Catch report for Traque week from 8 to 16 May 2009

Quoted from logbook

DANNY :
Mirror : 29lb- 31lb-32lb-31lb-33lb-34lb-44.8lb
Grass carp : 25lb

JEFF :
-7 x 30's
-2 x 40's 43lb8
-1 x 20

MITCH :
-1 x 25lb
- 1 x 37lb

HOWARD :
-1x45lb
-2x30's
-2x20's

JAY :
-2x 40's 43lb10
-7x30's
-2x20's

MERV :
-1x31lb
-3x20's
-1x24lb grass carp

MARTIN :
-1x39lb

Traque feedback from "Happy Carper" week ending 25/04/09

Quoted from Happy Carper blog http://happycarping.blogspot.com/2009/05/carp-fishing-with-hortonfishingcom.html

Thanks for a great weeks fishing pascale,both me and bri had personel best mirrors,commons,grass carp and bri had a 24lb koi.we had a total of 1550lb of carp with average weight being just over 30 lb ,everything about the complex is quality and the fish are stunning! what a week thanks again.

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

hello just returned from one week fishing on le traque and what a week it was,me and a mate of mine fished from 18-25/04/09 we managed to land 50 fish between us and lost afair few fish to start off with before we got our heads round the lake.

Most fish were caught from the margins although we did managed about 10 fish from the middle of the lake,fishing ass8 and t1 over mixed pellet and crumbed boilie seemed to be the best approach you dont need loads of bait,i only used 5kg boilie and 5 of pellet all week ,bri used alot more pellet but less boilie.

A lot of my fish came later on while bri was catching most of the day,his bites stopped and mine started ,showing that the fish do move off around the lake i even got the early monrnig fish on the way back before bri started catching again and i tried to catch up on some sleep.by the end of the week bri had 2 forties 40lb12oz and 48lb i had 4 40lb,40lb2oz,47lb and 49lb along with loads of high thirties (25) grassys to 26lb commons to 39lb and 1 koi at 24lb.

Bri had been to the complex before but me as a virgin goncourt carper was impressed to say the least with the set up and especially the greeting we got we arrived of pascale,shes a great host who knows plenty about the fish and fishing for them and will bend over backwards to help you out (thanks pascal).

all in all a great weeks fishing loads of fish good company and great surroundings.oh yes and great fruit pie mmm!!!!!!

Catch report for The Botte week from 25 April to 02 May 2009

Quoted from logbook

25 April 2009 - 02 May 2009

Peter, Louis,Rina,Henriette

-16 x common biggest 39 lb
-16 x mirrors biggest 39 lb
-2 catfish biggest 40lb smallest nothing worth to weight
-1 grass carp 35lb
We had a very nice week, nice other fishers too !!

25 April 2009 - 02 May 2009

Team de Rooy

-1 bream..
- 2 catfish
- 3 x 40's : 40lb, 42lb, 44lb7 common !!!
- 8 x 30's common and mirror
-11 x20's common and mirror
- 6 x 20

Total 500lb of carp !!!
Good luck and ...... we will be back !!


25 April 2009 - 02 May 2009

Team Astrix

Total 137 fish !!!!
3 x 40
1x 38
2x 37
1x 36
3x34
and a lot of smaller fish

Pascalle thanks for the nice week !!!

Mark, Joris, Panoramix,Cees, Ben

Catch report for the Botte week from 18 to 25 April 2009

Quoted from logbook

18 April 2009 - 25 April 2009

-Starting week very nice weather, little fish from wensday bad weather start catching fish
19 carps : 4 carps above 30 lb
Pascale thank you for your good care
Ferry Willem

18 april 2009- 25 April 2009

Thank you to Pascale for your hospitality
53 fish : - 50 carp biggest 40lb2
- 2 cat
- 1 sturgeon
Sam, Scott,Phil

Catch report for La Traque week from 25 April to 02 May 2009

Quoted from logbook

JOHN, STEVE, DARRYL, DAVE

John and Darryl had 50 fish
5 forties : 41lb 5, 47 lb, 40lb10,44lb5,40lb2
3 PB's : 47 lb, 44lb 5, 38 lb
8 : 30-40
13 : 30 -35
23 : 20+
1 double


