Willow Lake: Home of the Forty!

Speeding down the A21 through France there’s no radio on. No CD playing. We’ve not even considered plugging the iPod in. This eerie silence was replaced with mutterings about “how much bait have you brought?” and “how big in dimensions was your big common, Nige?” It was then, when Nigel Sharp was giving me hand gestures outlining the size of his monster common carp he caught last year from Burghfield, then it hit me. That fish, that brute of a common carp, was a mere ‘pup’ compared to the fish in the venue both Nigel Sharp and myself were about to spend the next six days and nights on.

Nigel didn’t take long to get on the score sheet.

The Pond

The venue in question was ex. JRC owners, Jeff and Lisa Powell’s Les Lacs Du Verger. This is their new complex – their new home over in France – and on this pretty complex are two lakes: Orchard Lake and Willow Lake. It was the latter that we were interested in.

Success isn’t something the couple aren’t familiar with, after all, they started JRC from nothing, and they have their now “it’s fully booked up until 2009” first French water, La Fritterie, of which we were all made cover stars thanks to the whackers we managed to catch from there in 2005. And now they’d proved themselves yet again with this complex. These lakes are quite simply two of the biggest names in the French holidaying circuit right now. They had everyone from farmers and accountants to film stars and firemen jumping around the room the day before they set sail across the mighty English Channel.

This latest carp fishery masterpiece is made so special for one reason only: the stock. Yes, it’s a beautiful lake, but when you consider there are 10 between 20 and 35lbs, 18 between 35 and 40lb, 22 between 40 and 50lbs, six between 50 and 60lbs and two between 60 and 66lbs, you tend to forget around the surroundings and imagine yourself holding one of these chunks – if we could lift one that is.

Willow Lake

Albeit the stock is amazing – and as we’ve said on the cover, the average size of fish is 45lbs, what really makes this place so special is its size – a mere 4.6- acres. That many fish – and of that size – in just 4.6-acres. It’s going to be like clubbing seals! Jeff than brought us back down to earth: “not a damn chance in hell.” I was optimistic, though, after all, I did have Nigel Sharp with me with this special catch-’em-from-anywhere-ability.

During a quick beer and a brief about the lake and the rules, Jeff happened to drop in that it wasn’t an easy lake. His states and figures showed one fish per angler per week. Maybe this could be a little trickier than we first thought…

There are five well laid out swims on Willow with a maximum of four anglers at a time, so there is plenty of space. There’s also a little bay at the top end of the lake, which upon seeing, both Nigel and I decided to leave that area purely for stalking. Swim selection was relativity easy. The lake hadn’t been fished the week previous and from the records it seemed as though the fish came out from all over this rectangular-shaped lake, so we settled for pegs 2 and 3. In my case this meant could fish straight out and down towards Peg 1’s water and give me that much needed different line angle, whilst Nige, who went into Peg 3 could fish up towards the top bay and out in front of Peg 4.

Unlike previous trips to the Powell’s La Fritterie where it’s a made rush to get the rigs and bait wet, this required a more thought out process. We had six days in front out us and like Nigel said, “there’s no point going flying in and messing it up.” He was right. We needed to look at the situation for the first couple of days and try and get in tune with the place in double quick time.

The following morning he had another one.

Fishing with Sharpy is great. Not just because he’s great company, but you learn so much too. You only need to spend an hour with the guy to see why he’s one of the country’s finest. It can be quite frustrating at times though. You work something out in your head, go through how you’re going to carry it out and believe you’ve come up with a good plan – a great plan in fact. You then trot around to Nige’s swim, relay your action plan, only for him to say what he’s doing leaving you thinking, ‘why didn’t I think of that?’

To start with I fished one across to the back margin, and upon having a quick feel with the marker float revealed a gravel ledge that was 3ft deep and then slowly pulled into 4ft of silt about 15yds. The right-hand rod was positioned to an area where Jeff mentioned he’d seen fish showing on a regular basis during the week before. The lefthand rod was flicked down the margin. Bait? I only gave them a few handfuls, simply because I knew in the morning, after I’d had a good sleep, I’d want to do things slightly different.

