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Some time ago I’d spoken to a very pleasant lady called Mary Forster who, along with her husband Paul, owns a water called Etang des Landes up near Le Mans. During our conversations she had invited us to pop in and see them some time and as we were passing nearby, it seemed like the perfect time.
Etang des Landes is situated well out in the countryside and the area reminded me very much of Limoges. The word “stunning” is one that is used a lot in carp fishing but our first view of the lake was simply that - stunning! It reminded me very much of an old English estate lake with huge maple, oak and pine trees that were hundreds of years old. The lake itself is about five acres in size and is very reminiscent of the top lake at Serreire.
Paul and Mary came over to greet us and show us around the place. Well it was, and is, lovely!
Mary cooked a fantastic meal and Paul opened a few very nice bottles of red and we sat on the terrace overlooking the lake and just enjoyed the whole evening. All the time I was watching the lake and I couldn’t believe how many fish were showing. Several were fizzing along the centre stretch but at regular intervals one or two would throw themselves out of the water. It actually got to midnight before we finally thought that we had better get set up. We were kindly offered one of the rooms they have for anglers and guests but I knew that I wanted to wake up in the bivvy looking out at the water.
Needless to say, because I was so tired I only managed to get a couple of rods out. Paul had pointed out a few areas to try and I literally just flicked a couple of single hookbaits out in the darkness. This time I went for the Solar Quench boilies for no other reason than they smell great and the carp love ‘em. I figures that slack lines would be best, to avoid spooking them if possible, and with that done, I collapsed on the bed for a good snooze.
It was just starting to get light when the indicator on the left rod pulled up tight and the line started to tick from the spool. It was lovely to hear a proper run again after the locked-up fishing which is the norm at Rainbow. In the silence of the early morning it was nice to be out on the platform with what felt like a decent carp on the end. I wasn’t rushing things, but the fish fought hard for quite a time before I finally had it beaten. As I thought, it was a good mirror of just over 30lb. a great way to start the day and it’s always special to catch the first fish from new water.
I was amazed at how active the fish were and as the sun climbed higher I could see several bubbling and, again, they were showing all over the lake. I suppose it made it appear easier than it was, but that is rarely the case, and although it looked like one of the rods would be off at any moment, it wasn’t to be. I like it like that though. If it’s too easy then there’s little satisfaction when you do catch, it’s much better when you’ve had to earn them. It was clear there were plenty of good fish to be caught, but they weren’t going to give themselves up.
The rest of the day was spent either snoozing in the shade or fish-spotting around the lake and there were always fish to be found somewhere, which was really pleasing. I visit so many places these days where you rarely see the fish, apart from when they are on the mat. To be honest, there were so many likely spots where fish had shown that it was a matter of which ones to pick.
I had found one little spot close to the tree line on the far side where the lead didn’t plug in the silt so much, so I tied up a little stiff rig and baited with a little Snowman Rig consisting of a 12mm Quench bottom bait and a pop-up. I was watching some fish milling about in the corner when I heard the alarm go. This was another really strong fish and I wasn’t at all surprised when it was just a bit bigger than the first one, at 32lbs.
Another great evening followed with a lovely dinner and a few bottles of wine -plus a few of Paul’s Irish coffees - which went down a little too easily it has to be said. It was one of those lovely times where it was warm enough to sit out in a T-shirt, listen to the birds singing, watch the fish jumping, and just let the world go by. The holiday had gone by in a flash, as it always does, but although Etang des Landes might not hold the monsters that Rainbow does, its a very special place, certainly one of the prettiest and most interesting lakes I’ve been fortunate enough to fish.
All in all, it was a trip that completely turned the year around for me. Before setting off from England it was looking like being a reasonable year, but little more than that, and yet, in the space of a few days, I’d caught my two biggest fish ever and gone on to find a little piece of carp fishing heaven. In recent years I’ve learned that you never quite know what’s just around the corner and it’s amazing what can happen in such a short time, and this is one trip I’ll look back on with very fond memories.