Steve and Dave had 26 fish
4 forties : 49 lb,42lb,45 lb5,41lb5
9 : 35 -40
6 : 30-35
3 : 20's
4 doubles

We had a great week thanks to good friends and Pascale

Thank you Pascale you are the best

Catch report for Traque week from 18 to 25 April 2009

Quoted from logbook

Bri + Lee
-40 mirror best 49 lb
-6 common best 39 lb
-3 grass best 26 lb
-1 koi 24 lb

6 FORTIES

Top week, great weather
Thanks Pascale Top hospitality as usual xxx

Latest frequently asked questions

Hi All,

Many thanks for your tremendous input into this Blog, the catch reports below are extremely useful as they give a live and true representation of what is actually happening on the lakes. One thing is for sure the fish have really piled the weight on in all venues.
We have had of late a flurry or recurring rule questions in office which is why I would like to elaborate on them a bit.

Leadcore: No leadcore is allowed on any part of the tackle because over the last 10 years over 90 percent of tethered or damaged fish are associated to the use of this material, it has a particular behaviour in water once freed of the mainline. More often than not it actually wraps itself around the gills causing significant distress.

Braided mainline: Braided mainline is not allowed for carp fishing albeit it is tolerated if a 10metre nylon or fluoro shockleader is used and that the connection knot between mainline and shockleader allows the lead and lead clip to be released. However, no mainline braids of less than 9kg strength should be used as lesser strength braids are too fine and dangerous. Braided mainline is allowed for marker rods and spod rods.

Predator fishing: Pike and other predator fishing is at the discretion of the lake owner, if you intend to lure fish for predators during the stay it would be better to contact us prior to visit so that we may ask the owners for consent.

Unhooking mats: Please remember that these fish are becoming bigger and heavier, anything less than 1.2m long and 0.8m across should not be used. If you intend to weigh your carp in the unhooking mat, the latter must have side zips to prevent the fish from falling out.

That's enough boring information from me tonight, I'd much rather hear from you guys actually out there and catching them...

A bientôt

Catch Report for the Traque week 11-18 April 2009

Quoted from logbook

www.carp-forums.com

Steve S : Far bank
- 36 lb 4 common
- 39 lb common

Dean E aka Krafty - Power line
- 1 lost
- 1 pike 18lb

Lee T aka Big Nose - BB
..........................................

Kev C aka Mrs T - Snag swim
- 19lb10 Mirror
- 30lb10 Common

Steve C aka Minty
-37lb 11 mirror
-18lb7 mirror
-29lb12mirror
-34lb common
-38lb40 mirror
-30lb10 mirror

James H aka littlefella
-16lb4
-21lb4
-29lb8
-21lb8
-21lb14
-20lb6
-32lb12
-36lb14
-30lb12
-19lb6
-18lb12
-17lb13
-20lb12
-32lb8
-25lb2
-29lb5
-21lb13
-39lb13
-48lb13

All on catcherbaits big red

A big thank you to Pascale for great hospitality all week, not forgetting pies and champagne. xxx

Catch report for Robin Lake week 11-18 April 2009

11 April 2009 - 19 April 2009

Quoted from logbook

9 x 30lb + carp
8 x 20lb + carp
1 x sturgeon
Had a fantastic time. Pascal was a great hostess and i will definately be back again.
Ron

16 fish to 38lb inc 1 x 31lb04 grassy
Pascal is a top girl. I will be back without a doubt. Many thanks to you Pascal.
Martin

7 carp best 49lb 2
Thanks
J.
5 thirties to 38lb5 and 2 twenties.

