Lac Saint Cassien 2010

I am writing this from my auntys villa located near Fayence in the south of France. I have not yet started my fishing and am still preparing for the five days that I will fish one the best carp lakes in the world Lac Saint Cassien. (left: Looking down the south arm on Cassien). This year I feel I have a good chance of catching a carp from this great lake as I have prepared throughly. My reels have been re-spolled with 18lb ESP line, I have purchased an echo sounder and a boat. I have also made some 35mm pineapple pop ups that I have air dryed for two week and bolied for four minutes. These rock hard bollies eliminate nusience fish such as possion chat dstroying the bait before a carp can find it. I have got some good quality Solar carp food boilies (shrimp) and some glugged tiger nuts which will be used as both hook baits and freebies. The tiger nuts will be used in the shallower water and the bollies in the deeper water. This is to stop the possion chat being able to eat my baits as they will only feed within 35ft and shallower and do not eat tiger nuts. Just in case I run out of bait or I feel that the particular baits I have chosen are not producing I have also taken some mainline base mix, sweetner and selection of flavourings.
Right: View down the west arm of Cassien

My boat was purchased from ebay for sixty seven pounds which was a great deal as to buy it new would have set me back seven hundred. The boat is perfect for the job and extremly durable. To fish Lac Saint Cassien you need a boat to find spots to fish to with your echo sounder and to play the fish onced hooked so that you can get above it an eliminate your line being cut on the rocks or snagged. Also many of the swims are only accessable by boat. The boat is a Stearn 838 and even has an outboard to mount a motor on the back. Another vital bit of kit that I purchased was an echo sounder which was also from ebay costing sixty pounds. An echo sounder is necessary for finding depths at which to place your bait and also to show the topography of the lake. Lac Saint Cassien's topography is very "up and down" and it is pointless putting you bait out in 120ft of water when the carp are only known to feed at the deepest in 70ft. This peice of equipment is extremly important and It would be near impossible to find ideal carp feeding/holding areas without it in such an expansive area of water.

Rig choice has been another difficult decision and I have still not made my mind up fully. I have tied both some chod rigs and bottom bait hair rigs. I am not going to use a leeder and fish 18lb ESP line straight through to the swivel although I have got some leadcore and will adapt if need be. I purchased some size 2 Korda curve hooks for the choddies with the 35mm pop ups and size 4 Korda curve hooks for the tiger nut rigs. With the bottom bait rigs I have used Krysten snake skin coated braid (I have not stripped any of the coating) and have just tied a simple hair rig but with and extremly long hair of 3-4 inches. This long hair should cope with 4 tigernuts in a row and tipped with some yellow glugged rig foam to balance the bait out and give it some colour. This will be fished with a simple weed clip or inline lead set up with no more than twenty free baits around it. I am looking to fish with my baits in 15-40ft of water. Another factor to consider when fishing Cassien is the snags that litter the bottom. Cassien was damed in the 50s-60s and so all the trees that were originally in the valley were lopped as timber is a valuble resource. This in turn, once the valley was flooded left hundreds of tree stumps on the bottom of the lake making fishing more challenging. To overcome this I will use a bouyency ball or in my case a ping pong ball attached to the mainline free running above the swivel. I have created two holes either side and fixed in a peice of 3mm ESP rig tube to allow it to run up the line easily. This keeps all your main line from the rig swivel to you rod tip off the snags and hopefully will increase the chance of landing a fish. (left:Cassien taken from the resturant)

The best weapon which I have brought to Cassien is my book "Cassien and Beyond" by Steve Briggs. I reccomend that anyone wanting to fish Lac Saint Cassien should read this book first as it gives you a great insite to how he lake fishes and all the best tactical methods. There is no better advice or information than what that book gives. Steve Briggs has caught hundreds of carp from Cassien and has fished it since 1986 and still fishes it today.

