A Great Session on Sauvelliere!

My fourteen year old son William called me on my mobile phone this week to remind me that with the school holidays approaching and the fine weather also, that he was desperate to get out fishing and where were we going??.. Today's kids are just so modern!!!!

Anyway after a planned trip to the Ebro fell through it was my duty as his Dad to find a good venue to take him to and give him the chance to break his PB which stood at 28lb.

The first venue that came to mind was 'La Sauvellière' in the western part of France, not far from Laval, a beautiful little venue stuffed full of fish which has only come on to our books this year. This trip would give me an opportunity to find out in more detail how it fished and allow me to shoot a video clip to include in our 2007 DVD.

After a long drive up through the centre of France from my house in Lyon , we arrived at around 7pm and called on the owner David Ayress to get the keys to the lake. He accompanied us down to the venue and showed me all the various work that had been undertaken since the beginning of the year. I must say I was impressed with just how much work he had accomplished in such a short time, turning the lake side lodge into comfortable accommodation for up to four people, as well as installing toilets (inside and outside), fully equipped kitchen and bedroom with twin beds.

As the night was falling we busied ourselves setting up the bivvy and rods. The lawn in front of the lodge gives excellent access to the island so in view of the late hour we took the lazy man's approach and set up there. Actually it meant that I could sleep in the lodge and my son on the bedchair by the rods.

The island in question just screams carp, so I felt no guilt in electing to fish this spot. We set up two rods each and placed them in various spots near the over hanging trees on the island margin. Our rigs were standard 25lb Snakebite with Drennan boilie hooks and a snowman set up using Quest Special Crab baits. I chose however to feed a different bait and catapulted out 14mm Rahja Spice boilies around our rigs. During the bait video and photo shoot I undertook in January, I was very impressed with the response the carp in Shaun Harrison's aquarium gave to the Rahja, so I was confident they would find it here. The reason for the differing hook bait was simply for presentation. Having plumbed the area I found it to have a few inches of silt and to be around 4 feet deep. I prefer a more buoyant hook bait presentation for this type of lake bed. Incidentally I quite often use a different bait on the hook from those that I feed.

The first night turned out to be quite eventful, with four runs in total. William unfortunately dropped the first three fish, due mainly to his unfamiliarity with my new Daiwa reels that have no bait runner facility. Anyway this slight technical problem was overcome at dawn when he struck into a large fish on the right hand rod and banked what was by far and away his new PB. He came and hauled me out of bed, as due to the long journey etc I had not heard his run. I grabbed my video camera and we weighed and videoed the pristine mirror carp at spot on 35lb. It goes without saying I had one very happy fourteen year old smiling into my camera lens.

We prepared breakfast rebaited and recast all the rods. the conditions were warm and overcast..ideal for carp fishing in fact. We were not long in waiting and William banked a lovely looking mirror at 26lb 8oz. The action continued throughout the day, his very next run producing another mirror at 22lb.

The day and following night produced a further four runs for three fish, including a second 22lb'er, an 18lb mirror and an 18lb 8oz common. The conditions were however changing and the wind had swung round to the north and the activity that had been so apparent throughout the previous 36 hours had stopped virtually completely. The following day was indeed quieter, producing just two fish for William, one of which was however his second thirty of the trip at 31lb 8oz.

The last night we got the BBQ going and over a selection of grilled chops, burgers and sausages we sat back in expectation. As I enjoyed the vintage of Bordeaux finest wine, William took one final 22lb 8oz mirror. Just before dark and in the presence of the owner, as we sipped our very drinkable vino, our final run took off and William graciously let me deal with the fish. I had been quite happy to let him take the carp as he fishes quite infrequently and in any case I had to do the filming.. but with a brace of thirties under his belt I felt quite entitled to taste some of the action. This ultimate carp turned out to be an immaculate mirror of 24lb.my first carp so far this year, but then I've not actually fished during 2006 until now.

We were both over the moon with our tally of carp in just three short days. Nine fish in total including two thirties and two over his previous PB for William. This certainly made up for his disappointment in missing the Ebro trip, and proved that the gorgeous 'Etang de la Sauvellière' has some very nice carp indeed to go at. The surroundings are peaceful and secure. it really is like fishing in your garden.

We will return that's for sure!!