour on our trip each way and the
frustrating thing was that we could almost see where the detour started when we
got to the end. Before we went shopping Den landed another mirror and on our
return another two carp. I just landed one that day. This brought Den’s total
to 233lb 8oz of carp to my 138lb 12ozs. The fish here seemed to get up late and
go to bed early. Den did not catch anything before 9.30 or after 21.10, so we
joined them and enjoyed some good wine, good food etc!!!!!
Wednesday morning we woke to a white frost all over and stiff nets. The morning
was dry but the afternoon saw the start of more rain and by 17.30 the rain was
very heavy and it was much colder.
Despite checking the rest of the lake Denis realised that we had chosen the hot
spots and decided to stay where he was for the time being.
VinÇons is a working farm and as well as the usual animals and crops they also
breed wild boar. They live in the forest behind the lake during the day, only
come out just before dusk and were kept in by an electric fence – which Den
found out when trying to film them – he leant on it to try and keep the camera
steady. They were very wild and every time they heard or saw a movement they
all bolted, they were hilarious to watch. There were well over 100 of them,
from very large old boars to babies.
We watched a coypu swimming across the lake on a few occasions – we’ll come back
to him though!!!
I was slightly hampered when walking my rod back from dropping my hook bait by a
wasps nest so Den persuaded me to try casting that distance – I was okay casting
the 30 feet on my first rod but had difficulty with the second longer distance.
On Wednesday despite Den casting early his first fish did not appear until 10.55
and the last at 18.45 even though his rods stayed out till gone midnight. He
caught a total of four fish and I caught only three this day.
Thursday morning was another fairly early start for Den but again no early fish.
At about noon Den decided to try his luck up at the furthest corner of the lake
with his custom made carp float rod (made by Dave Stewart). He has never
managed to catch a carp with this rod and was determined to do so this week. At
12.30, without me knowing, he managed to land a lovely mirror of 13lb 4ozs,
which he was overjoyed at. He said the fight was brilliant and he took about 15
minutes to land it. We photographed it but I was sorry I hadn’t managed to get
it on video. This was his only fish that day.
While Den was up at the other end of the lake I hooked my first carp that day
and was left to play and net it on my own. Den was netting my catches for me as
they were just too big for me to manage as well as play the fish. My
inexperience was annoying for me as I would much prefer to do it all myself.
However I did manage to net this one as luckily it was only a tiny 4lb 12oz -
the smallest of the whole week caught on a squid bait donated by Alan.
The fish in this lake were beautiful specimens, many still had their inner
membranes and we did not see one damaged the whole time we were there.
At 15.30 Den again decided to move further to the right of the cabin into a
small bay and he set up his Roamer Dome with his bed chair and settled in.
I caught only two that day, but the second was a 20lb 4oz common (my first 20)
another personal best, caught on the same squid boillie at 16.40. Den came back
down to net it for me. I knew it was a big one and just was not able to handle
the net as well as the rod.
The rain started up again at 18.15 and by 18.30 it was so bad that Den just had
to move back. I havn’t seen rain like that for a long time. It was coming down
in sheets and getting worse by the minute. Denis continued to fish back outside
the cabin until almost midnight but the carp just did not want to play anymore
that day.
Friday was our last full days fishing and so Den started early again, but it was
9.30 before he hooked into his first fish, a 16lb mirror, and not another one
until 18.50, another 16lb 4 oz mirror and the last one was at 21.10, an 18lb
10oz common. This last fish was indeed a lucky one for Den as his rig came off
in the net. It was so cold that the net was frozen solid as well.
That day I had a mirror at 11.15 of 16lb and a beautiful common (personal best
again), at 20lb 12oz. This last one at 12.50 on squid again. Three times used
and 3 times successful. Thanks Alan (Camo).
That night around 20.00 Den heard a crunching sound outside the cabin and opened
the door to see his small landing net (which was full of boillies) disappearing
towards the edge of the water. This was the coypu mentioned earlier. The
cheeky bugger had found his supper and was trying to take it home with him.
Once Den had chased him off (no mean feat when faced with a determined coypu) he
found great holes in his net and a good third of the boillies missing. We were
also plagued by a rogue mouse as well that night. He had discovered that the
heating was on in the cabin and put on his hob nailed boots to do a highland
fling around 2 in the morning and frightened me to death.
Saturday morning I did not fish but finished packing up while Den got in a few
final hours fishing and he landed a further two carp. The first at 9.50 was a
20lb 4oz common and the last at 10.30, just 25 minutes before we left was a
respectable 15lb 2oz.
During the week I heard Denis mumbling about wanting my swim, but
I threatened to cut off his conjugal rights for the week and I didn’t hear any
more about it.
Seriously though, we had a great time and Den was brilliant helping to make my
first fishing trip a really enjoyable one. I think that the bit I enjoy most is
actually handling the fish. Putting them back into the water and hold them
while they recover enough to swim off is amazing and rewarding.
Total fish caught:
Denis - 23 carp at 379lb 10ozs
Ann - 17 carp at 260lb 6ozs
We both recommend this venue although the fish are not the biggest to be found
in France.