Today (wednesday 22nd July) we went down to the south arm of Cassien to test the boat and echo sounder out. There were some people fishing on the far bank but most of it was free and fishable. To fish Cassien you really need two people so if your out in the boat playing a fish someone else can look after your kit and help you get the boat back in. Because of this I managed to pursuade my dad to do four days with me and one day with my fiance Dani (my mum has agreed to babysit our daughter Freya). So with everything prepared I cant wait to get fishing (although I still need to get my license). Thursday will be my first day on the lake and so I will update my blog when I return and let you know how I got on.

Thursday 23rd July 2010

My dad and I headed down to Cassien for the first days fishing. We jumped in the car a 5am a decided to fish the south arm in a swim called les falaises which in English translates as The Cliffs. (left: my rods and boat in the cliffs swim). Unfortunatley for us the echo sounder packed up and we had to guess the depths where our baits were to be placed. This was a massive blow to me as I had prepared the equipment so that my chances of catching a carp would be increased and now the most important part of tht preparation was ruined. Luckly for us after looking at all the possible defects we found some water in the transmitter which led to the O ring seal not being secured correcty. After some hopeful wishes and a sun bathed transmitter it was dry and began to work. During the day we spotted a huge cricket which I immediatly begun to take pictures of when out of the blue a giant toad pounced out of the bushes a foot away from us and the cricket was lunch.

Two rods wer rowed out around 200 yards both of which were my botom bait snakes skin rigs with three tigers and glugged rig foam on the hair and also 20 freebies around them. The third rod was rigged up a choddie with no bouyancy aid unlike the other two and was baited with a hardened home-made pineapple pop up boilie cast from the bank with not freebies. During the session we did not have any runs but had a few liners and one that I thought would have progressed into a run but it was not to be. I wasnt expecting to catch on the first day so back we wil go today (Friday 24th with the echo sounder) and have a long evening session to once agin try for these magnificent carp. Pictured to the right is an ariel map of cassien with all the "known" swims listed. Please click on the image to enlarge. During this session the weather was extremly hot and one back in th car to return to the villa the temperature reading was 42 degrees.

Friday 24th July 2010

I am writing this on Friday night at 11pm. I expected today to be more organised and pcomposed than yesterdays session as the echo sounder was working and I had confidence in fishing the deeper water located in the north arm. Admittedly I overslept due to the exhausting session the previous day and so we were away at noon but this was not a problem due to me negotiating with the other half and being allowed to fish until dusk. The car was parked at the end of the famous Cassien bridge and we loaded the boat up and drifted down the north arm. Many of the swims were occupied with sunbathers but we managed to find a great swim on the rocks, with shade, facing the bridge and a view down to the dam (pictured below left). It was relitively windy when we set out to the swim but as soon as we were settled the wind picked up. It was an absolute nightmare fishing session. When I tried to row the boat out to drop the baits and check for ideal carp areas the wind blew me straight back into the bank creating chaos. The lines began to tangle and I began to get slightly stressed. My poor dad had to suffer the anger as I shouted to release the bail arm and let line of the spool before the whole lot was a tangle. In the end I had to cast two rods out and catapult bolies around them which I was not confident with at all. I wanted the baits to be in specific depths not chucked anywhere with some random bolies fired out. My confidence was at a low and we had to face up to the fact that we may not be able to get back as the wind increased. Cassien was like a sea with large waves crashing into the rocks. After a few hours fishing we began to notice that there were quite a few men wandering around one of which was completley naked. We joked that we had set up in a gay area and that it was a meeting spot. I said to dad that I would look up the swim name to see wheter there was any link and to my horror the swim is called moby dick. Whether this has any relevence I will never no but I will not be trying to find out. We again failed to catch and put up a poor effort against the elements to suceed. A valuable lesson was learnt through this experience which was to get an electric outboard.

After five hours fishing I decided to pack up as it was pointless fishing how we were and I thought It would be ideal to take the family out for dinner. Rowing back was a nightmare, it took ages and a lot of effort to get back to the bank. The wind was so strong I cant beieve we actualy got back to or destination. I was completly nackered.

