Date: March 2010

Details: Decking

We said at the end of last season we would have a deck in place for everyone to be able to sit out and enjoy the sun,well we are nearly finished and it will all be in place by the start of the season.

Best wishes,
Lesley and John

Date: February 2010

Details: Special Occasions

If you've been good enough to book your holiday with us this year we would like to offer the following service to make your stay even better.

If you have a special celebration happening while you're here we'll be happy to book a local resturant for you & drive you there and back so you can have a drink. We can order flowers, celebration cakes or any other special little thing you would like to give your partner while you're here.

Just ask and we'll do all we can to accommodate you if you give us a couple of weeks notice... & if it's a secret then email us and we'll do the rest!

Best wishes,
Lesley and John

Date: January 2010

Details: Winter Trial Visits...

When I lived in England and made my yearly visit to France to fish the wife often asked if she could come along. Whilst I wasn't always sure my friends would appreciate having Lesley there it was made worse on some lakes because the facilities were not very "lady friendly" to say the least!

Having given this some thought we've come up with the idea of offering cheap Winter non-fishing breaks... the idea being that you can bring your partner along to see that the facilities we offer are as good as most hotels. We think we have everything here to make for a great summer fishing holiday & we'd like the chance to prove it to you.

So this would be your chance to see that we really are a great venue for both anglers & non-anglers and to look around the local area to see what's available.

If you're interested please contact Angling Lines who will be happy to quote you a great price for these visits (but please no more than 4 people at a time.)

Best wishes,
John and Lesley

La Bletiere	Lake view

Date: December 2009

Details: Biggest fish competition

Last year we ran a contest for the biggest carp caught over 40lb.

No one managed to catch a 40lb'er but as Steve Cuddy was so close at 39lb 8oz we have given Steve a weeks free fishing this year. Well done Steve!

We will again be running the same contest this year for the biggest carp caught over 40lb,but to make it better we will also give the winner a free week in the gite when he comes to fish.

The offer does not include meals or travel costs and applies to the winner only and is subject to availability.

Good luck to all our guest and hopefully someone will get that first 40 out of Bletiere soon.

Regards, John

Date: December 2009

Details: Winter arrives!

Now that we have no visitors its time to start the maintenance around the lake and gite,and just as I start winter arrives as the pictures show.This has put a quick end to any outside work so its the new bathroom in our home thats being tackled as i have promised all year to do it,having managed to find excuses up to now for not starting the work!

The interesting thing that has appeared now that the lake has frozen are clear spots(picture attached) which I believe show where the natural springs enter the lake,this is also where in the summer a lot of carp were always seen feeding.

I will have before the season starts work finished on making the small single swim bigger,this has two advantages one being more room but its also will allow anglers to sit in between swims and not be too far away from their rods as the have a social.

We wish you all tight lines for 2010 and hope to see some of you on the banks.

Lesley and John

clear spots in front of big double swim.	deer in fields	view from across lake.

Date: December 2009

Details: Biggest Carp of the Year... Competition Winner.

We ran a comp this year for a weeks free fishing at Bletiere for the biggest carp over 40lb caught.

Over 75 carp were caught over 30lb, but no one broke the 40lb barrier.

Steve Cuddy who was one of the first anglers here this year and caught a 39lb 8oz mirror, as it was so close we did not have the heart to say no... so Steve has won the weeks free fishing!

Look out for another prize we are going to offer for next year and it will appear here soon, so keep looking.

Well done Steve and look forward to seeing you here next year.

Lesley and John.

Date: October 2009

Details: Joe's new pb's

We would like to say a big well done to 15year old Joe who has been here this week,and fishing at night in some cold weather.

Although the fishing has been hard Joe has stuck to it and kept changing his tactics and it paid off in the end.

He arrived here with a pb of 24lb which he beat with a 26lb'er on Wednesday and then to cap it all last night he caught a 34lb 10oz mirror.... two pb's in a week!

Still a day to go so who knows he may beat it again.

Well done Joe.

John.

first pb	Joe's new pb at 34lb 10oz

Date: October 2009

Details: New puppy!

We have just got our 2 year old lab Wispa to quiten down when we were offered another puppy, and rather than see her possibly end up in a poor home we have taken her onboard.

Her name is Daisy and she is a german shepherd cross(so the previous owner claims)but judge for yourself... she looks to be very long in the legs and her ears are not german shepherd!

But she is a lovely and a very happy dog and all we have to do now is train her like wispa not to go swimming when we have vistors.

Wispa and Daisy

Date: October 2009

Details: Our first year at la Bletiere...............

As the summer seems to be coming to an end we thought it would be a good time to look back at the high and lows of our first full year, and what a great year for us it has been.

The Highs...

As expected the early weeks produced some really good catches with most parties catching up to 60 fish in a week. In that total a lot of high 30's came out which was an encouraging start for us.

The first party we had in April started the year with a bang with Steve catching the lake record mirror at 39lb 8oz so the target for the year was already set at a high level with Lesley and I waiting for our first 40lb'er to come out. During the early months a lot of fish were caught and a lot of big catches were made by most groups. It didn't seem to matter what bait was used, but very quickly it became apparent that the Quest boilies were producing most fish due to the amount going in as bait.

