Promo session Etang Ulysse and Castle Lake

What preceded

For years, Wilbert has had warm contacts with Reclin de Gries and Edwin Wouters, the owners of Angling Escapes. Formerly known as De Vissende Hollander. It had been on his mind for some time to form a test team. Eventually he worked out this plan with Reclin and Edwin. As a result, the Angling Escapes test team saw the light of day on August 1. The goal is to go fishing with part of the team each time, to test water. In order to then visualize the stock, the facilities, the hospitality and the water. This for both the clients and Angling Escapes.

The company and the first water

With 7 men we traveled to France, 6 anglers and a cook:
Wilbert Laros
Roel de Laat
Stein Verheggen
Leon de Nijs
Harm Ketelaars
Peter Luft (the cook)
Tino van Spaandonk

The first location we sent our caravan to was Etang Ulysse. In September, Edwin and Reclin had already been there for a few days. Their trip immediately set a lake record of a whopping 25.5 kg! This is a new water from Angling Escapes and we were one of the first to be allowed to fish this water, we knew there was a 21 kg and over 25 kg fish swimming and for the fans 2 large sturgeon.

 

After about 500 kilometers of driving we arrived in Lassicourt, on the wrong side of the airport…… Not much later we found ourselves at Etang Ulysse, a gravel excavation of about 4 hectares. What immediately caught our eye was the brand new cottage, ideal if you want some luxury. In fact, it has a kitchenette, toilet and shower. Soon also 2 sofa beds, TV and a covered terrace. The cuttings were divided among 3 couples. This was done by drawing lots. Well as fair we thought. During the draw we saw and heard carp jumping and shouldering continuously. The tactic was to find gravel banks, slopes, etc. with boat and depth gauge. This worked reasonably well at the cuttings near the cottage and in the back corner on the street side. By dinner time everything is on edge and the delicious cooking and baking smell of cook Peter lures us (alternately) to the cottage for dinner. Chef Peter immediately makes sure that in addition to the excellent food, there is a cold drink ready, barley beer from Alsace. Night sets in and everyone goes to their bivy with a full belly. In the morning I woke up without a beep, 4 of my buddies had the same experience. Harm was woken by a fish around the clock of 3, a beautiful carp of about 11 kilos.

It also started raining that night and unfortunately this continues. The temperature is dropping but the wind is picking up, hopefully this will benefit us. Meanwhile, I walk a lap along the Etang. I can best describe Ulysse as a very young water with little mature vegetation yet. You can sit sheltered if you like but most comfort is found in and near the cottage where there is also a terrace and plans for a canopy are in the works. So told me the friendly owner who had come walking by. He showed interest and asked us if there was anything he could do for us. He also told us that there are 500 carp on it, they are still allowed to grow. Therefore, the owner feeds fishmeal pellets on 4 spots every day. That’s definitely a tip to bring from the Netherlands. There is also a fence around the entire lake and it is closed with an excellent gate and ditto locking mechanism. A main road that runs along the lake is far enough away, you will not be bothered by this. Stores are a stone’s throw away. We fished here until Tuesday and then all caught fish. Leon and Roel both a mighty sturgeon. Always nice to note such a prehistoric bycatch.

Experience and tips
A brand new location, in the Champagne Ardennes. The car trip is very doable. I would like to advise you not to fish too many spots on Ulysse. We fished with 6 anglers. That was a bit too much for Ulysse, and the jumping was over as soon as we arrived. For anglers fishing from a bivvy it is easy to bring extra long pegs. The gravel layer is about 15cm deep. With 4 anglers you should definitely be able to succeed here. For us, unfortunately, this did not quite work out for the aforementioned reason. However, a very cozy location with more than enough comfort, definitely a water for the future.

