Looks a lovely venue though!
In reply to Post #28
I got exactly what I want from this, the Lake owner totally dismissed a very polite email regarding the matter so now I have made lots of people aware of the pit falls of booking this lake!
I got exactly what I want from this, the Lake owner totally dismissed a very polite email regarding the matter so now I have made lots of people aware of the pit falls of booking this lake!
Any chance this can now be moved across to foreign venues so if and when it's searched for it comes up in the correct section ?
Done 👍
Wintons fishery France...is it a scam?
Do not waste your time and money on this lake! This is going to be a long post, but I want to be thorough.
We (6 anglers) arrived Saturday 4th October I must say on first impressions the lake looked great. The exterior was nice, clean toilets etc.
However, upon walking around we noticed the water level had dropped a considerable amount from a post in may found on instagram.
it looked like the water level was 2-3 foot lower that what it should be. It so was so low, the rods had to be set up on the waters edge rather than up high on the swim.
We sat down with Roley to pick our swims and go over the rules. At that point I had asked if it was possible to cycle round in the evening and collect my dinner and cycle back (as I had the food package) to maximise the time my lines are in the water. He looked at me like I was mental and said “I've never heard that in 8 years”. This is something I have done at every lake i go to and I'm sure there are many other anglers that do the same thing.
Now to the fishing, when we asked Roley what the previous week catch report was he said “fish come out”. no information of sizes or locations which felt strange to all of us.
One of our anglers managed to catch a 25lb mirror on the first night and we thought great! Great start. From that moment on it went silent. not even a single beep of a bite on 18 lines between 6 of us.
no signs of fish. No fizzing. No bubbles. not one cruising around in the sunlight.
By day 3, we all became a bit suspicious. So, we asked Roley again how many fish was caught the week before. You know, trying to get some more info from the man that owns the lake.
He said “I think 8 or 9”.
Now if I was an owner of a lake I'd know how many fish, what weights they were and where they were caught from! Surely there would be more passion but we felt like that was a complete lack of interest.
To be honest, we should have known as prior to our visit we had this absurd response below.
we asked for catch reports via email as we searched the net high and low and NOTHING. Not a single catch report. The most recent post on their instagram (September 12) was actually made 2 years prior!
Roley's response was “I stopped doing catch reports a long time ago, as in my opinion it doesn't really reflect how the lake is fishing.” “ If I have some anglers that try hard and then some that are lazy and here for a social, the catch reports don't show this?”
What a load of rubbish. Whether some people may be more social than others, the entire point people pack up from the UK and head all those miles to France, Is to fish.
Sick of the lack of information, all wondering what the hell we're doing here, I done some digging across multiple pages and the only people I found that had attended wintons asked the same question, “any tips for wintons?”. I got in contact.
One man responded and told me when he arrived, there was a dead fish in the lake.
When he approached Roley about it, in his own words “he couldn't look me in the eyes”. This particular man fished in a group of 6 and again they caught only 1 fish, 9lb. No bites the rest of the week.
A second group of friends of this man went to wintons after him and again.... No fish.
Another group that fished this year in may recorded that one fish was even caught twice!
There were conversations had about this lake being part of a syndicate owned by a few men and they parted ways at some point.
The website and social media for wintons states “under new management” despite Roley being the “new” owner for 8 years.
Something doesn't make sense. The lack of any information. Lack of catch reports. The lack of fish. The only recommendations for the lake are personal friends of his. But according to the website, the lake started with 400 fish, with more being added....
If you decide to go ahead after reading this, well I wish you the best of luck!
oh and take your own food.
Do not waste your money on the £150 food package, which includes microwave meals and Lidl multipack trifle desserts or tinned fruit.
Because more importantly, if your group decides to leave early when they don't see anything living in the lake, and you're left on your own with the food package, he refuses to provide any food for you!
Do not waste your time and money on this lake! This is going to be a long post, but I want to be thorough.
We (6 anglers) arrived Saturday 4th October I must say on first impressions the lake looked great. The exterior was nice, clean toilets etc.
