Woodpecker Pool Newsletter May 2015

Well here we are again, our new season is only a few weeks old and we have already seen some staggering catches and plenty of beautiful fish. The weather at the moment is all over the place after yet again a very mild and wet winter for this part of France. The fish have wintered very well and have taken advantage of all the food we have managed to give them with being so mild, nearly every fish we have seen are up in weight and in beautiful condition.

We have had to deal with the odd problem. As you know we have a lot of trees around the lake which makes it very picturesque but they will always cause you problems when you least expect it, they look perfectly healthy and then for no apparent reason come crashing down, usually into the lake!! See the pictures below of one such tree which our friends and us had to deal with this winter. Big thank you to Heather, Tony and not forgetting Bella.

I have managed to fish on the odd occasion before the season opened with a couple of friends and we have caught some really nice fish only fishing for a few hours.

Now lets move on to the start of our new season. Our first friends here were Lee, Pete and John, they have all been here several times in the past but how would their week turn out for them this time. The weather before they arrived had been mixed to say the least but it looked like we were going to have some better settled weather which turned out to be the case for most of the week, as well as the weather the fish seemed to settle into a regular feeding mode. They all had a good weeks fishing catching 49 fish between them including 5 Catfish, 4 different fish, 3 of which were over 100lb and one repeat capture, the smallest Catfish in the lake at 92lb 8oz and 89lb respectively with the biggest Catfish to John at 108lb. The rest of the catch was made up of the Sturgeon twice, 1 Grass Carp to Lee his first ever at 31lb 8oz, 7 x doubles, 17 x 20s, 10 x 30s and 5 different 40lb+ Carp.

The best Common was 42lb 2oz and the best Mirror was 41lb 12oz. The total weight was 1725lb 13oz for an average of 35lb 8oz. It was great to see you all once again, thank you for the company and banter as always and we look forward to seeing you all again next time.

After the lads it was Terry's turn for as he says it his two weeks in paradise, he had a great fortnight last year so how would his two weeks turn out this time. Terry always says it cannot get any better and after last year I thought it would be difficult to top what he had done, how wrong can you be!! He never starts fishing until about 8am and very rarely fishes beyond 10pm which makes this fortnight even more impressive. In his first week he had a total of 44 fish made up of the Sturgeon once, 1 Grass Carp at 31lb 12oz, 3 Catfish at 107lb 8oz, 107lb 8oz two different fish and the second biggest Catfish ever off the lake at 124lb. The rest of the catch was made up of 1 single, 7 doubles, 11 x 20s, 15 x 30s, 4 x 40s and a NEW LAKE RECORD MIRROR of 52lb, Terry and us were absolutely blown away with this result, congratulations mate you deserve it.

The best Common was 40lb 12oz and the best Mirror was the new lake record 52lb fish. The total weight was 1520lb 8oz for an average of 35lb 4oz. A fantastic week by anyones standards and Terry still had another week to go, read on to see what happened next.

The fishing was somewhat slower for Terry on his second week but he still managed to catch some stunning fish but said he needed the rest!!. The total was 32 fish made up of the Sturgeon once, 3 Grass Carp with the best at 36lb, 1 Catfish of 105lb 8oz, 4 doubles, 11 x 20s, 7 x 30s and five different 40s.

The best Common was 47lb and the best Mirror 44lb 12oz. The total weight was 1050lb for an average of 32lb 13oz. Thank you very much for a great two weeks, for your very good company and all the chats and banter along the way, we look forward to seeing you next time.

What a great start to our 10th season, we could not have asked for a better one. We look forward to seeing everyone of you who are coming this year.

Until next time we hope you all keep well and enjoy the summer months whatever you may be doing.

All the very best for now.

Sue & Doug

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