Saturday 25th July 2010

I am writing this Saturday 8pm after another session on the south arm with my finace Danielle. I was please to see that the wind had died down and although still breezy it did not cause problems when rowing the baits out. I decided to try the Cliffs swim again as a steady amount of bait had been put in and its comfortable. I decided to just fish the three rods and not four due to the limited amount of space. All the rigs were re-tied with wine bottle corks as bouyancy aids with a swivel attached which was threaded onto the mainline wth a float stop 10-15
inches away from the rig to elimanate tangling. All rigs were renewed and all were the same simple snake skin long hair rig tied helicopter style with the lead attached to the mainline and a adjustable bead above. I felt confident with these rigs and so had no hesitation in keeping it simple and uniform amoungst all three rods. Two rods were baited with two tigers, an 18mm byt boilie and dropped in 40ft of water. The other rod was baited with three tigers and cast 60 yards out in around 20ft of water. Above right: Me and my home made shelter. Suddenly I heard a bite alarm and ran down the rocks bare footed stubling when to my dissapointment it was Danielles phone ringing with a tune that has a similar intro to a screaming delkim!!! Feeling a bit stupid and with Danielle laughing I headed back to my home made shelter.

The day passed uneventful and I still have no carp to my name but just being there in that fantastic environment is great. I still have two days to go and so I think I will try the west arm. On my way back from the lake I have noticed that a swim named Kevin Ellis has been free and it does produce fish througout the season so I will give there a go tomorrow. I feel I fished well today and unlike yesterday and so am not to dissapointed not to catch as I did my best. LeftIn the cliffs swim set up in the mountains:

Sunday 26th July

We headed down to lake at around 1pm looking to do an evening session. I originally wanted to fish the west arm but there were no swims were free. The lake was buzzing with hundreds of people in pedalos, sunbathing, swimming and fishing. As we lifted the boat of the roof-rack and made our way down to the jetty I noticed there was a man and women deflating their boat and packing their carp gear away. The women made way for us and we lowered the boat into the calm turkquoise water. I glanced at the man, recognised the tattoos on his arm and instantly noticed it was Steve Briggs and Joan his partner. Utterly amazed I intorduced myself and remarked that I had read his book which was excellent. He was friendly chap and so was Joan. They reccomended that we fish the north arm just under the bridge on the point and swim known as Pierres Plates. They also stated that they had caught two fish from there at around 18lb at 8-9pm which is the time they were feeding. They advised that the lake is fishing hard but Burnadette had been out to a German at 63lb. Equipped with this informtion and just having met one of the best carp fisherman in the world renowned for catching large carp over 70lb in various countries I was confident and extremly happy. When someone of of Steves Briggs quality reccomends where to fish you listen and so we said our goodbyes and headed to the swim. Steve even said to email him to let them know how we got on.

As I was dropping my baits out I noticed a speed boat heading towards me. It was the police and I was caught red handed as you are supposed to cast your baits for health and saftey reasons. They threatened that I could be fined 135 euros and so I said pardon and shouted to dad to reel the bait in. I couldnt risk my gear being confiscated and fined and so I decided to go out in the boat with my homemade H markers find the spot on the echo sounder, drop the markers down, row back to the swim, cast out, row back out and pick up the markers and then bait up. It was a long lenghty process and the last rod was cast out into around twenty feet of water and some baits catapulted around them. As the day past into evening I felt increasingly confident.

To pass the time my dad and I made a rod out of a twig tied some line to it and a small hook and tried to catch some roach we had seen swimming in the shallows. After some messing about I managed to catch a small poisson chat which is nothing to be proud of but was fun.

We were greeted with a beautiful sun set that evening pictured above right that glowed orange. The lake feel silent and the water calmed. It was absolutly amazing with the surroundings and the atmosphere. Carp were launching themselfs from the water and it felt like it was going to happen.The evening passed fishless but it was a great session and again I felt that I fished well and gave myself a chance. Only one day left fingers crossed.

The last days fishing never happened and I enjoyed the rest of the holiday with my fiance and baby Freya. I will be back for a Cassien carp in 2011.