The fishing continued into the hot summer with Peter in August catching the lake record common at 39lb. However, with the heat the fishing did start to slow down, but still 20 to 30 carp a week were coming out.

What has been pleasing for us, and even more so for our guests, is the number of over 30's that have been caught and it showed the fish are putting on some really good growth rates. Up to now this year over 70 at 30lb+ have been caught.

We have had a few surprises along the way because although we had the lake netted before we restocked you never know what escaped the net. Although no monsters have appeared we have had grass carp up to 16lb 12oz and a 15lb pike... both of which we did not stock.

The only cat that was caught all year was by Glen and weighed in at 48lb. Although they were often hooked Glen was the only angler to bank one, so a big well done to him.

The only disappointment for us was that up to now no one has banked one of the 40's but there is still time. Hopefully one will come out soon, as the weather is looking good and the last bookings may just sneak one out and win that free weeks fishing!

We now also have another puppy called Daisy and she is a German Shepherd cross. Like Wisper our lab she is as daft as a brush and is always happy to meet new people. Just like wisper I'm sure she'll be happy sitting watching fish being caught!

The Lows

None! How could we have any living here in our little piece of paradise and meeting some really nice people and making new friends with many of them!


This winter we have a lot of work to get through as we want to get the place looking even better for next year; Lesley is busy planting out loads of shrubs and bulbs and already the bank behind the gite is filling up nicely with an assortment of flowering plants.

We are removing the chipped bark beside the BBQ as this became a play area for all the local moles, and we are putting down decking to make it safer and more comfortable.

The biggest job is clearing all the tops of the 250 trees we had to have cut down this year... the mess they left has to be seen to believed! Once cleared we are going to replant with a mixture of trees and flowering shrubs. The plus side to the trees going is that the light levels have gone up and the sun now stays longer on the swims, and with more sun on the water hopefully the feeding season will be longer. We also now have a view across the fields and beyond.

We would like to thank everyone who stayed here this year and hopefully we'll see you all again next year. We look forward to meeting even more anglers and their families.

Tight lines and all the best,

Lesley and John

Date: October 2009

Details: Trees

A lot of our guest have asked us to put some phots on the site when we had the trees in our wood cut down

Well,after a years wait this week it has finally been started. In the first 3 days they felled nearly 75% of the trees and started to clear the trunks away.

We did not want to cut down the trees but as they are 24 years old they had become unsafe as they should be cleared every 15 to 18 years,once we have cleared the area we will be replanting.

Date: September 2009

Details: Lake Records

As the summer is slowly coming to an end here in france and although we can still have very mild weather into october,i thought i would list where our record fish stand at present.As this has been our first full year we have seen some really good growth rates,and a lot of the carp caught have far exceeded our hopes.If the weather continues to stay as it is now i can see the carp feeding well into november and even beyond this,as long as we dont get too many cold nights.

Mirror 39lb 8oz
common 39lb
Grass 16lb 12oz
pike 15lb 4oz
catfish 49lb

Hopefully soon someone will catch that first 40lb carp.
Best wishes, John and Lesley

Date: August 2009

Details: RECORD COMMON !!

A BIG WELL DONE TO PETE WHO DESPITE A HARD WEEK DUE TO VERY HOT WEATHER HAS MANAGED TO LAND SOME STUNNING CARP THIS WEEK,AND HE HAS CAPPED IT ALL BY LANDING THE NEW LAKE RECORD COMMON AT 39LB THIS BEAT THE PREVIOUS RECORD BY 8OZ AND ITS A DIFFERENT FISH.

WELL DONE!

Date: June 2009

Details: Half year review....

As this is our first full year I thought I would just put a few words down about how the first half year has gone as far as catches are concerned.

We had a slow start with the carp stopping and starting with their spawning due to the changeable weather. This resulted to a couple of weeks with low catches.... only 20 carp in a week!

The best week we have had is 62 carp to 3 anglers and 8 of those were over 30lb, so a great weeks fishing. And this included the first cat to be caught at 48lb.

The fish are putting a good growth on and we have had 34 carp caught at over 30lb,with a lot of fish in the high 20's so it's looking very good for the future.

The other fish are also growing and a few tench up to 4.5 lbs have been caught on the float gear,so hopefully the crucians and the grass carp are growing well too.

All the fish caught can been seen on fish gallery page.

Have a great summer,
John amd Lesley

Date: May 2009

Details: FIRST CATFISH CAUGHT!

A big well done to Glen who has caught the first catfish ever out of our lake.

We introduced only 3 cats 2 years ago at 34lb, 27lb and a baby at 10lb. Glens weighed in at 48lb exactly and this shows that the cats are putting on an average of around 7lb a year.

Well done Glen!

Date: May 2009

Details: RECORD COMMON

Well done to Martin who not only broke his pb by nearly 10lbs but also broke the lake record for a common at 38lb 8oz,he also had a 33lb 4oz mirror earlier in the day.

You can see all the pictures on our site.

