Hi,
I am having a mare trying to find personal experiences/tips etc. with Forest-Lakes.co.uk. Apart from a website, nothing else....anyone know anything??
Thanks
I am having a mare trying to find personal experiences/tips etc. with Forest-Lakes.co.uk. Apart from a website, nothing else....anyone know anything??
Thanks
Is this the one near Limogues ?
In reply to Post #2
Hi,
Yes I believe so, 10km from Saint-Junien from the info on the website. Do you know more info?
Hi,
Yes I believe so, 10km from Saint-Junien from the info on the website. Do you know more info?
Hope all is well mate – well we had a brilliant week on Forest Lakes, it really is a lovely venue, peaceful, loads of wildlife, it really is a very decent drive and survive set up and what a cracking average stamp of fish!
The fishing itself was slow; it was sunny and high pressure all week until the Saturday AM when we came to pack up when, predictably the heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked packing up; fishing is like that though isn't it!
We finished up with just 5 fish between us 51, 43, 41, 38 and 36 – we also lost 2 (hookpulls) all mirrors other than the final fish which was a common. The 40s were a double take which was fairly frantic. The fishing was a bit frustrating in that fish were crashing all over our spots every morning and every evening (they quietened down a lot during the day) – we were using marker sticks and they were getting thwacked about constantly by fish on the spots but they just did not seem to be interested in feeding on our baits.
The vast bulk of the fish were just either side of the bar all week, we had very literally hundreds of shows either side of the bar, it was unbelievable some mornings you'd see 10/20+ shows within a rod length or two of the rig and you'd be so sure the rod would rip off any moment and when it didn't happen you'd be wondering what was going on. The other place there were loads of shows in the last couple of days of the trip was bang in between swims one and two and a little over half way out to the bar.
Bite wise, one fish came about 4 foot off the corner of the lake bank opposite swim 1 – just where it starts to bend around into the shallow bay to the right of 1 – there were a lot of shows on this line early morning and it is where the 51 came from. The second fish came about 20ft to the left of this but further back (about 4 feet off the bar on a small sandy patch amongst rocks – this is also a spot where we lost a fish from) – then there was one fish about 12 to 15ft off the bar from swim 2 diagonally towards the bush in swim 3. The fourth fish was a rod length off the second outlet and a rod length off the bar, a fish was also lost from here. The final fish was about 20ft further to the right (as you look at it from swim 2) from here again about a rod length off the bar. I couldn't buy a bite for love nor money off the first outlet despite fishing it all week and at varying distances off and a rod length or two either side of the outlet; the most successful bait was maize, 4 of the fish came to maize baits.
We tried everything to pick up more fish, longer rigs, shorter rigs, longer hairs, shorter hairs, smaller hooks, various baits, flicking singles at showing fish/bubblers, baiting spots we had seen fish in the first couple of days heavily and keeping baits on them long term etc – I was on running rigs the other was on lead clips, the running rigs did more bites. 3 of the 5 fish came to the heavily baited spots which we were topping up every day. 3 of the fish caught and one of the fish lost came off the heavily baited spots and to rigs that had been out for between 12 and 18 hours before the rods went.
The fish were, on occasion, bubbling heavily in spots we had not baited and despite trying flicking singles/maize/small bags at bubblers they did not seem to be interested in the main – although the 40 double take was a result of flicking two rods with maize stacks with small pva mesh of crushed boilie at an area which was showing a lot of bubbling - I think it not unlikely the fish were munching on naturals of some sort; given the number of shows we saw then they had to be munching on something to replace the energy they were burning.
We tried floaters one day but no joy.
We spent about half a day on the first day using the boat, marker poles and a prodding stick and the underwater topography really is quite varied in the lake. The section about 12ft off the bar was fairly deep silt – the area off the first outlet is sand/small rocks until about two rod lengths out as it slopes down to silt – we tried both the sandy/silty area and the section where it met the silt – the section back from the second outlet where we saw a lot of the fish was interesting – near the second outlet there is a lot of rock/gravel on the bar close in, this then becomes a firm bottom for a rod length or so – felt like sand but there was a bit of depth to it and then you get into gradually deeper silt.
There were a couple of fish crashing up the top top end but it was pretty shallow up there and there were not many shows – maybe 20/30 over the week compared with the (literally) hundreds we had at our end. Both the chap I was fishing with and Dave both commented on the water being down a lot from previous years so I guess that might have played a part in the fish being predominantly in the areas where the water was deeper. Both also commented on how much more coloured the water was than in previous years.
