The perfect French carp fishing holiday

2014 Review…

01/01/15

Anglers: n/a

Let’s start with a couple of stats.

The 2014 season produced 352 fish between opening in late March to closing early November of which 162 (46% for the mathematicians) have been over 40lbs. We think it’s fair to say that it was another great year for Etang Meunier!

Fish were caught from mid-double to mid-sixty but there were more forties (118) caught than twenties (57), and as in previous years several anglers landed new pb’s at Etang Meunier.

On to monthly details …

March… Produced 16 fish including 8 forties and 1 fifty (just the last week)

April… Produced 15 fish including 4 forties and 4 fifties.

May… Produced 65 fish including 18 forties and 5 fifties.

June… Produced 56 fish including 21 forties and 6 fifties.

July… Produced 43 fish including 13 forties, 4 fifties and 2 sixties.

August… Produced 54 fish including 21 forties and 5 fifties.

September… Produced 61 fish including 19 forties and 7 fifties and 1 sixty.

October… Produced 30 fish including 12 forties and 4 fifties.

November… Produced 12 fish including 2 forties and 5 fifties. (just the first week)

Once again anglers have had some wonderful holidays landing some wonderful fish, but don’t take our word for it, just take a look at the following quotes from the Etang Meunier log book!

"Great fishing, Awesome place!" - Rob and Laura.

"Can’t fault the place-Great stuff!" - Tony, Terry, Jamie and Steve

"Best place in the world man!" - David, Cole and Ben

"Fantastic venue for both angler and wife!" - Neil and Angela

"An amazing place, best place we have been to in France!" - Danny, Sean, and young Dan

"Absolutely amazing fishing, another fantastic week!" - Carl and Lynda

Fishing at Etang Meunier isn’t always easy and some weeks you really have to work for your fish. The weather can play a big part in how the lake fishes, but that’s fishing. It’s interesting that several comments in the log book talk about a slow start, with the end of the week becoming more productive. One comment finishes with “Keep the Faith”, it’s good advice as a lot of the better fish come out towards the end of the week.

One thing that doesn’t change is the potential, it will soon be time for the 2015 season to start… time for some more great fishing!

Email changes

19-10-14

Anglers:

Please note that we have recently experienced some email problems, and any messages that have been sent to gj.harman@btinternet.com may not have been received.

We apologise to anyone who has sent a message to the above email and not received a reply. Please can you resend to our new email address using the contact form on the Bookings and Prices page.

Kind regards,

Graham

2012 So far

September 2012

Anglers: n/a

We think it’s fair to say that the first half of 2012 has been a bit special. Let’s have a quick look at the stats.

April …. Produced 105 fish which included 24 forties and 10 fifties

May …. Produced 78 fish with 32 being forty plus and 16 over fifty

After the early season bonanza things settled down with ...

June …. Producing a total of 50 fish, with 17 over forty and 3 over fifty.

July …. was very similar with a total of 51 fish, 18 over forty, plus 2 fifties.

and

August …. Continued with 49 fish landed, 24 over forty and 1 over fifty.

So in the first five months of the 2012 season Etang Meunier has produced 333 fish, with 115 being over forty and 32 being over fifty. No wonder we have had so many great comments in the log.

A quick review of the season so far wouldn’t be complete without some mention of the weather. We’ve had everything from long hot summer days to extreme storms and torrential rain, but it hasn’t put the fish off.

We just love this log entry from Brian and Julie Stevens ….
Weather has been awful. Torrential rain, house swim under the water most of the time, then came the tornado! Have had 31 fish, best 58 lbs, had a great time, even the weather cannot spoil Meunier.

Other species have also featured in the log with tench to nearly 9lbs, odd bream to 6lb plus and an occasional grass carp best 30lb plus. Small cats have also been mentioned, thought we’d got them all out, so we’ll need to keep an eye on that. Another feature of the season so far has been the amounts of bubbling, particularly in the middle area, we suspect the fish might be exploiting the bloodworm beds, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping them picking up anglers baits as well, and it does give a valuable clue as to where the fish are.
As usual the house swim has seen the most pressure, but the wood swims have also produced their fair share of fish. There seems to have been less fish activity/fish caught from the shallows, but part of the reason for that could be weather related.

We’ll leave the last words to venue regulars Carl and Lynda Wood …
Another fantastic week at Meunier. Clear blue skies, sunny days, and star filled nights. There are not enough superlatives to say about this place.

