Lillybelle Receives It’s First Carp Stocking!

Here’s the first carp going into the brand new Lillybelle lake… & what cracking carp they are! The carp were stocked on 17th December ’13.  In total 104 carp were stocked, average size of mid 20’s & the largest was 31lb.  Around 80% of the fish stocked were mirrors because most of the original stock […]

Introducing the Floating Cabin at Glehias

After a total of 40 long days’ work in weekends and many evenings over the winter period, our ambitious Floating Cabin project was finally finished at Glehias just in time for the start of our open season. All powered with gas and solar panel, it is fitted out with an oven, hob and grill, fridge, […]

Winter Work Update from Bletiere

Lesley gives us an update from Bletiere in this short video diary. It’s mid-January and John is in the lake, raking debris from the bottom. You’ll also find where the carp have made dishes in the lake bed. For more information on Bletiere follow the link – Fishing Holidays

Liming a Lake – Carp Lake Management

Paul Cooper answers a reader’s question regarding liming carp lakes. ‘Hi Paul, Sorry to disturb you. I read your great article on the Angling Lines website about Winter Carp Lake Maintenance and want to pick your brain about the liming. The venue I run is very similar in size and all the reasons you list […]

Life as a Bailiff – Pt 1, A Dream Come True?

Like many British carp anglers, the thought of one day living and working in France as an Owner or Bailiff on a carp fishery has never been far from the forefront of my future thoughts and aspirations. Four years ago, whilst on a fishing trip to France, I met Martin, one of the owners of […]

Annual Netting at Jonchery

Around this time in France fish farmers are in full swing managing the nettings on their many lakes. It is because of this that Heather and I made a trip over to France this November.  We called in to visit the Bacheliers, who were going to be netting both Jonchery and Brocard Large over two […]

Water Monitor Installed at Notaires

I have seen from the forums that there is a great deal of interest in the environmental conditions at the various carp lakes. I am pleased to announce that Notaires Lakes now has live online monitoring which can be seen here. The system is based around the famous Raspberry Pi “computer on a credit card”. We […]

Stocking Update at Mas Bas – Two New Fifties and a Forty!

Spring seems to have finally sprung at Mas Bas. The weather has been absolutely atrocious over the past couple of months. We have had rain virtually every day and Gilles has impatiently been waiting for the opportunity to drain down the main lake and remove all the surplus grass carp which have become more and […]

Things to do for Non-Anglers – Local French Markets

For our non-fishing guests at Bletiere I supply a folder of things to do & this year I have added a list of brocantes (markets) in the local area. The brocantes take place on a Sunday and last most of the day and they range from a small village to the bigger towns where all the […]

Winter Feeding Regime for a Carp Lake

We’ve just added 3 new videos for Bletiere ; Winter Lake Tour Swim Update Winter Feeding Regime You can watch them all here. Here’s the Winter Feeding regime video… Fishing holidays in France at Bletiere

Red Squirrels at Bletiere Carp Lake

This is just a short video of the red squirrels that we have here at Bletiere nesting in the pine trees.  A lot of our guests say they have never seen one so I thought I would try and do a short video. As usual as soon as I got the camera out they decided […]

Drought? What Drought?

John does a quick tour of the lake showing us the effects of a monumental downpour at Bletiere in April ’12. Fishing Holidays at Bletiere

Hooks & Leads – Does Size Matter?

I’ve been an angler now for far more years than I would like to admit to.  I was lucky enough to learn my angling skills on rivers like the Avon and Stour around Bournemouth and I’ve had the privilege of fishing with a lot of good anglers, always learning from them. I then went carp […]

Swim Improvements & Dry Wall Building at Bletiere

For the first time since we opened we have had no visitors booked here at Bletiere during March,I think due to the weather, but it has given us a chance to get some more jobs done. Today I’ve been lucky to borrow our friend Normans mini digger and dispite Lesley’s groans and look of horror […]

Draining Down a Carp Lake – Things You Must Know

Before you can either net a carp lake in France lake, or dig out the silt, you have to have a total or part drain down of water… so you need to know how to pull the plug!  It’s a fairly easy process here at Bletiere – with a bit of snooping around you should […]

Recycling in France – How You Can Help Carp Lake Owners

One of the big differences you find when you move to Europe is the high level of recycling that you have to do without choice.  It’s very strictly controlled here in France, which of course in the long term is a good thing for us all. Over the last year they have been rolling out […]

Setting Up Your Own Fishing Business in Spain

This post is longer than usual! If you have twenty minutes to spare then sit back and read all about my last year in Spain. I won’t lie to you – it is a promotional article about my business and the trials I went through in setting everything up. Go and get yourself a coffee, […]