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071February 2012

The amazing Hook Lodge

The epic view from the balcony of Hook Lodge!

A snap of the far tree-line

Traps set

After a magical trip to Vallee Lakes, Lake One in 2010, where both Joe and I managed to catch a fifty-pound fish apiece, you can imagine the excitement of being offered another return trip.For 2011 I was given the opportunity of fishing

the exclusive Hook Lodge swims, plus the use of the lodge. One of the plus points of this venue is its position in Northern France, upper Normandy in fact. Upon arrival at Calais, Dieppe or Boulogne you can be at the lake within an hour, literally.

Lake One is a mature water of 13-acres and features 10 swims with average depths of 8ft going down to 16ft in

some areas. Features include a sizeable island, shallows, deep margins, plateau/bars and overhanging trees. The fish in here are stacking on the weight and it holds a ridiculous amount of big fish, fact! I am led to believe there are over five-tonnes of large carp swimming about, with the average size of the fish being upper-thirties, along with copious amounts of forties, stacks of fifties, handfuls of sixties and even bigger!

On arrival we were met with the stunning two-storey property that overlooks the lake which offers top class facilities. Downstairs includes a fully fitted kitchen with gas cooker, fridge, breakfast bar, a large bathroom with toilet and power shower plus a lounge with satellite television, sofas, heaters and dining table. Upstairs features two lavish bedrooms with balconies and both rooms overlook the beautiful settings and lake. The two swims that accompany the lodge are literally 20-30yds from the front of the accommodation and command plenty of water; both swims are gravel filled, so I would recommend using a rod pod for ease. Behind the swims you have plenty of lush grass to erect your bivvy. What more could you ask for?!

PLAN OF ATTACKAfter last year’s trip I went away from the session and thought how could I have improved the session. In truth, I fished pretty poorly that year as I was quite stuck in my ways. It wasn’t until I rang a few changes and my approach that I changed the session around. You still have to adapt even when in France! I will quickly re-cap the issues I had in 2010. I was fishing Peg 6 which is a stunning swim located in the most northerly corner of the lake. There were plenty of fish holding up in the area, in fact I observed them from the far bank from up a tree and watched them milling about within the overhangs and snags. Now, I was boating across with the trusty Microcat and dropping straight out of the boat.

I spent three days scratching my head as I couldn’t buy a bite. Rigs were changed on numerous occasions and moved into various different areas, trying to intercept them, what

hair I had left on my head was nearly all torn out! You name it, I tried it. Then Joe said to me, very matter of fact, try using a solid PVA bag dropped out of the boat I looked at him as if he was mental. Why would that make SUCH a big difference!? Anyway, you know what’s coming. Within ten minutes I was away and using solid PVA bags as opposed to dropping a conventional rig was the key. They were like buses after that… I must admit that this session changed my views on my fishing. That coupled with underwater evidence from the ‘Below The Surface’ articles. Rigs presented in solid bags are very underrated.

So with my new found knowledge, how was I going to capitalise on my forthcoming trip? Well, firstly I wanted to have the best bag mix I could muster. So a phone call and various e-mails to Ian at CC Moore helped my cause. My plan was to get as much attraction into the mix and give them something different and irresistible. One of these ingredients included dried insects as I wanted these to burst out and rise and fall within the water column. Some were added dry, some added after being soaked in CC Moore’s Feedstim XP to give them a different buoyancy. Also, given my trip was in October I wanted the ingredients to react well in colder water temperatures if needed, so low oil inclusion ingredients were obtained.

Secondly, I had been using small baits to great effect in the UK alongside my bag approach, so I made sure I brought along my favourite Mainline Cell plus a good helping of Nash Scopex Squid and Richworth Tutti

FYI: Fish captures from start of the season to when I left (14th October 2011): 13 x 60’s, 86 x 50’s, 185 x 40’s, Biggest for 2011: 67lb mirror. Other highlights included… Gary Court had over a tonne of carp in one week, the biggest being 52lb 12oz. Chris Hanks and Paul Kidd had 25 fish from The Lodge Swim up to 60lb 12oz. Anton Grocock fished a weekend in Swim 3 and had a brace of 50’s. Paul Brading had 27 fish including 12 x 30’s, 7 x 40’s and 2 x 50’s. Steve Martin fished The Lodge Swim and had 14 fish from 30lb to 62lb. Damien Trobbman fished Swim 9 in September and had 8 x 40’s and 3 x 50’s.

Vallee Lakes K.indd 3 08/01/2012 18:19