Catch Reports 2016


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Session 30th November – 3rd December:

Badgers Holt – I decided on a few days fishing Badgers Holt this year instead of my usual week on Serreire at the start of December. Due to the amount of leaves that are on the lakebed at this time of year I have often found that the areas where the carp are regularly feeding are totally cleared of leaves and it’s easier than usual to ‘feel’ for these polished clean areas as they feel so different to the surrounding area. Two days were spent early in the week ‘leading’ around and I ended up being happy with two spots. One in particular felt totally different to everything around it and amazingly clean. Lines were marked and an 8m baiting spoon was taped up to mark the distances with coloured tape. Two bank sticks placed in the bank about 2.5m apart were used to align the pole to the exact direction meaning bait could be topped up day or night on precisely the same spot. The only way to guarantee to land a rig on the spot was to either drop it from the baiting spoon on a slack line or cast and feel the lead down for the ‘drop’ as the spot was so small. I baited it over a couple of days with some whole baits and some chopped up boilie (boilie mix made into a ball of paste as usual then rolled and boiled into discs about 1cm thick (pancakes), left to cool and then sliced into cubes, rectangles and triangles). This is so simple to do but I have never seen anyone else do it – Highly recommended because it’s so different to the norm. Four sides of each cube are freshly cut paste with just the top and bottom being skinned through boiling – So lots of attraction is leaked off in cold water. Bait was a new customised highly digestible fishmeal that we will be adding to our bait range for 2017.

Four mirrors were landed; 53lb, 50lb, 45lb  and 30lb. All but one from the polished spot. Unfortunately the lake then froze solid – the 53lb mirror was actually played under the ice. So the session was cut short at three nights, but a very memorable one!

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Week of 19th – 26th November:

Lac Serreire – Another excellent week. Keith Williams had a great result fishing the Woods swim and landing 9 carp including 2 x 50s, 3 x 40s and 3 x 30s. All the fish were caught using small 10mm baits and Keith baited very heavily using 2.5kg of bait per rod per day ending up using 70kg by the end of the week. All the fish were caught at close to medium range and this is by far the best way to fish this swim. The fish are much closer than many anglers realise here. Over in the Island swim Tom Doherty landed a cracking PB common of 53lb along with another nice 35lb common. Ben fished the Shallows and had a nice 32lb 8oz mirror. And Tony fished the Middle swim and landed a mirrors of 37lb 1oz and 56lb 9oz. After checking the records, this fish is up nearly 10lb compared to the same time last year – The number of huge fish coming through on the complex is amazing.

Badgers Holt – Another tricky week with no carp landed despite a great deal of activity every night and morning. The anglers worked hard and tried a variety of baits, rigs and spots – The lake owes you guys!! Next time….

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Week of 12th – 19th November:

Lac Serreire – There were six carp landed and unfortunately a number of fish lost during the week. Best two fish were mirrors of 49lb 8oz from the Island swim to Paul and 47lb from the Middle swim to John, both caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies.

Badgers Holt – Despite the fish being very active all week, with many showing, there were no carp landed this week.


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Week of 5th – 12th November:

Lac Serreire – Despite difficult weather conditions, there were 6 carp landed during the week. The best fish was a 47lb mirror to Paul fishing in the Shallows swim. Sam had a nice 36lb 12oz mirror from the Outflow swim. Mark had three 20s from the Island swim and Dave had one 20 from the Woods swim. All the fish except Sam’s were caught on Pyramid Baits Pro Fish and Sam’s mirror was on Trent Baits Freshwater Shrimp boilies.

Badgers Holt – A difficult week again with plenty of carp showing but unfortunately no fish landed. We hope that this week ahead will see a few fish on the bank.

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Week of 29th October – 5th November:

Lac Serreire – A tough week for the lads with very high air pressure, still conditions and cold nights. Two fish were landed to 28lb, both by Mark Lycett fishing the Island swim using his own Fenspice baits. It was Mark’s first visit to Serreire, so this was a good result during a difficult week – Nice one Mark!

Badgers Holt – The guys from Belgium also had a tricky week with no fish caught despite regularly seeing fish showing and working hard trying a vast amount of different methods, baits and spots all week. Baits were a combination of baits from The Netherlands and Sticky Baits.

The weather has changed now with a rapid drop in pressure and rain so it’s looking much better for the week ahead.

Week of 22nd – 29th October:

Lac Serreire – A fantastic week with Tim Paisley landing a brace of 70s along with a 60 from the right bank. Tim started the week with a massive 78lb 13oz mirror just 3 hours after starting fishing on Saturday night. This was a PB for Tim and an amazing moment to share with him. The fish was caught from a traditional cast at about 80yds range. Tim then went on to catch a 71lb 1oz mirror from the same spot followed by a 36lb 8oz common and then a massive 61lb 1oz mirror to round the week off. The 61 was another new 60 and the 71 was a new 70 for the complex. Steve Guy fished the left bank in the Middle swim and landed 12 carp to 43lb 6oz mainly fishing to the left side of the swim in front of the Shallows at long range in about 2 feet of water. Steve’s fish were caught fishing over a combination of Crayfish & Squid boilies and Coppens 10mm pellets. At one point Steve had two fish at the same time and very little sleep that night! Over in the Woods swim Alan Taylor had 3 fish to 39lb fishing open water at around 100yds. And in the Outflow swim Scott had 2 fish to 36lb fishing to the pads.