On to Castle Lake
Tuesday morning everyone was up early to pack their gear and get ready for the trip to La Clayette, the picturesque town where Castle Lake is located. We obviously wanted to catch some more fish and of course this is far from out of your control. But what we were going to experience there we could not have imagined beforehand. No sooner said than done, the cars were packed and the route planners set. 335 km with an expected travel time of more than 3 hours…… First we stopped at the gas station and filled up all the cars. The mood is high, as we get to visit a new water for us. We look like a bunch of young dogs. We continued our descent into France via Langres, Dijon, Beaune and Chalon-sur-Saone, encountering considerable delays along the way. This causes us to eat a decadent burger at the Autogrill.
Now that everyone has been provided with enough calories, we can continue on our way. Then finally La Clayette looms up with its magnificent chateau.

 

Eric, one of the managers, is already waiting for us in the village. What a friendly guy, who also speaks good English. He takes us to our swims. We get 8, 10 and 11. Great spots where we can fish plenty of different parts of the water. Eric provides us with the necessary advice; for example, we need to look for the riverbed. In order to map the water properly, we first gauge the water well, but whether that was necessarily necessary … that follows later. Eric gives his card with phone number and tells us that we can call for all problems except if we can’t catch a fish
;-). After telling him that we have a “great cock” we say goodbye to each other.

The fishing four-day is about to begin
This time no draw for the swims. By mutual agreement we decide to divide the swims as follows:

Swim 8: Stein and Harm, this is a spacious swim which also connects to Swim X.
Swim 10: Wilbert and Roel: this swim is on a corner, it offers the possibility to fish the corner towards the village/broadway.
Swim 11: Leon and Tino, this one is a bit tricky due to the low water level, a bit of climbing and scrambling is required here.
Swim X: Kok Peter.

Each duo goes to war with different weapons. However, the ammunition remains the same throughout. Namely, these are the boillies from Holland Baits. For years our favorite bait, which can work very instant and thus can get a water running quickly. We choose this session for The Instant Project, Oriental Krill and Robinred Garlic & Fish. One new bulb from the range and 2 familiar bulbs that brought success in many situations.

Stein and Harm get to work with the casting pipe, feeding a strip from left to right at casting distance. The hairs are baited and their session is underway.

Roel and Wilbert first go to work with the gauge rod and accompanying gauge float. It turns out that the water is not too deep. Mostly 1.2 meters with in the riverbed a gradient to 1.4 meters. When we were there, the water level was very low. It was normally a meter higher. Just as the men were about to feed their swims, we heard a loud whistling coming from Swim 8, FISH ON! It is Stein who has the scoop this time, this feels good for everyone. A nice common carp is the result. After taking some pictures this scout may return.

Leon and Tino, meanwhile, are also working hard to catch their fish as well. The numbers on Leon’s Deeper’s meter are even lower than those of his neighbors on swim 10. It averages out to a meter that increases to 1.2 meters towards the riverbed. So this is the shallowest swim. Leon and Tino cast the lines expertly. They chose an arc of 70 meters, rising to 100 meters and back to 70 meters. When Leon fills his spod with boillies and hemp, we hear through the trees another run from swim 8. Harm is the man in action this time. A beautiful mirror cannot escape and the^2nd fish is already a fact before the evening falls.

It is particularly pleasant outside; just a night before, we were sitting in front of our bivvy’s with thick coats and hats on. Now in our T-shirt. So this move has more advantages than just fish. Before crawling into our sleeping bags, Leon and I each catch a fish. Both around 10 kg. At swim 10 we have also regularly heard the sound of sick turkey, this certainly indicates a descending Delkim.

The next morning everyone is in a good mood, this may well have had something to do with the fact that none of us were able to sleep properly. Not because the stretchers were uncomfortable, simply because the carp reported throughout the night. In terms of numbers, what we are catching is enormous, Harm and Stein take the crown and are already over 30 fish. The weights are, if you consider this very important, a bit disappointing. The needle stuck at 14.5 kg. Nice fish, nice weights, but you always hope that a 20 kg + fish will visit your swim.

Harm and Stein take the crown in this and are already over 30 fish.

