Bluewater lakes september 2008

Just a brief post to say we are back from our trip and had a great time, I will be putting up a report when I am less tired, the lake was great, so was the service and company. So good in fact, we are going again next year.

Knowing you Mike, it'll be a good read

Bluewaters 09 2008

Well the long awaited trip was upon us, Friday night waiting for the boys to turn up so we could head off for Dover. The weather was terrible so we set off a bit early and had a wet drive to Dover.

An uneventful crossing, not so much as a ripple on the water so the 90 minutes passed with a few catching a bit of sleep.

The drive through France was easy and we all soon got into the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road. The last 40 miles were a bit more scenic as the Prat Nav took us the long way round.

We arrived at the lakes just after lunch and met Jim and Jan, the new owners. They were very welcoming and Jim was soon walking round the lakes with us pointing out the best swims. I decided to take the less productive side of a double swim with Claudia, Jim said I would be better off in one further down the lake, but I told him, the social and relaxation side of this trip were more important to me than the fish.

We all set up bivvies and we had the luxury of being able to park the van within 20 foot of the swim, so we could unpack gently and leave some stuff in the van to make the bivvy space a bit easier.



Chris had set up in a swim next to us so we had a nice little social group and we could all help each other with the big fish we hoped to catch.

We went up for dinner and brought some of the Matrix fishmeal boillies that we were told were the favourite bait of the fish.

First night I just PVA bagged some baits and cast out at random, I was too tired to be technical, and to be honest I would of been glad of a blank night so I could get some sleep.

In the morning I looked closely at the swim, I was recommended to cast to the trees, this was not easy with the swim I had, so the bait boat was essential, so upto to the lodge to see Jim and arrange to hire the boat for the week. this was my first time using a bait boat, and after a week using one I find them very useful, I just wish they had better battery life ( this is something you may hear more about this winter, I am sure I can come up with a bait boat more efficient than the ones out there at the moment).





The first day was quiet, we were watching for fish signs and looking at baited areas, it seemed that the crew before us had put 30Kg of boillies in each swim during their week there, so I was being very light with the feed I was putting in. As the sun began to set I had a couple of twitches on my bait under the trees on the far bank. The swinger was bouncing up and down so I decided to strike, felt no resistance but reeled in anyway, as it got close to the bank I noticed a very small twitch and realised I had a very small catfish on the line.



It was very deeply hooked but returned safely, not much more than a pound in weight, but as my first ever it is technically a PB!

Monday passed with no bites for me, and the weather was gradually getting better, by Tuesday the weather was getting warmer, that night I had my first carp.



A 13lb 6oz mirror, Jim was amazed that I had found probably the smallest fish in the lake, the small carp seemed to like the shallows I was fishing, Jim tried to convince me to move again as the bigger fish were coming out in other swims, but I was happy were I was.

Wednesday was a hot day, the feelings were better, and that night I had a couple of fish out,



17lb



21lb

Thursday was a hot day too, we had a little picnic in our swim.



As the evening drew closer a thunderstorm approached, this was a cracking storm, the rain came down, the crashes right overhead, the lake rose about 3 inches during this time. I was out in it helping land fish and catching a couple of my own.



and this one came out at 4 in the morning when everyone else was asleep and not coming out in the rain



Friday arrived and the gentle process of packing up the unwanted bits started for the long journey the next day. As normal there was no activity until the sun went down and this evening I got a small carp



and to crown the week for me a new PB carp of 27lb 30z



Saturday morning we had a presentation and Claudia and I shared the smallest fish trophy, for her cat and my carp



Then it was the long tiring journey home and back to reality.

Cracking report and pics.

Well done to you both and congratulations on your PB Mike.

Looks as though you enjoyed yourselves which is the main thing.

Right here is my bit.....don't get too excited though


I'm not going to bore you with the details of the trip, as Mike already told the details.

I almost decided on my swim before we even got to the lake, as I liked the look of it from the look on the website of Bluewater.

Once we arrived and the introduction were done and dusted with, I took a walk over the swim I have chosen in my mind and it was exactly what I was hoping for.

It was a double swim, so Mike bivvied up behind me, which I was glad about, as I knew if I would catch that I might need some help.

Young Chris aka 'Golden Bo####x' as we renamed in, took the swim to my right.
Now I'm not one of keeping record of my catches, specially when on holiday, so my apology if I don't get it in the right order.