CONGRATULATIONS again to Tim Paisley on the PB and brace of 70s plus a 60! Amazing result!

Badgers Holt – Peter had a 38lb 8oz common early in the week fishing with boilies from The Netherlands. The rest of the week proved tricky with no more takes.

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Week of 15th – 22nd October:

Lac Serreire – Another good week. Martin fished the shallows and landed 8 carp to 48lb. Graham landed a PB mirror of 54lb from the Outflow swim. Over in the Middle swim there were mirrors of 42lb and 38lb. And in the Woods swim Damo had 6 fish to 44lb, another PB. Most of the fish were caught on RG Baits heavily baited in wide spreads. Damo used a combination of RG and Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits.

Badgers Holt – Keith landed 2 carp, a 46lb 10oz mirror and 62lb 8oz common. Both were caught on small pop ups.

It’s been a good start on Lac Serreire this week with a massive 78lb 13oz mirror from the Island swim just three hours after casting out last night. Details to follow in the catch report next weekend.

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Week of 8th – 15th October:

Lac Serreire – Another fantastic week’s fishing with plenty of big fish out. Anthony fished Tim & Mary’s swim and landed the massive Grey Lady at an excellent weight of 78lb 9oz along with other mirrors of 50lb 7oz, 40lb 9oz and 38lb 8oz. The 50 was a new 50 for the complex. Lee fished the Island swim landing mirrors of 54lb 9oz, 54lb 7oz, 45lb 7oz and 25lb along with a common of 43lb 7oz. Over in the Middle swim Jamie and Colin had 16 fish including mirrors of 44lb 5oz, 43lb 4oz, 42lb 8oz and 40lb 8oz. All the fish were caught on Essential B5 boilies and the lads used about 90kg throughout the week. All fish were caught out in open water over big spreads of bait. Top angling and great to see so many big fish on the bank and PBs broken again!!

Badgers Holt – Mark and Rich both broke their PBs landing the big common at 62lb 8oz and mirrors of 54lb 3oz and 42lb 4oz. Successful baits were a combination of Trent Baits Freshwater Shrimp and the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies. The fish were caught in the middle and near margin. Congrats on the PBs!!

This week has started well with four takes so far for Keith and Chris on Badgers and an early fish of 46lb for Keith just 10 minutes after starting yesterday.

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Week of 1st – 8th October:

Badgers Holt – Dylan and Tim had 3 fish during their session. Tim had PB mirrors of 49lb and 56lb. Both these fish were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits fished in conjunction with Coppens pellets. One fish was caught very tight to the margin is just 2.5 feet of water and the other a couple of rod lengths off the margin in deeper water. Congratulations Tim on the PBs!!

Lac Serreire – Simon’s group had a fantastic week with a lot of good fish landed. Loek in the Shallows had 7 fish with 4 of them over 40lb, with the best two being PB mirrors of 52lb and 49lb. Simon had two mid-40s in the Middle swim. Jason fished the Outflow and had a 50lb 4oz mirror. Paul fished the Woods swim at just 60yds range and landed 12 carp, the best being mirrors of 59lb, 49lb and 44lb 8oz (very often people fish this swim further out than necessary and beyond the fish). Geoff and John on the right bank had fish to mid-30s. All fish were caught on Jason’s JK Bait Developments fishmeal boilies and almost every fish was from open water.

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Week of 24th September – 1st October:

Lac Serreire – Dave, fishing in the Woods swim, had a tough week until Friday afternoon when an area that he had been baiting all week suddenly came to life and in the space of 4 hours produced a PB mirror of 58lb 12oz followed shortly later by a PB common of 51lb and two more mirrors of 38lb 14oz and 32lb. Dave’s fish were all caught on a combination of the Serreire Crayfish & Squid and Nutrabaits Trigga boilies fished at about 80yds range in open water straight in front of the swim. Over in the Shallows, Adam had a great week landing 8 fish including a PB common of 40lb and a nice 42lb 2oz mirror. Adam fished at just over 80yds range, closer than most people fish this swim, and used a combination of Serreire Crayfish and Squid and also Rock Lobster boilies. Dan fished the Outflow swim and landed mirrors up to 47lb 8oz, all from open water with no fish coming from the pads this week. In Tim & Mary’s swim Nigel landed mirrors to 40lb 4oz from open water at around 90yds range. Nigel fished with Nutrabaits Trigga baits.

Badgers Holt – Last week was the first week of a two week session for Dylan and Tim. The carp have been very active but proving tricky to catch with the naturals still plentiful in the lake. Tim landed one fish so far. Based on the heavy rain last night, we would expect more fish to come out over the next few days.

