Building An Ark!!
Posted: 14th Oct 2012
What a week, we have had more rain this week than has fallen all year with 135mm over the last 7 days, it has made me realise how debilitating this wet weather can be and sympathise with my brothers for their moaning about the weather back in the northwest of England this year!!!!!!
It's easy to take this wonderful climate we have here for granted and it brings me to a question a lot of new punters ask, "What is the best time of year to fish"?
Different anglers come to France for numerous reasons and even though it seems obvious a lot does depend on what you want from your holiday? I can appreciate the main reason is the fishing, and with this in mind April is the golden month which everybody wants and the lake could be booked 5 times over for this time of the year.
May is a good month for fishing with the fish at top weights just before spawning but late May/June can be spawning time. I have found the build -up to spawning the fish feed well, then the fish can lay up for a while after the event and the fishing can be quiet.
June/July can be quieter months but this year July did fish well for us with the early spawnings helping things. But not to forget this time of year can be alive with the wildlife down at the lakes and if you want some warmer summer sunshine on your back with not a care in the world about work it can be a fantastic time of the year. The Nightingales are in full song, Golden Oriole and Hoopoe have arrived, Cuckoos up and down the lake looking for hosts, and if you're lucky the nesting Redback Shrikes, Black Kites, Red Squirrel & Pine Martin can be seen!!! Bring back summer.
August is one of our best fishing months each year, with the weather still warm but more chance of a spectacular storm than June/July the fish are starting to feed hard after the spawning rest.
September is another great fishing month but I do think August can have the edge, the only difference being the fish are starting to up there weight a little by now.
October is our final month and it's all weather dependent which can be seen over the last few weeks this year, but either way the fish are in lovely winter colours, fighting like tigers and the chance of something a bit special!!!
All in all each month have it's Pro's & Con's and there is always something to enjoy here throughout the season.
The weather played a massive part this week just gone, and our new group did well considering the conditions with Terry in peg 5 taking over a dozen fish on his right hand rod to the far trees.Ginger in peg 3 had a brace of 40lb+ and every other fish being 38lb for him. Keith had to work hard in peg 1, but even though a few good fish crashed out all week they did not really want to pick up bait and he had to work hard for them. Just far too much cold rain pouring into the lakes this week which knocked the fishing on it's head midweek, and both lakes are full to the brim and the overflows are billowing out full bore now.
The week ended on 28 fish with 4 over 40lb+ ( best 42lb) 23 fish over 30lb (including a good 7 fish of 38lb-39lb) and over 14 being 35lb+.
The smallest and for me the best fish of the week was a stunning golden fullyscaled Mirror. I was only just talking to Terry about picking the scaley fish up from down in the righthand corner of peg 5, when I walked off I heard his optonic burst into life and what does he have on the other end? A fish I have not seen since April and a real peach. It's not the fastest grower, but with a steady 3lb+ each season it will be most sort after in the coming years. As can be seen the bulk of the fish are moving up with the main shoal moving into the 40lb bracket for the start of next year and them bigger girls pushing into the 50lb once again, at last!!
The rain is pouring down as I write this so I feel for the new group and just hope that water temp is not dropping too fast!! The fish are crashing out but no fish on the first night which is to be expected with the conditions. I will keep you posted.
On the wildlife front there were 6 Red Kites circling the lake yesterday which was a stunning site and I found a dismembered Moorhen under a willow tree on the big lake. A pile of feathers where he had been plucked and just a head, spine and feet was all that was left, could it have been the Goshawk I saw last week? Or a female Spar? but either way I would have loved to have seen it strike the Moorhen as he was crossing from one lake to the other, what a moment that would have been.
The log burner was fired up last night for the first time this year so it's time to dry those wet clothes out now and "Warm me cockles" as they say.
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