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 find it OK.
Just as importantly try and ask around the locals (or previous owner) if anyone knows how long the lake takes to refill. This is really important if you’ve ordered more carp following the netting – it’s no good ordering fish only to find out that the lake takes weeks to refill. This can be the case if it’s not spring fed… then you’ll be hoping for rain, & lots of it!
These pictures show our overflow pipe and where the water flows into the stream below the lake.
There are a lot of rules for doing a drain down, but you must seek permission with the appropriate authorities before doing one. I have already been told that to do another drain down I would need to build a proper brick wall at the drain point and install a mesh gate to stop any fish getting out of the lake and into the stream, so always check before proceeding.
Written by John, owner of Bletiere. Find out more about the venue here – Fishing holidays
I’ve recently puchased a 7 acre lake north of Limoges which is in need of a drain down and de-silting. Any advice from start to finish – I’m contemplating a part drain down: I’m very much a newby! Thanks.