French couple Paul and Nathalie Cholley from Montreuil near Paris undertook a mammoth 5 week session on the Domaine de la Ribière in July & August. Here are some extracts from their diary.

Beyond our Wildest Dreams

Week 1
Thursday 19 July: It was by phone that Jerome the venue bailiff informed me of the pegs available, the exact location of the lake and the difficulty of the fishing. I asked his advice and he recommended pegs 18, 19 and 6. After some thought, I opted for Swim 6.

Upon arrival at the Domaine de la Ribère on Saturday the 21st July for the start of my five week session the owners of the site Sylviane and Michel welcomed us with a cup of coffee. Michel explained that the fishing was hard this year principally due to the weather that has very likely disturbed the usual habits of the carp. I replied that if I could catch just a few fish that would suffice.

At 9.30 Jerome accompanied us to the swim. After several hours spent depth finding with the bait boat echosounder, we placed our lines.

Sunday 22nd July around 8:35 pm. On a margin rod several beeps followed by a steady run, I strike into a fish that takes me down to swim 5. It tries to get under a large bush, but I manage to turn it and after a five minute fight Christophe, an angler who had dropped in to say Hello nets it for me. We weigh the fish at 46lb 2oz.

Tuesday 24 July 11:50. A fast run on a margin rod followed by a tense fight sees us land a 39lb 8oz mirror.

Wednesday 25 July: After six days fishing we have been able to improve on the positioning of our rigs, and we found that the majority of the runs come from the far margin rods, so we up the baiting of our open water rods. From 25-27th we had no runs.

Our first week on the venue we had a total of 31 carpe for a total weight of 844lb the average weight was around 27lb 8oz and included mirrors of 46lb & 39lb.

Week 2
Saturday 28th July : the first six hours of the second week didn’t start well, out of five runs I had one break off, two hook pulls a one fully scaled that weighed all of 7lb. I did manage one nice mirror of just over 30lb.
Around 6:20 pm I have several bleeps followed by a very fast run (see the blue line) on taking hold of the rod I try to get control of the situation. In the edge the fish kites along the margin passing under my other rods, I pass the rod under my margin lines and it takes a further five minutes to subdue this mirror that goes 43lb 5oz.

Runs start to come thick and fast, when don’t have time to recast all our rods and we are in again. At around 8:40pm I have a run (see orange line) and I manage to turn the fish several times to stop it going where it wishes, it soon tires and lets itself be netted: 45lb 3oz.
Five minutes after releasing it the last rod left out is off and we land a 25lb 8oz mirror. Exhausted we go to bed.

Sunday 29 July: As the day breaks I get up to recast my lines. Around 7:50 I have a run (see green line), the fish moves slowly, hugging the bottom, I keep the pressure on for around 10 minutes before I catch sight of the fish on the surface, I can see it is tiring and we bank a mirror of 47lb 7oz. We are off again with a flurry of runs.

12:10 pm after a series of beeps (see green line) I keep my eyes fixed on the rod tip which has knocked several times without producing a take, so I pick up the rod and wind down. It takes twenty minutes to gain control of the fish before we can finally get it into the landing net. It tips the scales at 49lb 7oz. The flurry continues.
Monday 30 July: The rhythm of runs has tailed off somewhat but remains correct.

15:40 : A fast run (blue rod) and a fifteen minute fight to subdue this frisky fish that we weighs at 44lb 4oz.

Wednesday 1 August 9am: I thought back over the events of the last few hours, I am still getting the runs, but the average size is dropping. We decide to pull the rods out, to rebait and to rest the swim for a while. I don’t cast back out until 7pm that evening. Around 8:30 pm Jerome and his friend drop by for a visit, and as we talked I can feel a storm brewing. It doesn’t take long in arriving so we retire to my shelter. After about 20 minutes and just as the storm is abating, my remote sounds (Green rod). I look at Jerome and say, “You’re take it!!” looking at the rod bend round. Right away it looks like a good fish. It takes him ten minutes to bring it to the net and we weigh it at 51lb 7oz.

The action continues until the evening of August 2. Then over the next 48 hours I have just one run.
The total for week 2: 55 carp for a total weight of 1674lb. Average size 30lb 30oz. The fish included six forties: 43lb 5oz; 44lb 4oz; 44lb 6oz; 45lb 3oz; 47lb 7oz; 49lb 7oz and one fifty at 51lb 7oz (for Jerome).