Pascal fab.
Thanks for a great week after a very slow start

Catch reports for Woodslake week 11 - 18 April 2009

11 April 2009- 18 April 2009

Quoted from logbook

Common : 18 lb11,13lb80,25lb14,26lb,24lb40,18lb,12lb,21lb40,24lb10,25lb10
Mirror : 29lb12,24lb80
Koi : 14lb14
Thank you for a lovely time, you made us very welcome
All the best
Peter

Cats : 32lb10,28lb,26lb,25lb,25lb
Mirror : 24lb,24lb
Common : 30lb1,25lb,24lb,18lb,10lb
Very nice week
Eric


Loads of carp especially commons
33lb 5
30lb7
Cats to 30lb+ load grass carp
Excellent host.
Hardest fighting fish ever

carp : 18lb13,27lb13,28lb10,19lb,28lb06,25lb06,21lb12,19lb12,26lb05,17lb11,33lb06,29lb10

cats : 21lb06,26lb06,26lb04,32lb10

Grass : 21lb,21lb10

Elliot Age 11

Carp : 27lb09,18lb15,28lb06,18lb08

Cats : 25lb04, 30lb02,73lb01,59lb14

Sturgeon : 15lb

The best week ever !!

Catch report for The Great Lake week 11 - 18 April 2009

11 April 2009 - 18 April 2009
Quoted from logbook

What can we say? we had a stunning week again with big fish.
-36 lb
-33 lb
-32 lb
-27 lb
-24 lb
-46 lb
-62.4 lb Lake and complex record
-43 lb
-45 lb
Pascale thanks. You are the best.
Greetz
Martin and Dik
See you soon


Nice week
1 sturgeon 20 lb
1 mirror 32 lb
thanks Pascale
will be back next year
Jans and Gerard


In 5 days we had 3 fish
1 mirror "moon" Pascale's favourite at 44 lb
1 mirror at 29 lb
1 sturgeon at 64 lb (beautiful !!)
We lost 2 sturgeons, one of them was really big !!
Greetz
Raymond and Casper

Lodge at Domaine de Goncourt

As promised some pictures of my lodge !

La Botte 52lb Common

Hi Everyone,

Pascale has just sent me the pictures of the 52lb Common caught from La Botte last week. Wow!! What a fish. The fish was caught by a Belgian angler who had a great week on the complex. He had such a good week that he even let Pascale catch a fish on one of his rods!!

52 lb Common and Pascales 20 plus

Catch report for Saules week 04 - 11/04/2009

04 April 2009 to 11 April 2009

DUTCH POUNDS
-26 mirror
-32.4 mirror
-27.2 mirror
-33.4 mirror

See you soon Pascale !!!

Quoted from logbook

Catch report for Traque week 04/04 - 11/04/09

Quoted from logbook

"cross in carp cru" the two originals rolled up on saturday and were joined by the two new boys midweek.

- HOOKY : 1 x 40, 15 x 30's, 20 x 20's, 5 x 10's

- PERCY : 1 x 51.10lb, 2 x 40's, 5 x 30's, 10 x 20's

- SI : 1 x 20

- CLARKY : 1x 40, 2 x 30lb, 1 x 20lb

* Special Thanks to Pascale from Percy for bring down the "vic vapour rub" and generally saving his week from going down the pan. also for the champagne, bread, etc, etc, (two many things to write) You are the best but you know it anyway !

Domaine de Boux

Boux has had a bit of a painful start because of it's low level, the lake was drained down this winter but is struggling as usual to regain it's full level.
All the big fish went back in OK and where kindly photographed by the greek god himself Andy Anastasiou, many thanks to him, we owe him a few camera batteries.
The stock is just awesome "as usual" with it's historical residents still going strong after some 30+ years of presence for a few of them. They lost on average 5-10% weight during winter move and we know from past drain offs that that weight is regained in 1 month so as I write this the weights will be back on the increase, But...
As much as the fish are accustomed to being netted every five years, the guest anglers are not used to slipping down 1m of clay or rocky bank to net a fish. The current level is still 0.8m below full, but with the wood bank works and embankment made this year it can be a bit precarious to get down and handle fish.
We expect the levels to rise shortly but any persons having booked the venue and having concerns on bank access due to disability should conctact us because at the moment a bit of gymnastics are required to fish properly.

The last thing we want is for someone to injure themselves, Christophe will be there this week so as to organise easier access in front of the swims, I shall report on his progress and post on this blog.

