Teillats Sept 2008

I'd love to be writing this boasting of a real whacker but unfortunately my dreams of cradling one of those MASSIVE commons has ended for this year, although in true Arnie fashion...."I'll be back"!

The real reason for putting a few words and pics together is due to the amount of going's on prior, during and after this trip. I'll try to explain....

I always keep in touch with the Carp Forum thread and Teillats (Cross Channel Carping) website as it's back in the day when Ian and Ali Bell used to frequent said place on a regular basis and put me onto the obsession on hooking up with one of those 70lbs+ Commons! There was always going to be three of them at or over this mark although Ian kept on telling me that another monster had not been out for years and could be something really special!

The time soon rolled round when we start pulling together the bait and tackle to abide by the 5 x luggage rule that we always manage to achieve give or take the odd bucket or two. My mate Lee rings me up on the very day to depart Northampton for Dover and tells me that the Channel Tunnel has been on fire and chaos reigns down the M20! Nightmare start!

I finish off my emails and get straight onto the traffic web-sites to check out the latest situation. It doesn't look good with diversions in place to avoid the car park of lorries on the M20. Anyway, we manage to leave at a sensible time and decide to take it easy. To our amazment we stroll down the M1 and onto the A20 and into Dover without one queue! Result!

We are really early and decide to park the cars and enjoy a few cans and maybe meet and chat to a few Anglers on our trip. We are met by a loud bunch of heavy weights from Kent whom fish the Brook and have plenty of names in their mobiles...we were hoping that they are waiting for the Dreamlakes or Les Quis coaches but then find out that they too are early and are going to Teillats! Great! But then we get chatting to them and end up as loud as them and have a right laugh that actually continued throughout the entire trip....Happy Days!

The coach pulls up on time, the ferry leaves a little late and we are soon enjoying another beer in the bar on another trip to France. Just as we are about to leave the bar I spot a face I recognise...it's Joss Faulkner from Poacher baits and I say hello and introduce my mate Lee. Joss says hello and points out that a right scum bag is standing over at the bar with a nice looking bird and a few unsavoury characters...it's only Pete Docherty! Lee goes striaght up to him and gets his photo taken...now knowing Lee like I do...it's difficult to ascertain who's more out of it! I'll let you decide but it was very funny at the time I can assure you!

Pete 'n' Lee (please excuse the dodgy mobile quality)



The through the night journey is always a killer and seems to go on for twice as long even though the coach is comfortable and spacious. We eventually arrive and are greeted by Jake the new Baillif whom appears sound as a pound and take the customary walk around to show newbies all the swims on offer prior to the draw.

We draw 4 and 5 and have to make do with our 4th and 5th choices as Biffo's and Bailiffs point have gone. Here we go again and decide on the field bank as it always does a fish or two and can throw up a real whacker every now and then.

We hump the gear round and settle into our swims and look forwards to the week ahead. I decide not to throw any bait in and pub chuck three rods without any marker work so that I can get the camp set-up and prepare the bait and tackle so that rigs and fishing strategy can be well thought out when all of a sudden my left hand rod bursts into life!

The takes here can be pretty violent and striaght away I was bending into a good fish that was definitely plodding and not a cat. Now I've not landed a carp from Teillats in eleven consecutive day's and nights from previous trips and was very hasty and unprofessional with this fight. To add to this, I've only had fish up to twenty on my new Century's and was shocked at the power of these rods as the hook pulled right at the net!

Gutted! The fish could not believe it was no longer attached and simply lay there suspended in the water before gently lowering itself and waddling away. Lee was speechless and I was doing a Fairbrass! Must've been at least.....well it doesn't matter...we'll never ever know and this is the sickening thing about Teillats as you know what can happen here.

Right, time to dust yourself down and get on with it...it's only the first few hours and there's a whole week ahead. One of the Kent lads also named Lee had struck gold in the draw and took new Biffo's, a really fancied swim. He hauled! We thought that he was on his way to Billy Flowers record of 60 fish but had a slow finish and ended up with about 40 too 57lbs. Great Angling Lee you worked really hard and deserved the money Mate.

Back to our fishing. It took another few days to receive any action and I tried pub chucks and baiting excellent known spots heavily and light without any showing. Clearly the fish were in and around Biffos and Bailliffs point although we did mange to sneak a few with my mate doing his best Common at 38lbs...well in pal.

