Catch Reports, News & Photos | rushes lake

Catch Reports 2010 September - October

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:48:27 +0200

August 28 – Sept 4

Lee, Lex and Ryan arrived next and set up in Goffees , Beatties and Bin There.. all three of them finished up with PBs ..Lee had 9 x 20s including a PB 29.08 common and 4 x 30s to 36lbs

Ryan, another 29.08 PB common along with 4 x 20s and a 37lb PB catfish

Lex managed 2 x 40+ catfish (PB 42lbs) several 20s and a 31lbs PB mirror

Another very hot and still week and the fishing was slow because of this

Sept 4 – Sept 11

Closed for the cooks annual holiday !!

Sept 11 – 18^th

David Cage and his party arrived and had a slow start, then the weather changed and at the time of writing this David is on around 60 carp to mid 30s and loads of 20s. Will update on Saturday…………..

OK David’s all done now and the scores on the doors are……..6 x 30s up to 35.12, 43 x 20s including 20 over 25lbs

And 21 doubles over 15lbs…not a bad week at all. Noticable though that the majority of the fish came during a too infrequent spell of cloudy and windy weather, as soon as the wind drops the carp stop feeding

A Rushes Tale - May 2010

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:48:22 +0200

A Rushes tale

Well it’s about midnight and despite being nearly unconscious I’m still buzzing. This is me last Saturday night after a week’s fishing at Rushes and a 12 hour journey home and this is my tale about my first continental carping experience based at Rushes Lake.
After the 450 mile journey over in a battered old Volvo with my passenger and two sets of kit we were greeted by Kim and Iain on the patio of an old French hunting lodge which they had transformed into their home and a Mecca of carp fishing.
Only one other person was there for the week so swim choice was not an issue so me and Tim settled into the double swim of Blue camp and set about getting ready.
The swims were nicely set out with a bark chipped area and plenty of room for the bivvies and other assorted gear that only a carper to take away with them (although I wish I’d have not lent Tim my pod as the ground didn’t like bank sticks!) but after a couple of hours we were away, just in time for dinner.
The dinner bell goes everyday at around 1800, so we made our way over (after taking the rods out) and awaited the legendary food that’s raved about on all reports from this place. I not sure what I can say about the food that hasn’t already been said but if you like pot noodles and processed ‘food’ then take your own! You’ll get nothing like that at Rushes, over the week we had meatballs, Sunday roast, burgers, chicken and pork, all cooked fresh and butchered the proper way (with all the little bits left in) I doubt very much that the produce Kim and Iain used has ever seen a polythene wrapper or a carrier bag. Food as it should be fresh, tasty and prepared to perfection. Following this a homemade desert comes out every day to the same standards (although, the chocolate fondant doesn’t appear as often as I’d liked!!) Fresh French bread accompanies the meals and bread has never tasted so good. No rubbish pumped into it, just like your granny used to buy!
So back to the fishing and apart from a couple of stockies by Tuesday I’d had nothing where as Tim had had a 25.5lb carp, 20lb catfish and more than few doubles so a change in tactics was needed as I was getting increasingly frustrated and wanted to get some fish out, so I made up some stick mix and cast them out with each rod.
Once this was done, the fish rolled in and I started to catch, Tim carried on catching and the other guest (now having moved swims) was pulling out big catfish like a madman. By the end of the week myself and Tim had new PB’s and had caught that many fish when the fish were feeding we stopped fishing at night to get some rest! Like a lot of lakes, Rushes has periods when it’s really quiet (we found this to be between 1100 and 1600) but it’s busy times can, and were, manic. At times it’s like you’re match fishing, they come that quick and fast!
The last night was the most eventful for me, we’d already decided not to fish over night so we cast our lines out for the last session of the holiday. We brewed up a coffee and I started a nice Cuban cigar ready to catch the last fish of the week when the left hand rod had the weirdest bite I’ve ever witnessed. The indicator lifted and stopped, dropped and stayed still. 5 minutes later the same again but when a little line left the spool I picked the rod up and hit what I was a lump of weed. Dragging the weed back in, the rod tip felt like I was dragging over pea gravel. About 2 rod lengths out the weed had had enough and took off. Now I’ve never had weed do this so fish on!
Little by little, it came in and then went off again taking more line on each run but now the right hand rod goes off. Tim grabs that and starts playing it, and then one of his goes off! Bloody hell, three rods on the go, and two pairs of hands WTF! Tim puts a loose clutch on my rod and goes for his which is then promptly dropped (nothing on it) and he grabs mine again. I eventually get mine ready for the net and the net separates from the block in the water (new net now with a stripped thread on the spreader), bugger me two fish on, one net. I grab Tim’s net and get my fish on the bank and in the safety of the unhooking cradle and throw the net to Tim as he’s about ready.
My fish is weighed (a 28lb common my new PB), treated, photo taken and put back and Tim lands the other (a 25.5lb Mirror) what a last couple fish.
The Cuban is re-lit and the coffee brewed again and my middle rod screams off again, after an easier fight a 26lb mirror is landed. Three doubles in the space of 15 minutes no one will believe this!
One more fish which came off just at the net and that’s it I’m ready for some sleep and my first French carping adventure is over. Early on Saturday we’re packing up ready for the journey home.
After a long and smelly, what with the fishing kit and the Camembert bought at Boulogne stinking the car out, and I’m home. After getting mugged by the dog and showing the pics to the wife I’m back to the start of this tale looking back at a fantastic weeks holiday.
Kim and Iain are perfect hosts, giving you as better attention and service as I’ve had in any 5 star hotel. They are both there when needed with advice or basically anything you need (thanks for fetching me some cigars Iain!!) and the facilities (which include clean showers with hot water, toilet, chill out room and freezers for bait) are better than needed or expected.
So would we do Rushes again? Well we both would and will next year after booking up already for a week in June 2011. This time we’re taking the wives over, with them sleeping in the room on site and explore France whilst me and Tim settle back in for another weeks fishing.
Oh, before I forget. A fresh bacon and egg stick is delivered, along with a pot of coffee, every morning to your bivvy. This was most days accompanied by Buster, Archie and Harvey (the Rushes really well behaved and cute pets) who hang around until you’re finished or you give them some bread or bacon (or in Harvey’s case some Halibut pellets!). I’m reliably informed, by the Oscar winning performances given by both dogs and the cat that Kim and Iain do not feed them so don’t scoff it all and give em some brekkie!!!