From the catch reports it seemed like the two weeks before us had also been slow, I think the week before there were 9 fish to 3 anglers (with six of those coming on the Saturday!) and the week before that was largely similar. There was one excellent week mid August which did 37ish fish but the best two weeks were back to back weeks in mid-May with 40+ out each week – the biggest carp in the book for the last year was a 62lb mirror and I think the big cat went 65ish earlier in the year – there was a fully which had been out a few times over the year around the 30lb mark and I think the largest common out all year was 38lb. A decent number of 50s and 40s had been out most weeks, the average stamp of fish seems excellent. There were a few fish under 20lb over the year (not many, I'd have thought fewer than 10 over the year to date) and these were all commons, Dave thought these were
The fishing itself was slow; it was sunny and high pressure all week until the Saturday AM when we came to pack up when, predictably the heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked packing up; fishing is like that though isn't it!
We finished up with just 5 fish between us 51, 43, 41, 38 and 36 – we also lost 2 (hookpulls) all mirrors other than the final fish which was a common. The 40s were a double take which was fairly frantic. The fishing was a bit frustrating in that fish were crashing all over our spots every morning and every evening (they quietened down a lot during the day) – we were using marker sticks and they were getting thwacked about constantly by fish on the spots but they just did not seem to be interested in feeding on our baits.
The vast bulk of the fish were just either side of the bar all week, we had very literally hundreds of shows either side of the bar, it was unbelievable some mornings you'd see 10/20+ shows within a rod length or two of the rig and you'd be so sure the rod would rip off any moment and when it didn't happen you'd be wondering what was going on. The other place there were loads of shows in the last couple of days of the trip was bang in between swims one and two and a little over half way out to the bar.
Bite wise, one fish came about 4 foot off the corner of the lake bank opposite swim 1 – just where it starts to bend around into the shallow bay to the right of 1 – there were a lot of shows on this line early morning and it is where the 51 came from. The second fish came about 20ft to the left of this but further back (about 4 feet off the bar on a small sandy patch amongst rocks – this is also a spot where we lost a fish from) – then there was one fish about 12 to 15ft off the bar from swim 2 diagonally towards the bush in swim 3. The fourth fish was a rod length off the second outlet and a rod length off the bar, a fish was also lost from here. The final fish was about 20ft further to the right (as you look at it from swim 2) from here again about a rod length off the bar. I couldn't buy a bite for love nor money off the first outlet despite fishing it all week and at varying distances off and a rod length or two either side of the outlet; the most successful bait was maize, 4 of the fish came to maize baits.
We tried everything to pick up more fish, longer rigs, shorter rigs, longer hairs, shorter hairs, smaller hooks, various baits, flicking singles at showing fish/bubblers, baiting spots we had seen fish in the first couple of days heavily and keeping baits on them long term etc – I was on running rigs the other was on lead clips, the running rigs did more bites. 3 of the 5 fish came to the heavily baited spots which we were topping up every day. 3 of the fish caught and one of the fish lost came off the heavily baited spots and to rigs that had been out for between 12 and 18 hours before the rods went.
The fish were, on occasion, bubbling heavily in spots we had not baited and despite trying flicking singles/maize/small bags at bubblers they did not seem to be interested in the main – although the 40 double take was a result of flicking two rods with maize stacks with small pva mesh of crushed boilie at an area which was showing a lot of bubbling - I think it not unlikely the fish were munching on naturals of some sort; given the number of shows we saw then they had to be munching on something to replace the energy they were burning.
We tried floaters one day but no joy.
We spent about half a day on the first day using the boat, marker poles and a prodding stick and the underwater topography really is quite varied in the lake. The section about 12ft off the bar was fairly deep silt – the area off the first outlet is sand/small rocks until about two rod lengths out as it slopes down to silt – we tried both the sandy/silty area and the section where it met the silt – the section back from the second outlet where we saw a lot of the fish was interesting – near the second outlet there is a lot of rock/gravel on the bar close in, this then becomes a firm bottom for a rod length or so – felt like sand but there was a bit of depth to it and then you get into gradually deeper silt.
There were a couple of fish crashing up the top top end but it was pretty shallow up there and there were not many shows – maybe 20/30 over the week compared with the (literally) hundreds we had at our end. Both the chap I was fishing with and Dave both commented on the water being down a lot from previous years so I guess that might have played a part in the fish being predominantly in the areas where the water was deeper. Both also commented on how much more coloured the water was than in previous years.
