Guests Comments
2010
Thursday 2nd September 2010
Hi John,
I am very impressed with the lake and the convenience of the swims right outside the Cabin.
We have had a really great holiday, and the best fish so far are a 22lb mirror, 16lb common, 22lb common, 16lb catfish, 13lb mirror.
The catfish really put up a terrific fight.
All the fish were caught on 22mm Halibut pellets.
The weather has been hot during the day but chilly during the night.
It really is a nice spot and when I get home I will recommend it to my fishing friends.
I’m planning to come back next year (if I can get permission from the wife!).
I will talk to you when I get back.
Regards
Bill Goodwin (Devon)
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Friday 27th August 2010
Hi John,
Had another very good weeks holiday here at La Ridelee. (3rd Visit)
Weather has been mixed with lots of heavy showers but still had a nice relaxing time.
Fishing has culminated with 3 common carp over 20lbs with a new personal best for me at 30lbs.
This largest fish was taken on 20mm "tutti frutti" boilie but the other 2 were taken on cheese!
Found the Pine Tree swim to be the best.
My daughter has been very happy catching small stuff on the float, perch, roach and bream with the odd tench, and my wife has been checking out the wildlife including monkjack deer, kingfishers, lizards, dormouse, rabbits, hares, red squirrels and toads.
Made a trip to the Fishing shop in Laval (Laval Peche) and people were very nice & helpful and the owner speaks English.
Also had a trip to the local Supermarket, people were nice an one girl also spoke English.
In summary, very good week and will be back next year with my father.
See you soon,
The Taylor Family (Custom House - London)
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Saturday 21st August
Hi John,
Had an enjoyable week at Etang La Ridelee with the following fish landed between my father in law and myself;
52 Carp landed with the biggest being 27lbs.
12 Carp were over 20lbs.
20 Carp were between 10-20lbs.
6 Catfish with 2 of these at 15lbs.
2 Crucians with the biggest being 4lbs.
60 Fish in Total were landed. (Not including 6 bream)
In addition to the fish above, about another 17 fish were lost.
Bait used was single 20mm Premier Amino Crab boilies.
All the fish were caught in front of the Cabin.
We didn’t fish all the time as we had 1 day when we made a visit to Mont St-Michel and another day when we went to Laval.
Kind regards
Paul Clayton
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Friday 13th August
Hello John,
We have had a very good week here again (Last visit August 2009) and caught the following fish;
32lb Mirror
Carp over 20lbs x13
17lb Mirror
15lb Mirror
15lb Catfish x2
8lb Mirror
7lb Mirror
3lb Common
3.5lb Tench
(No Bream)
Most fish caught in front of the cabin casting to the far bank. (Past the island)
Best bait I have found to be Pineapple flavour made by Richmouth.
Rigs have been very simple & sometimes I have fished double boilies at 18mm.
As soon as I get back, I will phone you about booking for 2011.
Thanks a lot
Steve & Jess (Surrey)
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Saturday 7th August (By e mail)
Hi John,
You said fingers crossed for our last night and it must have worked as I had 23lb and 27lb mirrors between 1 and 4am to the same rod placed just off the left of the main island casting from the old bench. All my fish were taken on double 20mm raja spice boilies and Elaine's on double 16mm The Source boilies, all with small pva bags of pellets.
Fantastic week and thoroughly enjoyed recharging our batteries in such wonderful, peaceful and tranquil surroundings. It was like our own little piece of heaven for a week.
Thanks again.
Pat and Elaine (Lancs)
Thursday 5th August (by phone)
Hi John,
We have had a very nice time and what a lucky person you are to own such a lovely lake.
We went to another French venue last year close by, but La Ridelee has so much more character.
With regards to the fishing, it has been hard this week with 6 Carp caught and the biggest being 19lb.
My partner Elaine was very happy as she caught the biggest fish with this now being her Personal Best.
There are plenty of fish moving & crashing of a night time so much so that they are keeping us awake in the bivvey.
We have lost a further 8 fish in the snags as they are straight in there if they have a chance.
The water level is down due to lack of rain & the hot weather and I think this has not helped the fishing.
That said, it's been a good holiday and I am planning to come back in 2012. (Getting married in 2011).
Thanks a lot.
Pat & Elaine (Lancs)
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Thursday 29th July
Have found the best swims this week to be as follows (Didn’t arrive until Sunday);
A) Swim adjacent to the out flow of the lake and casting across towards the gates & the driveway. Lots of fish rising close in to the tree margin on the far bank.
B) Swim on the far bank behind the Main Island and casting close to island. Again lots of fish moving in this area.
In front of the Cabin has been quiet.
Have landed the following fish.