I decide to go for a walk to explore the immediate surroundings of the lake. It is a beautiful hilly landscape. Cows are grazing in the pasture behind cuttings 1,2,3,4,5, birds and squirrels are having a good time and jumping from tree to tree. The view of the chateau is phenomenal. The boulevard across the lake also looks very authentic, but there is no (noise) nuisance. Yes this is a great place to stay in the Saône-et-Loire department.

Eric, one of the administrators comes by that afternoon with a bottle of wine. Nice gesture after all. Together we toast to the fish we have already caught and to the coming days. He is quite surprised at the number of fish that have already been caught. The counter already stands at 75 carp. He therefore offers to come along to his water, Aquadev, on Saturday after our session. Since this water can also be booked through Angling Escapes, we agreed to come along on Saturday. This way we will soon have more information about another water.

Little changes over the next few days. Rocks 10 & 11 continue to catch their fish with some regularity. Harm and Stein are of the outer category. They managed to land 116 carp in 72 hours. Salient detail is that they used only 15 kg of boillies for this. So keep the fish baiting and on the site with minimal feed, it can be done on La Clayette with the right approach.

Sylvain, the actual manager comes for another chat and has fresh bread from the baker with him. Yes we are well pampered. He too is surprised when we tell him the numbers of what we have caught. This immediately gets us talking about the amazing numbers. There seem to be 1800 carp swimming! The downside, however, is that the real big boys are not there. No big deal for us, but we do understand that fishermen like to have a chance to catch a 20kg+ fish. Sylvain therefore indicates that there are plans for 2020. There will be 15 20kg+ and 5 25kg+ fish released in mid-2020. So that wish can also be fulfilled I 2020. We say goodbye to Sylvain and agree to keep in touch via Facebook.

The last evening dawns and yes all good songs come to an end. We turn in the rods because chef Peter has promised to provide BBQ. He has been working on this all day, shopping, the mise en place and cold beer. We decide to BBQ on swim 8, most space and can continue fishing by our record boys. The BBQ is super tasty, quayside fun and the runs just keep going. When everyone has had their fill the rods go back in for the last night.

In the morning, the alarm clock rings at 6:45. It is time to go home. We quickly put our things away. Eric will pick us up at 08:15. He wants to show us his water Aquadev. As French tradition dictates, Eric is 15 minutes late. We follow him in convoy and soon leave La Clayette behind us. We enter a hilly meadow area with several small rivers and streams smelling of trout. After about half an hour of driving, we have really ended up in the middle of nowhere. We arrived at Aquadev. With a staircase we descend to the water. Because of the hot summer, a lot of water has evaporated, resulting in low water levels. When Eric begins to tell us what the stock of this water is we begin to flap our ears. The numbers are large and also the weights swimming around are above average with a record 28kg+. There is also black bass, zander and some sturgeon on it. So during the day you can and may still actively fish here. Also, the domain has 2 cottages. 1 upstairs and 1 at the waterfront. This includes a toilet, shower, heating, kitchen and sleeping area. For an angler is more than enough.

Photos from the archives of Angling Escapes

We shake hands and au revoir sounds several times. The 850-km drive can begin. When I turn onto the highway after a while, the whole week plays through my head. What a great week I had. Great fishing buddies, 2 waters we could test, mostly good weather. Nice French people who want to think with us. With 6 anglers we caught over 250 carp….. Then I hear Wilbert honking behind me. We are going to Mac in Luxembourg. After some fumbling at the ordering machine, the order comes fairly quickly. The tall tales come up again and about 20 minutes later the trays are empty and the stomachs full. We say goodbye to each other and the navigation tells me that I still have 320 km to go. 3.5 hours later I arrive home, tired but satisfied.

What a cool trip it was……

Tino van Spaandonk

Team Angling Escapes

Would you also like to go to Etang Ulysse or Castle Lakes? You can!
Click here for Etang Ulysse. Or to Castle Lake click here.

 

 

 

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• Etang Ulysse
• fishing holidays in France
• Fishing stories
• Paywater and Francia
• Team Angling Escapes