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Week of 17th – 24th September:

Lac Serreire – The temperatures are dropping as we head into autumn and the fish are really feeding hard. Another great week with a lot of big fish out again. Andy started in the Island swim, had one fish and then decided on a move to the Shallows swim early in the week. This paid off with 25 fish during the rest of the week. Best fish was a huge 72lb mirror. Andy also had several 40s and a lot of 30s. All of Andy’s fish were caught at much closer range than most people fish in the Shallows swim; fishing just 6 feet past the near pole, on the back of the gravel strip that comes off the island. This proved much easier for landing the fish with almost no losses all week. It was also very easy for applying bait with the throwing stick being that it’s only about 80yds range. It also didn’t disturb the fish that were further back behind the baited area meaning they stayed there all week despite so many being caught. Chris in the Middle swim had 12 fish including 2 x 50s to 53lb 7oz and 3 x 40s with a couple of those being upper-40. The rest were nearly all good 30s. All of Andy’s and Chris’ carp were caught by fishing a combination of Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies along with DNA boilies. Over in the Woods swim Peter had 8 fish including 1 x 50, 2 x 40s and 5 x 30s. All were caught from open water. Photos will follow. And in the Bank swim, Heady had a 44lb mirror fishing just a few feet out from the bank.

Badgers Holt – Ian and Ray had a tricky week. The fish were very active and lots of different baits and tactics were tried. After working hard all week, Ian had a lovely 48lb mirror on Friday afternoon. Nice one Ian! 🙂

This week has started well on Lac Serreire with a high-40 mirror for Dan this morning. Details will follow in the next catch report.

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Week of 10th – 17th September:

Lac Serreire – Another fantastic week with many big fish on the bank. Marc, Steve and Tim fishing the Island, Tim & Mary’s and the Outflow swims had 31 fish between them including 10 over 40lb with the biggest being a 72lb mirror. Many of the forties were upper forties, so the bigger fish are definitely now well and truly on the feed as we move into the autumn period. All this group’s fish were caught in open water and fishing over very heavily baited big spreads of boilies put out by throwing stick on a very frequent basis. Coppens pellets were also used in the bait boats for most of the spots. Over in the Shallows swim Nick had 6 fish to 42lb 8oz fishing boilies in mainly open water at long range and in the Woods swim, the other Nick had 2 carp to just under 30lb.

It is really great to see so many 40lb+ fish now coming out of Serreire, with very many of last year’s 30s now turning up at well into the forties. The next months will be interesting as they pack weight on through the autumn, winter and early spring.

Badgers Holt – Simon & Patrick had 4 carp, all 40lb+ fish with the best being a mirror of 49lb. Two fish were from the koi corner area and two from the shallows end of the lake. All were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits with wafters being the successful hook bait.

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Week of 3rd – 10th September:

Lac Serreire – A great week was had by all. Andy fishing in the Woods swim had 6 fish with the best two being massive mirrors of 72lb 2oz and 52lb 4oz. All of Andy’s fish were caught in open water at quite close range, almost straight in front of the swim, and all by casting. Andy used about 30kg of baits fed little and often using a throwing stick. Over on the Outflow swim Trevor had 10 fish including 50s of 51lb 8oz and 50lb 8oz. All of Trevor’s fish were caught at less than 40yds range over heavily baited areas. In the Middle swim Andy L had around 5 fish to upper 40s fishing medium range. All the Serreire carp this week were caught on a mixture of Serreire Crayfish & Crab and Trigga boilies. Trevor and Andy also fished over very heavily baited areas of Coppens Carpe Intensive 10mm pellets.

Badgers Holt – Bob had a great week landing 10 carp including five forties with the best three fish being 48lb, 48lb and 47lb 14oz. The fish were caught from a variety of spots around the lake with every rod producing during the week. Successful bait was Mark Lycett’s Fenspice fishmeal boilies fished in conjunction with Coppens pellets. Bob worked extremely hard all week and never stopped watching the water and fine tuning his fishing. Top old school angling Bob!!

As we move into autumn, the fish will be feeding very hard over the next couple of months. Generally, as happens every year, the open water areas will produce most of the really big fish. We recommend fishing big spreads of boilies and pellets in combination. As the water starts to cool slowly, the fish instinctively feed hard and put a lot of weight on as they sense that winter is not far away. When they are feeding like this then the carp usually show a strong preference for HNV fishmeal baits which typically out-fish non-fishmeals. We see this pattern every year. It’s the time of year when real ‘food baits’ come into their own. Please contact us if you would like any advice with planning for your autumn sessions on either lake.

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Week of 27th August – 3rd September:

Badgers Holt – Gregor and Axel had a great week landing 6 carp with the best two mirrors being 56lb 2oz (25.5kg) and 52lb 13oz (24kg). The fish were caught from a variety of spots and mainly on D-rigs presented on fluorocarbon hook links. Congratulations on the PB mirror Axel!! Top angling!!

Lac Serreire – Bob had a good hit of fish fishing from the Shallows swim. Best three fish were forties to 47lb. All of Bob’s fish were caught using Mark Lycett’s Fenspice boilies fished in conjunction with Coppens 10mm pellets. The lads in the Middle swim had a lovely scaly 43lb (19.5kg) mirror and a 40lb common. Over in the Woods Swim, Matthew and Andy had around 10 fish with the best being a massive mirror of 71lb (32.3kg). Almost every carp during the week was caught from open water.