31lb mirror
26lb mirror
22lb common
15lb common
12lb mirror
9lb common
10lb Catfish
3lb Tench
2.5lb Crucian
2lb Bream x 4.
Have been using 18mm fish meal based boilies.
Lewis (Essex)
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Thursday 22nd July
Hello John,
Have had 20 Carp until this time with 4 over 20Lbs with the biggest being 27lbs 1oz.
Have also had 1 Catfish around 6lbs, No Zander.
Regards
Garry (Benfleet Essex)
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Thursday 8th July
Hi John,
Have landed 30 Carp up until Thursday afternoon with the biggest being 27lbs.
Weather has been very hot (today over 30 deg C) and therefore all the fish have been caught during the night.
Have seen some Carp breaking the surface in the far corner (Deeper water).
Lost what believe to be a bigger one in front of the Cabin in the Right Hand swim by the drive.
Have also caught some catfish with the biggest being 10.5 lbs.
My boy has been fishing with the pole by the bridge in front of the lilly pads and caught a number of crucians and other small stuff.
It’s a lovely venue.
regards
Barry (Milton Keynes)
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Hello John,
Had a very enjoyable week at La Ridelee this week. (19th - 26th June)
Only fished 4 nights as I didn’t know night fishing was allowed.
Had 10 Carp with 3 over the 20lb mark, with the biggest being 27.5lbs.
Lost a couple of bigger ones.
Unfortunately the fish were spawning (again) and I saw a number of "big slabs" crashing out so I know they are in there.
I'm planning to come back next year, once I have sorted my dates out.
Thanks a lot.
John Abnet (Cranham Essex)
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Hello John,
Arrived on saturday in glorious sunshine.
What a lovely place.
Had a terrific electrical storm on Saturday night and the lake fished brilliantly on Sunday, all day.
Went very quiet on Wednesday with little action.
Couldn't be bothered to move swims and have fished up until now in front of the cabin.
Current tally until now (Friday morning) 17 Carp up to 26lb and a few small cats.
regards
Mrs Farrow (south London)
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Hi John
Thank you for the prompt return of the deposit I have enclosed some photos for you the biggest fish came out at 34lb to my brother in the end.
In total we had about 30 fish two Zander the rest Carp no Cats.
We also lost about another 20 fish to the over hanging snags around the lake and some in the lake this is the only problem we found fishing the lake.
As you know we did not fish over night as we felt we might loose more fish to the snags not fair to the fish or us.
We found the fishing good early AM 06.00 to 10.00 and late PM 20.30 to 22.00 we had a couple out between these times.
Baits used 15 mm fresh boiles on a one inch hair Raja Spice worked well for me, Luncheon meat and 22 mm Halibut pellets also caught some fish I also tried ground baiting the area’s I was fish by going out in the row boat but would recommend using pva string or a bag with what you are using on the hook as this worked just as well.
La Ridelee is a very enjoyable lake to fish it was great to watch the Ducks, Moorhens, Swifts, Jays and the Bats (at night).
Also our route to La Ridelee was from Caen to Pre-En-Pail nr Alencon where we stopped at the local Super U when on to La Ridelee this route is about 115 miles has no tolls and takes about two and a half hours.
Nice Lake Good Fishing will hopefully return and will recommend.
All the best
Adrian Wells
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Dear John,
As discussed, weather was very, very hot Mon/Tues 24/25 May, and fish spawning in the morning like mad over the weed beds to the right.
Had a Zander Monday on dead bait & 3 or 4 lost.
Wednesday had torrential rain for around 12 hours. 2 catfish during this time.
Thursday 3 carp came out (biggest 16lbs) and there were 4 more missed runs.
Lost what I believe to be a large cat Friday & catching Rudd in front of the cabin on red maggots.
As discussed with you we are not carp fishermen and our experience is from match fishing / general pleasure fishing so we do not understand some of the things to be tried to tempt the bigger fish.
This said you should be proud of such a lovely place to offer fishermen. The lake is idyllic and the cabin was immaculate and perfect for what we needed.
We are evaluating our options and seriously thinking about giving it another go next year.
Can you advise of availability for May next year?
Tim Knight (Lancs)
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20th May 2010
Weather very hot & Carp spawning. Lots of fish crashing out all over the place.
Caught 3 twenty pounders up to now, biggest being 23lb.
Caught some Zander on Dead bait & also some Bass!
Having a good time despite the spawning but the weather's great.
Anthony (Gloucestershire)
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John,
Sorry you couldn’t get me last week but I don’t answer the phone when I'm away.
Biggest fish was 29lb & smallest was 17lb. (Not bad for the smallest)
Had a great time…….."Highly Recommended".
I will tell my mates.
Regards
David L. (15.5.10)
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Hi John
Had a great five days at La Ridelee (1st week in May- two people).
