Hi guys we have just come back from chalet lake in France with not a lot of success ( lots of 20,s 🤔 so we are thinking of going to Meillant next year I see it's busy so sounds good has anyone else been there ?? And can give some info about the place and fish ? Please

In reply to Post #1
I'm out there with 5 mates in just under 3 weeks, i'll be happy to report back once we've had our week

In reply to Post #2
Good man I hope you have a great trip 🎣🎣🎣🍻thanks

In reply to Post #1
I'd say you were very unlucky at Chalet, normally a good mix of 20&30 with a good chance of a 40, for me anyway on my last few trips. Sounds like you hit the younger fish, the bigger fish hang back, big beds of bait can help.
Meillant, stunning place, fished it numerous times in the early 0's but can't offer any up to date advice.
Do a forum search there's a chap who used to go regularly (simmo iirc) and a chap who's had 2 big hits in the last couple of years 👍

In reply to Post #1
I hate to say this and with nothing to gain by saying it, in many cases when venues feel the need to have agents to advertise their lakes that obviously shows a weakness to fill their lake by repeat bookings or recommendations or a lack of advertising skills. Many of the established venues in France have not needed to engage the services of booking agents, but on the other hand some of the well known fisheries have used a booking agent for years, so what is my point?

I think it is that I am surprised that some of the lakes that I have known about for quite a few years and did their own advertising no longer continue to do so and then their irregular catch reports and critical forum reports indicate that fish sizes aren't what they used to be!

In choosing a venue and I have said that for more years than I wish to remember, choose a venue from a personal recommendation nothing else!

In reply to Post #5
I'm a tad confused, what has this got to do with CFA Chalet/Meillant and if a 'generalised' comment why this thread?
If there's a implication I'm a agent, I'm not, never have been, nor will be.

Assuming your talking about CFA, it's documented that Chalet was drained down around 5/6 years ago and the existing stock added to, I fished the lake 3 times since that and to catch only 20's was very unusual for me, in fact one/possibly more of my catch reports are on the forum.

As for Meillant, not been since 06, but similar situation from what I believe but the fish sizes are bigger than Chalet, worth looking on the fb page as CFA don't really advertise as such.

In reply to Post #5
Hi David: I get what you are saying about fisheries using an agent, namely, if they are any good, why do they need an agent?

I used one for the first time last year and have booked via the same agent for a trip in 2019. As far as I am concerned it makes no difference to me whether I book direct or through the agent. No skin off my nose if the fishery wants to miss out on a percentage of the booking. On the other hand I think if I were an owner I might be tempted to employ the services of an agent - one with a decent website anyway - to take the pressure off myself. Might be worth 15% or maybe 20%.

The only trouble is when the fishery then puts up the price to cover the agents fee!

The good thing about an agency is that you can browse through their venues on their website to find one to suit rather than ploughing through 00s of individual sites. Sadly these days many rely solely on Faceache, which is far less amenable to doing a decent search than an agent's website. By all means use Faceache AND a website but my first port of call would be the website every time.

I booked many trips through the old Dave Payne agency Fishing Adventures Ltd back in the early 0's, the thought of a fishery being any good because it was using a agency never crossed my mind, more good business practice for the reasons Ken stated.
As for paying more at the time you were paying less due to the agent block booking and getting a discount from the lake owner which they could pass on.

Edit, maybe I've just been lucky, I can only base my reply on my experience.

In reply to Post #1
Hi,

As promised back with an update for you after our week on there last week

Firstly I don't think I have ever fished a more beautiful venue - stunning, quiet, clean & great fish/fishing. There were 6 of us, pretty well spaced out (there's 20/25 acres to go at). It's a slog to get to and from, 12 hrs for me from Yorkshire to the venue but well worth it.

It's definitely a little bit more on the wild side than your average catered for venue, but we did not need to leave the site for anything other than some extra beers. St Amand Montrond is 15 minutes away and has all you need - food, water, fuel etc. Only extras we took knowing facilities were thin on the ground were water & gas really. We had plenty for the week. Bucket flush loo was perfectly adequate and there is a lodge with tables to meet up in etc. There are little fire pits dotted around to burn your waste, the rest just needs sorting (glass/tins/card) and leaving neatly for collection.