Keston Ponds 2010

I have been fishing Keston ponds for many years now and am still unsuccessful in catching one of the elusive carp that swim in the pond. The pond is stepped in carp history with a fish named the pet that went over 30lb and was caught in 1981 at 31 and a half pounds (pictured below). This fish was last caught around four years ago and has since gone missing. The general (sergeant or grandad) was another carp that also at Its biggest weight went over thirty and reached a great age of around 65. The fish in Keston are extremely old and appealing to catch because of how difficult they are and the history of the pond. Due to the small size of Keston (under 1 acre) its pretty certain that the fish is either dead or has been moved. Keston does still contain some of its original fish that although are not huge are great characters and extremely hard to catch. The pond is full of weed and the lilly pads cover most of the water. This makes fishing it very difficult and most of the fish are caught of the top in summer floating bread or mixers in the pads. Keston is a five minute drive from where I live and so I thought I would give it a proper go this season when I haven't got time to put in long sessions at Chertsey. Below is a list of the carp on my wish list in Keston.

Top Pond Mirror 20-22lb
Single Scale 22-24lb
Chunk 18-21lb
Waynetta 15lb
Redmire common 18lb
Pop Belly common 20lb
Top Pond Common 22-24lb
Wandering Bastard ?

There are other carp in the pond including some stockies that have been introduced plus Stealth, Penny scale mirror, plated fish and probably a couple more that I haven't mentioned. As I mentioned before the fishing is extremely difficult. The lake is a park lake with numerous dog walkers, bikers etc which all contribute to the difficulty of the water. For the size of Keston it actually has a large stock but the carp have seen it for many years and are not stupid. I have spent many hours on the banks of Keston especially last winter and for no reward. My approach this season will be hinged stiff rigs with fluro pop ups the same as I'm fishing Chertsey. I will update throughout the year on this post.

09/07/10 - Completed a quick session down Keston. It was hot and I decided to float bread crust in the pads. After walking around the lake twice and looking carefully I could not spot any carp which for Keston is unusual. However as it became evening fish decided to show in the waterfall swim. I put the bread on the head of a couple of fish but they didn't want to know.

05/08/10 - I have decided to hit Keston hard during the summer evenings and throughout the Autumn. I completed an evening session staying until half ten tonight. The weed has grown rapidly and there are only a few spots on which to place baits. I found a nice gravel spot fishing between the pads from 4 post swim. Three rods were cast out and I manage a "half take" but it did not develop. Will keep you posted but soon I will have one in the net.

11/08/10 - I completed a overnight session at Keston. Slept on my bed chair beneath the stars. Fishing in the same swim as posted above I found some nice gravel areas. I put around 20-30 baits in the gap with two rods and one rod close in in 2ft of water with a few freebies around it. The night passed uneventful but a good social and a few beers went down well. My mate Bill slept on the road behind my car!! but also had nothing to show for his efforts. Had to get up early to go work but cant wait to get back down there.

13/09/10 - Completed an evening session. Weather looked perfect for a carp but it was not to be. I fished two rods, one on a chod and the other a hinged stiff rig. Neil was fishing earlier and caught Waynetta at 15lb. Just as it got dark he was in again and I photographed a fish known as the redmire common at 16lb. Great fishing. They were both caught on snowman rigs fished no deeper than 2ft. Neil said he actually watched waynetta take the bait and caught both the fish in the waterfall swim. Next session I will find the carp feeding on the bottom and not just bosching out. Now that Autumn is here I will get some good sessions at Keston in.

14/09/10 - Did another evening session as the fish have been feeding. Set up in waterfall swim and changed baits to hi viz. Weather was really bad and I got soaked. Still no fish to show for my efforts but will keep trying.

16/09/10 Did yet another evening session but had to cut it short. Fished waterfall swim again but no fish. I did see some moving around that area and getting their heads down but a take didn't develop.

19/09/10 IVE GOT ONE. Top Pond Common at 20lb on the money. I decided to go Keston at around 11am this morning and give it another go for the carp. I set up in a swim near waterfall and fished two rods with a hinged stiff rig and a chod. These were both baited with my trusty hi viz fluro pop ups. I walked around the lake for an hour and a half before even setting up to try and find a fish but they were just not showing so I opted for the quiet end of the lake. There were loads of people fishing and kids running around so I thought this may push the carp up towards me.