Lee's 38C


My 27M


Lee's 37M


It was a great relief to catch that fish as I was beginnig to recall the sinking feeling of leaving with a fat zero against my name that I experienced the previous year. I do try and enjoy just being there but having lost one early doors was glad to relax and really enjoy the moments. Here's a couple of shots that will stick in my memory....

Jon's 47lbs'er just before dusk is always a perfect time for a biggun.



Every morning was misty around my camp.



Only a couple of nights left and I was as confident as ever that tonight was the night for that special capture. Right on cue at midnight my right hand TXI let out a piercing scream with the Mag tech spool absolutely flying! Lee was over in a heart beat and I was into a very promising aqua train. At first I wasn't sure if it was carp or cat due to the run it went on so when it snageed me up I had nothing else on my mind but to get the life jacket on and winch myself out in the boat to it.

The moonlight was incredibly bright and the stars were brightly lit up and it was an awesome feeling being out in the boat with a large fish being bullied up to the surface. The fish suddenly appeared and right then it became obvious that a cat was the culprit. Bollox! I don't like these things but after another twenty minutes of being towed around the bay in the moonlight became a tad happier at the pleasure it had given me with the fight.

50lbs Pussy



That was to be the last of the action and was dreading the long pack up and journey home however we had a great craic and will definitely be looking forwards to the dream of holding up one of these next year....

The Generals Mate



PS Forgot to mention about the "Special" one that Ian Bell used to claim had not been out for a while. I clicked onto my weekly visit to the web-site and surprise, surprise an unkown fish had come out at 74lbs+ that's now 4 x 70+ Commons to boast about! Truly a place where dreams do come true for those who try!

My First Redmire Experience

Last weekend (Feb 08) I was lucky enough to be treated, (Xmas present from the Wife!), to a two night session at the famous Redmire Pool along with a good mate of mine, Lee England.
It was a pleasant surprise when I pm'd Bill Livingstone, seeking some much needed inside advice!, to then find out that he would be the third member of our group...the fourth unkown.
When we arrived early at the famous Bernithan Farm sign we pulled alongside a fishy looking vehicle...the Owner being Stuart another Carp Forum member whom by coincidence was also treated to a weekend fishing by the his other half for Xmas!

So off we went over the cattle grids and through the gate and down to the little pool. It is at this point that it really kicks in that you are now on holy ground where legends of our much loved sport have spent many hours. It was only the previous night that I re-watched Redmire Legends and sat on the toilet re-reading the Carpworld's featuring the historic little water! Nice image…but it’s sadly true!

The initial feelings one gets are simply indescribable unless you are physically there experiencing the first glimpse of the water, the dam, the overflow, the willow pitch, the submerged trees, the undergrowth, the sound of the wild-life and that ****ing pesky swan whom became literally attached to my right boot!

Bill arrived shortly after the three of us had trudged through each swim and completed a boggy lap of the lake, we then decided on where we would like to pitch-up for the week-end. Bill generously made it quite clear that he would like the three of us "newbies" to have first choice and as Stuart was also not that bothered...it left Lee and I to toss for the Willow...."Tales" it was and I asked Bill where these hot spots were that he told me about on his last few productive sessions.

Before carting the mountain gear around to the Willows...I wanted to get a snap of the four of us on the dam wall with a glass of Moet raised for nostalgia sake of course! I even splashed out £2.50 on four new wine glasses from Tescos just for the occassion. It was after this memorable moment of bliss that Les Bamford joined the four of us with tales of famous names and moments passed, that really added to the experience and got us in the mood to get a bait in water!
I've not had time to sort out the photos out but will edit this post with the necessary snaps over this weekend.

Bill ummed and errrhhed and finally set up opposite me in Cranstons...it was a toughie because a lovely south westerley was blowing down in the general direction of the shallows and everywhere looked perfect for a bite.

Stuart set-up two swims down from Bill and Lee was in the next one down from me in the Willow. Everyone appeared super confident and had a sense of well being, happiness and calm...well I was at least....I'd managed to drink some champagne, find some good spots, (with Bill's help...thanks again), drink a stella, tie some rigs to match the spots, drink a stella, place baits and rigs, set-up my bivvy, drink a stella, cook-up a ruby and drink some more stella and all before night fall.

