Owning a Carp Lake

Lily pads removal

Now that’s a lot of lilies! Moving into the autumn months we began work to the final area of the lake that had been left un-touched until now. It had become a vast network of lily roots and weed beds during the last 100 years, so we had our work cut out! The weed beds […]

2nd major carp stocking takes place at Blue Lake

Following on from the 86 carp stocked in November the owners of Blue Lake have just added another 186 carp including; 6 x 40’s, 80 x 30’s and 100 x 20’s. Plus a handful of large grass carp to mid 30’s. Adding the two stockings to test angler estimates of original stock, we estimate that […]

Winter Carp Lake Maintenance

  I run a small 14 man syndicate on a 5 acre estate lake in Staffordshire and it’s approaching that time of year that I like to start to prepare for the forthcoming season. Over the past weekend I’ve had work parties on the lake clearing snags, repairing stages and walkways and trimming back reeds. […]

Winter clean up at Bletiere carp lake

Now that the last of our Bletiere guests has left it’s time to start the big clear up and make sure we’re ready to go next spring with everything looking good and refreshed. Lesley has started to get the veg plot cleared and get the cover over it to kill off the weeds and get […]

Weed clearing on an industrial scale!

Weed can be a problem on some lakes in certain years.  Here’s an industrial sized solution!  This service is offered by one of our lake owners, Sebastian Vasseur, for any lake over one acre in size.  If you’re interested in the service his number is on the second sheet… or we can put you in […]

Over 1 ton of carp stocked into Blue Lake – Nov ’11

After a short delay caused by the indian summer, Blue Lake‘s major stocking programme is under way. A total weight of carp of 2,500lb including 33 x 30’s and 52 x 20’s is added to the existing stock. 86 carp in all with an average weight of just over 29lb. And that’s not all………..There’s another […]

Which carp unhooking mat should you use?

A subject that is very important to lake owners and the majority of anglers is that of fish safety.  I’m no different here at Bletiere so I’ve put together this blog article to show what you’ll need to ensure the fish are well protected. The vast majority of our visitors arrive with more than adequate […]

Slow Worms and Grass Snakes at Bletiere

A lot of our visitors are intrigued when they see the grass snakes swimming across the lake and comment on the fact they do not see many in the UK.  We have a lot of grass snakes here and they are totally harmless, unless you’re a mouse or a slug, so we ask people to […]

Woodpeckers at Bletiere

We have a lot of different woodpeckers here at Bletiere and most days you can hear them pecking away at the trees. This is a short video showing you the results of all their hard work. The tree I mention in the video that looks like it will fall down has in fact now gone […]

Do Grass Carp really clear weed in a carp lake?

Grassies doing their thing……………an update! In June 2010 we introduced 20 small Grass Carp to Joy Lake, to help combat a growing weed problem. One year on and we’re pleased to say the measures have been a great success. To show the difference they have made take a look at the photos below, showing the Brace […]

Anyone remember the Hitchcock film – The Birds

We do not very often get starlings here at Bletiere but today there is something in the grass that has attracted dozens of them.  I went to look in the grass but could not see anything… but the crows are doing the same in the field above the house. Very strange… anyone remember the Hitchcock […]

Daisy the squirrel catcher (not)

As the blog is not just all about fishing I thought I would show you what Daisy spends hours of her life doing here at Bletiere – it’s basically sitting and watching. She is hiding behind a tree waiting for a red squirrel to come down and then tries to catch it… but she never […]

Carp Stock Micro-chipping

At Oakview Lake we monitor our fish stock.  One element of this is the micro-chipping individual fish.  In addition to obvious benefits like security this also allows for quick identification and monitoring of growth rates. Here the Oakview stock pond is used to demonstrate how this is achieved.

Carp spawning and grass hoppers

I promised to video the carp when they started to spawn but I had no luck as I must have the only camera shy carp in France!  Every time I went down to lake they stopped spawning and have now finished.  With recent hot weather we have had an explosion of baby grass hoppers and […]

A tour of the Bletiere gardens

John London is the owner of Bletiere and through this Blog section he’s going to keep a diary of the daily life of a French carp lake owner. John London, the owner of Bletiere, takes us on a tour of Lesley’s gardens… and very beautiful they are!

Spring fruit…

With only John here enjoying the whole lake to himself and already having had carp to 37lb, I thought I would sit under the cherry tree above the big double swim and have a go for some carp. As it got hotter and hotter I soon realized the fishing was going to be slow so […]