However, upon walking around we noticed the water level had dropped a considerable amount from a post in may found on instagram.
it looked like the water level was 2-3 foot lower that what it should be. It so was so low, the rods had to be set up on the waters edge rather than up high on the swim.
We sat down with Roley to pick our swims and go over the rules. At that point I had asked if it was possible to cycle round in the evening and collect my dinner and cycle back (as I had the food package) to maximise the time my lines are in the water. He looked at me like I was mental and said “I've never heard that in 8 years”. This is something I have done at every lake i go to and I'm sure there are many other anglers that do the same thing.
Now to the fishing, when we asked Roley what the previous week catch report was he said “fish come out”. no information of sizes or locations which felt strange to all of us.
One of our anglers managed to catch a 25lb mirror on the first night and we thought great! Great start. From that moment on it went silent. not even a single beep of a bite on 18 lines between 6 of us.
no signs of fish. No fizzing. No bubbles. not one cruising around in the sunlight.
By day 3, we all became a bit suspicious. So, we asked Roley again how many fish was caught the week before. You know, trying to get some more info from the man that owns the lake.
He said “I think 8 or 9”.
Now if I was an owner of a lake I'd know how many fish, what weights they were and where they were caught from! Surely there would be more passion but we felt like that was a complete lack of interest.
To be honest, we should have known as prior to our visit we had this absurd response below.
we asked for catch reports via email as we searched the net high and low and NOTHING. Not a single catch report. The most recent post on their instagram (September 12) was actually made 2 years prior!
Roley's response was “I stopped doing catch reports a long time ago, as in my opinion it doesn't really reflect how the lake is fishing.” “ If I have some anglers that try hard and then some that are lazy and here for a social, the catch reports don't show this?”
What a load of rubbish. Whether some people may be more social than others, the entire point people pack up from the UK and head all those miles to France, Is to fish.
Sick of the lack of information, all wondering what the hell we're doing here, I done some digging across multiple pages and the only people I found that had attended wintons asked the same question, “any tips for wintons?”. I got in contact.
One man responded and told me when he arrived, there was a dead fish in the lake.
When he approached Roley about it, in his own words “he couldn't look me in the eyes”. This particular man fished in a group of 6 and again they caught only 1 fish, 9lb. No bites the rest of the week.
A second group of friends of this man went to wintons after him and again.... No fish.
Another group that fished this year in may recorded that one fish was even caught twice!
There were conversations had about this lake being part of a syndicate owned by a few men and they parted ways at some point.
The website and social media for wintons states “under new management” despite Roley being the “new” owner for 8 years.
Something doesn't make sense. The lack of any information. Lack of catch reports. The lack of fish. The only recommendations for the lake are personal friends of his. But according to the website, the lake started with 400 fish, with more being added....
If you decide to go ahead after reading this, well I wish you the best of luck!
oh and take your own food.
Do not waste your money on the £150 food package, which includes microwave meals and Lidl multipack trifle desserts or tinned fruit.
Because more importantly, if your group decides to leave early when they don't see anything living in the lake, and you're left on your own with the food package, he refuses to provide any food for you!
In reply to Post #36
Think the original post was a bit harsh although never seen or been,no one is entitled to catch but you are entitled for accurate fish numbers.
Think the original post was a bit harsh although never seen or been,no one is entitled to catch but you are entitled for accurate fish numbers.
In reply to Post #16
Catch 22 ?
Catch 22 ?
In reply to Post #1
A lake with 200 fish in a 10.5 acre commercial puddle still equates to 19 fish per acre ffs. Yet you're still moaning.
Take it on the chin as a bad experience, and move on ffs.
A lake with 200 fish in a 10.5 acre commercial puddle still equates to 19 fish per acre ffs. Yet you're still moaning.
Take it on the chin as a bad experience, and move on ffs.
I have recently been told about a couple of negative comments that have been posted on this forum about Wintons France and would just like to clear up a few points.
Wintons France Carp Fishery is definitely not a scam. This business has been established for 25 years and is running probably better and more successful than ever before, check out all of the positive comments on the Facebook page.