I always proclaimed that a blank was neither here nor there at Redmire but deep down I would love to have some kind of action and not before long I was startled by my first bleep! It was like a shot of adrenaline! Did I just imagine it? Lee was soon down to ask if it was me....it was like we both had never heard what a Delkim sounded like before!

The night passed by all too quickly without anymore bleeps coming from the four of us. I was like a kid at Christmas before first light wanting to go down to the shallows for my first Redmire stalk. I'd already previously set-up and organised my stalking gear and was up a fantastic climbing tree down by the boards before the others stirred.
I peered down and across from my perch but the coloured water made it difficult to pick anything out when all of sudden a common of about 10lbs thrashed under a submerged tree on the other side of the look-out! That will do for me I thought!

My only quandary was how to approach this area...and after careful consideration I decided to stay on our side of the pool and cast across to the showing fish. As I unravelled my net another fish surfaced to the left of the first fish and I was then happy that the decision to bring two rods was a good one but then again...I was just happy to be there remember!...one fish would be a miracle and two unbelievable! I quickly brought myself back down to earth and threaded a stick onto my single bait presented on fluorocarbon and a 1oz running lead set-up and gently flicked it out first time into position. The second rod went near to the other fish...I didn't want to spook them...so no bait was added.
I settled back with a cup of tea and simply soaked up the incredible atmosphere...what a special place and I had the entire bottom of the lake to myself... Awesome.

It didn't take long before my left hander received a steady take and I simply stared at my bobbin and Delkim in utter disbelief! Surely Redmire couldn't be this easy!!! At the time it felt as though a thousand thoughts rushed through my head before I managed to flip the baitrunner lever over and bend into the fish! It was all over in a flash and the hook pulled out before I could begin contemplating the fight and come to terms of what had just happened.

I was a trembling mess with BPM's off the scale! After trying to check the rig for any obvious causes other than bad luck, I literally ran down to Lee to give him the Good and Bad news! By this time, Stuart was up and about and Bill was making his way down to the Shallows for a stalk. I was soon back angling again in the same spots with no rig or bait changes deemed necessary.
Would this be the start of good things to come for all of us I thought!!! Another fish showed right in the corner and Bill recognised this Mirror and I soon had it covered but to no avail.



We all spent the rest of the day enjoying the fantastic overcast warm conditions without any luck although Bill did have some enquiries and we all seemed to experience either getting done by these tricky, clued up stunners or had some form of liners.

Saturday evening I made my way back to the willow to get the rods in position for the last night...it's proper crash bang wallop at Redmire and I'd definitely be looking into a five day trip next time as the weekend is simply too short!
All the rods were topped up with the proven LT94 and Lee and I settled down with a Thai Chicken stir fry and a few more stella's.

Later that night Bill joined us for a glass of red wine and lot’s more carpy conversation. That night I slept "Like a stone" to quote Chris Yates although he and Bob had already bagged a couple of 20's by now and so not to be deterred Lee and I decided to set the alarm early and get down to the shallows even if our evening pitches were productive.

And so back down to the shallows at first light without a bleep the previous night although confidence remained high when Lee spotted a good fish show from up the same tree and it was in a similar location to yesterday's action! Could this be the moment we were both waiting for??? The conditions were absolutely perfect again with the threat of light rain and the wind picking up...surely we would get another chance before we would have to face the dreaded pack up!!!

Unfortunately it was not to be....But wait a minute...we've just had the most amazing experience in our carping lives. Redmire is not all about catching but simply being there...never a truer statement in my book and when I look at the photos of the punt and boat-house or when I think back to fishing the exact same swim Richard Walker caught Clarrissa or stalked where the Bishop was landed...it brings a sense of great joy and satisfaction.



Thanks again to Lee, Stuart and Bill for making the experience even more enjoyable.

One more 40

As the title suggests…I’ve only got to trick one more 40 to enable me to complete the full house of 40 pounders from home and abroad…ie I’ve just caught a 40.12 Common from Abbey in France and previously had a 41.08 Mirror from Teillats and of course the stunning Long Mirror from the Mill at home in England. This now leaves a 40+ Common from home to complete a life long ambition…damn…that’s jinxed it!

Anyhow…I thought I’d accompany the photos of my most recent capture with a short ish blog of how things can turn up trumps whilst out there in search of those dreams!

A couple of weeks ago I returned home from one of my monthly Business trips to China and exclaimed to the Missus that I need to go for a couple of nights fishing somewhere nice to get a fix and chill out! I was extremely tired from jet lag and stressed out from all my recent travels and escapades… Seed well and truly sewn!