Rob May 2010.

Catch Reports 2010 -March/April

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:56:07 +0200

March 27 -April 3

Chris Reet and Terry from Lincolnshire.Chris comes to Rushes at least twice every year and usually does a ‘stocktake’ on our fish. Chris has a photographic memory and remembers all the fish he’s caught and he has caught a lot of ours. One that he hadn’t caught before was a beautiful 40lbs 4oz common which appeared on the second night of his visit this year. He added to this beauty a further 5 upper 30lbs and 3 mid 30s along with 27 over 20lbs between him and Terry. They also managed a couple of catfish to 34lbs. All their fish came to Trigga and maize hookbaits fished over copious amounts of maize/hemp and maple peas

April 3-10

Next up was Russ Brown, son Daniel and Russ’s Dad Charlie.A cold wet windy week wasn’t helped by Charlie being taken ill and Russ having to drive him all the way home to Essex on Tuesday, returning here on Wednesday afternoon.Using maize and Trigga, Russ upped his PB to 35lbs 8ozs while Daniel improved his best to 24lbs 12ozs. Between them they managed a total of 13 carp over 20lbs , which considering the weather and Russ’s unexpected trip home was a pretty good result

Over the other side of the lake Richard and Kevin helped themselves to over 40 carp both managing mid 30lbers with all the others over the 20lb mark

April 10-17

Neil and Dale arrived on Saturday for Neils 2^nd visit and Dale’s 4^th trip

They soon got set up and catching although the weather wasn’t helping matters what with warm days but very cold nights meaning the fish never really settled down to feeding strongly. However Neil managed to net 14 carp up to 27lbs 4ozs and a new PB catfish of 49lbs 2ozs while Dale weighed in with 12 carp to 39lbs while managing to completely avoid the catfish which he hates catching

Over in Goffees and Beatties Alan and Gordon the chef were steadily catching all week. Alan started off slowly, then got amongst the 30s with 5 to 37lbs 4ozs (common) 4 x 20s and 2 x30lbs+ catfish along with 8 doubles. Gordon had 7 x 20s and a couple of doubles although he managed once agin to lose a couple of big fish, one of which was almost certainly a catfish. Oh and he hooked a couple of trees too !!

