Woodpecker Pool Newsletter September 2014

Welcome to our third newsletter of 2014. We have had some wonderful catches already this season and there seems no end to this at the moment, some weeks have been a bit quieter and tougher but overall the fishing has been very good which is more than can be said of the weather, still very mixed with a few glorious sunny days and then wet, cloudy and colder than normal for this part of France. A lot of you have again broken your personal bests which is great. A few catfish have managed to evade capture by one means or another but there have been some really good ones banked also considering we only have a small number of these fish in the lake. Now lets move on to our latest catch reports.

Our next friends here were the Allen family, Elsie, Terry and Anthony, they normally come here either early or late season but this time they decided to come in the summer to celebrate Mum Elsie's special birthday. Their first week was somewhat up and down but they still managed to catch some stunning fish, 27 in all. The catch was made up of 3 Catfish of 96lb 12oz, 102lb 8oz and 106lb 8oz, they also had 3 Grass carp with the best at 35lb 7oz. The rest of the catch was 4 x doubles, 8 x 20s, 8 x 30s and 1 x 40.

The total weight was 957lb 13oz for an average of 35lb 8oz, not too shabby considering it was an up and down week!!

The second week the fishing really picked up and they had some lovely fish yet again. The total was 52 fish and the catch included the Sturgeon 3 times (yes he's woken up again much to Anthony's disgust!!) 1 Pike of 5lb, 2 Catfish of 88lb and 101lb and 3 Grass Carp including a NEW LAKE RECORD of 37lb 12oz. The rest of the catch included 5 doubles, 17 x 20s, 15 x 30s and 3 x 40s.

The best Mirror was 45lb 10oz and the best Common 46lb 8oz. The total weight was 1603lb 14oz for an average including the Pike of 30lb 14oz. A very big thank you to you all for allowing our eldest Grandson Jamie to spend some time down at the lake with you to fish with the whip you so kindly bought for him, he was very happy catching some lovely roach and cannot thank you enough. Thank you also for your company and all the laughs during the fortnight and we look forward to seeing you all again later in the year.

Our next guests the Young family, Jacqui, Kevin and Conor with friend Luke were first timers to Woodpecker and also their first time fishing in France so would the lake be kind to them and would they enjoy the Woodpecker experience. Conor and Luke doing most of the fishing with dad Kevin fishing occasionally. They suffered a bad start with several fish unfortunately lost, included in this was a very big Catfish that was lost after an epic 6 hour battle with Luke, we tried everything with this fish but could do nothing with it at all then the realization set in that it was obviously fowl hooked that explained why it won the day. Poor Luke was absolutely shattered and obviously down at the loss but the fishing gods sometimes give you another chance and so it was to be as later on in the week Luke landed a great Catfish of 115lb 8oz after another 2 hour battle. Well done Luke your patience paid off as you can see from the smiling faces in the picture.

The total number of fish caught was 24 and as well as the Catfish was made up of the Sturgeon once, 1 Grass Carp of 31lb 7oz, 3 doubles, 12 x 20s, 4 x 30s and 1 x40. the best Mirror was 41lb 13oz and the best Common was 32lb 7oz. The total weight was 702lb 3oz for an average of 29lb 4oz. We would like to wish Conor all the very best at College and hope you do really well. It was a great pleasure to meet you all and thank you for your custom, company and lovely comments, we are really pleased you enjoyed your stay here and we look forward to seeing you again in 2016.

During August we always have the family out here with us and we always try and do a bit of fishing while they are here, it is never long enough but we enjoy the time we do get and usually manage to winkle one or two fish out. This year was no exception although only fishing for a few hours Claire, Paul and I caught some very nice fish. Paul could only fish for one day as sadly he had to go back home to go to work but he had 3 fish, the Sturgeon and two carp of 23lb 14oz and 35lb 2oz.

During the time that Claire and the two boys, Jamie and Alfie had left here we managed a couple of days after the Carp and Jamie did some fishing for the Roach. Day one and Claire had 3 Mirror carp at 28lb 8oz, 33lb 4oz and a whopper of 48lb 6oz, all breaking her PB, absolutely magic, I'm afraid I lagged behind somewhat with a Mirror of 22lb 4oz but not complaining at all as it was great to see our daughter land such lovely fish, it must be the pheromones!!! Day two and we managed two Mirrors of 19lb 2oz and 34lb 2oz. Jamie caught several Roach so he was a happy boy.

It was wonderful to spend the time with the family but sadly they have had to return home to go back to work and school but we will look forward to the next time, we love you all lots.

Moving on and our next guests Catherine and Adrian were also new to Woodpecker and to fishing in France, recommended to come to us by long standing friends. Only Adrian fishing and I asked him what he was hoping for from his week here, his reply was I would love to catch a 30, read on as this was an outstanding weeks fishing by anyone's standards. Adrian not fishing all the time and only fishing days caught a staggering 43 fish. The catch was made up of the Sturgeon 3 times and the rest were all carp made up of 4 x doubles, 8 x 20s, 22 x 30s and 6 x 40s. The best Mirror was 49lb 15oz and the best Common 44lb. Adrian did hook a couple of Catfish also but unfortunately they both evaded capture.

The total weight was 1457lb for an average of 33.2lb. What a fabulous weeks fishing. It was a great pleasure to meet you both and thank you for your custom, company, comments, all the chats and cups of tea. We look forward to seeing you both again next year.

For our final report for this newsletter we welcomed back our good friend Lee with Karen and daughter Megan, first time for Karen and Megan here and the first time we had met Megan. Sadly they could only manage to be hear for three and a half days but they all enjoyed it particularly as the weather was really good. Only Lee fishing and again just days he had a total of 17 fish made up of the Sturgeon once, 1 Catfish at 107lb and 15 carp made up of 1 double, 7 x 20s, 5 x 30s and 2 x 40s.

The best Mirror was 43lb 2oz and the best Common 38lb 10oz. The total weight was 605lb 14oz for an average of 35lb 10oz. It was lovely to see you again Karen and a real pleasure to meet you Megan. Lee what can I say my friend, great to see you once again but the time went all too quickly. Thank you all for your company, cups of tea etc and especially the meal that Megan prepared for us all on Wednesday evening. Look forward to seeing you all again soon and good luck with college Megan.

On another note Sue and I would like to say how nice it was to see the Warren family, all the best to Sam and Tom with their education, and also the Gaskell family and friends and we wish you all the very best.

Well that is the end of another newsletter, some fabulous catches and so many really nice people, thank you all so much and we can't wait to see you all once again. Only a few weeks of our season left now and we are looking forward to seeing those of you still to come.

Until next time stay healthy and happy.

Sue and Doug

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