This week has started well with a 45lb mirror from Badgers Holt and fish to 38lb (common) from Serreire. Details will follow in the catch report next weekend.

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Week of 20th – 27th August:

Lac Serreire – Stuart had the best week’s fishing of his life. Fishing in the Woods swim he managed to beat his PB twice; firstly with a 44lb mirror early in the week and then finally with a 51lb mirror towards the end of the session. He also had a great hit of 30s with plenty of them being upper 30s. All the fish were caught in open water straight out from the swim in at around 100-140yds over heavily baited areas. And Steve had a 38lb mirror from the rarely fished Double swim, also fishing in open water. It is noticeable that just about all the takes on Serreire are coming from open water at the moment.

Badgers Holt – Waldemar and his friend had 2 carp with the biggest being a lovely deep bodied mirror of 47lb 5oz. The fish were caught after a change of rigs mid-week and both were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies.

This week has started well on Lac Serreire. Bob in the Shallows swim had a take on every rod last night and has already landed fish to upper 40 (on Mark Lycett‘s excellent Fenspice – A classic fishmeal that I have liked the sound of for many years – Very nice Mark and well done Bob!!)

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Week of 13th – 20th August:

Badgers Holt – Alan and Luke had two carp to 41lb 8oz. It was a tricky week with very hot weather again until finally some rain on Friday night. The carp were both caught on the left side of the main swim and a little off the far bank.

Lac Serreire – Mike and Amanda had a great first week fishing the lake landing eight fish to mid-40s from the Island swim. Successful baits were a combination of the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies, a new test red fishmeal boilie from Dynamite baits and 10mm Coppens Carpe Intensive pellets.

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Week of 6th – 13th August:

Badgers Holt – Steve and Lisa had a great first week fishing Badgers landing 3 fish to 49lb 9oz. The carp were all caught fishing tight to the far bank tree line using the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies in conjunction with 10mm Coppens pellets. Snowman and single wafter presentations both accounted for fish. Lisa was the official photographer for the week and did a great job! Considering the hot weather and unfavourable conditions, it was a good week. See you both soon!

Lac Serreire – Russell and his group landed 23 carp to low forties. The fish were from a variety of swims and spots and mainly caught on the Crayfish and Squid baits fished over areas heavily baited with pellets.

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Week of 30th July – 6th August:

Lac Serreire – David and his group from Belfast had a nice week on Serreire with good weather and even managed a day trip for some local sight seeing. Five carp were landed with the best being a massive 62lb PB mirror to David fishing in Tim and Mary’s swim in open water.

Badgers Holt – Dan and Dave had a challenging week’s fishing. After a lot of watching and fine tuning, Dan landed a 44lb mirror late in the week, fishing close to the far bank in very shallow water. There were a further few definite pick ups where the carp got away with not hooking themselves suggesting very finicky feeding. The carp are certainly very active and feeding heavily. Naturals are extremely high this year and this is certainly making them difficult to catch. Nicely done Dan with the forty which was really well earned!

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Week of 23rd – 30th July:

Lac Serreire – Hot conditions made for quite difficult fishing. But it was still a really good week with 40 carp landed. Mark in the Woods swim had about 20 fish including several 40s to 46lb along with a lot of good 30s. Over in the Island swim Danny had 10 fish including mirrors of 57lb 8oz and 44lb 8oz. In the Shallows Graham had 7 fish to 37lb 8oz. Due to repairs conducted on the spillway since last year, we are happy to report that water levels are excellent this summer with the lake still almost at it’s spring level. Oxygen levels are also very high and the fish are certainly active at this time.

Badgers Holt – Proved to be a tricky first week on the lake for Mike. The week started very well with a lovely 37lb common out on the first night. The fish remained very active all week, but despite a lot of observation and fine tuning, no more takes were forthcoming. Due to the warm weather, natural food levels are very high at the moment and this of course always makes the fishing more challenging.

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Week of 16th – 23rd July:

Badgers Holt – The fishing was tricky with very hot conditions all week. The carp were active but proved difficult to catch. One carp was landed by Volker, the lovely common called “Patch” at an excellent weight of 44lb, up from 36lb in 2014, in excellent condition and great to see. Volker used mainly MTC baits from The Netherlands. Despite the difficult fishing, the guys enjoyed the week and are already planning for the next time! Great to see you guys and thanks for leaving the cabin very clean and tidy.

Lac Serreire – We closed the lake last week for our annual break and also took the opportunity to complete some maintenance and weed cutting.

This week started well with carp already caught from both lakes to 43lb. Full details to follow in next week’s catch report.

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Week of 9th – 16th July:

Lac Serreire – Paul and Andy on the left bank had a good first session on the lake landing 6 fish. Best fish was a lovely 53lb 8oz PB mirror for Paul from the Shallows swim caught at long range just in front of the mud bar at the back of the swim. Scott and Cathy fished the Outflow swim landing 6 fish including 3 forties to 47lb 8oz. All the fish were caught at close range over fairly heavily baited areas. The guys in the Woods swim managed 11 takes and 6 fish landed to upper 30. And Till and Friederike landed 3 carp with the best fish being a lovely 37lb 6oz mirror. A last minute move for Till from the Island swim to the Woods swim paid off after the guys in the Woods left on Friday and it only took a couple of hours for Till to get a double run with two fish at the same time. Nice angling Till 🙂

Badgers Holt – Was a tough week for the guys. Unfortunately no fish were caught despite a variety of spots, methods and their own home made baits being tried.