April 17-24

Then along came the Carefoot crew from Manchester and even though they are Man U fans I let them stay !!! Just as well really as they had a terrific time and ate us out of food !!! Sean loves his chocolate puds. Nick (another chef, this one with his own restaurant in Manchester) spent the week rowing out baits for the other lads and was rewarded for his hard work with 5 x 20s (each one raising his PB) then topping that with a new PB at 30lbs 4ozs common.Not to be outdone Matt had a few rig lessons from angling coach Ian Gemson who was fishing the other side of the lake and they paid off with 3 x 30s up to a new PB of 34lbs 2ozs 3 x 20lbs+ and a few doubles. Sean, when he wasn’t eating Kim’s choccy puds had 4 x 20s, some doubles and 3 x 30s including a last night PB mirror of 39lbs 5ozs. Matt also achieved an ambition with a 34lbs PB catfish and Sean caught a pike !!!

Over in Blue Camp we had a visit from Ian Gemson, a professional angling coach and Paul Worstencroft from Angling Intelligence. Paul won the week in Geezers charity auction last season. Soon after they arrived Paul had a call from home telling him that his mum had had a bad accident and fallen down the stairs, leaving her in hospital requiring surgery. Understandably they left on Monday but not before having a couple of fish including a mid 20 and a 30 (see the fish on specialistangler.co.uk where Paul will be doing a write up on Rushes). Ian taught Matt and myself a lot about rigs in the short time he was here (Matt reckons his results were mainly down to a combi rig Ian had shown him) so thanks for that

Catch Reports 2010 June/July

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:55:13 +0200

May 29 – June 5

Jez and Malc and friends have just arrived, along with a whole load of rain, so after a very leisurely set up they have just started getting some rods in the water (4pm !) so nothing to report just yet, but stay tuned cos Jez is ‘gonna empty it this time’..lol

More news later………..

Well……the weather started bad and got worse..cold nights and very hot days, so hot that Jez and the boys had to take refuge in the anglers room with a bottle or three of wine and a selection of DVDs……!

When they did have their fishing heads on, Matt 1 managed to stalk a few out on floaters up in the shallows, including a 28lb mirror twice in 2 days, both times in the same swim on the same bait. He also had a 30lbs 11oz catfish

Russ up in the shallows, managed 4 carp to 29.10 and a few catfish to 29lbs 6ozs, Malc had a 28lb carp and a 30lb cat

Jez ,apart from a surprise 19lb Pike (it was the pike that was surprised) also landed 4 x 20s 2x30lb cats and a 20lb cat. Matt 2 had 2 x 20s and a 26 cat (landed by girlfriend Kia while Matt was in the shower)

Chris over in Beatties also had 4 x 20s to 28.12 and several cats up to 17lbs

All in all a very slow week by Rushes standards (last year Jez and Matt had 50 x 20s between them) which we put down to the weather being so hot, the fish gorging themselves on spawn and tadpoles,(how can you put tadpoles on the hook, they’d be a great bait) of which there were millions, and some sporadic outbreaks of spawning.

June 5 – June 12

OoohhhArrrrrr!!!! This week saw Paul, Darren, Andrew and Kath arrive from ‘Jethro’ country(Cornwall)

The weather had changed for the better fishingwise, with overcast skies and rain on and off, although it stayed warm. Paul in Blue Camp was first on the scoreboard with a new PB of 33lbs (as seen on Facebook earlier this week) along with 10 more 20s, a few catfish and some doubles.