We had 20 fish as follows:
30LB + x 2 (33.5lb & 34.5lb)
20LB + x 3 to 27lb
Doubles x 8 to 19.5lb
Cats x 4 to 9lb
smaller carp x 3
We fished the main swims in front of the cabin mainly open water to the left and right of the island.
Most fish came in the night to the areas mentioned, moderately baited with boilies.
We lightly baited other areas to the end far tree lines fishing from the ends of the lake, the platform and the Pines casting over to the tree line, we fished these areas in the afternoon up until 6.00pm, three of these fish came from the afternoon areas.
All was good with the cabin. Cooked full meals every night, the TV and shower were both excellent.
The weather during our stay was NE winds which were ok during the day if the sun was out but cold at night.
As you know, this was my 4th visit.
Thanks, and see you again next year,
Andy & Barry (Stanford le Hope)(Re-booked 2011)
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Hi John
Thanks for the return of deposit.
Had a great time, all good quality fish, we are well pleased.
My best was 33.3lb, my son Joe (aged 14) was 25lb and Dave, my mate 33.6lb. Joe and Dave both had Catfish to 7.5lb and Dave had a Zander to 8.3lb.
The smallest fish of the week, which I had was 15.2lb (not bad fish to have as the smallest).
Dave did the best with 3 x 27lb plus a 31lb.
Joe was well pleased with a 18.2lb as well (all fish weighed on calibrated scales).
The skimmer bream were not to be found (strange) but we had some quality Rudd & Roach.
Anyway, all the best and thanks again.
Regards
Bob (Ilford, Essex)(Re-booked 2011)
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Hello John,
Had a great time 17th-24th April.
Didn’t fish all the time as we had a look around the area and tried out the local kebab shop in the town 2 miles away and the pizza shop which were both pretty good. Also went to the local market. It was a very nice restful holiday and we caught some very good fish.
1st Fish caught was a nice mirror at 34lb 2oz.
After that it just got better with the following;
36lb 2oz
37lb 2oz
32lb 10oz
29lb 8oz
28lb 4oz
24lb 12oz
25lb
19lb
12lb 2oz
16lb 7oz
15lb 8oz
8lb Wells Catfish
Bigger Catfish not weighed (I will send photo)
Lost a bigger Catfish at the net
Lost 7 other Carp.
Caught a number of skimmer bream on method feeder.
Can you book me in for next year for the same week? (Re-booked 2011)
Frank & Mick (Lancs)
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Hi John
Firstly, congratulations on owning such a terrific venue.
Had a great weeks fishing (April 10th-17th), between us we had a total of 20 fish.
We were all delighted that the three of us came away from the venue managing to land a 30lb + fish.
3 x 30lb + Carp, to 32.5lb.
5 x 20lb + Carp, to 28lb
11 x 10lb + Carp to 19.5lb
1 x 10lb Catfish
1 x 3lb Tench
Such a lovely peaceful venue, great value for money.
The challenge is coming away and not rebooking!! (Re-booked for 2011)
Cheers,
The Impey's (Essex)
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Arrived at La Ridelee 4th April to fish for 5 days.
Temperatures were good in the daytime, but the nights were a bit cold.
Only did one night fishing session so most of the fish were caught during the day.
Glad to say I broke my record on 2 occasions with the following Carp.
17lb
16lb
23lb
17lb
18lb
27lb 8oz
21lb
19lb 8oz
32lb
11lb
20lb
Had a great time and needless to say we are coming back very soon.
p.s. It's a lovely lake!
Regards
Lewis & Tom (Essex)
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2009
Dear John,
Firstly, thank you very much for the prompt return of our deposit.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week at La Ridelee in Sept 09. What a lovely location and set in beautiful surroundings with everything to hand. Absolutely great!
All the catches were as follows:-
Mirror Carp 31lb 2oz
Mirror Carp 28lb 13oz
Mirror Carp 23lb 5oz
Mirror Carp 22lb 12oz
Mirror Carp 22lb 11oz
Mirror Carp 22lb 7oz
Mirror Carp 18lb 7oz
Mirror Carp 18lb 3oz
Common Carp 6lb
Catfish 6lb
Lost two carp and one catfish at the net (approx 6lb)
We are looking to book again next year and look forward to hearing from you as to whether available at that time – then we can start planning!
Many thanks and kind regards.
Tammy & Andy. (Woodbridge, Suffolk.)
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Got to the lake around 3pm and have to say I am well impressed with it.
First carp out around midnight, a stunning 26lb mirror which fought like stink. My son lost 2 between midnight and 2am wifey had a stunning looking common at 13lb and I lost a further 3 through the night.