From the catch reports it seemed like the two weeks before us had also been slow, I think the week before there were 9 fish to 3 anglers (with six of those coming on the Saturday!) and the week before that was largely similar. There was one excellent week mid August which did 37ish fish but the best two weeks were back to back weeks in mid-May with 40+ out each week – the biggest carp in the book for the last year was a 62lb mirror and I think the big cat went 65ish earlier in the year – there was a fully which had been out a few times over the year around the 30lb mark and I think the largest common out all year was 38lb. A decent number of 50s and 40s had been out most weeks, the average stamp of fish seems excellent. There were a few fish under 20lb over the year (not many, I'd have thought fewer than 10 over the year to date) and these were all commons, Dave thought these were
Forest lake
This was my write up years ago so things would have changed by now
As you can see from the map all the circles with the x's in them are where me and my friends have caught fish from,but would say the lodge end of the lake has certainly caught 90% of the fish.
Swim 1
Most fish have been caught from the 6ft and the corner of the lake marked x
Swim 2
95% of the fish caught have been inline with the bush (marked with a straight line on map)in swim 3,the distance you need to fish is if you set your reel inline with the beginning of the hut then walk your rig out to the second wooden post behind swim 1
This area of the lake is quite a big area and where fish get caught so if the guy fishing in swim 3is struggling he can also fish the area no problem.
Also the first inlet about 3mts out is a good area as well as the left hand corner although it does take the fish time to get in there,we used a fourth rod and left it for 4 days before we got a take.
When me and my friend fish we bait an area between the two swims and both fish to it with good success,the distance is the same from the hut to the post in swim 1.
Strangely enough we have never really done that well on boilies catching about 8 out of about 60 we've caught on our 3 trips so far,by far the best bait for us is maize,followed closely by 12mm halibut pellets,sadly he don't sell them any more tho,but if you can get hold of any it's worth taking some,the bailiff used to feed them and maize all throughout the winter.
Swim 3
The swims along this bank are not very wide,it slopes down to the water and my friend nearly fell in and I know some people have,you can drive upto where the outlets are but no further partly because they may collapse and partly because I don't think you would get a car up any further,so that tells you how narrow the bank is.
Before we have bivvied up behind the bush as if you get a run in the night your not likely to fall in and its quite deep.
Again the x's mark where the fish have been caught,you have the most water here and like said before boilies really didn't work in this swim just the odd one,my friend however did catch a few on the snowman (strange)
The bottom of the lake is fairly Clean as Andy has now cleared a lot of snags and boulders out so you shouldn't get snagged up or cut off apart from the bar when you fishing from swim one.
Camo from premier baits done us the map and put the bar in but it only runs about 3/4 of the way across from right to left we put the x's in.
Facilities
The hut is quite big with a gas fridge,gas cooker/oven and a shower room with toilet,all the lights are run off solar panels that charge heavy duty battery's so if your going in the summer it won't be a problem as long as you turn off the lights when you've finished in the hut.
Between swims 1&2 there is a picnic table so we just used to eat there over looking the lake as it's quite sareal and relaxing.
There is more than enough pots,pans,utensils etc etc so don't need to take any of that with you,but I would say take some washing up liquid as dave (bailiff) waters it down so is pretty useless,we also took some scouring pads and t towels there only cheap but make all the difference.
The fridge is not massive it's ok to store food for 3 for about 3 days then it's a trip into town for more food,the bailiff only visits every other day and if you ask him he will bring you some French sticks,so you have to think carefully what your cooking for the first few day's due to the fridge.
We usually get a pizza from the hyperu (supermarket)for the first night,so if your starving the fresh ones made by the fresh veg sold are massive,I recommend the salmon one lol
Unhooking mats and slings are already supplied so no need to take yours,there is a rowing boat you can use,it's a bit small but functional it only has one oar tho.
There is also a huge gas burner and cooking pot outside by the hut for boiling your particles up,and if at any time the gas runs out dave will bring another one if you tell him when he comes down next.
What my friend tend to do is bivvy up either side of the steps leading up to the hut,the bank where swim 3 is is not very wide at all,some people have fallen in as it steps down quite quickly,I've bivvied up right behind the bush before to stop me from falling in if I get a run in the night.
As for the choice of swims my number one choice who be first 2then 1 then 3 only because of the tight space in swim 3 but saying that my friend did catch a 58 from the far bank in 3 it's a cracking little water and every time we've been we have always managed to catch 3 50's with the biggest to date being the 58.
Dave he's a bit of a character knows **** all about fishing as you will find out lol,he will also do rig checks so make sure you use barbless hooks and no lead core.
I hopes this helps a little and if I think of anything else or you need to know certain things just let me know.
Phil
This was my write up years ago so things would have changed by now
As you can see from the map all the circles with the x's in them are where me and my friends have caught fish from,but would say the lodge end of the lake has certainly caught 90% of the fish.
