New Video’s

I have just added two video’s to the blog that feature action from our 2011 season. They are in HD so take a bit longer to load but are worth the wait…imo ! lol

 

Getting colder !

After the mild weather that we have enjoyed for a good while now the forecast is telling us that temperatures are due to drop in the next few days. In fact the change looks to be quite dramatic with temperatures due to drop to as low as -7c at times. With the prospect of an extended freeze on the horizon we will be making sure we get as much cooked maize out into the lakes as possible over the weekend. It is a shame really that the chill will finally be arriving as we have so many plants coming into bud and even some cultivated daisies in full springtime bloom. The lakes have seen plenty of activity in recent days with lots of hunting pike to be seen swirling and slashing as they feast on the roach and even several carp showing over the feed that we have been putting in.

With today perhaps being the nicest we are likely to see for a while we have taken the opportunity to crack on with some of the jobs that need sorting before we open. Lottie and I have been working hard around the back of Poppy’s where about 40 yrs of neglect has left us with a mass of brambles and fallen of dead tree’s to remove. We are making slow but meaningful progress  and it will certainly add to the scenic appeal of the lake once finished. We are planning to plant lots of flag iris along the margins as we expose them and, next month, will be planting some new tree’s to add that little ‘extra’ to the place. Also, probably in March, we will be planting a number of water lilies around the lake, which should not only provide the carp with some shade from the sun but will also add to the scenic appeal of the place.

Jimmy has been demolishing the swims on the ‘Home bank’ and will hopefully have the new fronts in place before the freeze sets in. He is also removing some of the big rocks that were a nuisance in front of ‘Sams’ so landing fish will be a lot easier than in the past. We are also going to be taking one of the huge poplars down on the ‘Château bank’ as some of its large branches could be a health hazard should they come down in a storm. Will be a rather messy job as most of it is likely to fall into the lake and will have to be removed to dry ground for cutting up. A job for the tractor methinks which in turn will mean a churned up swim and bank to be put to rights before April. All good fun !!

 

I have made an 18 minute HD film of carp action from last year and hope to have it uploaded onto the blog tomorrow. Some lovely fish to be seen so be sure to take a look. I tried loading it via ‘youtube’ but was told is was to long ! I now have tried another hosting site so fingers crossed that it works ok.

A travelling companion !

Le Moulin du Mee regular, Adrian who lives in Lincolnshire has been let down by his travelling companion for his week commencing September 15th. He will be travelling over in his van and wondered if anyone in either Lincs/Cambs, Norfolk area would like to join him on the trip and share the travelling expenses. It is also possible that Adrian could pick someone up on his way down to the ports so if you are interested either contact Adrian direct via the blog or let me know and I will contact him for you. Should be a goooooood week !!

New video’s.

I am in the process of editing the video footage from last year and have just posted on the blog the first couple of short video’s and will be posting more later in the week. They are in HD so may take a while to fully load but I think you will agree that the quality will justify the time lag. The first one is of Jimmy playing and landing a nice mirror stalked from the bay at the end of the dam and the second a short scenic view of Poppy’s lake. The Poppy’s lake video is on its own page whereas the one of Jimmy is on the video page.

I hope you like the new look of the blog. When my father-in-law complained that he was having difficulty reading the text I thought I had better change things !!! The new look is much easier to read and I think looks much better than any of the previous blogs, hopefully you will agree.

The weather is mild and sunny today and we have just put out 3 dustbins full of maize out into Etang du Mee and 2 into Poppy’s and in both lakes we saw signs of feeding fish. On the main lake we disturbed a few fish whilst out in the boat and had some pretty impressive bow waves to contend with as they bore off to deeper water. With the forecast for the weather looking mild and wet I think we will be upping the feed levels even more in the coming weeks. If it continues like this I can see us starting to include pellet and boilies in the feed as early as February this year which will really get things moving much earlier than we have ever seen before. Fingers crossed that it continues like this.

Spring already ??

It is such a mild winter that the tree’s are already showing bud and lots of our bulbs are poking their heads above ground long before they are normally seen. Temperatures remain in double figures and the water is showing all the signs of feeding fish. Lots of stirred up silt and the odd showing fish are a good sign that feeding in carrying on in earnest and accordingly we are upping the levels of maize that we are putting out. It is all looking good for the start of the season and providing we can escape a last blast of winter then the carp will be on top form when the first anglers arrive. I will have a ‘test fish’ next month, just to see whether the stress of the drain down has held growth back at all, however my gut feeling is that spring will see the carp in fine fettle and fatter than ever.