Over in Beatties and Goffees, in between taking the p*** out of Paul and his brother (lol), Kath and Andrew put together a catch of 23 x 20s and 9 doubles whilst Darren beat his PB cat with a moggy of 48.10 (also a Facebook pic) and his PB carp with a 35lb common along with 5 more 20s and a double

All four of them ate far more food than they usually do and Kath couldn’t do her jeans up to go home….so they are going to be on diets before returning next year with a bucket of Cornish clotted cream for Iain…lol

June 12 – 19

A week of very warm weather this week which slowed the fishing down somewhat although the Bromfield party still managed to tempt some lovely Rushes Lake carp. Mark Bundy in Goffees managed 7 x 20s up to 29.12 and a couple of cats, biggest 31.12 while next door in Beatties Mike and John had a further 7 x 20s to 25.08 and a few catfish to 32lbs, mostly on pellet hookbaits

Over the other side in Blue Camp Trevor and iain fished out 30 x 20s and 1 x30 between them and 3 cats to a pb of 30lbs 9 ozs.

June 19 – 26

Johnathon Pool this week with two friends Darren and Sean, John opting for Blue Camp where he helped himself to 5 x 20s to 25.08 and a lone cat of 30.06

Darren in Beatties had a good night early in the week when he managed to land 4 x20s to 29lbs , however that was it for him apart from a few small carp and cats…..next door in Goffees it was a different story for Sean who sorted out 8 x 20s including a wonderful 29.07 PB common, a 33lbs PB mirror and a 33lbs PB catfish. Shame he’d messed up his holiday booking and had to go back to work the day after leaving Rushes (he’s a policeman and had to patrol the Biggin Hill Air Show on the Sunday….where it was nearly 90 degrees)

June 26 – July 3

The return of the Kings from Staffordshire for their 4^th trip

Well the week began in style when Mick King managed to reverse his trailer into his own car,, damaging the same bit of bodywork that he’d had fixed just 2 weeks earlier..DOH !!

After much P**s taking, they got sorted out and spread themselves around the lake, where Daphne outshone the boys with a catch of 2 x 30s (34lbs PB) 10x20s, 3 doubles and 3 x 30lbs cats…quite good for a first timer !!!

Jason had a slow week this time with just a single 20 , 2 doubles and a 31lb cat for his efforts….still he emptied the place last time so maybe it was his turn to struggle. Chris , in between sleeping and showering had 3 x30lbs cats a 29lb cat and 6 x20s including a 29 10 common

Mick managed 4 x 20s to 28.04 from Beatties,. Not that he was too worried as he had Andy’you buy one you get one free’ Makin and Julie ‘Blondie’ Makin for company for 4 days….Andy and Julie here on a convalescent holiday for Julie, 4 days of merry making and laughter and not a little drinking too……

July 3 -10

Gary, Rich and Barry came next for a return visit. Another very hot week weather wise and the fishing wasn’t bad either.

Barry in Blue Camp turned redder and redder every day in the strong sunshine but still hauled out 2 x 29+s, 3 x28+s, 5x25+s and a few cats. The cats weighed in at 50.08, 48.08 and 32.00, the 48 being caught on a size 10 and a tiny pellet being used to catch a livebait!!!! Gave him the tour of the lake for half an hour or so that one did !!

Over in Beatties/Goffees Gary had 15 x 20s ,2x30s and a pair of 30lb catfish while Rich managed 10 x 20s, 2 x 30s and a cat of 37lbs. Hope the weather is a bit kinder for you next year guys, a bit cooler maybe??

July 10 – 17

Returning from Yorkshire this week were retired policeman Robert ‘avyeadowt’ Walker and Coroners Officer Alan ‘ I see dead people’ Cooper

For a pair of self confessed carp novices they had a pretty good week with 66 x 20s (up to 28. 05 common for Alan and a 29.01 for Rob ) between them along with some doubles and a few nice cats , both of them having a 30lb cat…not quite bettering Robs 50lber from last year, but at least they have an excuse to come back next year and try and top the 30lb barrier for the carp and 50lbs for the cats. Baits were a mixture of boilies, hemp, groundbait, pellet and corn, and lot of the fish were caught on corn/groundbait dropped from their newly acquired baitboat…they are almost PROPER carp anglers now !!!!

Catch Reports 2010 July/August

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:54:17 +0200

July 17 -23

On their first visit to Rushes Lake Andy Brooks and Scott Bailey took over Blue Camp for the week. Action wasn’t long in coming and just kept on coming, Andy finishing the week with a 33.14 mirror (PB) 30 carp over 20lbs including 3 carp of 29 .12 ozs, 15 doubles and a bonus 35lb catfish . Scott weighed in with 6 x 20s and a 30lbs 10oz mirror. Both Andy and Scott were kept entertained by Harvey our grey cat who moved in to their bivvies on Saturday and stayed for a week.