Week 3
Sunday August 5, 3 :50am : I am woken by a run (blue rod) I strike into a fish but despite feeling heavy comes in slowly. We net it and it turns out to be the 47lb’er we’d caught during week two.
Thursday August 9, 11:20pm: (Orange run) is away, As I get to my pod I can see my swinger has dropped right back, winding like mad I manage to catch up with the fish about 20 yards out, but can’t stop it going through my other rods. As I thread the rod though the lines it takes me round to peg 7. I manage to turn it just before it ploughs through my neighbour’s lines. It takes a further five minutes before I could slip the net under this 44lb mirror.

During this week I have a steady run of takes, mostly during the day, with just five runs coming at night. This gives us chance to get some rest.

This third week saw me land 41 carp for a total of 1243lb. The average was 28lb+ and included the second capture of the 47 and another at exactly 44lb.

Week 4
Sunday August 12, 4pm : Before going up for a shower I try to motivate Nathalie a bit who had had just six runs since the start for six hook pulls. I get back to the peg around 4:40pm to see Nathalie with two other anglers. As I get closer I can see the sack in the water. Nathalie’s face is a picture as she sees me, so I ask what is in the sack. Unable to keep calm she asks me go and fetch it, as it is over 40lb. The two anglers had weighed it at 49lb 7oz. Nathalie knew she could never lift it so I pose for the photos with her at my side. Her previous pb had been 26lb.

Monday August 12, 11 :50 am : Several beeps followed by a run (blue rod). The fish hugs the bottom and feels heavy. After about 5 mins I get a sight of it. It starts to tire and I land a 44lb 4oz mirror.

Wednesday August 15, 6:55pm: I turn off my buzzers and remote to recast my rods. All of a sudden the lines starts to pour off one of my rods (orange rod) and I grab the rod to make contact. The fish kites fast to the right, and takes 30m of line before I can stop it. The fight remains dogged and it takes 10 minutes to get it in the net. As I weigh it I notice it hardly has any scales, a virtual leather of 45lb 5oz.

Thursday August 16, 10 :30 am : Run on the green rod and the fish hugs the far margin and moves towards peg 5. I manage to turn it and gain some line. It lets itself be lead in to about 30 yards from the bank, and then it tears off to the right, going under my other lines. I do the same and need a further 10 mins to land it. It weighs 49lb 2oz.

Around 1:40pm after a few single beeps I get a full blown run on the orange rod. As I make contact with the fish it moves slowly but heavily. As I get it near the bank it comes in sideways to the net. We recognise it right away as the fifty Jerome had landed on my rods in the second week.
All week we had a steady number of runs.
Total for week 4. 60 carp for a total weigh of 1790lb. The average weight 29lb 8oz. The best fish 51lb 7oz; 49lb 7oz; 49lb 2oz; 45lb 5oz; 44lb 4oz.

Week 5
Sunday August 19. The rain fell all afternoon, but we kept getting runs, and the tiredness was starting to tell. The whole night of 19-20 we had action. At around 6:40 the green rod is away and ten minutes are necessary to bank this 45lb mirror. The action abates around 7:30 and we can finally get some rest..

Around 9am my blue rod wakes me and I strike into a fish that pulls hard towards the far bank. I turn it and stop it gaining peg 5. In the net we recognise the 43lb’er we had in the second week. Back to bed to try and get some sleep.

At 11:50 am we are once again woken by a run this on the orange rod. The fish doesn’t fight much and we net a 47lb 7oz mirror that we have already landed twice during this session. The runs tail off until the next morning at around 5am.

Thursday August 23 5 :40 pm : After several single bleeps I get a run on my green rod. As I make contact with the fish it hugs the far bank and I can do nothing with it. It goes though peg 5 and continues towards peg 4. With my finger on the spool, I manage to stop his run. I pump to gain some line. As it arrives within 30 metres it sets off again towards the far bank. I manage to get a few glimpses of the fish, a large common. The fight last about 25 mins but we finally land a huge 50lb 2oz common.

Total week 5: 38 carp for 1205lb. Average weight: 31lb 6oz. 2x forties 45lb, 43lb and two fifties 51lb 7oz and 50lb 2oz.

This memorable session of five weeks fishing saw us land 225 carp for a weight of over three tonnes. We had an average of 6-7 runs a day including 19 carp from 43lb to 51lb 7oz.
The capture of a 49lb 7oz mirror allowed Nathalie to smash her personal best which had previously been 26lb.

I beat my record common at 50lb 2oz it had previously been 49lb 5oz.

We discovered this lake on the internet two years ago. We fished a total of five weeks last year and six this year. During our sessions we have discovered a site with an exceptional head of big fish. Thanks to the people and the setting it really is a haven of peace.