Annual Netting at Jonchery

Around this time in France fish farmers are in full swing managing the nettings on their many lakes. It is because of this that Heather and I made a trip over to France this November.  We called in to visit the Bacheliers, who were going to be netting both Jonchery and Brocard Large over two […]

Water Monitor Installed at Notaires

I have seen from the forums that there is a great deal of interest in the environmental conditions at the various carp lakes. I am pleased to announce that Notaires Lakes now has live online monitoring which can be seen here. The system is based around the famous Raspberry Pi “computer on a credit card”. We […]

Stocking Update at Mas Bas – Two New Fifties and a Forty!

Spring seems to have finally sprung at Mas Bas. The weather has been absolutely atrocious over the past couple of months. We have had rain virtually every day and Gilles has impatiently been waiting for the opportunity to drain down the main lake and remove all the surplus grass carp which have become more and […]

Draining Down a Carp Lake – Things You Must Know

Before you can either net a carp lake in France lake, or dig out the silt, you have to have a total or part drain down of water… so you need to know how to pull the plug!  It’s a fairly easy process here at Bletiere – with a bit of snooping around you should […]

Setting Up Your Own Fishing Business in Spain

This post is longer than usual! If you have twenty minutes to spare then sit back and read all about my last year in Spain. I won’t lie to you – it is a promotional article about my business and the trials I went through in setting everything up. Go and get yourself a coffee, […]

Lily pads removal

Now that’s a lot of lilies! Moving into the autumn months we began work to the final area of the lake that had been left un-touched until now. It had become a vast network of lily roots and weed beds during the last 100 years, so we had our work cut out! The weed beds […]

2nd major carp stocking takes place at Blue Lake

Following on from the 86 carp stocked in November the owners of Blue Lake have just added another 186 carp including; 6 x 40’s, 80 x 30’s and 100 x 20’s. Plus a handful of large grass carp to mid 30’s. Adding the two stockings to test angler estimates of original stock, we estimate that […]

Winter Carp Lake Maintenance

  I run a small 14 man syndicate on a 5 acre estate lake in Staffordshire and it’s approaching that time of year that I like to start to prepare for the forthcoming season. Over the past weekend I’ve had work parties on the lake clearing snags, repairing stages and walkways and trimming back reeds. […]

Weed clearing on an industrial scale!

Weed can be a problem on some lakes in certain years.  Here’s an industrial sized solution!  This service is offered by one of our lake owners, Sebastian Vasseur, for any lake over one acre in size.  If you’re interested in the service his number is on the second sheet… or we can put you in […]

Over 1 ton of carp stocked into Blue Lake – Nov ’11

After a short delay caused by the indian summer, Blue Lake‘s major stocking programme is under way. A total weight of carp of 2,500lb including 33 x 30’s and 52 x 20’s is added to the existing stock. 86 carp in all with an average weight of just over 29lb. And that’s not all………..There’s another […]

Do Grass Carp really clear weed in a carp lake?

Grassies doing their thing……………an update! In June 2010 we introduced 20 small Grass Carp to Joy Lake, to help combat a growing weed problem. One year on and we’re pleased to say the measures have been a great success. To show the difference they have made take a look at the photos below, showing the Brace […]

Carp Stock Micro-chipping

At Oakview Lake we monitor our fish stock.  One element of this is the micro-chipping individual fish.  In addition to obvious benefits like security this also allows for quick identification and monitoring of growth rates. Here the Oakview stock pond is used to demonstrate how this is achieved.

Look beyond the carp lake

Steph & Chris Dagg run Notaires & Alder lakes. Through this personal Blog, Steph is going to describe her experiences of moving to France and living the dream of many UK carp anglers. It’s easy to fall in love with a fabulous property – or at least one with a lot of potential! – when […]

Feeding carp through the winter is good fishery management

  Wally, the Molyneux bailiff, explains the thinking behind his winter feeding programme; During my time at Grenville Carp Syndicate I realised just how important a carefully managed feeding programme can be. It’s vital for the carp to maintain their weights and condition to get them through the harsher weather the winter months bring. This […]

Advanced carp lake management – microchipping carp

Not worth stealing fish from here! Chips4Fish – what would you want to microchip a carp for? That is the usual question I get asked when I say what we do at Chips4Fish.  The answer is simple… Identification.  No ambiguity, when you put a microchip in a fish you know when you run a microchip […]

More big carp stocked at Sapphire

Michel Bigot has just netted one of his stock ponds and dispatched 10 more carp to Sapphire Lake. The best of these were two mirrors weighing 45lb and 43lb. The others were all upper twenties. These are added to the nine 40’s and the 50 we saw him stock a few weeks ago.