Botte 55 common

Just heard that a 55lb (25kg) or 52lb (don't know if they are dutch pounds or UK pounds yet ?) common was caught last week from La Botte, excellent news as last years biggest commons that where caught where doing 40 to 45lb. Bas will be giving us more info during the week on the other fish caught.

Great Lake news

Whow, just a brief SMS chat with Pascale as she is absolutely flat out with a busy Easter weekend. The good news is that the same fish that was caught last year at sixty plus has been out again at 62lb4Oz, so now any doubts are dispelled on it's existence or weight. Pascale has some aweful photos apparently but I'm sure she will give during the week some more infos on the conditions of capture. The other good bit of info is that a 45lb also came out during the week.
Now thinking of re-naming Great Lake to awesome lake, wonder what that estimated 55lb+ fully scaled weighs now ?
Brilliant start to the season and congrats to the captor.

Back en Traque

So it is April and Goncourt is producing some amazing results this year to anglers brave enough to fish in France this time of year. Just take a look at some of the catch reports from Pascale over the last month. I know some of the anglers fishing there this early in the season and they are loving it.

Ok, back to La Traque. I have fished La Traque several times over the last 6 years on the Goncourt complex and I have seen all the changes this lake has gone through. When I first fished the lake 6 years ago it was a good 20’s water with the odd 30 pounder to catch but now it has turned into a real big fish water.
I can remember the first time I went there the biggest fish I caught was just under 25lb and I struggled to catch fish over 20lb while the 2 people I went with both caught 30’s to 37lb.

The lake is around 12 acres in size with all the swims having lots of water to fish. Each swim has hotspots to fish to as well as gravel bars and plateaux’s to search out. It is booked on an exclusive basis, so a group of friends can easily have a social fishing week with some great facilities. There was a new wooden lodge built in 2008 with electricity installed. This is great if the weather is bad or if you want to take your partners with you. There is a wooden bench outside for eating and a BBQ next to it. Everything you need except for the beers in the fridge!!










La Traque swim

The lake itself has changed dramatically with all of the snags being removed from the water so that anglers have a better chance of landing the stunning fish in this lake. I can remember 3 of us the first year fishing La Traque hooking over 120 fish but only landing just over half of them. This has now changed with a good 90% of the fish being landed due to the careful management of the lake.

The stock of the lake is around 300 fish and I know it says the average weight is 22lb on Simons website but believe me I have always had a higher average than this in the last few years. The lake record I think is 56lb 8oz but I think it will be broken this year with a fish over 60lb. I have seen fish in the lake before spawning over this weight.

The carp in the lake are stunning with so many different strains of fish. You can catch long leather one minute and then a big plated mirror the next with a fat dumpy 30 plus in the middle!! This lake offers everything for lots of different types of anglers. If you want to catch lots it’s possible, but you also have some huge fish in this lake that will blow your personal best out of the water. I beat my P.B by 6lb one day and then by 11lb the next!


36lb and a 44lb

The fish move around the lake from day to day and you can catch in one area for a few days and then your friend will start catching a day later. I will explain more about this later.

Tactics on the water are quite simple too. I have fished in every part of the lake but have found the margins to be most favourable. The far margin is by far the best with careful bait placement. I always use a boat but some anglers prefer not to do this, it is all personal choice. I have watched the fish patrol the margins while using the boat and it is incredible what you see. So when you go onto the lake look first before fishing to find the clear areas, so you will be more confident where you fish.

I can remember this last year taking Pascale out in the boat to look at the fish patrolling the far margins. She was amazed at what we saw. We saw most of the big fish swimming near to the tree line. We watched the fish move over bait and then start to feed. This has got to be the most exciting way to watch fish, close up and personal. Try it while you are there, you will not be disappointed.

I have always fished with small amounts of tight baiting however I bait regularly. I always use pellets and peach and pepper boilies on this lake. I mark the areas with markers that are able to be seen in at night. I use the fluro strip from Hi-Viz jackets, this can be seen easily at with a torch when baiting up at night. I always use a bait boat at night for safety reasons and would never recommend going to use a boat at night alone. Please remember to remove all your markers before you leave. It only takes a few minutes and stops the lakes looking untidy for the following week’s anglers. Leave it as you find it I say. I know Pascale makes sure the lakes are cleaned every week when you leave but every little helps!!