Little did she know that in the back of mind I really wanted to get back down to Abbey with my partner in crime, Lee England, and have another go for something special we saw during our last visit to the Heron back in March.

Sub plot...I don’t recall posting the captures of that trip but basically below are the two we managed, at the very death, of that wintery weekend trip in minus 4 freezing cold conditions….Lee’s was a real “Stunner”....Beauty and The Beast spring's to mind...My common was 27lbs and Lee's "thing" was 24lbs....front end of a 30 and back end of a....well....don't really know how to describe it but it made us chuckle most of the way home that day...Good Angling Pal.




Anyway back to the plot…a quick phone call to Lee and the Heron and Ferry were booked for the fast approaching Friday through to until the Mon…a nice long weekend Dangling and Socialising in the sun to look forwards too…happy days! All I had to do now was to explain to the Wife that we were in fact better off going to Abbey than somewhere like Orchid or Yateley or our Syndicate because the Heron had just been closed for a week and it’s bound to fish it’s nuts off and it’s such a good opportunity at this time of the year and all that! Which was in actual fact what we convinced ourselves was rather true although as you will find out later….best laid plans…..blah blah blah…

Right…we now only have a few days to sort out the gear (Spool my New Shimano Tech Mags! and prepare the bait and make the essential last minute final preparations before the off at 2.30am Friday morning….WRONG! Lee gives me a call on the Wednesday saying that his mother in law has just past away and that he knows that his Missus will need his support and look after the kids…etc…etc…

Now as things turned out this gives the poor Fella a bit of a dilemma because we all want to do the right thing and go fishing…I mean…stay at home…so on the Thurs night he discusses it with his Mrs whom convinces him to go…basically saying that She wants to be with her kids and with her own family over the week-end. Fairplay to Siobhan...although that’s really made him feel more guilty…and I thought I was a selfish barsteward….only kidding Mate!...you know I would’ve gone on my Todd!

So by 5am we were down at Dover, then by 8am French time we were making our way down to the short ish drive to Abbey around 2hrs. The forecast for the weekend was hot and humid although it was raining and mild when we got there…never have trusted the French weather forecasts, although we were suitably armed with zigs and maggots due to the amount of weed cutting that had gone on in the previous week and we wanted to give them something else to look at opposed to the usual concoction of boilles and particles/pellets that are constantly dropped on their heads with every make and model of bait boat you could ever imagine! For the record I tend to leave mine at home simply because you can cast to almost every spot and the difference in presentation is something different….which I like.

Anyway... after a quick chat with Cedric (the expert Boar shooting Bailiff!), and the man from Holland (his name escapes me for the moment)….we headed off around the Heron Lake in search of showing fish and to chuck a marker about to see the extent of the weed removal operation that had supposedly gone very well, but it was still quite thick and some Anglers had pulled off because of it....bad news!

After a good couple of hours and noticing that the middle was stitched up with some smaller fish showing at both ends of the lake…we opted to go on the wind and fished a couple of swims near two Dutch Fella’s who were bivvied up on the Fox tail of the wind. Nothing had been out of the Fox although the Heron had produced the odd fish or two…not the best news but I do know that there’s always a chance of a take on these waters so confidence remained high.

Lee opted to try some zigs and I started off with a simple popped up maggot clip rig just under-armed out adjacent to some heavy floating weed that accumulated at the bottom of bay. The weed still appeared very heavy and judging by the tons and tons of it removed and dumped in the nearby field…must’ve been a real nightmare previously.

OK…that’s one rod sorted…now time to open up a Stella whilst sorting out the 2nd rod when all of a sudden the maggot rod screams off!!!...hand over spool…felt a few light kicks and hook pull…convinced it was a tench...oh well…never mind…more critically balanced maggots back out on the spot although I’m now seeing bubblers all over the area and then all of a sudden a nice big black dolphin catches my eye three quarters of the way across the lake on the edge of the floating weed! Happy Days…great choice of swim methinks and that’s where the 2nd rod will be going out and the third would either back up the 1st or wait until another fish shows somewhere in between.

The second maggot rig flies straight and true towards the “Dolphin” spot…the Tech Mags are truly magnificent although never going to be worth all the money they cost but hey I more than earned my bonus that paid for them so sod it…anyway, the lead lands nicely and confidence is high…time to get the bivvy up, drink some more Stella and get ready for the infamous Lee England Thai Chicken stir fry…Wok and all…washed down with some superb red wine…HHHMMM!!!

