2021 - another challenging year - once again coronavirus made travel complicated, again we lost the first two months of the season and had to reschedule holidays - unfortunately some clients chose to cancel. Thankfully, those that really wanted to get here did so, and thanks to our faithful band of regulars we have managed to weather the strorm once more !

In contrast to 2020 which provided exceptionally good angling results, 2021 was a year in which the seasons were very much out of sync, and this made for more unpredictability and less consistent catches ... nonetheless everyone thoroughly enjoyed their trip as always !

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Ben & Sam the Dog   22nd - 29th May

This trip was a long time coming due to the obvious COVID! 

Due to the quarantine on our return it was only myself and Sam the dog on this trip. Caroline and Beau were extremely disappointed.

It was great to see Jon, Lisa and Bailey on our arrival. Bailey and Sam hit it off as if it was only yesterday they had a run around, despite the absence.

On the day of arrival the fish looked very active, bubbling and head and shouldering around the lake. I was expecting an action packed trip but due to the cold and wet weather the fishing was slower than expected - but still great. Two new fish for me were caught in the shape of the Grass Carp and "Perky".

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The food Lisa cooked was fantastic, also thank you to Jon and Lisa for helping me and Sam get sorted with the LFT to return to the UK.

Great holiday, thanks.

 

 

Jim and Helen  9th - 23rd June

What a joy to be finally be back at Les Croix with Jon, Lisa and Bailey. Our visit this year is later than usual due to all the current restrictions, however to be here and see the lake and its surroundings at this time of year is fantastic. Everything is lush and green. The wild flowers and butterflies amazing. Bird life as varied as always and although not seen, the birdsong of the golden orioles was very much in evidence.

 

The weather has varied from scorching hot sunny days to heavy rain and incredible thunder storms.

 

Jim fished both swims this holiday and has enjoyed catching a variety of fabulous fish with some old friends also putting in an appearance.

 

Thanks as always to Jon and Lisa for making our time here so enjoyable and many thanks for organising antigen tests.

Look forward to seeing you again in October.

 

 

Shaun and Kate  17th July - 3rd August 

After a lovely visit in July ’20, we couldn’t wait to get back for this trip. Same as last time, we arrived to a wonderfully clean and well equipped Gite and warm welcome from Jon & Lisa. The lake was looking stunning and I couldn’t wait to get the gear set up, even after a 12 hour journey!

 

As usual, Jon was always on hand whenever needed, and Kate appreciated the daily cleaning of the pool, which she thoroughly enjoyed, especially during the hot first week. My first weeks fishing was challenging due to the hot weather, and I struggled to land only 4 fish to 38-10 (Zero Common). Jon even tried to help by cutting his grass on a couple of beautiful still evenings with his Kubota! :-) funnily enough, this did result in a feeding spell!

 

My second week was completely different on the fishing front with 18 fish landed, all of which were in stunning condition, topped off on the weights by landing ‘Emma’ again, but many of the smaller fish being my favourites, and I was lucky enough to catch a few scaled mirrors, including ‘The Linear’ & ‘Plated’ with the latter at 21lb+ and my fave of the trip! I also managed 3 braces, which was fantastic!

 

The additional 3 days that we managed to book produced a further 13 fish, and I think the steady application of tight groups of boilies to try to tease the fish away from them feeding on an abundance of natural food, improved the catch as time went by. As soon as I decreased the free offerings, the fishing slowed too. Perhaps coincidence…I managed another brace too, on the final morning!

 

I was also pleasantly surprised how many commons I caught, and they’re growing fast. One of which I caught last year at 12.12 and this year 19lb+ - amazing!

 

To top it all off, the fish were beautifully dark in colour, which I learned from Jon was due to the clear water and camouflage. On the downside, I caught the Grassie in feisty mood, and slipped as I stepped in to the lake to play the fish, which resulted in me submerging myself…however, I did manage to beat my Grassie PB by 12oz with this one weighing 40-08. 

 

It was lovely seeing Bailey again, such a lovely hound! Thanks to Jon & Lisa for taking us to one of their eateries where the company was (IMHO) better than the food :-) 

 

Thanks again Jon, love your place, the fish are amazing, daytime fishing at it’s very best and a friendship blossoming to boot. Look forward to seeing you again in 2022.