Date: April 2009

Details: Lake record smashed

A big well done to steve cuddy who today smashed the lake record with this 39lb 8oz mirror,along with the rest of his group they have had several fish out over 30lb.
Will they be the first to catch the 40lb carp.

Date: April 2009

Details: Gite Finished

We are pleased to announce that after over 2 years the gite is now finished and the outside is landscaped. Grass seed has been sown and we have planted the bank behind the gite with a mixture of plants and wild flower seeds,this should give us a long flowering period for those non anglers to sit and appreciate.

We will have the bbq built this week and then it's ready for everyone to sit back and enjoy.

Best Regards,
John and Lesley

Bank alongside gite	The Gite

Date: November 2008

Details: New carp added!

After a wait for the fish farm to drain their lakes we've just had our latest batch of carp delivered. This significantly increases the size of fish now in the lake.

We had 3 carp delivered, not quite as big as we had hoped, but still very good fish.

Weights were 37lb 8oz, 39lb 4oz both commons and a mirror of 40lb 12oz. Pictures below.

This brings our total stocked carp over 30lb to 10 with the 1 over 40lbs.... but who knows what size the high 20s and mid 30s we put in 18 months ago are now.

Next year should be an interesting first full year for us and our visitors should be in for some exciting sport.

Best wishes,
John and Lesley

Date: October 2008

Details: First carp for Julie!

Well done to Julie on her first try at fishing with her partner Chuck.

Julie started with a 10lb mirror and finished with a 11lb common. She showed all the signs of a true fisherman and played and landed all her fish single handed.

Chuck ended up with over 40 carp to 31lb 4oz, his new pb, so he didn't miss out either!

Julies 11lb common

Date: October 2008

Details: Swim works finished....

As our first season with Angling Lines comes to an end,we have had a chance to put into action some of the feedback from our guests.

We have made the swims evan more fishing friendly by putting down more chipped bark and making some of them bigger. In the process we have also made the swims easier to net and return any fish caught,without having to get your feet wet.

We will send some new photos soon to be added to our site so you can see for yourselves the improvements.

Hopefully see you next year,
Best wishes,
John and Lesley

Date: September 2008

Details: BIG CARP ORDERED!

As our first year comes to a wind down we have had time to look at the feedback we have recieved from our guests. The gite is now finished and this will give me time to enhance the lake and the swims,and put into being some of the suggestions from our guests.

As you will see from our feedback we have had really good catch reports with most anglers putting high 20's and low 30's on the bank.... but we want better and bigger fish!

We have today been to the fish farm and ordered for November delivery (as this will allow them the winter to settle in)6 carp of approximately 39 to 44lb.

A lot of anglers have asked me why we do not just put in more bigger fish? Well the simple answer is cost... at this size they are very expensive. We have manged to get a discount, as we purchashed a lot of fish last year, but they will still cost 60 euros a kilo - around £22 per lb - making the 40's come in at around £900!

Once these fish are added we'll have a really good head of fish above 30lb.

Pictures (& hopefully video) will be added when they go in. Watch this space!

Regards and best wishes,
Lesley and John.

Date: August 2008

Details: Chuck breaks his pb 3 times in week!

Well done to Chuck Ives who has already this week beaten his pb 3 times,with the biggest going 31lb.

He has had over 40 carp ranging from 10lb to the 31lb mirror.

Best regards, Alex.

	Chuck's 31lb mirror

Date: August 2008

Details: THE GITE IS FINNISHED!!!!

After nearly two years work our gite is now finished!

As you can see it's been furnished to a very high standard... so now non-fishing guest can enjoy their stay just as much as the anglers.

It's been a long haul but in the end worth it to be able to offer great fishing with quality accomodation in some of the most peacful surroundings in France.

We look forward to meeting new guests soon!

Regards, John London.

The lounge/diner	Main bedroom with lake view

Date: July 2008

Details: Crafty Carper magazine.

We were lucky enough to have Matt Quibell from Crafty Carper fish here with his father David recently.

If you look at August issue of Crafty you can read all about our lake before you book.

We would like to thank Matt and Crafty for putting us in their magazine.

Date: June 2008

Details: New lake record!!

Well done to Matt and David Quibell on a great weeks fishing with David catching a new pb and the current lake record mirror at 33lb 8oz.

Not to be outdone, 45 minutes later Matt had 30lb 2oz and 29lb 14oz mirrors. Both anglers have also had a lot of 20's out.

Who will be the first to catch a 40lb'er ????

David Quibell, lake record 33lb 8oz	Matt Quibell, 30lb 2oz

Date: April 2008

Details: BIG CATCH IN 5 DAYS

WELL DONE TO JASON AND RICK FOR CATCHING 46 CARP UP TO A NEW LAKE RECORD OF 32lb 14oz CAUGHT BY JASON.

THEY CAUGHT 28 CARP OVER 20LBS AND 4 OVER 30LBS.

NEW LAKE RECORD AT 32LB 14OZ	MIRROR 31LB 4OZ	PART OF THE 46 CARP CATCH
PART OF 46 CARP CATCH