Swim 1
Most fish have been caught from the 6ft and the corner of the lake marked x
Swim 2
95% of the fish caught have been inline with the bush (marked with a straight line on map)in swim 3,the distance you need to fish is if you set your reel inline with the beginning of the hut then walk your rig out to the second wooden post behind swim 1
This area of the lake is quite a big area and where fish get caught so if the guy fishing in swim 3is struggling he can also fish the area no problem.
Also the first inlet about 3mts out is a good area as well as the left hand corner although it does take the fish time to get in there,we used a fourth rod and left it for 4 days before we got a take.
When me and my friend fish we bait an area between the two swims and both fish to it with good success,the distance is the same from the hut to the post in swim 1.
Strangely enough we have never really done that well on boilies catching about 8 out of about 60 we've caught on our 3 trips so far,by far the best bait for us is maize,followed closely by 12mm halibut pellets,sadly he don't sell them any more tho,but if you can get hold of any it's worth taking some,the bailiff used to feed them and maize all throughout the winter.
Swim 3
The swims along this bank are not very wide,it slopes down to the water and my friend nearly fell in and I know some people have,you can drive upto where the outlets are but no further partly because they may collapse and partly because I don't think you would get a car up any further,so that tells you how narrow the bank is.
Before we have bivvied up behind the bush as if you get a run in the night your not likely to fall in and its quite deep.
Again the x's mark where the fish have been caught,you have the most water here and like said before boilies really didn't work in this swim just the odd one,my friend however did catch a few on the snowman (strange)
The bottom of the lake is fairly Clean as Andy has now cleared a lot of snags and boulders out so you shouldn't get snagged up or cut off apart from the bar when you fishing from swim one.
Camo from premier baits done us the map and put the bar in but it only runs about 3/4 of the way across from right to left we put the x's in.
Facilities
The hut is quite big with a gas fridge,gas cooker/oven and a shower room with toilet,all the lights are run off solar panels that charge heavy duty battery's so if your going in the summer it won't be a problem as long as you turn off the lights when you've finished in the hut.
Between swims 1&2 there is a picnic table so we just used to eat there over looking the lake as it's quite sareal and relaxing.
There is more than enough pots,pans,utensils etc etc so don't need to take any of that with you,but I would say take some washing up liquid as dave (bailiff) waters it down so is pretty useless,we also took some scouring pads and t towels there only cheap but make all the difference.
The fridge is not massive it's ok to store food for 3 for about 3 days then it's a trip into town for more food,the bailiff only visits every other day and if you ask him he will bring you some French sticks,so you have to think carefully what your cooking for the first few day's due to the fridge.
We usually get a pizza from the hyperu (supermarket)for the first night,so if your starving the fresh ones made by the fresh veg sold are massive,I recommend the salmon one lol
Unhooking mats and slings are already supplied so no need to take yours,there is a rowing boat you can use,it's a bit small but functional it only has one oar tho.
There is also a huge gas burner and cooking pot outside by the hut for boiling your particles up,and if at any time the gas runs out dave will bring another one if you tell him when he comes down next.
What my friend tend to do is bivvy up either side of the steps leading up to the hut,the bank where swim 3 is is not very wide at all,some people have fallen in as it steps down quite quickly,I've bivvied up right behind the bush before to stop me from falling in if I get a run in the night.
As for the choice of swims my number one choice who be first 2then 1 then 3 only because of the tight space in swim 3 but saying that my friend did catch a 58 from the far bank in 3 it's a cracking little water and every time we've been we have always managed to catch 3 50's with the biggest to date being the 58.
Dave he's a bit of a character knows **** all about fishing as you will find out lol,he will also do rig checks so make sure you use barbless hooks and no lead core.
I hopes this helps a little and if I think of anything else or you need to know certain things just let me know.
Phil
In reply to Post #5
Thanks Hitman!!
Brilliant information, give a lot of food for thought. Only two of us going and on their site it says they have a few 60's so a chance of a lump!
Thanks again.
Thanks Hitman!!
Brilliant information, give a lot of food for thought. Only two of us going and on their site it says they have a few 60's so a chance of a lump!
Thanks again.
I would say 2 is perfect 👍
Let us know how you get on as I would like to go back again one day
He used to sell sacks of pellets there which is worth getting
Hammond on here went a few years ago with our other friend and I think they both caught a 60 each and I'm sure a mid 60 is in there at the time so could well be 70 now 👍
Let us know how you get on as I would like to go back again one day
He used to sell sacks of pellets there which is worth getting
Hammond on here went a few years ago with our other friend and I think they both caught a 60 each and I'm sure a mid 60 is in there at the time so could well be 70 now 👍
In reply to Post #7
I'm booked to be visiting this lake from 30th June this year (I know this probably wont happen but i'm still holding on)
Thanks for the write up Hitman, I would really be interested to see the lake map that you refer to. Just wondering, what month were you there for the session that you have written about?