TIME TO TIDY UP BRETT !!!!!

I normally use “snakes” when baiting up on La Traque. Snakes? I hear you say. Well they are just long PVA mesh bags filled with pellets and boilies. I feed the rig through the tube to cover the rig totally and then place the bait tube on the baited area via the boat. This ensures the bait is totally covered with pellet and boilies so the fish feed with confidence on the area. Remember these fish are fished for most weeks of the season and have seen most presentations so rig camouflage is a key factor to remember.











Snakes

Last year on La Traque my friend and I were lucky enough to catch three 50lb plus fish to 55lb using this method and we tried to bait areas regularly through the day. You will find sometimes the fish have cleaned you out and left your rig sitting there on the lake bed all alone. Brett my fishing partner had this happen to him using method mix. He had baited with method mix one night and went to check the area the next morning. He had his rig sitting in a nice tight circle of method mix with all the other bait gone!! Just because they are French carp don’t think they are stupid.






51lb, 54lb and my P.B at 55lb

As I mentioned earlier the carp move around the lake a lot during a weeks fishing. We had a great example of this towards the end of our weeks fishing in May. We had been told by Pascale that the fish would move to the opposite end of the lake but ignored her advice. The number of runs were dropping off but we didn’t move our rods so she fished in this area and had 2 runs in no time at all. Lesson learnt by me for sure.

Celebrating Goncourt style

Just to finish off, I would like to sum up by saying that La Traque caters for all types of anglers that go to France. I have been with French carp fishing virgins who have caught P.B’s constantly all week and I have also broken my P.B several times on this lake with some real lumps.
Get you and your mates on La Traque for a great weeks fishing with the chance of some carp that will blow you away.

Keeping the fish wet with the help of Pascale

Good Fishing,

Phil

Catch report for Traque Goncourt week 28/03/09 - 04/04/2009

28 Mars 2009 - 04 Avril 2009

I don't have a feedback for the Traque this week. There were three people fishing on the

lake last week but they left on wenesday morning due to family matters.

They caught only two fish : a 46lb mirror and a 22lb mirror

Robin Lake fishing by John Lilley ending 21/03/09

My Method :

Hemp + light scatter of maize together with boilies including some chopped boilies
two large scoops over each bait.

Best bait : fruit flavoured boilie with snowman rig

Lake fish better with four people
-one in the caravan swim
- three down the road bank

fish cannot hide because you have covered every angle.

Best swims :

- left and right of the island and bottom right hand corner from road bank.


Fish are always tight on the bank where the gravel working are.

Best presentation of your hook bait is with a bait boat.

Very hard fighting fish, many big thirty's, forthy's and a few fifty's to date.

Biggest i have had is a 52lb 40 mirror, six 40's, sixty two 30's, thirty three 20's.

Very prolific runs water

You can expect action day and night

Definately well worth booking a trip !

Catch report Traque Goncourt week 21/03 to 28/03/09

Quoted from logbook

Mirrors : 12 x 20lb+

5 x 30 + lb

1 x 40 + lb

1 x 50 + lb

Pretty slow week, you sure there are fish in their ?

Joking Pascale !!

Kev, Alan, Steve, Eric

Catch report Saules Goncourt week 21 - 28/03/09

21 Mars 2009 - 28 Mars 2009


KARPER TEAM WORMER (Holland)

JOHAN : 12kgs4,13kgs6,17kgs5

ROMON :16kgs5,13kgs5,19kgs8,12kgs7

GERWIN : 20kgs2,18kgs5,17kgs,15kgs8,14kgs,13kgs,12kgs,22kgs,13kgs,14kgs5,14kgs,14kgs,13kgs5

THYS : 11kgs2,14kgs,18kgs2,19kgs5,20kgs5,12kgs5,11kgs3,16kgs3,17kgs8,23kgs,14kgs3,16kgs6,15kgs4

Total of 33 carps and a lot of pikes

Thank you Pascale for a nice fish and hospitality

Do yourself a favour and get a bag of Peach and Pepper from Pascale!!!!