One rod was cast to the edge of a weed bed and the other in a hole of around a foot in a heavy blanket weed bed. 20 or so home made freebies were then scattered around the area. Although I still had seen no fish I felt confident. At around six pm my mate Neil turned up and set up next to me. We were having a fag in Neils swim when my rod cast to the small hole in the weed bed decided to go of. The take was slow and as I approached the rod I could see a fish was hooked and weeded. I struck and instantly felt the pressure of a fish. At one point I thought I had just hooked weed until I felt the flick of a carps tail. After a quick fight which was more like winching in a ball of weed Neil managed to get the net under the carp. The amount of weed it dragged with it was amazing and this is the reason for the quick fight. I was so happy to have caught a Keston carp but when we pulled the weed back and saw that it was Top Pond Common I was over the moon. We weighed her at 20lb exact and she was returned to her home. (pics above left & right). I must say a big thanks to Neil. If Neil wasn't there I would not have landed the fish as I would never have got the net under it. Thanks mate. Cant wait to get back down there and catch another. I am so happy today. Tight lines

20/09/10 - Se up for another session down at Keston. Got to the lake at around 5pm. Fished the same swim and same spots where I had Top Pond Common from. Didn't have a take but managed a few liners. Met Neil who fished in 4 post and had a good social. Neil moves down to Hampshire on Sunday and his last day fishing Keston is this Friday. I will meet him down there and say my goodbyes. Its a shame because hes a great bloke and who will I have to net my weed fish?????

Completed another session on Saturday and Sunday about two weeks ago. No fish were fooled into taking my bait. Uni work has now taken over and keston will have to wat for a while.

The River Bourne

On Sunday the 4th of July 2010 I decided to try some barbel fishing on the small Thames tributary River Bourne. On my Chertsey ticket a small stretch of the river is included so it would be worth seeing what the river held. I had heard of barbel to 10lb being caught and some rather large roach that have escaped from the many surrounding gravel pits during floods but in reality the majority of fish in the river are small.

Equipped with some maggots, spicy luncheon meat and some sweetcorn I headed down the M25 to Chertsey. It was an extremely hot day and when I arrived I noticed how Small the river really was in summer. The water was no more than 2ft at is deepest and some places I could literately step over to the other side of the bank. With the help of my Polaroids I could clearly see the bottom of the river.

After an hour of so of looking I finally found a chub of around 2-3lb moving in and out of the current feeding. I flicked a small cube of luncheon meat in front of the fish and drifted it down the current. As soon as the bait touched the water the chub was off and darted down stream. (great start). I moved to the other side of the bridge where a large tree was blocking the river and a small deeper pool had formed (pictured left). As I peered down I caught sight of a large fish 6-8lb. I was sure that it was a barbel not just because of the size but the way it was holding in the fast current. I lowered some sweetcorn down and it hovered over it before turning away and leaving the swim. Following this I moved down stream further and got excited when I saw what I thought were three big barbel. I lowered my sweetcorn down once again and one fished moved over it sucked it in and I struck. I was In!!! As soon as the fish was hooked I knew something was wrong as there was no fight or powerful run in which barbel are notorious for. It floated to the top and I realised that it was a bream of around 7lb gutted. I netted i and put it straight back amazed that bream that size would be in fast flowing shallow water. I came to the conclusion they were escapees from the surrounding gravel pits.

I decided to explore the other side of the bridge and try and find some better fish. After being stung by stinging nettles thousands of times I eventually found a clearing where I could fish from. It was ridiculously tight but I could see fish. There were four bream and one good chub. I flicked out a peice of meat in front of the chub and in the crystal clear water I saw him pick it up and I struck. A fight commenced and he was safely in the net and at around 2 and half pounds I was relatively happy. Chub pictured right.

The rest of the day was unsuccessful with just a small perch to show for my efforts. I can see how the river can be good for fishing but believe I was fishing it in the wrong conditions. The barbel may venture down that far from the Thames but on rare occasions. I will go back to the River Bourne as It runs adjacent to my Chertsey Lake but will fish it in the winter when the water level rises. Not the best days fishing but it was nice to explore a new river.

Tight lines