Carp fishing in France
Smallwater lakes news
26th January 2012.
After a wet and windy start to the year the weather has now calmed down and is quite warm for January. The fishing is best in the late afternoon after the sun has warmed the lakes throughout the day. The carp have been very active for this time of year and are still feeding well.
28th December 2011.
First of all merry Christmas and happy new year.
The carp fishing is a bit slow at the moment, (averaging at just two a day) but the ones that have been caught over Christmas have all been over 30 lb and the best just topping 40 lb. The weather has been sunny for most of the month but just a little cooler than normal with highs of 18°C during the day and lows of 6°C at night, this is probably the reason for the way the carp fishing is at the moment. Another reason could be that at the beginning of the month we had a lot of the smaller carp removed, along with a substantial amount of roach and bream, which probably spooked them for a while but should help the larger carp to pack on even more weight next year.
30th November 2011.
There's been lots of very nice carp captured this month with the average weight being over 30 lb and topping in the high fourties. Everyone this month has left here with a new personal best. The weather has been mostly dry with temperatures still reaching 20°C at the end of the month.
28th October 2011.
This month the weather has been very dry again with temperatures at the beginning of the month still in the thirties °C but cooling off a little now to the low - mid twenties. The fishing has been very good in both the lakes with lots of carp in the high thirties and mid forties on the bank. We had a couple of young lads from St Christophers here last week and they both said that they thoroughly enjoyed their holiday and fishing here. There will be photo's in the gallery of them with some of the carp and other fish that they caught soon.
28th September 2011.
Yet another hot month with no rain and temperatures reaching 36°C even in the last week. The carp have been coming out mostly during the night, although a few nice specimens have been caught in the middle of the day by fishing in the shaded margins.
31st August 2011.
This month has been fantastic for the weather and the carp fishing, there has been very little rain and lots of sunshine with highs of 40°C, plus there have been some big carp on the bank, some of them nearly 50 lb, plus lots & lots of 30 pounders. Hopefully everyone will be sending the photos of their catches so that we can put them in the gallery.
Reserve your carp fishing holiday for 2012 & 2013 at this years price,
28th July 2011.
The weather this month has been very unpredictable with highs of 40°C and lows under 20°C, there has been a lot of rain for this time of year but it has not stopped some cracking carp being caught and landed ( several 4O pounders and lots of Thirties ) all of them long hard fighting fish. Take a look at the most recent pictures of carp caught from Smallwater lakes here.
29th June 2011.
Another hot month with highs of 40°C and the odd thunder storm of an evening. The fishing has been better after a storm or at night and early morning. We have had yet another lake record carp weighing in at 53 lb called Mambo. It was last caught two yeers ago weighing 46 lb, which goes to show that they are packing on the weight . Plus most carp anglers have gone home with vastly improved personal bests.
To see some of the recent catches take a look at the gallery where there are new photo's of carp and other fish caught from both lakes uploaded most weeks.
30th May 2011.
Once again it has been another month of great weather with highs of 36°C and very little rain appart from the odd thunder storm in the evenings. The family on holiday in the lodge at the moment, had two personal best carp on the first day of their stay, one common carp from the new lodge lake and another 30 lb mirror carp from Smallwater lake, plus lots of koi carp and tench on float.
Click here to see their catches.
30th April 2011.
The new lake (Lodge lake) is now finished and ready to be fished. There are some pictures of the carp being stocked and also a few pictures of Smallwater Lodge lake being excavated.
The weather this month has been fantastic, with most days reaching nearly 30°C and a few days above that. The carp are still spawning but not as much as they were at the beginning of the month, making for better fishing.
30th March 2011.
A very nice mirror carp was caught this week by Louise (staying on holiday in the chalet) It was a new personal best & also a new lake record, weighing in at 49 lb and 10 oz
(click here for the photo and description of Louises catch)
The new fishing lake (Smallwater Lodge Lake) is now almost finished and we have some of the stock arriving next week, about 50 carp all between 16 lb and 4O lb (the majority of them are over 20 lb) There will be pictures and video of the new fishing lake and the new carp next month.