Some news : Domaine de Goncourt

Hello everyone !!
I know i am late for the catch reports !!! i was out at the beginning of the week, then really busy working in my lodge. I will put some pictures on the blog when it is ready.
You will find a new shower,a new kitchen, a new door with a code to enter and new windows !!!!! Yes !!! lots of work done this winter !!! it looks really good, well i find it looks really good !!!! joke but i am waiting for you to tell me what you think of it !
Weather is really good over here but fishing was really slow at the beginning of the week, it just starts to be better. We have had 19 degrees today.
Speak soon
Pascale
PS : sorry for all the mistakes i have made but i am french and far from being fluent !!!!!
promise one day no mistakes anymore, let me a few years !!!! joke

Goncourt starts in style

Hiya Pascale,

Thanks for the first week feedback, we know it does take time to do this and put it online with three kids and a husband, and I am not not going to even mention the usual daily dog michief...

It must still be difficult for the guests with the cold nights but very warm days, however, the high water levels may be making some of the features more apparent to fish to ? Do you have any details on amounts of bait used and any particular tactics ?

I know, please, that we are all waiting desperately for Great Lake news, Dandy and i have a kleenex ready for some fully scaled pictures... until we get the chance to catch them ourselves...

So have a nice day, pls...

Big bisous from 4 S

Simon

Catch report for Robin Lake at Goncourt week 14 - 21/03/09

14/03/09 21/03/09


10lb to 20lb : 8 fish

20lb to 30lb : 29 fish

30lb to 40lb : 26 fish

40lb to 50lb : 2 fish 44lb mirror, 48lb mirror

sturgeon : 3

John Lilley
Ty Husbands
Ian Chance

roll on 2009

Thanks Pascale & Bernard,

I'm impressed to say the least by the first week captures. whow, these fish have really kept their weight well over the winter despite the prolonged cold spell. I know for a fact that the water temperature is still cold and am glad that the fish are already so active and responding so well to bait.
It looks like the Livardiere stocking is going good and that the fish have acclimatised well, I hope now that they become as big as the diggers used to improve the swims !

We are going to try to put on the Horton Management site a little window that displays the date and hour of the last post, that way we will all know when some new info has come in.

Best wishes,

Simon

Catch report for Saules and Traque at Goncourt week 14-21/03/09

Hello everyone, so a new season is starting and i will try to give you the catch reports every week !! humm, not i will try ... i must do it !!!! lol my customers write in my logbooks every saturday so i will just copy what they say.
So for the first week we had a lovely weather but it was really cold in the morning ! minus 5 on saturday morning !!!
Traque : 14/03/09 21/03/09
DUTCH POUNDS
Mirror : 43-37.8-36.2-36.2-37-35-34-33-33.5-33-32-31-32-30.5-30-30.2-29-28-28

Common : 44-35-29.8-29.5-29-26-23-23-

Linear : 31

Fully scaled : 32

It was a really great week, good catch, nice weather
many more little fish
Total 56 good luck for the next !!!


Saules : 14/03/09 21/03/09
IN KILOS !

Mirror : 14.7kgs,17.3kgs,15.7kgs,9.7kgs,17.4kgs,12.4kgs,19.7kgs,17.7kgs,15.3kgs,16.8kgs,15.9kgs
12.1kgs,14.2kgs,16.9kgs,17.9kgs,19.2kgs,10.1kgs,15.5kgs,16.3kgs,15.8kgs,19.5kgs,11kgs

Common : 13.1kgs, 13.2kgs


Thank you Pascale for everything, your the best !
start 2009 very well, with pain in the heart we are going home !
mutch and big kisses !! xxx
Proline teams Belgium



Humm, i promised me you all the catch reports tonight but it took me ages to do only two lakes !!!
oh my goodness !! i think i am better on the lakes than with a computer !!!
Sandrine or Phil, i really think i need your help !!!!
oh before going ! merci Phil, because i disturbed you a lot tonight and i always promised you it was the last time !!! lol
so tomorrow the Robin Lake !!!

