It has been a real pleasure to watch Villefonds fish grow into some real monsters and it has been discussed for a long time about which fish are going to be the next biggest caught so I decided to compile a new list detailing the top 5 to date, as of February  2014.
Our lake’s carp are exceptional so making the top 5 is difficult and with so many of the big 5 not having been caught for a long time we are just waiting for one to break the 60lb barrier in 2014! Villefond has as many forties as most last have thirties and as many fifties as they have forties. With few small fish it has become a very tricky water and really tests all of our anglers but f you get it right the following could be in your photo album;
1. Â ARNOLD
Arnold came out of no where to make the top 5 and got the name Arnold because it had massive, almost unbelievable, shoulders like the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has quickly grown and after the death of Arthur in 2013 he has risen to become the current lake record holder. Arnold is the largest male in the lake and doesn’t drop the same kind of massive weights the big girls do so is a good one to hook at those times.
Heaviest weight to date; 55lb
Weight last caught; 51 lb
Date of last capture; July spawning 2013
Swim most caught from; 3 & 4
Prediction for the future; Arnold is my pick to be the first to reach the 60lb barrier if he or one of the other fish haven’t already. I am picking him to be the first because he doesn’t seem to be slowing down on his growth rates and he has a frame I believe has huge potential.
Interesting Fact; Arnold only gets caught on one side of the lake swims 1-4, only once was he caught on the other side of the lake in swim 7 during spawning time when his normal routine would have been broken.
Arnold
2. BENNETTS
Named after one of its captors this fish is a real brute of a fish, it is a huge solid fish who hasn’t ever had big shoulders or a belly, just a very large frame with a lot of potential. Bennett’s has the widest head and back I have seen on a fish. Bennetts is a large female and gets involved heavily in spawning and yo-yo’s in weight during the year.
Heaviest weight to date;Â 54.7lb
Weight last caught; 50.2lb
Date of last capture; October 2013 on the way back up from a late spawning
Swim most caught from; 3 & 6
Prediction for the future; Bennett’s has been up and down with its weight this year due to the strange weather badly effecting the spawning but never dropped lighter than 49lb and, given the large fish are spawning up to 10lb, Bennett’s is staying in the top five for a while yet!
I expect Bennett’s to become a high 50lber but being shorter than the others unless it grows I cant see it becoming a 60lb + monster but I have been wrong before and time will tell.
Interesting Fact; Bennett’s is a greedy fish and gets caught the most out of all of the top 5 and this shows when she grew from stocking at 23lb in four years to 51!
An interesting fact for when playing Bennett’s, she is one of a couple of the big fish that use the same trick, she sits still during the fight and a lot of anglers think she is snagged and try to bully her and end up hook pulling or snapping up. So remember if you hook a fish and it sits still, you’re into one of the top 5… relax, keep a gentle pressure and wait for her to move.
Bennetts
3. Â THE FAT COMMON
This fish is the big wild card of the top 5; it came from nowhere bursting into the top 5 with a massive jump in weight. Before this weight gain this fish was just an average size for Villefond around 40lb and definitely wasn’t on our radar to go 50lb any time soon let alone knock some other 50’s off the top 5!
Heaviest weight to date; 54.7lb
Weight last caught; 54.7lb
Date of last capture; November 2013
Swim most caught from; 3 & 4
Prediction for the future; I have no idea where this fish is going, it came from nowhere and could keep climbing or it could go through another spell of staying the same weight for a long time. It will be interesting to see where it’s sitting on its next capture.
Interesting Fact; this fish was called in August spawned out at 38lb and 54lb that winter!
The Fat Common
4. Â BIG JOHN
Big John is currently considered the lakes largest resident carp even though it was knocked off the top spot a while back and when talking about what fish to catch Big John is always top of the list. Big John is a extremely long common and has massive potential to grow huge and was the reigning heavy weight champ for a long time.
However Big John has become hard to catch and the few times Big John does get caught is around spawning when it is forced to feed recklessly but normally after spawning so its caught down in weight;
Heaviest weight to date; 51.2lb
Weight last caught; 50.2lb spawned out
Date of last capture;Â Feb 2012
Swim most caught from; 3
Prediction for the future; If one fish has potential to be over 60lb right now its Big John but she (yes Big John is infact a girl) is so rare on the bank I don’t have enough information in the way of photos and weights to give an accurate prediction. Let’s just say she is the number one fish on my personal list of fish to capture!
Interesting Fact; the elusive Big John has never been caught during the hours of darkness!
Big John
5. SLATE GREY
Named after its dark grey colouring this fish has just pushed Max out of 5th place with a recent winter capture from lake owner John on a couple of hourS session. A big framed fish this one and lovely colouration, plus its now joined the ranks of the big boys it’s definitely a fish you want to see on the end of your line.
Heaviest weight to date;Â 51lb
Weight last caught; 51lb
Date of last capture; January 2014
Swim most caught from; 4
Prediction for the future; with its big frame and steadily climb in weight I expect this fish to keep climbing and become a good mid 50 during 2014.
Interesting Fact; Slate grey is one of the 3 fish including Bennett’s and Max ( a 50lb two tone mirror) who use the trick of holding the bottom and sitting there waiting for the angler to get impatient and pull to hard.
Slate Grey
There you have it, Villefonds up to date mighty big 5, hopefully they will grace the banks a few more times this year for a few more dedicated cunning anglers.
Here at Villefond we are excited to see just how big these guys can grow and excited to see who will catch them next. Maybe one day an angler could possibly get a picture with the entire big 5!
Mark
For more information on Villefond follow the link – Carp Fishing in France
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