I'm booked to be visiting this lake from 30th June this year (I know this probably wont happen but i'm still holding on)
Thanks for the write up Hitman, I would really be interested to see the lake map that you refer to. Just wondering, what month were you there for the session that you have written about?
Fished it 4 times, last time 6 or so years ago. Had some good hauls but also struggles. Very shaggy and lost fish in snags. We found the less noise you make the more you Catch. 2 is the perfect number. Hope Dave is still going strong.
If your talking about bailiff dave then I believe he's been replaced, what a character he was tho 😁 knew naff all about fishing and I don't think he ever changed his denim clothing lol
Yes he was a character. Some of his stories. 1st time we flew and used the gear, praying he would take us back to the airport. Lovely lake to fish. Just need a good wind and low pressure
In reply to Post #1
Hi
3 of us fished Forest Lakes a number of years ago now for a week in October however, I cannot remember the exact year but , within the last 6 !
Dave the highly entertaining Bailiff was still around and as someone above mentioned, a highly entertaining character that knew nothing about fishing !
We did reasonably well with fish to ow 50's and the atmosphere of the place was electric what with all of the fish showing and the moody weather we had.
I was looking to go back myself however, I have been made aware that there was a substantial fish kill there and looking at the dated catch reports and lack of new ones, I believe it to be true. This came on good authority from another Angler who had fished there on quite a few occasions and had captured 2 different 60lb plus fish from there.
Really hope you have a great trip as it is a smashing place to spend time.
Hi
3 of us fished Forest Lakes a number of years ago now for a week in October however, I cannot remember the exact year but , within the last 6 !
Dave the highly entertaining Bailiff was still around and as someone above mentioned, a highly entertaining character that knew nothing about fishing !
We did reasonably well with fish to ow 50's and the atmosphere of the place was electric what with all of the fish showing and the moody weather we had.
I was looking to go back myself however, I have been made aware that there was a substantial fish kill there and looking at the dated catch reports and lack of new ones, I believe it to be true. This came on good authority from another Angler who had fished there on quite a few occasions and had captured 2 different 60lb plus fish from there.
Really hope you have a great trip as it is a smashing place to spend time.
In reply to Post #12
Is this the one owned by the geezer of (now defunct) euro carp tours?
Is this the one owned by the geezer of (now defunct) euro carp tours?
No
Andy owns this particular lake
Andy owns this particular lake
In reply to Post #1
I fished it with 3 mates around 8 years ago - Dave the 'bailiff' met us in the local village and showed us round. What a nutter!
We ended up with around 25 fish between us for the week best being 55lb and 49lb
as mentioned - lovely place to fish, very peaceful lif not a little small. 4 was too many to be honest 3 would have been ok, 2 would be perfect. I would suggest 2 rods each is a good idea - too many lines in the water is never good.
Good facilities, lodge with shower etc, and supermarkets within a short drive.
I fished it with 3 mates around 8 years ago - Dave the 'bailiff' met us in the local village and showed us round. What a nutter!
We ended up with around 25 fish between us for the week best being 55lb and 49lb
as mentioned - lovely place to fish, very peaceful lif not a little small. 4 was too many to be honest 3 would have been ok, 2 would be perfect. I would suggest 2 rods each is a good idea - too many lines in the water is never good.
Good facilities, lodge with shower etc, and supermarkets within a short drive.
In reply to Post #12
Hiya,
Thanks very much....I hope they still have a head of fish otherwise there website is misleading...
They do quote the following on their website. "The lake holds at present 10 fish over sixty another twenty fish over 50lb"
Do you believe this is not accurate?
Hiya,
Thanks very much....I hope they still have a head of fish otherwise there website is misleading...
They do quote the following on their website. "The lake holds at present 10 fish over sixty another twenty fish over 50lb"
Do you believe this is not accurate?
In reply to Post #16
I cannot pass an honest opinion as it has been quite a few years since I went however, when I mentioned a return to the lake to another Angler that had been there, he stated he would not go back due to said fish kill.
I really hope it is not the case and wish you all the best on your trip, go with an open mind and enjoy.
I cannot pass an honest opinion as it has been quite a few years since I went however, when I mentioned a return to the lake to another Angler that had been there, he stated he would not go back due to said fish kill.
I really hope it is not the case and wish you all the best on your trip, go with an open mind and enjoy.
Reading ALL pages