I never lie to anyone about the stock in the lake. What it says on the website (to my knowledge) is factually correct. The lake was originally stocked with 400 fish back in 2001, mostly being made up of 30lb fish and above. This would mean that these fish would be a minimum of 30-35 years old if they were all still in the lake! I know that the current stock level is slightly over 200 fish because they are all micro chipped and logged. I have never told anyone, nor does it say anywhere that this is a runs water, and I don't want it to be known as that.
Admittedly, last year the fishing was pretty difficult and the catch rates were much lower than a normal year, but the fish are still here being caught, as proved by many anglers. Writing bad reviews because fish are not getting caught just proves the mentality of some anglers.
I had stopped doing the catch reports because in my view, they do not represent an accurate picture of what is actually happening at the lake each week, it is just a list of numbers. It doesn't show the ability of the anglers or there commitment to catching fish, some people try harder than others and get better results.
As for the food package, we only charge £150 which is less than most of the other lakes. All of the food is freshly cooked every day (except the lasagne) and is is definitely not microwave meals. All of the reviews for this lake comment on how good and how large the meals are everyday, have a look for yourself? Almost all of the people that come here have the food package and continue to have the food when they return. The return percentage of anglers that come here every year is around 75% which to me, says that we are getting it right.
If you have are questions or queries about this lake, get in touch via the website -Wintons France
Wintons France Carp Fishery is definitely not a scam. This business has been established for 25 years and is running probably better and more successful than ever before, check out all of the positive comments on the Facebook page.
I never lie to anyone about the stock in the lake. What it says on the website (to my knowledge) is factually correct. The lake was originally stocked with 400 fish back in 2001, mostly being made up of 30lb fish and above. This would mean that these fish would be a minimum of 30-35 years old if they were all still in the lake! I know that the current stock level is slightly over 200 fish because they are all micro chipped and logged. I have never told anyone, nor does it say anywhere that this is a runs water, and I don't want it to be known as that.
Admittedly, last year the fishing was pretty difficult and the catch rates were much lower than a normal year, but the fish are still here being caught, as proved by many anglers. Writing bad reviews because fish are not getting caught just proves the mentality of some anglers.
I had stopped doing the catch reports because in my view, they do not represent an accurate picture of what is actually happening at the lake each week, it is just a list of numbers. It doesn't show the ability of the anglers or there commitment to catching fish, some people try harder than others and get better results.
As for the food package, we only charge £150 which is less than most of the other lakes. All of the food is freshly cooked every day (except the lasagne) and is is definitely not microwave meals. All of the reviews for this lake comment on how good and how large the meals are everyday, have a look for yourself? Almost all of the people that come here have the food package and continue to have the food when they return. The return percentage of anglers that come here every year is around 75% which to me, says that we are getting it right.
If you have are questions or queries about this lake, get in touch via the website -Wintons France
In reply to Post #40
I think you should put catch reports on as it does give an accurate reading of how the lake is fishing and what weights are being caught.
It makes no odds if the catches are low as long as you are honest.
I'm going to a lake in June where I know I could blank but that's because the lake owner gives weekly reports and I know the stocking levels.. I booked knowing all the details and I'm sure you will still get customers if they have accurate news on the fishery.
As for the website and the 400 stocking... You should amend that to say there is now only around 200 fish in there, with accurate weights too as it gives the impression of a high stock density and most people will take that as factual and expect a kind of runs water when it's clearly not.
I hope you have a good season and I hope all the anglers going catch a few.
I think you should put catch reports on as it does give an accurate reading of how the lake is fishing and what weights are being caught.
It makes no odds if the catches are low as long as you are honest.
I'm going to a lake in June where I know I could blank but that's because the lake owner gives weekly reports and I know the stocking levels.. I booked knowing all the details and I'm sure you will still get customers if they have accurate news on the fishery.
As for the website and the 400 stocking... You should amend that to say there is now only around 200 fish in there, with accurate weights too as it gives the impression of a high stock density and most people will take that as factual and expect a kind of runs water when it's clearly not.
I hope you have a good season and I hope all the anglers going catch a few.