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Week of 2nd – 9th July:

Badgers Holt – Spencer and Ben had the session of a lifetime landing 16 fish including 5 x 50s and 6 x 40s. Best fish were mirrors of 57lb 12oz, 54lb 8oz, 53lb 12oz, 52lb 1oz & 50lb 3oz. Spencer and Ben worked really hard and never stopped watching, fine tuning and baiting spots. Despite extremely hot weather and less than ideal conditions all week, these guys proved that with excellent watercraft the carp are nearly always catchable. The carp were caught from many different spots and it was interesting to see that 2 or 3 takes would come from a tiny spot, sometimes with nothing from a similar spot just a few feet away. Watching, watching and more watching combined with super precise fishing is nearly always important on Badgers Holt. The lads used well over 50kg of boilies and pellets and it’s interesting to note that the best two or three weeks so far this year on both lakes have been when very high quantities of bait have been used – This is no coincidence. Pellets were Coppens ‘Carpe Intensive’ in 10mm size and boilies were a mixture of Nash Key, Mainline and Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits. Congratulations of a great week of angling and the PB Spencer!

Lac Serreire – Garry and Karl fished the lake for the first time and landed 9 carp to 36lb. The lads started in the Middle swim and mid-week moved to the Woods. They caught in both areas and used a mixture of their own companies bait and the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies.

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Week of 25th June – 2nd July:

Badgers Holt – Proved to be a tricky week with two small fish landed and one lost. The lads used Urban Baits Nutcracker boilies and fished mainly with pop-ups as hook baits. The carp were very active and showing all week, but proved to be very difficult to tempt.

Lac Serreire – Also a difficult week with seven carp landed. Most successful swim was the Middle swim on the left bank where six fish to 39lb were caught. Over in the Woods swim the lads had a 60lb mirror with literally minutes left before winding in on Saturday morning. The fish were caught on a variety of baits and methods and mainly from open water.

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Week of 18th – 25th June:

The temperatures went through the roof last week with the second half of the week up to around 35C some of the time. This made the fishing a bit more difficult than usual.

Badgers Holt – The lads had a good week landing 5 carp including a PB mirror of 49lb for John. The carp were extremely active for long periods of time on the surface. All the fish were caught using the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies combined with 10mm Coppens pellets. Hook baits were the matching wafters presented on short hook links. Despite it being a difficult week, the lads fished hard and all the effort paid off in the end. Very nicely done guys!! Top angling!

Lac Serreire – There were around 30 carp landed with the top swims being the Middle swim on the left bank and the Woods swim. Best fish was a 55lb mirror to Georg in the Woods. Most of the fish were caught on fishmeal boilies and nearly all were from open water areas. The fish showed some signs of spawning mid-week which was the third and we expect final spawning this year. Congrats to all – It was a hard week, but still some cracking fish out!

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Week of 11th – 18th June:

Badgers Holt – Record broken again! Alan Taylor landed JoJo at her record weight of 79lb 12oz along with mirrors of 53lb and 45lb and a lovely mid-20 black common. The fish were heavily feeding on naturals with a lot of tiny baby crayfish evident at the dam end and the carp getting quite preoccupied on them. The solution was to bait quite heavily to cause the carp to switch back onto the boilies and pellets. This worked well and all the fish were caught using the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies. Hook baits were the matching wafters fished with just one on the hair.

Lac Serreire – Volker fished the Island swim and landed a beautiful 53lb common along with a smaller mirror fishing MTC baits. Georg had a successful week in the Woods swim landing plenty of carp up to 54lb 5oz fishing open water mainly on the right side of the swim. Manfred fished Tim & Mary’s swim landing fish to just over 45lb fishing quite long range in open water. Manfred and Georg fished their own home made fishmeal baits. Over in the Shallows swim Geoff had a great first week ever in France landing 10 carp including a PB mirror of 60lb 2oz fishing open water about 3/4 of the way towards Heron Point. Gary in the Middle swim also had a great week landing multiple fish to 37lb 2oz and beating his PB several times. All Gary’s fish were caught at long range in open water straight in front of the swim. In the Outflow swim Reg landed several fish to 54lb 10oz also smashing his PB in the process. Reg had his fish to the right of the swim at quite close range in open water. All of Geoff’s, Gary’s and Reg’s fish were caught using the Serreire Crayfish and Squid baits combined with Coppens pellets. Congrats on all the PBs!

This week has started well with fish to upper-40 landed from Lac Serreire already. The lads on Badgers Holt also managed a carp last night which is good going for a Saturday night on this tricky lake.

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Week of 4th – 11th June:

Badgers Holt – Andy and Adam fished their first week ever on Badgers. It was a tricky week due to the carp spawning some of the time. But they still managed four carp with the best being a lovely 56lb 11oz mirror. This is an interesting fish that weighed 44lb in April 2014, meaning a healthy increase of almost 13lb in just over 2 years. The fish were caught mainly close to the far bank on Andy and Adam’s own customised baits.