Sunday had nothing through the day daughter had loads on the pole, mainly skimmer bream. Sunday night however was a different story. Unfortunately if I had landed every take I had the tally through the night would have been around 10 fish but I only landed 1 fish and that was a 10lb cat.
Apart from the rain on Saturday every other day was great, plenty of sun and nice and warm.
1-8-09 - 26lb 8oz Mirror, 13lb Common, Son lost 2 fish.
2-8-09 - 10lb Catfish, I had around 10 other takes, Son lost 3 fish.
3-8-09 - 22lb 12oz Common, 16lb Mirror, 19lb Mirror, 3 Cats biggest was 15lb, 22lb 8oz Common.
4-8-09 - 22lb 8oz Mirror.
5-8-09 - 22lb 12oz Common, 16lb Mirror.
6-8-09 - 24lb 4oz Mirror, 27lb 4oz Mirror.
7-8-09 - 29lb 12oz Mirror, 29lb 4oz Mirror.
8-8-09 - 28lb 8oz Mirror, 23lb Mirror.
As you can see not a bad tally for the week.
Graham. (Sittingbourne)
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Just a few prime candidates for your collection.
1 Don Wilcox --------- 30 lb Carp
2 Tony Armstrong -- 12 lb Zander
3 Don Wilcox --------- 26 lb Carp
4 Don Wilcox --------- 29 lb Carp
Thanks for your prompt repayment of the deposit money.
We all had a wonderful time, La-Ridelee is a beautiful place to spend time and we congratulate you on your achievements so far. We would love to spend another session with you at a time when it's not so hot. We will no doubt be in touch at a later date.
Thanks once again.
Tony. (Herefordshire)
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Just a short note to let you know what a great time we had on 16th – 23rd May 09.
Between the 3 of us we had 41 fish, which we weighed & loads under 10lb.
As promised, I have enclosed photos of the better fish. (up to 36lb).
Thanks for a Great week & I will be in touch next year.
The Bennett Party. (Kent)
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John,
Unfortunately during our week the fishing was slow due to the exceptionally hot, still weather. We did end up with several fish though, which culminated in a 28lb 7oz – my new PB.
In any event, it was a fabulous break and the venue was perfect. Our non-carping friend had a great time with the roach, perch and bream and even he had a 23lb (beating his PB by about 22lb!).
With or without fish, we all agreed we could happily sit in the delightful surroundings all day long just as a relaxing break in itself.
Many thanks
Mike. (Coventry)
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Dear John,
Please find enclosed photos of some of the fish we caught last week.
Caught loads of fish up to 31lbs.
We saw loads of wildlife including the Deer, Badgers, lizards, Kingfishers & other birds which we don’t know the names of.
We will definitely be booking again next year.
Kind regards
L Smith. (Essex)
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Just a quick note to let you know what a great week we had last week.
The fishing was slow due to the heat which was in the upper thirties, but we still had Carp to 25lb (It was sunbathing weather – not fishing weather)
I must say what a beautiful place “La Ridelee” is and that we have all had a very good time.
The people in the local village were all friendly and we went to Laval on market day which was very nice.
My daughter caught lots of roach, bream and small Carp on the float by the bridge.
We will be coming back again next year.
Mrs Taylor. (London)
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John,
During the week we had around 15 fish under 20lb, these ranged from 5lb to 11lb, didn't have any mid to high doubles.
We also had around seven low 20 pounders, a 25lb, two 28 pounders, and one 30lb. No catfish, but one 7lb zander! Oh, and some small bream!
Steve. (Dagenham)
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We had 16 Carp between the 2 of us, 7 of which were 20s, plus 1 at 30lbs.
It’s a lovely spot.
Mr Thompson. (Swindon)
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We had a really great time at La Ridelee, thank you so much, it’s a beautiful and peaceful spot.
Russell caught 10 carp of which 5 were over 20lbs, 27lb being the biggest, plus a Zander of 12lb.
Once again, thanks a lot and tell your wife the cabin gets 2 stars from me (and not the 1 star you told me).
Mrs B. (Watford)
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What an excellent venue, with exclusive use of the lake and comfortable accommodation: cabin and facilities all perfectly adequate. There are a great variety of fish species targetable, great wildlife and a town near by, what more could a man want.
There were several large carp hooked, and also a few lost. One of the larger fish from the far margin managed to throw the hook, which was unfortunate.
Another large fish hooked was most certainly a big catfish that felt at least fifteen pounds; it stuck to the bottom like a lead weight and threw the hook after about ten minutes of play, a real shame.
At the end of the week we had caught about 20 fish, most of them Carp. Unfortunately my scales broke, so can't give you the weights.
The fish are only a part of what gives this lake its personality. There were Kingfishers darting around, Sand martins swooping, and even buzzards wheeling in the sky above.
Hugh. (Essex)