Regular visitor to Puyravaud, Pete Allen has been enjoying a fair bit of success despite the very hot dry weather. In between visiting various local landmarks and enjoying some lovely local fare, he has been catching some very nice Puyravaud carp.
On Saturday late afternoon he hooked into a very nice mirror which weighed in at 49lbs 6ozs for a new PB. This was his 6th fish since Wednesday morning with every sign that there’s more to come before his return to the UK.
We have been busy as its the summer months, we will update latest news next week – but here are some pics of some of the catches these past few weeks.
Gorleston Tackle – Jason. Mark and crew had some work to do working out the lake, but it didnt beat them – they fished hard and had some great fish and a really lovely family.
Andrew, Drew and Mike visited Puyravaud for the first time at the end of April for a very hastily organised fishing trip! The guys fished Kingfisher Lake and enjoyed a superb weeks fishing with all three catching PB’s. All three caught good 40lbs+ fish, caught in dry conditions with many falling to a Monster Squid pop up with coloured corn. They also enjoyed some of Marion’s legendary home cooking to round off a perfect week.
The guys were so impressed, they have booked a further three trips for 2016 and 2017.
Still waiting for a shot of Ross’s PB (it is on Facebook) – but here are some fish from the sunny week Pete Gary & Ross enjoyed at Puyravaud
Regular visitors Jonny, Dan and Martin are enjoying a fantastic week fishing Kingfisher Lake at Puyravaud. The guys are taking full advantage of the facilities whilst fishing most nights as well. The formula is obviously working as they are enjoying some great fish. Jonny has just landed his first 50+ carp with a beautiful 51lbs 13ozs mirror. The fish was caught at 6.30pm on Monday evening and took a simple pop up style rig.
The guys have so far banked 29 carp with an average weight of nearly 40lbs and 14 carp over 40lbs. What could be better – well, the guys have bought wives and girlfriends who are enjoying the surroundings and first class accommodation for some real chill time.
Regular visitors to Puyravaud, Terry and Mark, got a little surprise whilst on their latest carp fishing trip. Fishing Heron Lake, they had not had the best of catches, with the carp harder to tempt than normal. However, on Tuesday morning, Mark had an immediate take, literally seconds after casting his bait to a known spot. He immediately felt a different type of run and 15 minutes later was playing out the final moments of catching our one and only catfish. More incredibly, she has been in our lake for 5 years and never previously been caught! Weighing in at a modest 43lbs, she is definitely not the biggest cat in France, nor the fastest growing having put on only 13lbs, but she certainly is one of the most unexpected. Terry and Mark enjoyed the moment and we wonder how long it will be before she is seen again?
When Ross decided to fish Puyravaud with 5 time visitors Pete and Gary, little did he know what a weeks fishing he would have. After waiting patiently for two days for his first fish, he landed a PB of 33lbs+. A farely modest start which was beaten with his second fish – a beauty of 43lbs. On his final evening Ross was heard to say ‘I am really happy and don’t mind if I don’t catch another, its been a great trip’ – beware the contented fisherman!
At 8.30pm in semi darkness, Ross hooked into a hard playing fish which took 20 minuted to land. Once on the bank, it was clear this was a big fish and the guys ensured everything was recorded correctly. The fish was a 53lbs 8ozs mirror in beautiful condition that originally went in Kingfisher at 40lbs 7 ozs, two and a half years ago and was previously caught at 50lbs 5ozs – the last Kingfisher Lake record. The catch was weighed several times and verified by owner Peter Jackson.
Both Pete and Gary had some great fish up to 47lbs, so it turned out to be a memorable trip for all three of them.
Ross will have slept well last night and dreamt of even bigger catches on his next trip to Puyravaud. Well done Ross on your third PB in a week and the new Kingfisher Lake record.
Pictures to follow
Jason and crew came back to see us again for the third time and had a lovely stay despite unsettled weather.
After a leisurely weeks fishing, the guys managed 30 carp with the biggest weighing in at 46.5lbs. Sydney was the star with 15 carp at an average weight of 37lbs. The guys enjoyed Marion’s cooking which, as usual, hit all the right spots – the meat pie went down particularly well as was described by Jason as ‘legendary’.
We look forward to seeing the guys again soon.
Each year we try and improve our French Carp Fishing holidays at Puyravaud – so what’s new for 2016…
1) During 2015 the TV cameras visited Puyravaud to try and capture our unique offering for groups and families. Our episode will be shown on Sky early in 2016 and as soon as we have a confirmed date, we will let you know. There were some lovely fish caught over the three days of filming including a couple of lovely 50’s and some great 40’s a well. In the meantime, go to Youtube and search on Puyravaud TV for a number of videos that give a flavour of what we have to offer.
2) Upgraded TV’s in both barn and cottage – this year we have better and larger TV’s in both properties to enhance TV viewing. Not that we are encouraging you to stay indoors when there is so much to do outside, but for those ‘sit on the sofa’ days, you can now enjoy viewing just that little bit more.
3) Rebuilt swims – we have virtually rebuilt every swim on both lakes and re-surfaced with 10 tons of shingle. This gives each angler the perfect platform from which to catch and land those monsters.
4) Cleared bank areas – over the winter, we have cleared a lot of tree foliage from the bank side to enable better access to more of the lake. This makes it easier to land fish and stalk where previously impossible.
5) No small carp in Heron Lake – over a number of years we have tried to reduce the number of small carp in Heron Lake. We have finally succeeded after repairing the dam wall and removing all unwanted carp from the lake. We start 2016 with an average weight of 32lbs and expect these fish to grow on quickly over the next couple of years.
6) Hire of gear – we have always hired fishing gear for those who fly in or just don’t have room to bring all their own. This year we will add further equipment, to expand the hiring of gear at Puyravaud. This has proved very popular and again we are responding to customer requests to make more equipment available.
7) Cleared the Old Forge area – for the first time in many many years it is possible to see the old forge, dating back to 1819, in all its glory. We have spent a lot of time clearing this historic building and hope to create a unique BBQ and seating area close by with lovely views of Kingfisher Lake to boot.
8) New Pagoda for pool area – we have added a much better pagoda by the pool in order to offer an area by the pool protected from direct sunlight. This has proved useful for those wanting to get out of the sun for a while and also for those with young families wanting protecting from the sun.
We continue to listen to customer feedback and hope to make further improvements during the year.
HAPPY 2016
We just wanted to say a big Thank you to all our customers and friends who have supported us through what has to be our toughest year so far.
Our worst nightmares became reality when Heron Lake disappeared over a weekend in June. We would not be where we are today (back to normal with 2 Lakes with the right stock and ready for 2016.) without the support and understanding of our customers and good friends. You sure find out how kind and understanding people can be. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
2016, gets us back on track, and we have renewed the swims, cleared the banks, attacked the brambles and fixed the walkways. With the trees now taken out on the dam wall there is now a much different view of both lakes from the Dam. We are working on the old forge and plan to do some dry stone walls on the bridges. The river has also been cleared and we will continue to keep it cleared of bramble. The weather so far has been very kind to us, spring is starting early.
Thank you again to EVERYONE that has helped us we can’t thank you enough.
We really look forward to welcoming all our customers in 2016 and starting a new year.
BONNE ANNEE – HAPPY NEW YEAR