I am not a great one too submit reviews, but this trip certainly requires me to wrote one! We brooked Chef de ville as it was a bit of an unknown water, which attracted us, thinking there could still be uncaught chunks here, was part of the draw, also the use of boats, and boat fishing, bait boats etc meant the group could fish however they would like too, and felt confident to do so as we are a range of carp fishing abilities.
From the initial booking Anthony was superb with his communications, and booking, and forthcoming with any information we required, giving us the information on bait availability, food, and tackle shop facilities on site. He checked in with us before the week, to finalise our additional requirements. We all decided to have the food package Anthony and Jennifer provide, and I can 100% say I am glad we did. A lovely curry on the Saturday afternoon after we arrived to help take the stress out of setting up and also needing to cook, right up until a superb final meal on the Friday evening, the food was spectacular. breakfast was different every day, from a fry up, to quiche, sausage, omelette, etc, just perfect, and evening meals such as lasagne, curry, chilli, BBQ, burger and chips (we requested this for our last night) all was 10/10, all cooked from scratch and fresh. I would definitely have this when we attend again. nothing was to much trouble, and all of the group enjoyed each and every meal!
The drive to the lake is simple enough, 20 euro on tolls, and just under 3hrs from the eurotunnel, a simple drive, that takes you past 2 supermarkets and a couple of fuel stations no the way in, so you can grab any snacks etc and fill up before the drive home. the fishery was easy to find, and a call to Anthony at the gates and he provided us with the codes to access the lakes and meet him. The whole area was clean, tidy and well presented, the swims were all doubles, with plenty of space, and most can accommodate 2, 2 man bivvies. gravel floors, and pretty level for setting up. Vehicle access and parking to all swims, for convenience in the week, storing bait, and spare equipment, or as one of our group did, enjoying his camper van and facilities in his swim, such s TV etc. Phone signal was mostly ok, I struggled on EE but most everyone else had good mobile coverage, in the swims.
The fishing…its not an easy lake by any standard, you need to think and apply some logic, and skills, its not a pub chuck venue, but every swim had some features, or something to fish too, we had fish from the near margins, open water, far bank, snags, bars etc, so there was something for everyone, and Anthony will give you as much advise as you need, he will help you with spots and features, all you need to do is ask, and he will assist, if you want to figure it out yourself, again he will leave you to it to do it your way. The rules are sensible, and simple, and the tackle shop on site was a real help with some essentials you may need in the week. I was using my boat and casting, some guys were on bait boats and others were casting and spodding, all caught fish, so different methods worked. Bait was all prepared fresh and delivered to the swims, and Anthony was more than accommodating when asking for more bait in the week.
We had some lovely fish, and they really do fight in the deep water, some of the boat battles we had were superb, a nice mix of young and old fish, with a real mix of sizes too, and a sturgeon as well which put up a good 20 minute fight!
In summary, a superbly run lake, amazing hosts in Anthony and Jennifer, and a real credit to the effort he is putting in to build the lake into something amazing, the facilities were spotless, the shower was really good, and all the essentials you need were provided, don’t forget your towel like I did thou!
That you Chef de Ville, and we will be back for another go soon!!! Merci, nous reviendrons!!