Woodslake Netting

Well, after much tugging and hauling for two days with the significant help of some muscle bound Dutch helpers... We got a very good insight into the carp population of Woodslake.
I expected to remove plenty of pasties but we saw few but what we did view was more than encouraging. What a big surprise to see such numbers of big round and growing commons of which the average weight is well above 20lb+. Over three net hauls we saw catfish well over 100lb and they were anything but thin !

Remco Grit and Henk nicely forwarded us 2 videos of the netting. Thanks to them.
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Some small carp and cats were removed and this will further enhance the quality of the fishery, the removed small commons have been placed in the new gravel pits currently being dug out and expected to finish in 10 years time.

Thanks to Bas and his crew of netsmen and thanks to Pascale and Stephane for looking after us so well, yummy scrummy food and nice bubbly drinks.

Next time hide your leg of lamb away from Dandy and me... we did warn you that 1 leg would not be enough...

Great Lake – Lets get things started

Over the last couple of months The Great Lake on the Goncourt complex has been attracting lots of attention. I have had numerous calls about the lake regarding its size, how hard it is to fish, what methods to use etc,etc. So having fished the complex over the last 6 years I hope to shed a little light on what is probably the jewel in the crown of the Goncourt complex.
Firstly the size. Well, yes it is big but don’t be put off by its 50 plus acres because when you fish the lake it will soon become apparent that the lake can be split into smaller lakes. The islands and arms that stretch out into the lake help breakdown the lakes size thus giving you lots more confidence and helping you catch fish easier by not worrying about the size of the lake.










Looking from the gravel works arm

Secondly is what tactics to use on this water and once again it a case of keeping it simple. I always use the same rigs as I do on my English waters with the only difference being an increase in hook and lead size. The most important thing on The Great Lake is getting the rig in the right place. I always use the boat the first day to find some areas to fish, which are marked and baited lightly.
I use the boat as little as possible, but the first day is generally the best day to use it because it is change over day and the boat has probably been used to extract marker floats from the previous weeks anglers using the lake. After this I keep the boat use to a minimum. The lake is very clear and the fish are easily spooked so try to keep the boat out of the water as much as possible.
The lake is also weedy in parts so try to find holes or clear areas close to weed beds but remember to bait lightly. All the fish I have caught on this lake have come from a couple of handfuls of Peach and Pepper boilies per rod with half a kilo of mixed pellet.
The rig is simple and I use a normal snowman set up consisting of a Peach and Pepper bottom bait, topped with a Scopex Squid pop up. I then use a five or six bait stringer and mesh bag over the hook to finish off the rig. I always like to cast to marked areas if possible to keep disturbance to a minimum but sometimes I have to use a bait boat.

The Rig and The finished Rig

Lastly, I would like to tell everyone who has been to Pascales’ Goncourt complex and has seen The Great Lake, not to be daunted by it. It is only as difficult as you make it and I can tell you that this lake has fish in it to make your dreams come true. This does not only mean purely the size of the fish even though they grow to over 60lb in the lake but the sheer beauty of the fish which you find nowhere else in France. These hard fighting big scaled mirrors are one hell of a prize to have in your album.
If you want hard fighting fish, don’t forget the stock of sturgeon that are in The Great Lake too. There are sturgeon to over 100lb in there and fight like a run away train with a head start on you. These fish will test you and your tackle to the extreme and then fight some more when closer to the net. One thing to remember with these fish is that they fight to the end so please return them quickly to the lake and nurse them until they swim off strongly.

30lb Mirror and a 50lb plus Sturgeon

Oh, I forgot to mention Pascale, not that she needs any introduction. Wherever you fish on the Goncourt complex Pascale will know where the best fishing areas and how to fish them. She spends every day of the season looking after her customers and supplying them with her world famous pies. If you want up to date information speak to her on your arrival, you will not be disappointed. She also catches a few fish too but is always too shy to admit this, so here is her first 30lb fish from The Great Lake. Sorry Pascale.

Pascales 30lb Great Lake fish