Hello Paul,
I am currently in the process of choosing a lake for me and 5 friends to fish in France for a week at the start of June (Have done Dreamlakes numerous times and wish to try somewhere different).
I have spoken to Bridget at Angling Lines and she highly recommends we try Sapphire and said you would be able to give me your opinion of the lake and maybe answer a couple of questions I have.
One of my concerns is that the swims do not have any form of jetty or landing platform and actually appear to shelf off very gradually, meaning you would need waders or be prepared to get wet legs every night!
If you could give me your comments on this matter and any other information you feel would be useful, I would very much appreciate it.
Kind regards, Phill
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Hi Phil,
Sapphire is a good choice of venue. I am going to visit the lake again in May this year. Last year I visited Sapphire in April and caught 50 carp to 38lb with an average weight around 26lb. This was the first year that the lake was open and the carp had only been in the lake months rather than years. All the fish should have put weight on since last year, and there have also been additional fish added to the original stock which includes some fish over the 40lb mark.
As with all carp lakes the fishing can be a bit temperamental and some anglers did struggle. There was an area that was heavily covered in lily pads that became a safe haven for some of its residents. This area has now been cleared of pads or severely reduced and the fish should have moved back out into the lake.
The margins on Sapphire are perfect for picking up feeding fish. You have about 3 to 4 foot for around 40 yards out into the lake, beyond that it drops down to around 6 foot. I personally picked all my fish on this marginal shelf.
With regards to the wading issue; to safely land the fish you do need to wade into the lake so you will need thigh waders. When you enter the water it is probably only a foot deep then gradually drops to 3 foot about a rod length out.
If you do want more information have a look at my article as I explained fully how I tackled the lake.
https://www.anglinglines.co.uk/docs/ourvenues/lakes/sapphire/article_paulcooper.html
Any other questions do not hesitate to contact me or leave me your phone number and I will give you a bell.
Regards, Paul Cooper
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