25th February 2011.
It's hard to believe but the carp have already started spawning. Maybe it is because we have had such a mild winter here in the south west of France. The end of Jan and begining of Feb saw temperatures into the twenties (°C) or High sixties & seventies in °F. The last few days have been warm but also wet and windy, this will have given the carp a greater supply of oxygen and that plus warm water temperatures is probably the reason for the early spawning.
Excavation of the second lake has just started and all looks to be going well. We have already placed the order with the fish farmer for the black bass, zander, perch, and blue gill to arrive for next winter along with all the silver fish.
25th January 2011.
We have just ordered another 500 KG (1200 lb) of common carp and mirror carp weighing between 5 KG (11 lb) and 18 KG (38 lb) each. They will be stocked into the carp lake in February this year. This will make Smallwater carp lake probably the most heavily stocked carp lake in France for its size. Plus there will be a lot more carp that have never been caught before. When the new stock of carp arrives you can take a look at the videos of them being stocked into the fishing lake by clicking here.
19th January 2011.
The excavation of a second small fishing lake next to Smallwater lake will commence soon. At present we are clearing trees from the site. It will be about one acre in size & we are considering stocking predators, such as common perch, zander, black bass, large mouth bass and small mouth bass, plus several types of sun perch. There will also be a good stock of silver fish such as roach and dace. This should make fishing for beginers much more exciting and help hone their skills because of the frequent casting & catching.
Below are some illustrations of the predatory fish
Top left = Bluegill sun perch
Top center = Black crappie
Top right = Smallmouth bass
Centre left = Largemouth bass
Centre right = Zander
Bottom = Common perch
15th January 2011. After a bit of a cool start to the year everything is now back to normal with sunshine and temperatures in the mid 20s. The fish are topping in the lake again and feeding better than they were a couple of weeks ago. Today, Josh (staying in the chalet) had a very nice 42 lb common carp on 18mm pineapple boilie next to the island. He said it was a very hard fighting, long body fish. Not the usual fatty or pig with fins. Tomorrow they are heading into the mountains for a bit of skiing, having seen all the snow on them this afternoon.
12th December 2010. The weather has been great here in the South West of France, certainly compared to the UK for the last two weeks. We have had highs of 24°C in the afternoons and most days have been T shirt weather. The carp fishing has been good, with a couple of high 30 pounders out last week plus lots of carp in double figures. We have just purchased several more mirror and common carp around 18 Kg (40lb) to put into the lake, hopefully they will be arriving before the end of January.
3rd November 2010. Despite a few rainy but warm days the fishing has been quite good recently, but still no capture of the big one just yet.
This is what the last couple that were here fishing had to say :-
What an idyllic place to spend time just relaxing and chilling out.
The fishing is excellent & there is an abundance of big carp in the lake (patience is the word & ground bait)
We will definately return & many thanks to our hosts who have thought of everything to make our stay comfortable.
Many thanks Shane & Rula, See you again,
Mike & Ann
Spain.
7th October 2010. The weather for this time of year is fantastic, it has been close to 30°C in the shade all week. The last couple that were here (Dan & Roxanne) said that they had a lovely time despite not catching any big carp & that they are definitely coming back to try again. The carp must have spawned again because the lake is teaming with small fry that are only a few millimeters long, which goes to show just how good the conditions are for them.
9th September 2010. Finally the temperature over here in the south west of France is declining (25°C on average) & there have been a couple of rainy days which have dropped the water temperature in the carp lake to 20°C, this should make the fishing better than it has been through out the hot summer that France has had. We threw some bread in the lake today and there were lots of carp coming to the surface of the lake to feed, which is a very good sign. The next carp anglers to fish the lake arrive on the 18th for a week in the holiday chalet.
