My French Adventure, August 2010

[blackwater]

Bonjour

Well folks sorry this is late but have been really busy since i got back preparing school work and writing a personal statement for uni-bloody-versity.

Although in saying i have been busy i have been out piking a few times since i returned and had a few decent fish from my float tube which was great fun. That's for another report sometime.

Holiday began by leaving the house at approx. 8.30am, heading south to beyond Dublin to catch the ferry to Wales. On the way down i coaxed the parents to stop at a tackle shop and I treated myself to a few final bits and bobs. All went well with the crossing into cold wet Wales and things stayed cold and wet the whole way to Reading where we spent the night before heading to the channel tunnel to enter the country of destination; France. The channel tunnel was great, no hassle; drive on, drive off that's about it!

So we were now in France.



With roughly a 6 hour journey to our final destination; La Foret, i closed my eyes and drifted off and didn't reawaken for a good few hours so was missing the great scenery of all the vast rivers and small trout streams.

Arrival atlast! To me it seemed to fly in but thats only cause i was a lazy bugger and slept, but to my dad who was driving it really tired him out so it was down to the lake for a quick look and then straight to bed!

In the dark the next day i headed down through the oak woodland to the lake. Dawn broke at roughly 5.30am and there was me sitting at the side of the beautiful 2.2 acre lake, with the mist rising off it, it really was quite a lovely scene, then... HEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAWWWWWWWW, it was the worlds loudest donkey and to say i jumped of my tackle box was an understatement i actually was shaking. Out of nowhere it just brayed, reminded me of a T-Rex out of one of the Jurassic Parks! After i made a slow recovery i made up a nice mix of hemp,sweetcorn,pellet and boillies and spodded a small carpet of bait about 25feet from the bank. After i let it settle for a while a spotted a carp beginning to fizz around the bait i cast a few rods out, 1 fluro whiskey pop up tied to 18lb flurocarbon on a safety rig, similar set up on other rod but with a peach/squid fluro pop up tied to 20lb green braid.



To say that it was quiet was an understatement, 1.00pm and still not as much as a beep on the alarms, made me think i was doing something wrong as i am not 100% on the whole carping thing!

Lunched passed.... 3.00pm passed.... 4.00pm passed.

Then we got our first action of the trip, but to say i was dissapointed by the out come was an understatement, i had changed over to a different coloured braided hooklink that was a sample rig from a magazine i had got a while ago. As you can probably guess i lost the fish, but wasnt my own fault Clutch etc was set well enough but yet the hook still straightened, to be honest this shouldnt be happening in this day and age.

1 more lost fish and that was time for bed!

The second day i moved swim and left my dad and brothers on the other one.





All i can say is BLANK!! That will be enough for that day. But i also must say it was the most enjoyable and relaxing blank, possibly that i have ever had.

A 2 day break from fishing so my mum could enjoy the holiday and not just us, led us to the village of Oradur-sur-la-Glane (SP) which was a memorial to the people who were senselessly and brutally murdered when the SS moved across France.



On 10th June 1944 over 600 men women and children were slaughtered in this village, it was looted and then set alight for no reason whatsoever. As a memorial to those who died at Oradur it has been left in the same state as the SS left it. A very moving place to be, well worth a visit to anyone in the area at anytime.

The next day we went to a major city in the area of Limousin called Limoges and my mum did what women do best... You all guessed! She went Shopping.

Ok 2 days fishing were left and i was going to catch a carp no matter what, it was now warfare

I changed tactics on one rod and float fished luncheon meat in the margins and to see the float disappear made my heart skip a beat, To hook into a fish that didnt feel as big as what i would have expected from a lake that only had double figure carp i decided that it wasnt a carp, and surprise surprise it was a pike! They just follow me about don't they? Caught on a size 8 barbless hook tied to 18lb mono it certaintly took all my skill to land her!



She weighed 5-5 and was a fish atleast.

It was another big fat Carp blank and by this stage i had nearly lost the will, so i decided to do the night and it payed off! At exactly 1.30am a slow fight of around 5 mins produced a pristine 17-5 mirror taken on a tuna boilie fished hard on the bottom.



This fish was my PB so i was pleased, my mission was complete, a double figure carp!

It wasn't until 8.30 the next day that i had the next action. A screaming run that left my new baitrunners smoking ended up in a fight which lasted nothing short of 40mins! Is this normal or was i being to cautious? The pain of the muscle cramps in my arms were worth it no end.

A 33-3 was on the bank and to say i was chuffed was once again an understatement i almost sprung a tear Another PB on the same day!



All went quiet once again as the hot French sun beated down.

It was the late evening of the last day when i got the last run of the holiday and like the last fish took around 40mins to land, this time it was taken on a peach pop up and weighed in at 35-8, so another PB. What had been a slow week to begin with certaintly heated up at the end.



That was the fishing over for the holiday, i was very pleased with what i acheived, no doubt an angler with more carping experience would have done better i suppose, but for my carping ability i think i did ok for myself.

(I'm only reporting on my own progress as its hard enough as it is!, Dad and brother fished similarly with slightly smaller fish as a result but still had a great time)

Next stop was Paris, where we spent a few days. I'm sure a few people on here have been and it really is a stunning city, i was too young to remember what it was like from my previous visit, so i was taking it all in again!





That was the holiday over, back home the same way.

We all returned home safely and also with some great memories that we will not be forgetting for sometime.

Once again sorry for the late report.

Vive la France!

Justin

[cuckoo]

Absolute awsome report , cracking fishing with pbs thrown in and then broken again ,French history and geography all thrown in for good measure justin you are one intelligent young man , well worth the wait


lee.

[fishypaul]

very well done justin,superb report

[chazyboi]

great report nice read i noticed notre dame there been past that a few times

[Maddison_Twatter]

Well done on the pbs mate, Looks like you had a cracking time.
France is defo on the bucket list for me

[blackwater]

Cheers guys, i can assure you that there is much more i have missed out but that'll have to do!

[NICK R]

A tidy report mate

[Lman]

great report and pics mate
and well done some cracking fish there.

[Banana Steve]

Well done Mate, lovely looking fish, Are you certain you didn't bring the pike with you as a back up plan. A realy good report I enjoyed reading it. Me and Pingu tried to find that village you went to when we went to France in 2007, but we never found it. Great pics of the Oneabee blackpool tower.

Well done

[Dubbed Squirrel]

Just read, the French Angling Board are thinking of banning you, for showing up their anglers. Brilliant report Justin and excellent pics, well done bud.

Peter