Lac Serreire – The carp were spawning some of the week making the fishing a little more difficult than usual. Ian had a good week in the Middle swim landing around 12 carp to 56lb. Ian also had around five forties. All the fish came from open water mainly straight in front of the swim at around 120yds range. Raymond had 4 fish to 46lb from Tim and Mary’s swim fishing at range, again all in open water. Stuart had a number of fish from the Woods swim to just over 40lb in open water straight in front of the swim and Paul had 3 fish from the Outflow fishing at close range. All the fish were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits fished in conjunction with 10mm Coppens pellets.

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Week of 28th May – 4th June:

Lac Serreire – Another excellent week with around 30 carp landed. Luke in the Woods swim had a great first trip to Serreire with around 18 carp, the best two fish being 45lb 14oz and 45lb 8oz along with a number of other forties. Luke fished the swim really well, not using a boat at all. All fish were caught by casting and only at around 70yds range. All were from open water, far away from the pads. This resulted in almost no losses. Luke baited very heavily with a big spread of boilies using a throwing stick all week. This really is the best way to fish this swim as we see 50% or more of all fish hooked near the pads get lost – No good for angler or fish! Top angling Luke, nice to see. Over in the Middle swim Nigel and Adam had 6 carp, both landing PBs. Nigel’s best fish was a 43lb 10oz mirror and Adam had a massive mirror of 75lb 8oz. Dave in the Outflow swim had 4 fish including two 40s with the best one going 45lb 10oz. And Dan, fishing the left side of the Woods had 3 fish to 47lb 2oz fishing very close in. Great week guys, see you next time.

Badgers Holt – Mitchel and Bennie had 6 fish with the best one being an absolutely stunning immaculate 58lb 5oz mirror. They also had 3 good forties to 48lb 7oz. All fish were caught on the lad’s own boilies.

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Week of 21st – 28th May:

Lac Serreire – A very hectic week with nearly 80 takes in the end! Steve had a great week in the Middle swim with fish up to 51lb, a new PB – Congrats Steve!! In the Outflow swim Scott also had plenty of fish with multiple forties to 48lb. In the Woods swim Wayne had a very busy week with loads of fish to just over 40lb and over in the Island swim Trevor had an excellent week with the best two fish both being commons of 48lb and 47lb.
All the fish were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies fished in conjunction with the 10mm Coppens Carp Intensive pellets. The key to the number of fish was that the lads really heavily baited. A very high quantity of both pellets and boilies were used and this really triggered the fish into feeding in both the open water and the areas with features. This was by far the most bait used in a week so far this year and this resulted in the most takes. All the lads used the same bait which also probably helped. Rigs were either snowmans with a Crayfish & Squid white pop up above a matching wafter or simply single wafters. It was also interesting to note that the silkweed contains many more snails and natural food than ever before this year. So with a prolific amount of natural food again becoming available, bait quantity, choice and application become even more important than ever. The last two years of chalking is taking effect with the increased weed growth and naturals which the carp will benefit from.

Badgers Holt – Paul and Bob had a good week with 10 carp landed including 5 forties to 48lb 10oz. The fish were caught from a variety of spots fishing wafters over the Crayfish and Squid boilies and Coppens pellets. Various different hook baits were used along with running leads. Interesting was that Bob caught ‘The Baby Common’ at 25lb which is well up again on last year. This fish was 8lb in April 2014 and shows just how rich this lake is.

The carp are now spawning on both lakes and we expect this to continue over the next few days.

WK22

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Week of 14th – 21st May:

Badgers Holt – Keith and Chris had their best ever week on Badgers with am amazing hit of very big fish. They landed 19 carp including JoJo twice, once each. Their best fish were; 76lb 14oz, 76lb 12oz, 63lb 12oz (common), 56lb 6oz, 55lb 0oz, 52lb 9oz, 52lb 8oz, 52lb 4oz, 52lb 0oz, 49lb 0oz, 48lb 12oz, 48lb 0oz, 47lb 12oz, 47lb 4oz & 45lb 8oz. The remaining fish were low 40s with only a couple under 40lb. Keith and Chris worked hard all week watching the water for every movement and priming spots before fishing them. Interestingly they used about 50kg of bait during the week, which is more than most people. Each time this is tried, it generally produces excellent results. But, very importantly, it only works on a rich small lake like Badgers if the bait is a good quality ‘food’ bait (HNV), as opposed to the many ‘attractor’ baits that are available these days that rely on just flavours (these are not at all effective when used in high quantity and can really kill the fishing on a small lake like Badgers). Successful bait was Mainline Hybrid boilies in mixed sizes combined with very high quantities of pellets. Keith and Chris wrote the following tips in the logbook; 1) Watch the water at all times, 2) Bait regularly with good quality food bait, 3) Don’t worry if bites don’t come straight away, 4) Keep it simple, 5) Fish as a team.
Congratulations guys on an outstanding week!! Next target is a koi!!! 🙂

Lac Serreire – Mark, Steve, Steve & Terry had a tricky week. But all caught carp in the end with Mark landing the best fish; the beautiful Long Mirror at 67lb 4oz on Friday late afternoon after a move of swims. Congrats Mark on a truly stunning carp!! See you next year.