The mild wet weather has its downside and we are working in pretty claggy conditions, with mud everywhere. We have had to restrict our use of the truck and tractor as even with 4 wheel drive the wheels are sliding all over the place and in turn creating other problems to be sorted before the season begins. I was working on the Home Bank yesterday, clearing many of the scrubby tree’s that just take up room but contribute nothing to the look of the place. Our hope is that by letting more sunlight through the tree line we can encourage more shrubbery to start growing. Even along this bank the constant rain has left the path in a very slippery condition and we have now decided to gravel the path all the way from ‘Sams’ up to the ‘Sanctuary’ swim. One pleasing aside was that whilst toiling away I saw 2 good fish jump out near the island. So unusual at this time of year and again, an indication the mother nature is acting very strangely at the moment. It is also noticeable how quiet the birds are at this time of year. Very little birdsong is to be  heard and even the woodpeckers seem to have given up on us and moved to pastures new. The kingfishers are more often seen than heard and our regular guests, the egrets and herons can be seen huddled up and looking pretty miserable in the rain. I think we are not the only one’s waiting for spring proper to arrive.

A brief freeze !!

We have had a couple of very cold days where both lakes were covered in thin ice and all was crisp and quiet. Today the rain has come and temperatures have reached the heady heights of 12c resulting in a total ice melt and signs of the carp being back on the feed. The water has clouded up considerably in the last 24hrs and along with the showers of fry and swirling pike I was also blessed with the sight of several good carp feeding contently in front of ‘The Steps’. At this time of year it is noticeable that the carp are tuned into the weather changes and will go from seemingly torpid and disinterested in anything at all to hungrily feeding for a few hours and then, as temperatures drop, back to the torpid state once again. I suppose that the same thing happens in the summer months with the main difference being the longer feeding periods that the warm water encourages. With the outlook for the next week or so being so grey and damp the summer seems a long way off but we are filling our days with the constant work around the lake and looking forward to wetting a line ourselves sometime soon. Perhaps in February, when the sun carries real warmth in its rays and the buds are starting to break out in the tree’s we will test the water and see if Jimmy can once again break the lake record with an early year lump. Work at the moment is constant, with Poppy’s being where I am spending my days and the main lake is where Jimmy is busily re-building some of the Home Bank swims. When I arrived at Poppy’s this morning I disturbed a lot of fish (judging by the bow waves) feeding over the maize  that I put out yesterday evening and the carp generally seemed a lot more active than on the main lake. Not surprising really, with the lake containing such a big head of fish, and I think we will be feeding Poppy’s very heavily throughout the year to try and encourage the sort of growth rates that we have enjoyed on Etang du Mee up to now.

It will be very interesting to see how this year pans out what with the removal of the catfish and smaller carp but I am confident that all will turn out well and we will be seeing some really special fish banked. If we look back over the last few years it is noticeable that the year after we had our first 40lb fish we saw lots of fish of this size being landed. In the same vein when we had our first 50lb carp the following year saw lots more showing up in the catches. Well, last year saw our first 60lb carp !!!! Exciting times.

2012 availability

We have had a couple of cancellations as is usual at this time of year so I have posted below the updates availability list for this year.

June 9 – 2 places

Aug.25 – 1 place

Oct. 13 – 2 places

Nov.3 – 3 places

The early part of 2013 is mostly booked now although I have just had a cancellation for a prime week – w/c May 18th so if you are interest best let me know asap.

Frosty mornings !

The temperature has dropped a fair few degree’s since my last post and we have just enjoyed a couple of sunny but very cold days. Mornings have seen a heavy frost with much of it staying all day. We have also seen the first ice of the year on the lakes with Poppy’s having a thin covering of ice over around a third of the lake. The water has started to clear now and that would indicate that the carp have stopped foraging for food for the time being. Things have actually become very quiet with even the pike taking a break from their hunting exploits and the only predators to be seen today were the kingfishers and our usual complement of herons and egrets. I managed to snap off a picture of one of our egrets on Poppy’s this evening and have posted it below for you to take a peek at.

The work continues and I have spent a couple of days clearing some of the ‘virgin’ area’s behind Poppy’s lake. Huge amounts of brambles and briars have completely overtaken the area with dead tree’s and branches criss crossed all over the place. It is slow work, even with a chainsaw and brush cutter but the satisfaction of seeing the land starting to appear from the morass that covers the area makes it all worthwhile. There is so much debris, dead leaves and wood lying around that it completely cuts out the light and stifles the chance of any new growth appearing. By clearing the land we are giving it the chance to regenerate naturally, helped a little by the new tree’s we plan on planting. We always leave a pile of old rotting wood after we have finished clearing as it contains so many valuable insects and grubs and acts as a natural larder for the wild birds. It is that time of year when we seem to hear lots of woodpeckers ratatatting in the tree’s but strangely rarely catch site of them. I sat and watched a kingfisher feeding this afternoon and can only think that it was a young one, lacking in skill, or it was picking off very small fry. I watched it through binoculars and I never saw it with a single fish in it’s mouth although it must have dived into the water at least 20 times ! A kindred spirit methinks !!