24th August 2010. So far it has been a fabulous month with very
little rain & most days reaching 35° +. The fishing has not been to good due
to the temperature but the fantastic weather has certainly made everyone's
holiday a great one. Peter Kay & family ( who stayed for two weeks in both
holiday properties ) could not praise Smallwater lake & the accommodation
enough and have booked to come again later this year. We are still waiting
for someone to catch the
50lb plus carp that was Stocked into
Smallwater lake in Febuary.
Hopefully it will be caught & landed soon , then we can have some great carp photo's to put in the gallery . Book your carp fishing holiday here in France at Smallwater lake and it could be you holding a catch of a lifetime !!
To book a French carp fishing holiday in the lodge on line through rentalsystems.com
1st August 2010. A cloudy but very pleasent day today after a scorching 42°C in the shade yesterday. Alan from Wigan was catching some very nice Tench & bream last week on a pole using maggots for bait, the water in the lake was fizzing like lemonade in the early morning & late evening wherever he cast. Alan & his wife said that they both had a great holiday here in France & wished that they could have stayed longer in the lodge.
7th July 2010. Now its getting very hot, today was 37°C & the forecast for tomorrow is 40°C. We have guests from sweden at the moment in the chalet & they say that they have never experianced such fantastic weather and are very glad that there is a swimming pool. The lodge has a couple staying in it who have never been fishing before but with a little tuition they have had plenty of carp, the best so far has just topped 30lb caught on a monster crab boilie, plus a very nice breem of 9lb caught on ledgered worm. They say that it has been one of the most exciting holidays that they have had and will definatly take up carp fishing as a hobby.
25th June 2010. After a bit of a wet month the weather is now back on track with highs of 37°C & the long range forecast has the sun shining with temperatures in the mid thirty's for the next 7 days at least. Both the swimming pools are now 28°C & the lake temperature is 26°C, making the carp are very active, splashing around in the margins & jumping clear out of the water. Swallows & house martins are putting on a flying display every evening dive bombing the lake for insects, it's really great to see.
26th May 2010. The weather has been glorious for the past two weaks, not a spot of rain & temperatures reaching 36°C in the shade. The water temperature in the lake is 26°C and the carp & tench are feeding very well, packing on the weight. There are lots of fry & fingerlings in the lake now after the spawning, when you approach the margins the water seems to boil with activity.
10th May 2010. Well the weather has finaly changed & its back up to 30°C + with sunshine & showers plus a cracking thunderstorme during the night. The carp did not go off the feed during the breif cold spell as the water temp in the lake only dropped 4°C from 20° down to 16° & now its 19°C again & on the rise. A few of the carp were still spawning yesterday but the majority of them are back to thier usual hungry selves taking food as soon as it hits the surface of the lake.
4th May 2010. Well its gone from being 30°C every day for nearly a month to an absolutly baltic 8°C today & the forecast is not improving at least for the next 5 days Brrrrrr. The water temp in the lake has'nt dropped much just yet, still 18°C but if this keeps up the fish will certainly go off the feed & become harder to catch. Take a look at the fishing jokes , a good laugh might warm you up.
I was given the ultimatum 3 weeks ago. She said "it's me or your fishing." I do miss her.
We are now taking bookings for next year at this years prices. Have a look at the availability calendar and book your carp fishing holiday in France at Smallwater lake now.
27th April 2010. Another hot one today (30°C) The carp seem to have stopped spawning now but they have made a real mess of the reed beds. The larger carp have started to join the others basking in the sun just bellow the surface & are also feeding from the top, they would be an easy catch with a few floated dog biscuits. (still waiting for someone to catch this 50lb + carp)
A short film of carp spawning in the lake on the 20th April 2010. It was a warm day about 28° with hardly any wind.
February 2010. We took delivery of another one ton of Carp and Tench (including a 25 kg mirror carp) to make our carp fishing lake the best runs water that there probably is.
Carp and tench being stocked into Smallwater lake.
Smallwater lakes Carp fishing holiday in France home page