Cretelakes 2021 – Author: Dan Haysom

In Autumn 2021 Pete and I took a trip to Cretelakes in France with the aim of bagging some huge french carp. I have been going to France annually since my mid-teens, only missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however this was Pete’s first trip so we were especially excited. We spent the weeks building up to the trip prepping our gear, researching the lakes and looking into the conditions so that we would be as prepared as possible for our week ahead.

After a mammoth 10-hour drive, we arrived at Cretelakes and immediately went for a walk around the venue. We narrowed down our favourite few pegs and attended the draw, luckily we came out reasonably early and managed to get on our chosen lake, lake 3 is approximately 8 acres in size and has all the usual features you would expect to find in a gravel pit back home. These include bars, weed beds, gullies, and excellent margin shelves and overhanging bushes. Depths range from 3 feet around the margins to about 8 feet in the middle. Lake 3 is very picturesque, especially for a commercial fishing venue and thanks to the clear water and presence of weed, the fish are often very dark and characterful, not to mention absolutely massive! The lake holds a huge stock of big fish with loads of 50s, several 60s, a few 70s, with the biggest residents around 80lb.

Once we’d chosen our swims, we got to work mapping our respective areas of the lake, using a combination of sonar, fish finders and marker floats. We found that the majority of the lake bed was of a smooth sandy consistency with localised weed beds and a few gravely areas.

Pete began by placing his three rods in three different areas, all three over high-attract bait. This tactic aims to find fish quickly by either getting bites (ideally!) or receiving line-bites and indication that the fish are in a certain area. Once a preferred area is established, you can then move all rods to that area.

I employed a different strategy, in my swim there was only one key feature, a gravel bar running lengthways across his swim, at around 100 yards out. Behind the gravel bar was a sandy area that felt very clean when using the marker float. I decided to apply bait to this spot and fish all three rods over it, for at least the first night. I like fishing to the back of a gravel bar, with my line going over the top and down the back of it. Because of the angle of the bar, it almost guarantee’s that your line lay is neat and pinned to the lake bed – however you must ensure that your gear is up to the job as your line will rub against the gravel and any debris on the lake bed.

As darkness closed in on the first night, the lake had been quiet and neither Pete or I had received much indication that our efforts would pay off. However at about midnight, one of my alarms burst into life and alerted me to a fish on! I lifted into what felt like a big fish, it immediately took some line from me, and at 100 yards out, that’s a good sign! After a 5 minute fight, I gladly guided my first French carp of the trip into my landing net. I shone my headtorch down to see my prize and was very pleased to see a 49lb mirror carp staring back at me, what a great start!

In the early hours of the first morning, Pete also had his first bite. After picking up the rod, the fish took off at speed out into the lake and towards other anglers’ water. Pete lowered his rod tip and applied pressure to the carp at an angle to change it’s direction and guide the carp back towards him. A dogged battle ensued, with the carp trying it’s best to get into the snags to Pete’s left. Pete finally managed to land the fish and was quickly rewarded for his efforts, this mirror carp was a PB-busting 53lb!

After a very exciting first night and landing two huge carp, our spirits and hopes for the week ahead were very high! However that afternoon, the weather turned very hot and brought with it very high air pressures. The fish instantly became very lethargic and the fishing across all lakes slowed down massively. These 35֯ temperatures lasted for 3 days and in that time we only caught 4 more fish between us, the largest being a 42lb common which I was delighted with, as my goal for that trip was to catch a 40lb+ common.

On the Wednesday, the temperatures and pressure finally started dropping and the fish started feeding again. Both Pete and I steadily started catching again, landing a mix of 20’s, 30’s and the odd 40lb’er.

The weather forecast for the final night was really good; temperature in the upper teens, low air pressure and a warm southerly wind. Pete and I both got our rods out on the spots and baited up, confident that the final night would be a productive one. We sat together and enjoyed a few drinks and discussed the ups and downs of the week, with the highlights being Pete’s new PB and my 42lb common. Pete had brought a pack of playing cards with him and we decided to play a game to pass the time, we both enjoy poker however had no chips with us to use as currency. It was then that we had the idea of using our boilies as currency, both starting with 100 baits. We started playing and quickly realised how fun it was to play poker on the bank using boilies, and this put the wheels in motion for BOSH!

The final night was indeed a productive one for both of us, with Pete landing two mirror’s of 25lb and 37lb. I also caught two on the final night with a 33lb common and 36lb mirror. We packed up on the Saturday morning satisfied with our week and excited about our idea for Bosh which was discussed and refined further on the drive home!

Pete and I are both excited to plan our next international fishing trip, with Belgium, France and Germany all on the shortlist!