In summary we had 86 carp, 3 cats and a couple of grass carp. The bulk of the fish came to 3 of us (I was one of the luckies!) and my personal tally of 24 fish (3 lost to hook pulls) was = 3 x doubles, 15 x 20's, 5 x 30's and a 40 (41.10). Another mate had 24 with 4 x 40's, and another mate had 26 with a couple of 40's and many 30's. The other 3 did struggle a little but one did have the biggest carp of the trip at just shy of 49lb. All fish were immaculate and fought hard. The water level was well down, the weather was incredible for mid October (sunny and mid - high 20's in day, warm/mild at night cooling off later in the week a touch). This wasn't the best fishing weather but for me it was straight forward. A bait boat does help in some swims for sure. I would 110% go back for another go at the place!!

I'll leave you with a few pics...

In reply to Post #9
Brings back fond memories, glad you had a great trip
Last time I was there (06) there was talk of the land owner starting to fell some of the surrounding wood land, has that happened? It's one of those for me, do you go again in the worry that you'll spoil your memories, though the swims look just the same.

EDIT, I think you need to resize your pics to 500 pixels wide

In reply to Post #10
Yeah, sorry about the pics, some are cropped and I think this has caused the display issues! You should definitely go again, it was our first time so I can't possibly comment on how it was v's what it is now, but it sure has the feeling of a beautiful unspoilt lake, most of us fell in love!

I'm under no pretence that there are many bigger fish waters out there, but I left knowing that it's not all about the size of the fish but being in a natural wilderness that just draws you in further as each day passes. A truly magical and special place

In reply to Post #11
Your second sentence sums up my memory of the place I was one of the 1st paying people to fish the lake, the year before it opened. I wanted to fish Chalet but couldn't afford it and David mentioned a new lake, Meillant. There were no pegs just scaffold poles with a few boards on them and not on the now pegs, they were just bare bank the fish were low 20's at best. We fished it multiple times until the early 0's when the fish had just topped 40 but got priced out of the lake as it was becoming so popular.
We were told that the woodland around the track was due to be felled/ 're seeded, to me that would have taken some of the magic from the place, if it's still there happy days

Edit, those fire pits, are they still the old stainless washing machine drums?....the locals used those as Cray traps, we used them as a bbq

In reply to Post #12
There is an odd one or two crays in there! I had one in my landing net, a mate had one on the hook!!

I would absolutely say there is no evidence of tree felling, biggest concern is that 20 boar were taken during hunting on the Sunday after the Saturday we arrived, some bloody big ones as well!! Glad we never got to meet ha ha

Ps, yes those fire pits could be washing machine drums now you come to mention it

In reply to Post #13
Thanks for the feedback mate I'm sure you were the same but as you drive up the path through the woods and the lake appears you know your in a truly special place.

I have some amusing and scary stories from there. The Mrs went with a friend and the friend was woken up by rubbing on the tent near her head (ooh err). Like you do she batted the side of the tent to shoo it away....only to be head butted a second or so later followed by grunting

Mine, a wild cat (I'm certain it was a Lynx) taking out a Coypu in the waters edge next to my tent, all I heard was splashing, came out, head torch, on only to find 2 orange eyes staring back at me.....I'll never forget that.

Do the squeaky things still come out at night in the trees? They used to live in the hut roof and work there way down the roads canopy each night, even had 1 on the tent once.

In reply to Post #14
Yeah, when we turned off the road in the village onto the track to the lake, you know at that point it's gonna be a little bit special. Lowered sports cars need not apply!!

There wasn't too much strange nocturnal activities, one pair of our group had a juvenile boar come down between their bivvies one night, grunting and snuffling, Mate in top pond was sat in his chair on the boards and a deer came down behind him to drink from the lake and it didn't realise he was there.

I sat many evenings listening to things walking through the fallen leaves, presume deer. But nothing scared me or made me feel uneasy. The frogs are nosiy, perch were shooting into the margins and taking fry. Kingfishers flying low across the lake. The funniest we had, being Autumn and all, was acorns falling from the trees. I took a direct temple hit and the van got a battering. Every time the wind gusted, it was like a bombardment and we all stood covering our heads Highly amusing!