The perfect French carp fishing holiday

Early season update

12th June 2010

Anglers: N/A

I think it’s fair to say that the weather has played a big part in the start to Etang Meunier’s 2010 season. Lots of the log entries mention, cold easterlies, and even snow and hail at times. As the weather has started to settle, the fish have obviously appreciated the warmth and results have become more consistent.

March 2010…
Fish were showing well pre opening, but sods law the cold weather really kicked in for opening week and the first week started with the lake temporarily freezing over. Fortunately it did not stay frozen for long and fishing was able to get underway.
There were two weeks fishing in March and they produced six forties to just over 48lbs and three thirties.

April 2010…
At last some nicer weather which the fish obviously appreciated. As the month progressed the results just went through the roof.
Week one produced eight carp to 49/12.
Weeks two and three were superb, producing 29 fish including three fifties, best 57/12 and five forties.
The last week of the month and fifteen fish came to the net. Two fifties, seven forties, and a bonus cat of 68lbs amongst them.
Some great results and some very happy anglers according to the comments in the log!

May 2010…
Is normally the month when spawning becomes a feature, but this year with depressed water temperatures and predominantly cold easterly winds there has been no signs of pre spawning behaviour, and in fact the month of May has been harder than usual, although week one did produce one of the biggest fish ever for the lake at 61/8. A stunning fish, hopefully pictures to follow.
Week one was the week of the sixty, but overall the fishing had slowed from the previous weeks.
Week two saw heavy rain and very cold nights, but the lake still produced seven fish to 56lbs plus.
Week three with warmer weather fish activity increased and 15 fish were banked, best 56/2, stalked from the tree line down the lake. (See a more detailed write-up of this week in the Testimonials section)
The month finished slowly with only three fish coming out although one of them was 53/2.

Hopefully June will bring settled summer, the fish will spawn successfully and there will be lots of happy anglers in the coming weeks, we look forward to reading the logs, and will up date later.

See you then ….

STOP PRESS: Weeks now available in 2010

06 April 2010

Anglers: n/a

Please note due to cancellations the weeks beginning 24th April 2010 and 22nd May 2010 are now available.

If you are interested please contact us through the bookings and prices page for more details.

Stop Press ... Off to a Flier

29-03-2010

Anglers: n/a

March 2010 …
We’ve just had the first reports from the opening weeks of 2010, and what a start, hopefully we’ll get more details soon, but we know the catches have been awesome.
Despite very cold conditions, and the bad weather over the winter already the lake has produced 1 sixty, 2 fifties, 8 forties, and at least 10 over thirty. Brilliant!

Watch this space for more catch reports as the season progresses!

A Look Back at 2009

27-3-2010

Anglers: n/a

With the severest winter for a long time coming to an end, at last a new season is getting underway and we can start dreaming of those warm evenings and hard fighting fish coming to the net.

We hope to keep the latest news section updated on a regular basis, so as your holiday approaches you can get a sense of how the lake is fishing.

First of all let us have a look back at the 2009 season.

Spectacular would seem a good place to start, with the log book recording the capture of 120 forties, 30 fifties, and 2 sixties, plus lots of twenties and thirties as backup.
Like any fishery results can vary, from just the odd fish for one party, to over thirty in the week, with the weather seeming to play a big part in how Etang Meunier fishes.

Looking at the season in a bit more detail ...

April …
Early season can be very weather dependent, and 2009 was no exception. With everything from heavy overnight frosts to hot and sunny days weekly totals varied from 1 fish in the week to 18, but the overall size was excellent with 15 over 40lbs and 5 over 50lbs.

May …
Early May was wet, but the fish obviously liked it, and in the first two weeks 50 fish were banked, 34 over 40lbs and 11 over 50lbs. Loved the comment in the book, great fishing but a shame we never caught any of the big ones!!!!
With the weather getting hotter and drier, spawning became an issue and results for the rest of May took a tumble, as the fish had other things on their minds.

June …
The first week of June was much like the end of May with the fish still spawning on and off, but “The Northern Monkeys on week two had a great week with 26 fish, and week four was probably the best week of the year size wise, with a 17 fish total which included 5 over 40lbs, 2 over 50lbs and 1 over 60.

July …
July was slow by Meunier standards, although each week managed to put some good fish on the bank, with a 54lb mirror being the best reported.

August …
August continued in the same vein, and several comments in the log, mentioned how tricky the fishing was, lots of signs of fish, lots of bubbling, but getting a pick up a different matter. Week three for the Ardleigh Crew on Tour was the exception as they banked 24 fish, 11 over 40lbs, and a 55/8 mirror.

September …
The middle two weeks of September produced some excellent fishing, with the monthly total indicating 45 fish, including two good fifties. A 56/12 in week two, and a 59/08 in week three.

October …
October can be a great month at Meunier, and although it started with a fairly slow first week, a seven fish catch which did include a 55/10 mirror, the rest of the month was great with 38 fish landed, 16 over 40lbs and 2 over 50, best 56/5.
It was time for the Etang Meunier fish to have a well earned rest.
……………………………………………………………..

So that was a brief summary of the season just gone, we hope it has wetted your appetite for the weeks to come.

We’ve been busy over the shutdown, preparing for new season, and we look forward to seeing you.
In 2010.

If you have a great week, please get in touch, send us a pic or two for the website, or even a bit of a write-up of your week. We would love to hear from you.

Have a fantastic holiday…

Best Wishes …. Graham & Elaine Harman

Please send any material and/or pictures to

info@etangmeunier.com

or ring us and let us know if you’ve had a pb etc.
Phone: 07711 898696

Easter Hauling with four Fifties

11th-19th April 09

Anglers: Brian Skoyles and Kevin Green

Fish caught: 4 times 50’s, 7 times 40’s, 1 times 30, 6 times 20’s. Kev best fish was a 58/8 mirror, Brian best a 57/8 mirror.

Kev also managed to hook in the tail, one of the few Big-Head carp that live in the lake. At 59 lbs it snapped off the line clip on his reel, and only stopped when it started to run out of lake!!! An awesome beast!!!

We dropped lucky with nice weather, and as the week progressed the fish activity increased. We had to work at it, but we were well pleased with the results, particularly the two big fifties. Tactically we baited regularly each evening, but didn’t go mad with the quantities (using about a kilo each of Trigga Ice boilies per night with a few scoops of Hinders French Mix particle and pellets to top up with). The feeding areas were quite tight, and it was obvious that although the fish were actively moving about the lake, they weren’t really getting there head’s down.

Quite a lot of our fish were taken stalking the margins, during the day, a fabulous way of catching big fish, on lighter gear. All in all a brilliant week, on a lovely lake... We can’t wait to get back.