Long Lake- The Dream Maker

Looking across from swim 2 towards swim 10.

Paul Cooper and I have tested several waters out for angling lines to ascertain their potential. The latest water that we had been invited to fish was long Lake (Domaine des Longues Fauchées) in the Ardennes region of France. To the best of our knowledge this lake had never before been fished by English anglers, all we knew about the venue was that 4 tonnes of carp had been stocked in 2003. The lake was reported to be 18 acres and the average fish weight was roughly 18lbs, with fish to 40 lbs plus-more than big enough.
All we knew about the features of the lake was a sketch map that we had received:

Swim 10 was the position that struck me as having a lot of potential as it would be in a favourable position to intercept any fish moving up or down the lake, a bit of a bottle neck.

The most difficult question is always how much bait to take; hence we scheduled a meeting in a local hostelry to plot our tactics. After several brain lubricating pints we decided on the following:

• Roughly 15kg each of Quest’s excellent boilies (baits that we have both had considerable success with). Paul decided to take 9kg of Raja, 4kg of Liver (to be release next year) and a couple of kg of pineapple crunch just in case there were chats present (chats don’t like these which is an absolute godsend). I took 15 kg of Raja and a couple of pounds of pineapple just in case. All baits were shelf life as at present there are no freezer facilities (freezer facilities will probably be included before 2008). Paul has had some excellent catches on Quest shelf life boilies from some difficult UK waters- no freezer would not a problem.
• 20kg sack of hemp between us, plus a bucket of pre-prepared hemp each, so that we didn’t have to start cooking hemp on the first day.
• 10kg each of trout pellets.
• 5kg each of pre-prepared tiger nuts to deter Reggie and Ronnie (Krays) if they were a problem.

We set off for Long Lake; as usual everything ran smoothly due to Angling Lines excellent service.

The journey from Calais to the lake took 4 hours due mainly to the atrocious weather conditions; the weather in this part of France had been just as bad as in England. The journey back to Calais took just over 3 hours. Driving in France is a real pleasure as there is very little traffic on the roads.

We knew we had arrived when we spotted the huge sign on the back of the facilities, which is at the entrance to the lake. Touches like this give the impression that the owner cares and doesn’t mind spending some money.

 

The rain was coming down in torrents; luckily it is possible to drive all around the lake. We therefore had a quick look around, some of the swims were sodden with pools of standing water due to the amount of rain, included in this was swim 10. The lake itself was very pleasing having flat grassy banks and being of a reasonable size. There were some French and Belgian anglers fishing, which was a good sign as the French have a huge choice of waters, if they choose this one there must be a good reason. We decided to fish swims 2 and 3 as they were together and close to the facilities. We quickly set up the bivvies and went in search of a Super-marché to buy essential provisions. Tom-Tom indicated that there was one in Sedan roughly 10 miles away, so off we set. The countryside around this region was absolutely stunning comprising wooded hills and rolling valleys, I could feel myself unwinding already. The Super-marché was exactly where Tom-Tom said it was, no problem.

The Facilities
Before setting up we needed to put milk, bacon etc. into the fridges and have a good look at the facilities. The facilities comprised:

• Two toilets
• Two walk in showers
• A cooking area with a gas cooker and double sink.
• Two fridges with freezer compartments.
• A large eating area large enough for at least 18 people.

The facilities were extremely clean and more than adequate for our stay.

One of the two walk in showers

Kitchen area

We had taken pots, pans and cutlery as there were none provided, this may change when it is up and running as an Angling Lines destination.

Part of the eating area, there are another two tables

The lodge that contains the facilities

There were some fish pictures on the wall and the one that caught my eye was a huge diamond backed sturgeon, boy would I like to catch that fish. That fish would make my year never mind the week, my largest sturgeon was in the 20 to 30 pound range.

The lake
Before discussing our tactics and describing the fishing I thought that you may be interested in the lake itself. The French owner advertises the lake as 18 acres, this may be correct, but it is not as large as the Mangrove (one of the waters I fish) and the Mangrove is thought to be roughly 16 to 18 acres. Both Paul and I thought the lake was about 12 acres. However, this was immaterial as each swim was large and comfortable. Most of the swims will easily accommodate 2 anglers and some would accommodate 3! The banks were all grassy and some of the swims looked unfished. There were some very fishy looking margins if this is your preferred method.

Looking towards the facilities from swim 8	Swim 6 from swim 10
The corner of the island from swim 7	Looking across the lake from the bay between swims 4 and 5.

The fishing
Before setting up in swim 2 I had a good plumb around and found that the lake was very flat in my swim being 12 foot deep in the margin and 18 foot at about 60 yards out. Paul had 12 foot at 60 yards, with a drop off to 20 feet at 80 yards. This drop off was not present in my swim. I took my time setting up and Paul had had two runs before I had even cast out. Loosing a fish that he thought was a sturgeon and landing a double figure common. It was obvious that Paul had found a feeding area. Our tactics were very similar, we would each create a feeding area at about 60yds range and fish all four of our rods on our own area. Hemp, pellets and boilies were spodded out to this area. The idea is to create a concentrated feeding area and not scatter the bait over several spots. This can create competitive feeding and results can be spectacular. This tactic has worked for both of us on the Mangrove. I won’t go into details of Paul’s catches as he will cover them in more detail in his own article. However, I will include some pictures of his fish.

