My 15 year old nephew Sudhir and his friend Jake, of the same age, have just spent 12 days with us.

In between canoeing, go-karting, swimming, climbing and swinging through trees at the 'Acrobois', visiting prehistoric caves and catching lizards they managed to squeeze in 2 nights fishing on our lake.

The 2 lads are very much beginners, but within an hour of placing the baits on the first night, between them, they put a 33lb catfish on the bank. This fish went on an amazing run as soon as it was hooked taking out 3 other lines, we had fun sorting out the tangle afterwards. The only other fish came in the early hours a common of just over 10lb.

The 2nd night was again clear and full of stars, not ideal fishing conditions, but the guys persevered and got the rewards. Their prizes, 2 further catfish of 34lb and 38lb 8oz, original commons of 12lb and 15lb and the icing on the cake a fabulous chunky Royale common of just under 27lb. 4 or 5 fish were lost to hook pulls and a few bites were missed, so it was quite an eventful and tiring night.

All fish fell to semi-fixed rigs presented on or close to the far margin of the lake over prebaited areas. Steamer Baits Livit MF boilies or fake maize/corn combination, critically balanced, tempted all the fish.

So, not a bad 2 nights for the youngsters, in challenging conditions. I suppose I'm slightly disappointed that they didn't manage to catch one of our larger Royale mirrors, a ‘30’ would have done, but there's always next time.

We have now had about 6 weeks of hot, sunny, dry weather, but the night after the boys left the heavens opened and we received and incredible 30mm of rain. The next day the carp seemed to be really enjoying the new fresh water, leaping out all over the place. I can't help thinking had we had anglers on the lake that day they would have experienced some furious action.



angling holidays at Sweet Chestnut Lake - carp fishing lake in france