A belated Happy New Year !!

I have been away since just after Christmas and only got back yesterday night so have not had a chance to wish you all a very Happy New Year. Hopefully it will also be a very special one for Le Moulin du Mee  and one that in turn you will all be part of.

The lakes are looking in fine fettle with the mild weather encouraging the carp to continue feeding and the water looks more like mid April than January. Usually at this time of year the water is very clear with the cold temperatures slowing down the carps feeding regime and producing little stirred up sediment as a consequence. At the moment the water colour gives a very strong indication that the carp are still stirring up the bottom in their hunt for bloodworm and other tasty morsels. Jimmy has continued feeding cooked maize on a regular basis and I put another 50k out in each lake this evening to ensure that their is plenty of carbohydrate to supplement the protein that the carp are picking up in the naturals. I am not sure how I feel about having a winter without at least one good freeze up but I suppose that a whole winter of feeding for the carp can only be  a good thing. Today we had glorious sunshine and although the air temperature was only in single figures the sun carried a good deal of warmth and working around the lake was a real pleasure. Lots of pike were to be seen striking at the fry shoals and the kingfishers were very active along the Home Bank where they fed happily on the fry that the pike were driving towards the surface. On Poppy’s we watched 3 little egrets flying around, almost in a courtship display as they came together and then swooped down, rather like swallows, low over the lake. A solitary heron stood sentinel and seemed quite unaware of the performance that the egrets were putting on. One unwelcome visitor is the shag that is appearing in large numbers and has taken a liking to our lakes. I am not adverse to a couple of them picking off a few roach but I draw the line of the 40 odd that I was chasing away this morning. Keeps me fit anyway !!

I have given a lot of thought to the changes to the main lakes stock that we made at the drain down in November and the more I think about it the more I am convinced that the removal of the catfish will turn out to be one of the best decisions we have made. The sheer amount of smaller cats of around 15lb will have had a notable impact of the feeding habits of the carp during the season past. With hoards of them descending onto the baited area’s the carp will have been forced to move off and feed elsewhere. It will account for the difficulty of the fishing at times as with the catfish polishing off the bait the carp will revert to naturals and consequently prove more difficult to catch in the usual ways that historically have worked here. I am certain that this season will once again see the carp responding very well to the large baited area’s of pellet and boilies and although we have reduced our overall carp stock by around 60 fish there are still the best part of 450 to go at. On the plus side the average weight will more than likely be nearer 40lb that 30lb meaning that every time the buzzer springs into life the chances are that a real lump will be the result. Happy days !!

 

A Sunny Xmas Eve.

After a week or so of constant rain we awoke this morning to bright sunshine accompanied by a light frost. Quite a change really because yesterday was dull and wet with temperatures high enough for jumpers to be unnecessary. Carp can be seen, or at least the bow waves can, over the area’s that we are feeding as well as area’s where there must be a good supply of naturals. I disturbed a lot of fish close in between ‘The Steps’ and ‘Sanctuary’ where we found the deeper holes so it seems to be a favoured feeding area. On Poppy’s there is far more activity with some fish actually showing and where we have put the maize the water is obviously well stirred up by feeding fish. On a downside I have been running around the lakes like a dervish chasing off the 40 or so cormorants that appear to have taken a liking to our lakes. Chase them off once and they just circle around and land when you have moved off. As a consequence I have to stay in sight until they get fed up and look for pastures new. I think that we must have more egrets and herons on the lakes than ever before. On the main lake I counted 7 egrets this morning, all spaced out along the Château bank, like soldiers on parade, with herons taking up any little corner where there is space. On Poppy’s we have 5 egrets that appear very sociable and will gather together for a gossip on a fallen tree and then separate off for a session of feeding after which they meet up again on the tree to compare catches (I presume). The kingfishers seem far more active than is usual at this time of year and I can only put it down to the fact that the streams are still running high and coloured whereas the lakes are starting to clear. Our stream has been transformed by the storm water and now the bottom is clean and stony whereas before the storm there was at least 6in of silt covering the stream bed. Well, it is a lovely day so I will get back outside and cook up another batch of maize – Christmas dinner for the fish !!

 

Be sure to have a lovely Christmas and I look forward to meeting up with you all once again next year.

I took a few pictures this morning that you may enjoy so I have posted a few below.

Firstly Etang du Mee.

And a couple of Poppy’s Lake.