Nige was pretty much the same, opting for two on the back, one of which was positioned up towards the mouth of the bay where he’d seen a fish show upon our arrive. The other was fished in the same sort of areas as my right-hand rod.

By this point it was getting on it the day, and as far as seeing whacker-sized carp, we hadn’t really. Normally this lake contains a far amount of weed, but this year it hadn’t come up and because of this the water clarity wasn’t in its normal gin clear state. However, whilst on the far back having a flick out with the marker float I saw what could only be described as “the mother load!” I swear it was a dog; and I’m not talking a Jack Russell – more along the lines of a Newfoundland or St. Bernard. It must have been the mighty common that Jeff had told us about on our wonder around the lake – a beast of over 60lbs that happened been out for two years.

The sense of anticipation andexcitement is immense when sitting on the banks of Willow Lake. When that buzzer sounds you know you’re connected to a massive lump of carp flesh, which for 99% of carp anglers would beat their personal bests – including Nigel.

Nigel’s pitch (Peg 3) for the week.

We made sure we had everything we’d require for the week.

Food

Bait is an interesting subject when you come to France. How much do you take? What do you bring? Can you keep it fresh? Both Nige and I opted for six jars of Bait-Tech’s hemp, along with five kilos of their Halibut Pellets. Nige obviously took his own boiled food – Nigel Sharp’s Signature Boilies whilst I used my super confidant DT Baits Pukka Fish Mix. What surprised me was the range of sizes Sharpy took. Whilst I had straight 18millers, he took a range of sizes in 10, 15 and 20mms, and in total we had around 12 kilos each.

Fishing a venue that only contains small roach and the odd tench, it allows you to make up a sort of spod mix and Nigel’s contained the hemp, pellets and boilie he brought along with some maize and a few tigers thrown in to complete the mix.

Now we’ve got all the bait we needed, but you need a plan. Do you do the ‘bait and wait’ approach or feed it little and often. By the Monday we’d sussed what we’d do. From the Sunday and Monday morning feeding we saw going on, we decided it was best to wait until 12 midday, then reel in, get the marker float out, re-find the spot and bait up. We’d then rest the swim for a couple of hours before getting the end tackle back out and ready for the late afternoon and night ahead.

The baiting levels remained the same each day. Nige was baiting four areas; three heavily with spod mix and the other close in area with just 10mms and the odd tiger nut. He’d now fanned his rods starting with his left-hand rod straight across to the bank edge, the middle to the corner where he saw that fish show and the right rod to the mouth of the bay. It was his baiting patterns that interested me the most and I won’t cover it too much here because he’s done a very interesting piece on it in The Rotary Letter (P49), but on his two rods to the back edge he’d baited in a circular pattern, whilst the one to the mouth was baiting in a triangle type pattern with his hookbait position beyond this.

They like food, so lets give it to ’em!” The spod mix that Nige gave them each afternoon.

By the Tuesday morning Nige had managed to bank four of the new stock fish that Jeff had just stocked into the lake a few weeks previous. Me on the other hand only had a tench to show for my efforts. This was all to chance on the Tuesday afternoon when Nige came over to my pitch for a social and some much needed shade from the mid-afternoon heat. I was at the point of no return on the toilet front and asked Nige if he’d keep an eye on my rods whilst I nipped to the loo. You know what’s coming…

On walking back through from Orchard to Willow I could see Nige playing a fish on my rods. I saw it splash near the awaiting net. At this point Nige saw me and gave a gesture impaling it was a monster. ‘Yeah right’, I thought knowing what Nigel’s like. ‘It’s only going to be a tench’. It then hit me that he might not be winding me up, so made a mad dash over to the swim. On arrival Nige had just landed what I thought (read that as “hoped”) would be a tench.

The 51lb 4oz sturgeon I hooked three times from the same spot and the same time three days running. Bizarre.