A look back at the 2011 season

07 February 2012

Anglers:

When we come to writing these yearly reports it’s getting harder to find ways to say the same things. Lovely venue, stunning fish, great atmosphere, nice accommodation etc. etc. We’ve said it all before, so this year we thought we’d let the most important people have their say, you the visitors.

“Absolutely love the place for its serenity, the constant bird song and the huge fish lurking in the lake” ... Lester

“Super lake and some fabulous fish. Everything you need for a top quality carp trip” … Pete, Steve and David

“Fishing spectacular, scenery lovely, we all had pb’s. Can’t wait to get back” … Leon, Clare and Chris

“Hard fishing, weather unsettled, fish great condition as usual. Love the lake and cannot wait till next time” ... Matt, Lee, Leo and Max.

“Second week at Meunier this year, Just cannot seem to get enough of this wonderful place” ... Carl and Lynda.

“There are not enough superlatives to say about this place. Fantastic venue, good quality fish, finicky feeders a challenge to catch, but a great place to relax” … Roy and Carol.

“Great as usual, can’t wait for next year” … Colin

They say the customer is always right … who are we to argue!

2011 has been another great year at Etang Meunier, just look at the catch returns that follow, and we are already looking forward to seeing you catch some more stunning fish in 2012. See you then.

Catch returns ...

It was another fantastic year at Etang Meunier in 2011, with some fantastic catches including two 60lbers, the best an incredible 64lb 8oz mirror! In total across the season 39 fish over 50lb were landed, with 124 over 40lb!

The full monthly totals for the year are available below,

April
3 Doubles
18 Twenties
25 Thirties
34 Forties
7 Fifties to 55lb 2oz

May
2 Doubles
7 Twenties
16 Thirties
16 Forties
11 Fifties to 59lb 12oz

June
3 Doubles
7 Twenties
13 Thirties
23 Forties
8 Fifties to 56lb

July
5 Twenties
7 Thirties
6 Forties
2 Fifties to 58lb

August
2 Doubles
7 Twenties
11 Thirties
12 Forties
3 Fifties
1 Sixty at 64lb 8oz

September
4 Doubles
2 Twenties
8 Thirties
11 Forties
2 Fifties to 51lb

October
4 Twenties
16 Thirties
22 Forties
6 Fifties
1 Sixty at 61lb 3oz

Hopefully the 2012 season will prove just as productive.

*** CANCELLATIONS ***

13 September 2011

Anglers:

PLEASE NOTE WEEKS COMMENCING 17 & 24 SEPTEMBER ARE NOW AVAILABLE. PLEASE CONTACT GRAHAM 07711 898696 IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

New Testimonial from Catmaster Tours Colin Bunn

13 July 2011

Anglers: n/a

Check out the Testimonials page for a new report from Colin Bunn on a brilliant session he enjoyed at Meunier late last year. A regular visitor to the lake, Colin banked a string of big fish including a number over the fifty pound barrier.

May Update

6th June 2011

Anglers: n/a

The fabulous fishing goes on.

We said the first month was good, and it was. Well the good news is that the fabulous fishing has carried on and May has been equally spectacular with a total of 67 fish landed.
8 fifties (best 56lbs) top the ratings, but the rest are pretty impressive as well, with 35 yes 35 forties also included in the overall totals.

Once again well over half the monthly total is made up of fish over the magical 40 pound barrier, just one of the reasons Meunier continues to be one of the most popular holiday fishing venues in France.

A fabulous first month

26-4-2011

Anglers: n/a

As first months go, it doesn't get a lot better than this.
The Meunier carp have obviously enjoyed their winter break and were ready for some serious feeding.
The lake opened for the new season on the 26th March and the catches have been superb.
The stats make impressive reading, so far a total of 90, yes ninety, fish have been landed.
29 have been over 30lbs, 32 over 40lbs, and 5 over 50lbs. Best fish out so far 55lbs .... What a brilliant start!
We hope to have more detils and some pics soon, so watch this space.

