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Fishing @ New Heaven Carp Camp

21 Jun 2024

by Chantal Musch

This year Nico and Simone opened their own lake in the Indre department of France. Located just over an hour north of Limoges, their lake offers complete peace and space. There are no disruptive radio or electrical masts, no roads, and no railways nearby. Only the neighboring fields and nature surround you for the week.

Nico and Simone acquired the lake in 2022 and have put in a lot of work to turn it into an optimal carp fishing lake. They have added features to the bottom, 2 natural islands in the water, and it can be booked for up to 6 anglers at 3 spots. Additionally, they have stocked a large number of carp ranging from 15 to 33 kilograms. They have a collection of fully scaled, mirror, and beautiful common carp. The top weight is 33.7 kg with "Nessie" being the big girl of the lake. Apart from the new stock, there is also a small original stock of carp weighing from 6 to 10 kg. They may not be the heaviest fish in the lake, but from what we have seen, they are the most beautiful. Many lakes envy the health and beauty of the original stock at New Heaven Carp Camp. These fish have potential, and as they grow, you would definitely want to catch them.

Each spot offers complete privacy, allowing you or with your fishing partner to fish one-third of the water. This means each spot has its own section of approximately 2.5 hectares. Each spot includes a picnic table, lighting, and a specially designed firepit that you can use as you wish, following Nico and Simone's guidance. Wood is provided at your spot. Nico and Simone go above and beyond to assist you with food, advice on fishing, groceries, and more. Additionally, there are sanitary facilities on the water, with toilets and showers. The showers even have good water pressure.

On March 9th, we were among the first anglers invited to fish in this beautiful lake. Although the temperatures were disappointing early in the spring, similar to conditions in the Netherlands, the fishing conditions were excellent. The first runs didn't take long to happen. The temperatures were a bit low, and unfortunately, these temperatures didn't quite trigger the big girls to feed, and we caught some small but promising carp. However, the highlights of the week were a 17.7 kg mirror carp for Chantal and an 18.3 kg common carp for Marc. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, we had to end this trip almost immediately after catching the common carp.

Our next trip is scheduled for April 29, 2024, as a retry for the interrupted trip in early March. Even though late April is expected to be warmer, the week started with a very cold east wind and temperatures around 16 degrees Celsius. Still good fishing weather, and with the full moon approaching, the larger fish should start coming out now.

This time we opted for the VIP spot under the large oak tree, also to avoid the full force of the east wind on the spot. Since the lake has only just opened, many of the fish are not yet familiar with line pressure, and it didn't take long before we had the first bite. Unfortunately, the cold temperatures at the moment haven't affected the larger fish in the lake, and after a busy Saturday, we left the rods on the bank overnight. Since the original stock turned out to be larger than expected, the smaller specimens were moved (solely for this purpose) and transferred to the stock pond by the end of the day.

If this continues, it promises a lot of good news. An extra bag of pellets is purchased to keep the smaller carp off the spots, and shortly after the first rods are placed on Sunday, the bites fortunately come less often than on Saturday. Today, too, we didn't have much luck in terms of weight, and most of what we caught was the original stock, but each one was a lovely fish.

Monday brought us better luck, and the larger fish started coming out of the water. Marc caught the first one weighing 19.6 kg, and he also managed to land some lighter ones of 13.6 and 16.6 kg. While waiting for the barbecue to heat up, meaning first creating charcoal in the firepit. The rod on the right side gives a slight beep. Then it goes silent, but we see the line coming straight out of the water. Without hesitation, we strike; the carp doesn't even realize it's hooked and, in my opinion, calmly continues to feed. By the way it fights, we already know it's a serious fish we've hooked, but it still needs to come to the bank. After a tough fight where both Marc and I are almost up to our armpits in the water, Marc is the first to see the shoulders of the fish come out of the water. He immediately thinks I'll take a few steps forward because, no matter how you look at it, this one has to go into the net. Initially, we didn't realize it was the lake's top fish until we got to the bank. Marc and I place the sling under the fish and remove the net from under the fish, and Nico immediately says, "This is Nessie." Both of us look at each other in amazement, knowing Nessie had been caught two weeks earlier at just under 34 kg.

Whoop Whoop, Nessie weighs a beautiful 33.7 kg clean on the hook, a new PB for Chantal. Over the moon, our week can't get any better. And it's only Monday.

Completely exhausted and full of adrenaline that slowly begins to ebb away, we decide not to throw the rods in the night and focus our energy on the next day. The big fish are coming this way, the full moon is yet to come, and the wind direction is changing, which should raise the temperature slightly. Who knows, Nessie's two sisters might also come out to play. They too weigh over 30 kg. The numbers decreased on Tuesday, but the weights increased. Unfortunately, we lost a good fish that day, but in the afternoon, a beautiful 22.25 kg mirror carp came along for Chantal, and shortly after, Chantal caught her first fully scaled carp. Another one for the list.

Unfortunately, due to the changing wind direction, the fish moved out of our corner. Although we certainly didn't get bored for the rest of the week, we managed to land a few more fish. Some of them were transferred to the stock pond. All in all, it was a successful week. In the end, we caught 59 fish this week.

As the icing on the cake, one of the last catches was Azrael, a small carp with a congenital abnormality resulting in it having only one eye. Normally, this fish would go to the stock pond, but because Azrael, like Nico and Simone's cat, also has one eye, we named him and released him. There, together with another fish we named Puk, he can now grow into the legend of New Heaven Carp Camp.

New Heaven Carp Camp can be booked through their own website or Facebook page.

https://www.newheavencarpcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093091914428

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