Like everybody else on the first night, I chanced and chucked my rods out with a few freebies in a PVA mesh....as things were getting late after the journey and setting up camp.
Saturday 6th
First night came and went with not as much as a nibble, I had a different bait on each rod to see what they fish might go for.

Sunday7th
Originally we had planned to all meet in the lodge to have brekki together but that soon changed to having breakfast baguettes delivered to the swim, as nobody wanted to pull the rods in as there was a chance to catch a fish in the morning.
Sadly however the fish weren't playing during the day.

Monday8th
At 4.28am I was brutally woken by one of my alarms.....still half asleep I staggered out of my bivvy.....soon after I landed my first fish.....a nice 16lb10oz mirror.


Tuesday 9th
Again we had breakfast delivered to our swim, although I didn't want to wake up that morning.
Not much happening during the day, which gave me a chance to study the lake more closely....it seemed that the fish had moved from feeding in the margin on the opposite bank to feeding more in the middle of the lake.
Sadly this night the fish weren't playing balls.

Wednesday10th
By midweek Mike and I figured out (by observing the lake and our baited areas) that the fish won't feed on big baited areas until 2 days later when the feed started to fragment.
Also washed out boilies seem to do the trick better.

So Wednesday evening I decided not to pull my rods in to go for dinner but rather stay in my swim and keep the hook bait where I placed it on Tuesday evening,(Mike delivered my dinner to my swim) which was over a pile of bait I placed under some bushes on the opposite bank on Monday, with the help of the baitboat and my driver Chris .
I cast the other two rods half and ¾ way of the lake, so I covered all different distance of the lake.
My clever plan worked a treat and around 10.25pm I was rewarded with a cracking Hungarian mirror carp of 30lb 10oz and a 17lb10oz mirror.



Thurday11th
By then we had some cracking days with warm and sunshiny days, so the carp moved over in to our area which was the shallow bit, about 8ft deep.
However, we knew there was a thunderstorm heading out way and even though the day was warm and bright, we were expecting some rainfall...........however, I wasn't prepared of the amount of rain that was heading our way.

The lightning started just after dark, it was an amazing sight, a bit scary though, soon after the thunder started, so loud that it made me jump a few times.
The rain followed shortly and it almost felt like the end of the world. I was worried that my bivvy would stand up to such a blasting rainfall but I needn't to worry.

The rain must have been a refreshing welcome to the fish as they decided to come on the feed again.
Tonight I was blessed with 2 fish, one mirror of 16lb 12oz and a new PB of a cracking 40lb 7oz mirror.
I was well chuffed, as I never thought I would beat my PB from the previous year.
After all the excitement I fell back in to bed and slept like a log.




Friday 12th
Today Mike decided not to join us for dinner but rather stay behind in his swim, so I retuned the favour and delivered his dinner to him.
Tonight was our last night and I felt a little sad, as we all had such an awesome time together and I didn't want it to end.
The cheeky banter through the walkie talkies in the evening, the taking the mick out of each other, the laughs we had together, all that would have to end the next day and we would have to return to 'normality'.
But not before the fish showed us once more how obliged they were.....it somehow seemed they knew it was our last night, as they came on the feed well early...usually they started around 11pm but tonight they played ball much earlier, around 9pm where I had my first run, another beautiful mirror carp of 27lb 5oz and to top the night off I had my very first cat of 30lb 1oz (I'm not counting the one I caught earlier in the week of about 6-8oz).



Well, what can I say.....we had a super cracking awesome week, a big thanks to Paul for keeping the diary of the catches, Pingu for the beer deliveries, Chris aka Golden Bo###x for his help with the baitboat driving, Steve for his entertainment of the 'red light' district, Ian with his interesting walkie talkie conversation of life wild spotting, although I never heard of half of those birds/animals.
And last DavonDave, who kinda overslept most of the action lol lol lol.....don't deny it Dave.....I got the picture to prove it ;-)


Not to forget an mahoooosive thanks to Jim and Jan who were superb hosts, Jim with his advise and assistance of/on the lake and Jan for some lovely home cooked dinners.

Great story guys and some brilliant pics, well done to you both.

Excellent story and some fantastic pics.

Well done

wow some really fantastic catches mike, tt, weldone to beating those pb's both of you, fab catfish tt.... what a monster!! love the scenery pictures and the report, looks like you all had a cracking holiday..... nice one !!

Thanks for the link looks like you had a good time. Did you manage any sleep being so close to the 'Guvnor' Mike?.

I slept well, missed her first fish despite the shouts over the radio and her alarms being 20 feet from mine.

posh ...your 62 not 53 !