This week has started well with 7 takes so far on Serreire and fish to just under 50lb plus an upper 40 on Badgers. Details to follow.

WK21

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Week of 7th – 14th May:

Lac Serreire – Wow what a week!! Paul had a fantastic result; after a tricky first half of the week he moved onto showing fish and was immediately rewarded with a 72lb 12oz (33kg) mirror (Pauls third 70+ fish and a PB – Congrats!). He followed this up with a number of additional fish including three fifties one after the other; 50lb 2oz (22.7kg), 58lb 12oz (26.6kg) and 51lb 14oz (23.5kg). Paul fished at very short range and all fish were caught by casting with no use of a bait boat. The fish were caught on snowman presentations on a combination of Mainline and Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits. Despite rain most of the week, Paul fished under a brolly or just under the stars with minimal gear to keep mobile and be able to see and hear every movement on the lake – Nearly always a successful approach. In the Middle swim Paul H also had a great week banking around 10 fish including mirrors of 66lb 14oz (30.3kg) and 57lb (26kg). Paul fished mainly at long range using a combination of his own baits and the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies. Paul also constantly watched the water and adjusted his spots and approach throughout the week to maximise results. Nice results for your fisrt Serreire week Paul!! See you next time!! In the Woods swim Lee had 7 fish including a lovely common of 46lb 10oz (21.1kg). Lee fished his own baits mainly at long range.

Badgers Holt – Brian and Phil had a great week both beating their PBs. Brian had 4 fish including the Big Common at 63lb 8oz (28.8kg), a 50lb 2oz (22.7kg) mirror and two upper 40s. Phil had 3 fish including a 52lb 12oz (24kg) mirror and the elusive pure white koi at 22lb. All the fish were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits and all from the dam end of the lake. Grest results for your first week on Badgers Holt Brian and Phil!!

It’s been a good start this week with a 56lb mirror for Chris just a couple of hours after casting out yesterday – I am sure more will follow.

WK20

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Week of 23rd April – 7th May:

Lac Serreire – A great week with three PBs broken. Dan in the Shallows landed 23 carp including a 72lb 14oz (33.1kg) mirror, 4 forties and 10 thirties. All the fish were caught on fishmeals. Over in the Woods swim Steve landed 4 fish to 46lb 4oz (21kg). Simon started in the Island swim where he landed 5 fish to 44lb (20kg), then on the last night moved to the Shallows and landed another 4 fish in a very short time including a PB mirror of 46lb (20.9kg). Simon’s fish were caught using the Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies. Jan fished the Outflow swim for 4 fish to 36lb (16.3kg) also using the Crayfish & Squid baits combined with 10mm Coppens pellets. In the Middle swim Mel and Brian caught 4 fish to mid-30s fishing at long range.

Badgers Holt – Andy had the session of a lifetime landing 12 carp and beating his PB four times. The best fish were JoJo at 76lb 4oz (34.6kg), mirrors of 57lb 11oz (26.2kg) and 54lb 1oz (24.5kg) and a stunning common of 51lb 10oz (23.4kg) – Another new 50 for the complex. All the fish were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits fished in conjunction with 10mm Coppens pellets. Wafters proved to be very successful again as the hook baits. Congratulations Andy on a fantastic session!

WK19

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Week of 16th – 23rd April:

Badgers Holt – Mark and Lee had a good week landing 10 carp despite the less than ideal conditions with cold northerly winds most of the time. Best three fish were 55lb (25kg), 54lb 8oz (24.7kg) and 52lb 11oz (23.9kg). The fish were caught on a mixture of Trigga or homemade white pop up hook baits fished over mixed Nutrabaits Trigga, Serreire Crayfish & Squid boilies and 10mm Coppens low oil pellets.

Lac Serreire – Dave and Charl…ie had a great week in the Middle swim landing 20 carp to 57lb (26kg). All the fish were caught on the Serreier Crayfish & Squid baits presented on snowman rigs with 1/3 of a Crayfish white pop up as the topper. The lads fished over a mixture of the boilies and 10mm pellets. Tony did well in the Outflow swim landing mirrors to 39lb (18kg) also using snowman rigs. Over in the Woods swim Matt had 3 fish including a PB common of 39lb (18kg) and the lads in the Island swim had a couple of fish to 38lb (17kg).

This week started well with a 42lb 12oz (19.4kg) mirror out of Badgers just an hour after starting fishing yesterday for Andy. Full details will follow in the next catch report.

52lb11oz(2)

 

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Week of 16th – 23rd April:

Badgers Holt – The session of a lifetime for Thomas who landed 15 fish including ‘JoJo’ at her record weight 79lb 8oz (36.1kg) and the big common at 66lb (30kg). Thomas also had a lot of other big fish. It was interesting that Thomas caught a couple of Badgers Holt fish that are very rarely caught. It’s amazing that some fish can go years in Badgers without being caught despite the pressure week in, week out. Fish were caught from a variety of spots using single Serreire Crayfish & Squid wafters mounted on the ever effecient D-blow-back rigs fished with Nash weed safety clips. Spots were primed in the evenings with the Crayfish & Squid boilies combined with Coppens 10mm pellets, Thomas didn’t fish any of the nights, but quietly placed a rig or two back on the spots in the mornings and usualy caught fish within an hour or so each time. Thomas only fished with 1-2 rods most of the week and shares our view that less-is-more when it comes to lines in the water at any one time. Congratulations Thomas – Really top angling!!

