Woodpecker Pool Newsletter October 2009

It is time again for another newsletter and we are now at the end of the season, where this year has gone we don't know, all we can say is we have had a beautiful dry summer, lots of days in the high 20c and several in the 30c range, this summer has been the best we have had since we moved to France and some fantastic catches off the lake, more so than we could have wished for and what more can you ask for, good company, good fishing and plenty of sunshine. Now onto the catch reports.

The beginning of August and we welcomed for their first time here the Turner family, John, Jacky, Sam, Molly and George. This was not an out and out fishing week but a true family holiday with some fishing. The catch for the week was 20 fish made up of both sturgeon with the Diamond back at a top weight of 41lb 13oz, no catfish and no commons caught. There were 11 x 20s, 4 x 30s and 1 x 40 Mirrors caught with the best fish at 41lb 6oz. The total weight was 565lb with an average of 28lb, a good catch considering only a few hours a day spent with the rods out. It was a pleasure to meet you all and we look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Our next guests were also new to us, they were Phil and Elliot Blenkhorn and Tim, Will and Jamie Cooke, only Elliot, Will and Jamie fishing with the two dad's going off and exploring the area particularly for gastronomic delights which they found in abundance. The catch was 41 fish made up of 36 carp including 22 x 20s, 7 x 30s with the best Common at 36lb and the best Mirror at 33lb 5oz, also they had 1 small catfish and both sturgeon. The total weight was 964lb 6oz with an average of 23lb 8oz. It was a pleasure meeting you all and I have to say that the boys are a credit to the sport being very knowledgeable. We hope to see you all again in the future.

Moving on and our next guests are regulars, they are the Wiltshire family. Unfortunately the holiday was cut short for part of the party due to Anthony being ill, we hope you are fully recovered now. With this happening there was only Alan left fishing after Monday, consequently no nights fished and the results were affected but nevertheless a reasonable result with some nice fish being banked. The catch was 15 fish including 5 x 20s and 2 x 30s, the Diamond back sturgeon and a few catfish to 55lb. The best Mirror was 38lb 3oz and the best Common 23lb 6oz. The total weight was 342lb 8oz with an average of 22lb 8oz. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

Getting towards the end of August now and we welcomed back the Bullock family, when they came last year young Harry caught the lake record catfish at the time so how would their week pan out this time. They had a good week with a total of 30 fish including 25 carp of which there were 16 x 20s and 4 x 30s. The best Mirror was 38lb 4oz, the best Common 33lb 4oz and the best Catfish 57lb 12oz. The total weight was 694lb 12oz with an average of 23lb 4oz. Unfortunately their week was cut short due to an illness in the family back in England, we hope everything is all right now and we look forward to seeing you again in the future.

The end of August and we welcomed back for their second visit this year Dennis Phillips and Jamie Davey, they were here in June so how would the fishing be for them this time around. They had a a good week again and not fishing 24/7. The total for the week was 33 fish including 25 carp with 8 x 30s and 15 x 20s, 3 catfish and both sturgeon. There were no commons caught and the best Mirror was 38lb 3oz and the best catfish 62lb 8oz. The total weight for the week was 995lb 6oz with an average of 30lb 2oz and this was with five and a half days fishing as they had to leave early on the Friday morning due to work commitments. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

With Dennis and Jamie leaving early we invited Claire and Mark the owners of Kingfisher Pools who were over on holiday at their place to come over and fish for a few hours, Claire wanted to catch a sturgeon so it seemed like a good opportunity to have a go, but would it happen for her. Well you could not have written the script any better as we had 2 carp, a 27lb and a 24lb both mirrors, Claire had the blue sturgeon, a new personal best and to top it all a new personal best catfish of 61lb 8oz, Claire couldn't manage to lift the head end of the fish so Mark had to do the honours, but it doesn't matter the smiles on both their faces says it all, see the pictures below, well done Claire you can certainly show some of the guys how to do it. We had a magic few hours that day spent in great company, look forward to seeing you both later in the year.

Now into September and we welcomed back Christine, Neil, Joan and Peter, they had a good week last year so what would happen this time. Christine and Neil doing most of the fishing with Peter fishing for some of the time. They again had a good week catching a total of 39 fish of which 29 were carp including 11 x 20s, 15 x 30s and 1 x 40 they also had 5 catfish with the biggest being 71lb 8oz and both sturgeon. There were no Commons caught and the best Mirror was 41lb 7oz. The total weight was 1203lbs with an average of just under 31lb. Another great weeks fishing and we look forward to seeing you again in the future.

Our next guests we welcomed back Jean, Keith and Christopher Taylor with for their first time here Paul and Andy and I am sure they won't mind me saying that their personal bests for carp before coming here were 19lb+ and 14lb+ respectively so what would the week hold for them. They all had a great week with lots of personal bests for everyone. They had a total of 32 fish, the catch was made up of 24 carp including 13 x 20s, 7 x 30s and 2 x 40s. They also had both sturgeon and 2 catfish, a 69lb fish to Andy and a NEW LAKE RECORD of 74lb to Paul, well done both of you.

Andy and Paul's personal best carp are also a lot higher than when they arrived here being 39lb 2oz and 40lb 5oz respectively, they were blown away and rightly so, well done. Keith wasn't left out as he had the two biggest carp of the week, a Mirror of 41lb 10oz and a Common of 37lb 12oz, well done Keith. The total weight was 1040lb 1oz with an average of 32lb 8oz. We look forward to seeing you all again in the future.

The end of September now and we welcomed back Lee, Peter and John, they had not been here since April 2007 so what would they make of the place and the fish now, would their week be as productive as the last time they came or would they find it somewhat tougher now.
The week was a strange one in several ways, the carp were feeding well in certain areas you could see them bubbling and rolling but were being very wary of picking up anything that had a hook attached but during the week the lads managed to bank 21 of them including 13 x 20s and 5 x 30s, the best Mirror was 36lb 14oz and the best and only Common was 37lb 6oz. John had decided before he arrived that he as going to have a go at live baiting for the catfish, something that rarely happens here, a few have tried in the past only to have the bait taken by pike but John wasn't deterred by this and presented his baits below a float either free roaming or paternoster as you would for the pike, seeing this Lee and Peter thought they would have a try for the catfish this way also. Their tally of catfish for the week was impressive to say the least with personal best fish of 72lb 8oz, 72lb, 72lb, these first three fish were the same fish caught once each by each angler, the other catfish were 70lb 4oz, 68lb, 62lb, 57lb 4oz, 39lb, 18lb 4oz and a baby of 6lb 7oz, they also had a couple of pike of 10lb 2oz and 9lb 15oz.

The amount of activity with the catfish this week I am sure was a major factor of why the carp were being so skittish. Anyway they had a great week catching 45 fish including both sturgeon, the total weight was 1515lb 11oz which is the biggest weight for a week this year with an average of 33lb 8oz. Thank you for the company and the chats over old times and we look forward to seeing you all again next time

Well that is it the end of another very successful year, it only leaves Sue and I to say a very big thank you to you all for your custom and company again this year, a very big thank you to those who have brought us our English provisions and the way the chalet and grounds have been left. We look forward to seeing everyone who has booked to come back next year and we are sorry that we have not had room for everyone who wanted to come back, all we can say is please look at 2011 if you would like to come back then as we are already taking bookings and we don't want anyone to miss out.
Thank you all once again for making Woodpecker the success it is, from the bottom of our hearts we really appreciate it.

Stay healthy and happy till the next time.

All the very best,
Sue and Doug

© Woodpecker Pool 2006-2023