Lac de Premiere - Dean Macey

seems like all year my reports have started with me saying that time hasn't been on my side, well in the last 3 weeks I've certainly made up for it, with almost 2 of them being spent in France! This time my destination was Lac De Premiere, just 2 hours from Calais and run by my good friend Keith Gladden. With plenty of fish to over 60lb in 30 acres, it seemed a perfect place to get a few last carp under my belt before I target the rivers in the UK for the winter. As with my last venture over the Channel, I wasn't doing the whole week, just a 5 night trip. Plenty of time to socialise, chill, catch a few carp but not that long that Mrs Macey got the hump, a very important aspect of my fishing. 

My partner for the trip Ray Rutter and I arrived just an hour before dark on the Sun afternoon and hurried to get the rods out for the first night. Small bags went out for the both of us in the hope that there were a few fish still mooching around picking up baits from the previous anglers. Well, the saying "It's better to be lucky than good" springs to mind as within 5 minutes of my first rods being in the pond the line pulled up tight and started to rip off. At 39.14 it was a belting start! The next morning just before first light I heard some the gravel in my swim being kicked around and a load of huffing and puffing. Turns out it was Ray legging it round to tell me he had just landed a chunk. There's nothing quite like seeing a grown man flapping around like a kid because he's just landed a PB. A reaction I've only ever witnessed in angling. Well, when I got round and tried to help him lift it onto the mat it was clear it was indeed a chunk and a big PB. At 62lb on the nose it was one of the A Team. Well done amigo. At this point we both thought we were gonna be up all night, every night racking up big numbers of fish but soon after slipping back Rays pig with fins back, a big, cold, easterly wind picked up and ruined all chances of action for the next 48 hrs.

By this time I had 3 good spots that I was mega confident in and that I had baited with Hinders Hemp and Mainline Cell and New Grange. All 3 were kept very tight with just the one rod on each spot. At this time of year I want any fish that gets its head down on my spots to come across my hookbait ASAP. At the end of the season the fish have been fished for non stop since April and don't tend to hang themselves that easily, so I have a "fish for a bite at a time" mentality rather than shoving in 10kg at the start and a "s##t or bust" mentality.

On Wednesday afternoon the cold wind started to ease and swing round to a much more favourable SW and straight away the fish responded by showing much more. I feel if they are active then they are catchable and that proved correct as soon after I started ticking off a few fish. With only two mornings remaining and bite time seemingly being between 5-8am I didn't have much time to make the most of the conditions but by pack up time Friday I had managed to nick 6 fish to over 40lb. One of which couldn't have been more perfect. I had just sat up and put on the obligatory first cup of tea when I saw my semi slack line tighten up, shoot across the water just before my bobbin slammed into my Infinity and then started to melt off. It all seemed to happen in slow motion but was probably only a second in reel time. I flew out my Tempest and was on the rod straight away and soon realised that I had to get my waders on pronto as the fish was kiting right at a rate of nots behind a massive bed of rushes. Without thinking I was straight in the water, net in my teeth and wading round to the point of the rushes with just millimetres to spare before I filled up with freezing lake water. As I got to the point I was shocked to see that the 20lb Subline was pointing right into the rushes. At this point I was totally baffled because I was standing in them myself and the water by now was only 12" deep. I could feel the fish still thumping around so it was still on but there was no grating on the line to indicate it was snagged. I honestly couldn't work out what was going on. So, I once again chomped down on my stinking net and went after the fish. Inch by inch I walked slowly down to where the line was entering the water and when I got over there I couldn't believe my eyes! The fish had swam across the shallows and got its head down into a hole the size of a small car and that must have been 2m deep. It swam around in circles for a few minutes while I stood above her, quite frankly crapping myself with excitement and nerves. After what seemed like ages she finally poked her head above the surface and I slipped the net straight under my biggest fish of the trip. All of that took place while the November sun just poked its head above the trees and shone straight at me, the fish and the rushes. Now that's what I call Carpy!

Until next time, enjoy your fishing guys.