Lac Serreire – Dylan in the Middle swim had a good week landing 17 carp to 45lb 10oz (20.7kg). Most of the fish were caught at long range over heavy spreads of high quality HNV fishmeal boilies (great to see these old school fishmeals doing so well – they will always outfish ‘attractor’ baits that are so common these days). Dyland included Coppens 10mm pellets and a scattering of mixed particle in the baited areas. Over in the Woods swim Josh had the long mirror at her record weight of 69lb (31.4kg) on a white pop up over a scattering of the Serrerie Crayfish & Squid boilies. Callam, also in the Woods, had a few fish to 46lb (20.9kg) and Paul in Tim & Mary’s had 5 fish including a 39lb (18kg) common.

WK17

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Week of 9th – 16th April:

Lac Serreire – The guys had a fantastic week with a total of 41 carp landed. Martin and Marco had 26 fish from the Woods swim to 57lb 10oz (26.2kg) along with a lot of good forties and upper thirties. Martin and Marco worked hard moving rods around to keep on the fish all week, day and night, never missing an opportunity. All fish were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits fished over Coppens 10mm pellets and most were from the centre area of the lake in open water. Over on the Outflow swim, Thomas also had a great week landing 15 fish to 53lb (24.1kg) along with a lot of other big fish. Most of Thomas’ carp were also caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits fished over Coppens 10mm pellets. Hook baits were wafters presented on short/medium length hook links mounted on Nash weed saferty lead clips. During the week the fish were active but the shows were often not obvious and really subtle. So, as always, it paid to watch the water really carefully – Exact location of the fish and bait were the keys to success as usual.

Badgers Holt – Wim and his father completed the second week of their two week session. It was also a great week; they ended up with 12 carp in total including four fifties; two different 57lb (25.9kg) mirrors and two lower fifties, along with four good forties. They also had a couple of the smaller really scaley mirrors that very rarely get caught. The fish were caught on a variety of baits and spots around the lake with one of the 57lb mirrors coming from just 60cm of water at the shallow end!

Congratulations to all – There were so many good fish out the last week that we started to lose count!

WK16

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Week of 2nd – 9th April:

Badgers Holt – Wim and his father fished the first of a two week session. Wim landed a really deep bodied mirror of 57lb (25.9kg) early in the week. The rest of the week proved to be quite a challenge. But yesterday, as previously reported, Wim’s dad landed a lovely (23.9kg) 52lb 9oz mirror. The fish were caught using Wim’s own freezer baits from The Netherlands. Both were caught on the left side of the main swim fishing across into approximately 0.9m depth of water. The sun is shining now and conditions are improving, so we hope the week ahead will be a good one.

On Lac Serreire – Jerry and Mervyn had 4 carp including a nice 42lb (19kg) common and a 38lb (17kg) mirror. These were well earned fish that came after a move to the Outflow swim mid-week.

As previously posted, this week has started well with carp to 53lb from Lac Serreire so far.

25.9kg

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Week of 26th March – 2nd April:

Lac Serreire – A fantastic opening week with 35 carp landed. Paul fishing in the Middle swim started the week off nicely with a 56lb 2oz (25.5kg) mirror fishing at range in open water and ended up with 9 fish for the week caught on a mixture of Serreire Crayfish & Squid and Mainline baits fished in conjunction with Coppens pellets. Steve Briggs fished the Shallows swim and landed 12 carp including some nice forties to 42lb 8oz (19.3kg). Steve’s fish were mainly caught from the left side of the swim using Nash 4G Squid baits. Carl had an amazing week in the Woods swim landing 11 carp and beating his PB twice; firstly with a cracking 55lb 8oz (25.2kg) mirror and then the next day with a massive 78lb 12oz (25.8kg) mirror. All of Carl’s fish were caught using the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits. In the Island swim Andy had 3 fish also including a lovely PB mirror of 51lb 14oz (23.6kg). Congratulations on all the PBs guys!!

Badgers Holt – Marcel and Peter also had an amazing week’s fishing landing 9 carp including fifties of 56lb 2oz (25.5kg), 55lb (25kg), 54lb (24.5kg) and 51lb 11oz (23.5kg). The other five fish were all mid-40s except one of 37lb (17kg). The carp were from a variety of spots and all were caught on the Serreire Crayfish & Squid baits. Interestingly, as is very usual with this HNV bait, the results got better and better as the week progressed. Often with non-HNV baits we see the reverse happening with some early fish but less and less as the week progresses. Congratulations Peter and Marcel, great angling and a well earned great result!

We are very pleased to see that many of the carp are well up in weight this year after our changes to bait policy and intensive winter feeding program. But even more importantly, nearly everyone commented about the superb condition of the fish this year – Just like humans, health heavily depends on diet and we are happy to feed these fish the best that is available.

WK14