The Final Push PART 1

First of all, apologies for the rather large space in time since my last Blog, there has been a huge amount going on since my last post; covering everything from the passing away of my nan and a trip back to the UK, a 50 lbs carp, setting Sharon and my wedding date and much much more, don't worry, I won't try and cover it all in this Blog.

I wanted to start with the growth rates that we are experiencing at the moment, as it is something we are very proud of.

Unfortunately I have only had the chance to fish Lac du Coron twice since we added the additional stock back in January. In that time I have been joined by Bailiff Matt and he has also had a few extra nights by himself so although we have probably only had 15 or so fish in that time it has given us as good an idea as possible of how the fish weights are coming on, and they are very encouraging.

On average the fish we have had so far have put on a little over 3lbs since January, in 2 cases nearly 5lbs. I was lucky enough to catch one of the bigger ones too (pictured above) at a little over 51.0lbs. This was not the biggest fish we stocked but deffo one of the big 5. I expect there to be 4 bigger than this one which is really exciting. In the same mad 30 minutes stalking with Matt up in the new section he was also lucky enough to land another special one, this time a mid 40 and a truly unique shape, in short he has a serious gut!

When he arrived and was stocked into Lac du Coron he already had this gut but as he has got on the much that belly has continued to grow. Maybe shots of this one should be take in the water to support him, what do you think?

The weight gains are down to a few different reasons I think, and for those anglers booked on understanding them may give you an insight into how you may approach it.

So reason 1 would have to be the feed. I am very lucky to have the experience and knowledge on hand of a great number of fish farmers, bait barons, French fishery owners, students and scientists, and being able to pester them for input and ideas has allowed me to take theories from a wide range of people and put them into my own plan. That plan is simple and adapts slightly as the weather changes. I won't go into the plan but I will tell you what they get. The basis of their feed is Maize, wheat, Pellet and Boilie and I will aim to give them a minimum of 80kg per week. The amount is purely down to if they are having it. As Koos for Carp Farm said, get the GoPro's out and check the feed spot, if it's gone then keep it going in, so that what I do. You also go on your gut a bit when it comes to the weather, if conditions are spot on for a feed, as in low pressure and overcast then I will really give it to them upping the feed to 200/250kg.

What they get is also dictated by the conditions and time of year. My personal thoughts on cold water feed is to keep the oils down and up the fiber, sugars and carbohydrates, it must also be highly digestible. So all winter wheat, crushed and full Maize and a high fiber pellet were the order of the day, soaked, boiled and fermented the particle has been fed in every swim on the lake, not only to keep them moving but also to ensure they are used to seeing bait if every swim.

In addition to all that they have seen boilie at least twice a week since they went into the lake. It has mainly been Coron Specials, but also Dynamites Baits Spicy Tuna as well as a small amount of Monster Tiger Nut and Red-Ammo, the nutritional value of the bait is obviously very good, but also you guys are 9 x out of 10 going to be fishing with boilie, so they need to know it and want it, and they certainly do.

I have fished Pellet hook baits and Maize in addition to the boilie and funnily enough the boilie has far out fished everything else. In the net or sling they excrete a huge amount of the Maize so I know they are smashing it up, but maybe they are on the look out for the specials? as conditions improve and water temperatures start rising the feed plan has adapted again. we now include a much higher quantity of boilie each week, in fact they will get a minimum of 35kg a week. The pellet and another unique product I feed has also been upped, they now get a minimum of 40kg per week and to top it all off they get their particle mix, hopefully that helps you put together your baiting plans and orders.