It’s now early evening and you can probably picture this…Dennis, Michel (Dutch Fella’s) and Lee are standing in my swim with cans in hand admiring my new reels when all of a sudden the 1st rod rockets away….I’m straight on it in a flash searching for the bait runner…DOH! And eventually tighten up the spool and the rod bends in two…CARP! After a spirited fight….all of 6.5secs the fish snaps me at the leader knot! ****! Everyone goes quiet and cautiously flee my swim leaving me to reflect on what might have been!

Hey ho..chin up I say…still plenty of time and opportunity left…WRONG….the night passes without a bleep…the third rod becomes a searcher and I start getting twitchy in the morning after much needed bacon sarnies and endless cups of Tetley.

By Noon I’ve seen no more Dolphins and even the tench have vacated the swim. I know that the fish at Abbey can be spooked out in large shoals very easily and thus it’s not wise to thrash it to death with Markers and Spods…thus I wandered off for another good look around…it didn't take long before I found a large shoal of fish at the top end and on the back of the wind….but…not in the Heron but in the Fox! They were boshers and cruisers…why oh why do people bivvy up all week long and never get off there backside to look for fish! Not one Angler was anywhere near these Carp…Quality!!!

Within minutes I was back in the car, after leaving some empty luggage in the swim, and back down to persuade Lee to move…he only had a few liners in the swim next to me and was easily convinced that a move would be a good idea. So literally within about 30mins the car was packed with rods and bivvies hanging out of the boot and we were off up to swim 10 on the Fox where I recall Ali Hamidi had done a couple of mid-thirties using the Spice Girls (ZigaZigAhh) on a Korda trip.

We decided not to spook any fish and use the map to determine how deep to fish the zigs…I really do not like the variable set-ups and prefer to alter my depths accordingly. After converting into meters we set about to cover a couple of areas and decided to only fish a rod each to start off with and only put the bivvies up after dinner.

Now casting 15ft zigs is never easy and takes a bit of skill to punch them skyward and feather down to avoid tangles….after a couple of attempts we managed to be fishing in the correct areas only a couple of feet beneath the surface.
Lee was first to get some action but lost it in the weed…unlucky but nonetheless they were up for it…a big hit on the zigs!!! WRONG again…. We tried and tried but never managed to tempt one at these depths….so a change was on the cards and I managed to find a nice shelf on the far bank that was around 10feet and was castable with an 8ft zig…within minutes I was in!

A few single bleeps on the running lead set up and a tightening of the spool spelt out a definite zig like take…the fish felt very small at first and then the stretch of the 12lbs double strength and 70yds of 16lbs Pro clear was taken up and I then felt the weight of a very large fish that had one thing on it’s mind…Run! or should that be Swim!

It took me all over the place…I was up and down the bank….backwards and forwards…weeded up and then on top and then half in the net and then out again…must have been 25-30mins before I eventually got it safely into the net…”At least 30 Lee said”….I was just relieved to get the bloody thing in!…it was not the most enjoyable fight because I was not confident about the line after the previous day’s lost fish…but looking back…it was awesome heart stopping stuff…the water was so clear and when in the deep margin…it looked a picture!

I got everything sorted out whilst the fish was recovering in the nice deep margin being held by Lee whom jumped straight in…socks and all! The fish was weighed and photographed and duly put back to fight another day and the celebrations began!

That’s 3 of the 4 40’s I need to complete the goal I set out to achieve many, many years ago…I just need to be able to put more time in the UK when my Daughter has grown up a bit and pleads to her Mother to go fishing with Dad to complete the “Full House”. I know many people have done a lot bigger than this but all I can say is fairplay and respect to them...fish into and over the 50lbs mark are something I can only dream about but maybe one day I’ll have the time to go after those massive fish.

On the last day we persisted with the zigs but also tried the bottom and I had a bottom bait out to the far margin, snowman style, that ripped off before we packed off home. The fish fought very well and I was a lot more confident that She would not come off or break me up….the Mirror went 28.08 and I was well pleased but at the same time wished that Lee had had her to replicate the last trip we had in March ie a fish a piece…It could well be the other way around next time…That’s fishing!
40.12


28.08


Until the English 40 Common blog....All the best!