“Is it a carp?” I enquired. “I’ll let you look,” came Nige’s reply. It was, and it was enormous. We both thought mid-forty and once
on the scales it went 41lb. I crouched over into a potato shape feeling absolutely gutted. Of course we didn’t photograph it and return it straight away.

Another one shows on first light. It was a magical time.

The Rest Of The Week

Each morning I’d awake at five and sit watching the water. It was a magical, silent time of day and the only noise you’d heart was a large carp turning over, or in most cases, you’d just a head poke out.

As the week worn on we’d feel like we were getting closer and closer to a fish. Nigel got very close, so close in fact he nearly landed a carp bigger than himself. Stalking up in the top bay he found a few feeding fish and presenting to them a large lump of bread fake, it was instantly taken by what Nige describes as a “pig”. After a three minute battle the hook ended up in the tree behind him. As you’d expect, he was gutted.

On the Wednesday, at 7.30p.m. I had a one-toner on my left-hand rod which was now fished down in front of Peg 1 – an area which I’d completely covered in boiled food and where there were now fish showing each morning. Within seconds of hooking the fish it leaped clear of the water – it was one of the two sturgeons that live in the lake, both of which are around the 50lb mark.

Somehow we managed to get it in the net and then, with some serious organisation, we weighed it: 51lb 4oz. Holding the damn thing was hard work and my back was killing by the end. On the Thursday, at exactly the same time and from the same spot, I had another blistering take. Again, the fish launched itself clear of the water. Sturgeon on! This time the line parted 20 minutes in to the fight. I wasn’t too gutted knowing it was either the same one as the day before or the other one.

Now this might take some believing, but on the Friday, whilst having a social with Lisa and Jeff, we joked about it was coming up to the time when I’d hook the sturgeon again. Bang on seven thirty off it ripped again, and once again it leaped clear of the water. After what has to be the best fight I’ve ever had, the sturgeon was ready for the net. Upon unhooking it, I found my rig from the day before! I’d hooked the same fish at 7.30p.m. from the same spot, three days running!

We’re coming back.

Carp Bite

By the Thursday, Nigel had racked up a fish tally of seven. That feeling of ‘I’m getting closer, I’m getting closer’ was drifting away. On the rod fished to the back edge, Nige recommended I bait in a more circular pattern and position the hookbait further out of this circle. I did this, but the close in spot where we’d seen fish clouding up throughout the week now looked like the likely area for a bite.

That bite came at 3.30p.m. and was another ripper. It felt heavy, really heavy, then when it rolled over it didn’t look quite as big as we’d both thought. In the net, its size married up to the heaviness of it when out in the pond. 47lb 4oz – get in!

After going around for tea (you can either go all-inclusive or self-catering) and meeting up with the lads who were fishing on Orchard for some banter and a catch up, it was time to take on the last night.

It was looking good and we both felt like a bite was on the card. With both Nige and I getting takes at midnight and at 2.30a.m. we were proved correct. Mine was one of the new stock fish at 28lbs and had come of the area which I’d positioned my hookbait on the edge of the circular baiting pattern I’d created. Nigel also banked another stock fish and took his tally to eight.

The fish I was after – all 47lbs+ of it.

Typically, as is always the case when in France, home time came far too quickly and after breakfast it was time to make the 31/2hr drive back to Calais. It was a wonderful, magical and highly exciting week. It’s a feeling you can’t quite imagine until you’re there, fishing for 60lbers with an obscene amount of back-up 50’s and 40’s. In all honest, this is the ultimate “big fish venue”. We can’t think of anywhere that contains this level of stock in such a small amount of water. But, and there is a big ‘but’, don’t be fouled into thinking you’ll bag up. It does happen – in fact our mate James Vincent (Vinny) from JRC had ten in a week, most of which were made up of 40’s and 50’s, but this is a rarity.

We very rarely go back to the same venue, but this place… Well, let’s put it this way, we’ve already booked to go back in November…

The awesome group of lads who were on Orchard during our stay. From the left: Dave, Mark, Russell, Peter, Jeff, Jeff and Li’l Nige.