2010 The year at a glance …

28-3-2011

Anglers: n/a

The Overview … When we look back at the log entries for 2010 a couple of things stand out, firstly there were more fish over 40lb caught than fish under that weight. If you look at the stats below it shows a staggering 136 captures over the magic 40lbs, compared with 113 below that weight. Obviously a lot of these are repeat captures, but it shows the Etang Meunier fish still love their food, and continue to thrive. As in most years the really productive times seem to have been early season as the water is warming up, and September, as the long hot days are coming to an end, and the fish exchange sun bathing for feeding. The October stats are somewhat misleading as two weeks were blank due to cancellations. Imagine, Etang Meunier sat empty in October!
Secondly with regards to tactics. The Etang Meunier fish have seen it all, and these days know how to avoid getting hooked. It’s obviously becoming more and more important that you think about your presentation, and be prepared to tweak things a bit. It’s noticeable that for several anglers the end of their stay was the most productive, with often the best fish of their holiday coming on the Thursday or Friday. All methods seem to have produced fish, from single pop-up’s tight to the trees, PVA bags, to fishing over beds of bait in open water. Although the house swim has as always been very popular, several diary entries mention how productive the stalking can be, so it can be well worth winding the rods in, getting the Polaroid’s on, and going for a wander. On some weeks stalking produced more fish than the main house swim.
Away from the fishing, can we thank all of you who commented on the lovely atmosphere around the lake, and appreciated the improvements we have made to the pegs and the accommodation.
We hope to see you in 2011, and wherever you are fishing, best wishes and tight lines.

As promised …The Full Stats …

March/April
8 Doubles
8 20 lbs plus
19 30 lbs plus
21 40 lbs plus
5 50 lbs plus

May
4 Doubles
1 20 lbs plus
7 30 lbs plus
9 40 lbs plus
4 50 lbs plus
1 60 lbs plus

June
1 Doubles
5 20 lbs plus
7 30 lbs plus
14 40 lbs plus
5 50 lbs plus

July
2 Doubles
4 20 lbs plus
8 30 lbs plus
11 40 lbs plus
2 50 lbs plus

August
0 Doubles
2 20 lbs plus
7 30 lbs plus
15 40 lbs plus
1 50 lbs plus

September
2 Doubles
8 20 lbs plus
16 30 lbs plus
21 40 lbs plus
5 50 lbs plus
1 60 lbs plus

October/Nov
1 Doubles
2 20 lbs plus
1 30 lbs plus
13 40 lbs plus
8 50 lbs plus

Totals
18 Doubles
30 20 lbs plus
65 30 lbs plus
104 40 lbs plus
30 50 lbs plus
2 60 lbs plus


Thanks for all your reports and lovely comments, here’s to 2011 and many more pbs and happy memories.

Updates

28-3-2011

Anglers: n/a

June 2010 … June was a steady month, with some great fishing. Sean and Teresa Hennessy had three of the fifties at 53-08, 55-02 and 56-02, they finished their write up with “can’t wait to get back”, which we can fully understand, but our favourite comment comes from Marc Port who wrote “Loved the place, stalking a forty pounder on a worm, was the highlight”. I bet! Best fish of the month was a 57, during the last week.

July 2010 … The start and end of the month was very productive, with the first and last weeks producing 25 fish between them. The middle part was a tough week for the Spiteri family, for numbers but they did manage a 49 lb plus and a low 50 to compensate. Trevor also got in on the 50’s list with a 54-08 fish during the last week.

August 2010 … August can be very weather dependant, and this August was no exception. Dominant high pressure 80 degree plus days and crystal clear nights, not the best fishing conditions, One comment summed it up … “please give me some rain and overcast skies”. Most of the fish caught early mornings watching for bubblers and showing fish. “Gary and Kevin on tour”, had a fortnight of these conditions but still managed the best fish of the month at 58lbs.

September 2010 … A strange month in many ways, possibly summed up best by “The Clacton Crew” as weather changeable, fishing sporadic. Several anglers had pb’s, with the last week standing out when Mark had both a pb common 40-08 and a pb mirror 54-08, Fellow angler John same week, broke his pb twice first with a 58-12 mirror and then a 60-04 mirror. Not surprised that their diary entry said very impressed with the size of the fish?

October 2010 … Of the five weeks available two were not fished because of cancellations, but for the other three weeks, October was the big fish month with 8 fifty pound plus captures reported. Congratulations to Anne Warren on a new pb of 53-02. Colin, Rosie and Iker ( Catmaster tours), had a great final week with six 50’s and six 40’s in their 15 fish catch … what an average size!