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Ben, Caroline, Beau and Sam the Dog 21st - 28th August

Fifth trip in total to Les Croix and our third family holiday, yet again it has been a fantastic holiday, very relaxing. We have managed to catch up with close friends who live in the area, we have also managed a lovely lunch in the local village with lovely views of the public lake.

 

Beau has had a great time, loads of pool time, even at 08.00 in the morning, very refreshing according to Caroline.

The gite has been very comfortable, as always very clean and welcoming.

 

Fishing - It’s been a very productive week, difficult to work out a pattern to the fishes' movements and feeding pattern.

30 Kilo of boilies and 10 kilo of pellets used. 14 Fish caught

 

Beau’s caught 51 using a float rod including 3 small carp !

Thank you very much Jon, Lisa and Bailey See you in November.

 

 

John and Julie 4th - 18th September

Despite some very difficult news from home midway through our stay, spending our first two weeks here rather than a week has been delightful. The serenity of Les Croix and rural France is remarkable and a joy we look forward to every year ( I think this is our 10th visit). There is much to absorb around the lake, the wildlife (a daily visit from an osprey, grass snake and of course the frogs and kingfishers) but the peace and quiet is only bettered by the sound of a Delkim!

 

The surrounding area is full of surprises, the character and cleanliness of local villages, the cheesecake in the café over the bridge in Confolens,  Plats de jour sampled all over the place were wonderful including the Castel and Salon de The, both in St Junien.

 

Jon, Lisa and Bailey are great hosts and the fair details of the welcome pack started our stay off very nicely and the gite is always perfect. Joules says thank you for the pool. And then there is the fishing. Les Croix has tested me this visit - I think I was spoilt on my last two. However, 16 fish is certainly not to be sneered at and each one has had to be earned. My normal spots proved difficult especially in the beautiful sunny weather of the first week but a change in the weather and a couple of new spots produced some typically immaculate fish. The commons whatever the size are in mint condition and a credit to the fishery.

 

I’m sitting here in swim 2 staring my final evening session hoping I might improve my tally (normally very last minute 9.59pm) but trying to take it all in to keep me going until next September.

 

 

Jim and Helen 16th - 23rd October

Just here for the week this time, but a delight to be back once again. Thank you to Jon, Lisa and Bailey for your great company and introducing us to one of the local restaurants. Great food enjoyed by us all.

 

Weather challenging for fishing with high pressure. Emma put in an appearance at 63lbs on the first full days fishing but then all went quiet for two days. Fish  were not really showing at all. Pressure dropped, rain came and the carp decided to feed. Some beautiful fish were caught, all in fantastic condition and gaining weight well in some cases, when comparing their previous weights. Amazing!

 

A great week, as always, looking forward to our next visit.

 

 

Sam and Martin 23rd - 30th October

Third visit. After a very warm welcome from Jon, Lisa and Bailey at the house with a cup of tea and a catch up. We got to work baiting up the swims with anticipation for the week ahead. Fish were occasionally showing upon first light but not much during daylight. Signs of bubbling in the bay and a subtle show on Sunday morning of swim 2 I cast a rod too with a 20-30 boilies around it. This spot was the most productive throughout the week producing the majority of the fish. Simple tactics were used with consistent and accurate baiting up fishing for a bite at a time. A similar approach to how I fish in the uk. To say we were over the moon with our result of 20 Fish to finish the week off is an understatement. All fish were in amazing condition as always, it was nice to see some of the stock fish with amazing scale patterns. Especially happy with a very rare capture of a common that evaded capture for 10 years. Icing on the cake was Jon to name it Sam’s common. Thanks Jon. Gite and food were flawless as usual. Such a relaxing time had by me and my dad. Thank you for allowing us to create these memories. Hopefully we can come back soon.

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Ben and Sam the Dog 6th - 13th November

6th Trip to Les Croix, our third trip this year. Not much to report on the fishing side, it has been extremely quiet. We still managed 1 fish in the shape of Emma as this was the 6th time catching her we released her from the net so not to stress her out. Jon estimated her weight at 63-64lb.

Amount of bait used 10 kilos Even though the fishing has been slow it has been great to chill out by the water with some great food from Jon.

Planning to return in July 2022 with the family, thanks as always to Jon, Lisa and Bailey.

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A surprisingly quiet week to end the season marked by very high pressure and close to zero fish activity.

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