You may remember that Carp-Talk ran a fantastic competition in 2003 for several youngsters to win a week’s trip to the popular and prolific Etang Des Flores (lake of flowers) in the Meyenne region of France. The holiday, which also included transport to and from the lake, bait and food for the week had been kindly sponsored by Tony, the managing director of Fishing in France.

Not wanting to miss out on this exciting trip, Carp-Talk’s Paddy Webb, his two daughters and myself happily accompanied the prize-winners to France to not only assist the lads with any fishing needs that they might have, but also to enjoy a weeks fishing during the summer holidays.

Fishing in France always provides cabins on the ferry for all of the anglers on their trips and this made the crossing from Portsmouth very relaxing and refreshing for the week’s fishing ahead. The journey through France only lasted just over two and half hours before we found ourselves turning down a private tree-lined track, which led us to a beautiful 12 acre lake with a huge ten thousand acre wood on the far bank. The anglers from the previous week’s fishing were full of smiles on our arrival and this was a good sign that they had really enjoyed their week - and that we were hopefully going to have as good a time as they obviously had.

The five lads that had won the special holiday were all keen to get fishing, but we held them back for a while whilst we all had a good look around and sorted the best places for them to fish. We were told that the lake was a very productive venue containing lots of twenties and thirties, but with the odd chance of a really big fish (the lake record currently stands 56lb). We were also told that Etang Des Flores, although predominately a carp fishery, also contained several other species, which included Sturgeon to 85lb, Grass Carp to 40lb+, Cats to 120lb and also Tench to 13lb+, which was enough to get any angler’s mouth watering!

Before fishing we all went to the clubhouse for a briefing about feeding times (for the anglers I mean!), how to fish the lake and what to expect if you hooked a big sturgeon, etc. This was kept short and simple and we were all in the swims and fishing in no time. Like many Etang venues, there was a streambed running right down the centre of the lake towards the dam wall. I found a few bits of short weed and light silt when casting to the softer centre and decided to drop the casts a bit short of the streambed where it was clearer and harder and where I had already seen a few fish roll.

I had just put out all my rods when I heard a screamer then saw a huge eruption and heard Paddy shout “STURGEON ON” all in the same second. Daniel Dineen, the lad next to Paddy, was straight into a 40lb+ sturgeon and after a hard fight and good playing skills he banked a huge shark-like creature. We were off to the sort of start that we wanted and I just knew from then on that it was going to be a fantastic week!

On the first night I was up and down the bank like a man possessed. The lads were showing superb angling ability and were knocking fish out left, right and centre. I actually went and knocked on the bailiff’s door for support at one point because the lake had just switched on so much that there were runs everywhere. The following morning revealed just how successful they had all been during the night as they filled in the catch reports. The excited whispers of broken “PBs” at breakfast on that day set the general standard for all the mornings to come.

There was also an educational element to the week’s fishing and every morning after breakfast we went through different aspects of carp fishing such as casting, spodding, rig tying, etc. and then had some fun competitions with prizes to test the youngster’s new skills. The rig tying exercise proved to be very interesting as they had to use speed, but it had to be a rig that could be cast out to catch fish. It was funny how they all rushed along and made several mistakes, but Stephanie (Paddy’s eldest daughter) took her time and made the perfect rig, which in turn won her the competition – a lesson to be learnt there lads!

Because the fishing was so good and there was little pressure to catch, we had some time to play some other games, which included rounders and football on a few of the evenings after dinner. These games were great fun but there were a few limping and sore adults moving around after these slightly more physical activities. The owner Tony also gave everyone a little treat one evening when he decided to demonstrate the signs and activity to look out for when trying to locate carp. However, instead of using conventional methods, he walked out into the lake, completely submerged himself and then proceeded to fizz up like a feeding fish and then crashed out like one excited. No detail was missed as he came crashing right out of the water and slapped over on his side – these hilarious antics meant that the laughter carried on well into the evening.

The fishing was incredible all week and whenever it seemed like it couldn’t get any better someone would catch something that was just that little bit more special. Michael Paine (“Mad Dog” Michael) had a 60lb+ sturgeon at two o’clock one morning and then proceeded to also catch a 30lb+ grass carp just before breakfast – brilliant! Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t just a chuck and hope water. These lads worked really hard for their fish and as the bailiffs mentioned, they fished a lot better than many adult parties that had been out there before them. Jonathan Elmer and I were jostling for the “top rod” slot all week and every time he came close or overtook me, I would try to step it up a gear to out fish him and keep him working at it. It was a healthy competition and the other lads thought it was brilliant when Jonathan was in front because they then had an opportunity to rub my nose in it.

There wasn’t a single complaint or criticism all week: The lake and fishing was brilliant, the lads were no trouble at all and were really good company, the on sight bailiffs were second to none, the food was perfect and the owner Tony was very generous and welcoming all week. The week was made even more special through the involvement of several other companies, who all helped to make sure that the youngsters had the time of their lives and Tony, the team and myself, would like to thank Mainline for sponsoring the superb Active-8 boilies, Chub for the landing net, Hook, Line and Sinker for the bait and run reel, Wickford Angling for the big pit reel and Coulsdon Angling Centre for the Groundhog FS bivvy – to everyone at these companies we say a heartfelt thank you!