All set up and ready for action

Paul continued to catch, but my swim was very quiet, even though we were both using very similar tactics. My first run came on the Sunday and the result was a personal best brown sturgeon of 26lb 10 ounces. Well please as I like catching fish that I don’t have the opportunity to catch in England.

That was the end of my action for the day. I had a couple of fish during the night, but didn’t photograph them, as the largest was only 18lbs.

Personal best sturgeon of 26lb 10 ounces. Note Paul’s Bivvy in the background. This gives some idea of the distances between swims.

Garreth Watkins from Angling Lines was due to arrive on Monday to shoot a DVD. Paul had a good run at around 10:30 and lent into what was obviously a better fish. We jokingly said that Gareth would probably turn up at any minute as he always arrives when Paul is playing a good fish. Right on cue Gareth pulled in through the gate in his mobile home, unbelievable. The video camera was quickly set up and Gareth managed to get the end of the fight. The fish was an immaculate 30lb plus common.

Paul had just put his fish back when I had an absolute screamer on one of my rods. The fish in this lake really do fight and after a hard battle I slipped the net under another perfect common. This one weighing a little less at 29lb 3 oz.

The fish was an immaculate 30lb plus common.

This one weighing a little less at 29lb 3oz.

Gareth really is our lucky mascot. That was the end of my action for the day. Tuesday arrived and all I had had during the night was a small common. The three of us were sitting around having a chat. Gareth was telling us some sheep jokes as he is Welsh I would have thought that he was an expert, but I had to point out to him that it is no good with sheep as you have to run around the front to kiss them. Just then I had a drop back and then the line started to scream off and a large fish jumped clean out of the water. Gareth shouted out sturgeon. The fight that followed and my feelings are very difficult to describe in words. The power of this fish was unbelievable; it took yards of line at will against the clutch. Paul reeled in all my other rods and I was ready for the fight. At one stage I had the fish right under my feet in 12 foot of water, then it decided to run and it took more line than I had gained in a single run, its shear power even made me speechless, well nearly. The fight must have taken upwards of 30 minutes, all captured on Gareth’s video camera. I would gain line and the fish would decide that it wanted to go and it did. The fish finally came to the surface and all I could same was **** hell, it was nearly 6 foot long! How do you land something this long? Paul laid out both our unhooking mats on the edge of the swim. I manoeuvred the fish to the edge of the lake and he grabbed its tail and slid it onto the two mats.

61lbs plus of heaven, the other angler was a French lad that assisted with the photographing.

It worked like clockwork, well nearly. Now we were faced with the problem of weighing it. My weigh sling just wasn’t big enough, but I could weigh it on my mat with some of its tail overhanging the edge. Up it went on the scales and my Fox digital scales indicated 66lbs, less the mat made 61lb 4 oz. My dreams were fulfilled. I didn’t realise until later that my scales only went up to 66lbs. All I can say is that the fish weighed at least 61lb 4ozs

The successful set up was

• 3lb test curve Century Armalite SP rod.
• Shimano 8000 baitrunner.
• 15lb Shimano Catana main line.
• 9 inch hooklink of 12lb Shimano Catana line.
• Size 4 Kamasan model B745 hook
• A braid hair fished on an anti-ejection ring secured to the eye of the hook.
• 20mm Quest Raja boilie.
  

I caught steadily for the rest of the week including two nice 20lb plus commons. Paul caught far more fish than I did, why this was I don’t know. We used the same bait and similar tactics. Paul says he is just a better fisherman, which may be true. However, I have several alternative theories that may have made a difference:

• Paul was obviously on a natural feeding area as he had fish from the off. He was bringing back bloodworm when he reeled in.
• Paul was close to an underwater feature, a drop off from 12 to 20 foot.
• Paul’s swim was shallower than mine.
• I think we were on the same patrol route and he was intercepting the fish before they got to me.

Ultimately we will never know and in retrospect I should have moved swims, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was more than happy with my catch and will remember the sturgeon for a long time.

Me with a typical 20lb plus common	Paul with a 31lb common
Paul with a 40lb 8oz sturgeon7	Paul with a 24lb plus common

Conclusion
Long Lake is a pleasant and peaceful place to fish. There were some French and Belgian anglers present, but they were helpful and friendly and added to the enjoyment of the week. They were all capable anglers. The lake is set in a beautiful region of France and not too far from Calais. The water is a runs water and everyone should catch, with the chance of some big fish, one of the French anglers caught a 40 whilst we were there and there is always the chance of a large sturgeon. This lake is definitely a lake for the future, the fish tended to be long lean fighting machines. These fish will pack on the weight once a regular supply of quality bait is introduced.

I would not hesitate to go back and if I hadn’t gone on behalf of angling lines I would have kept the venue quiet as it is that special.

Specialist tackle is not required, normal British tactics will be very successful. The amount of bait that we took was spot on and I would recommend that anglers take a similar amount as there are a lot of fish in this venue. Spodding this amount of bait out was hard work, I use a Grey's 4.5 lb test curve rod and a spod that delivers 6 oz of bait each chuck. Bait boats are allowed on this venue; I have one but have not used it for years as my casting deteriorated when using it. I have nothing against bait boats and it is up to the individual if they take one, but they do take up a considerable amount of space.

Jim Kelly