Meanwhile over the other side of the lake Steve and Steve came along for a 3 day session and were somewhat unlucky in only having a couple of 20+ carp and a 29 catfish along with around 20 fish of 17 – 20lbs

July 23 - 30

Danny, Lee and Brian Bennett from Essex were next up in Goffees and Beatties . Although the fishing slowed down considerably mainly due to the extremely hot weather with no wind they had a great time with 15 x 20s between them, lots of doubles around 18 – 20lbs and a few nice cats including a PB cat of 33lbs for Lee

Over in Blue Camp we had Scott ‘The Last’ Dance with his dad Clive ‘its not a competition’ and nephew Ashley aged 12.

Clive managed to get a couple of 20s, Ashley had a 20 lb carp and a pair of cats at 16lbs and 20.04 which he hooked and landed by himself , well done Ashley !!

Scott, despite using his own homemade bait, still managed to catch 6 x20s and 1 x 30 , a new PB mirror of 35.04 caught on method feeder and maize at 9 o’clock on Friday night (even though Iain had been telling him to try the Method since Tuesday afternoon). He also managed a PB 37.06 catfish.

We reckon they all did pretty well considering the weather, with still very hot days and nights all week

July 30 – August 7

Schools out and the teachers arrived from Canterbury !! Patrick Kelleher, brother Sam, Chris, Craig and Ben from Kent, started catching straight away on Saturday evening . Patrick came out top of the form with a 3 x30lbs with the best at 33lbs, 10 more 20s including a PB common of 28lbs, a 32lb cat and a superb PB 50lbs cat

PE teacher Chris in Stumps racked up 10x20s and 2 x 30lbs mirrors. Craig , sharing Blue Camp with head boy Patrick, on his first carp fishing trip had 7 x 20s including a PB mirror of 28lbs and a PB common of 22lbs and very happily for him NO CATFISH !!

Sam and Ben over in Beatties and Goffees struggled all week and only manages 2 x 20s and a few doubles between them all week……never mind guys, there’s always next year !!

August 7 – August 14

George Little was next with Lori and son Terry , fishing from Blue Camp, with the lake all to themselves (the other 2 booked had decided on a 'no show'!).

Terry opened the scores with a lovely 30 on the first night, George being content with a couple of 20s. Over the course of the week it seemed that the change in the weather from baking hot sunny days to more overcast and sometimes drizzle had a great effect on the carp. Using a varied selection of baits including Maple8 and plenty of partiblend, hemp and maize George amassed a catch of no less than 58 carp over 20lbs,( many of those over 28lbs) and 7 x 30s including a 34.04 mirror and a 34. 02 common along with a 35lbs catfish. George made good use of a baitboat to present his baits and particles in small patches which the carp seemed to like. A good weeks fishing by anyone’s standards and George and family have already booked for 2011.!!

August 14 – August 21

This week sees the welcome return of Scott and Ricky from Kent,, David Pyrah from Walsall and Rob Darcy and wife Fay from Liverpool.

Scott, fishing in Beatties had a slow week with a few small carp, one of 29lbs and onother of 24lbs, don’t know why it was so slow for him, he had good bait (Catcherbaits) but the fish just didn’t want to play… must be yer pheromones Scott!!

Next door in Goffees, Ricky White set up camp. Ricky managed to catch himself a total of 5 carp over 20lbs including a 31lb mirror, along with catfish to 34.08

Over in Blue Camp (must think up a new name for this swim… suggestions please) David Pyrah was back for another visit. David was the catfish man this week with 6 x30s and a 40lber as well as 6 carp in the mid twenty pound range up to 28lbs 2ozs

Meanwhile along the bank in Stumps Rob Darcy from Liverpool was here for his second visit, this time bringing his wife Fay for her first taste of carp fishing. First night and very heavy rain all night, we all thought Fay would be put off fishing for life,, but NO, she loved her first experience of sleeping in a tent so it look like Rob has a permanent fishing partner now !!! Fay even helped Rob to catch quite a few carp to 27lbs 08ozs and a few catfish.

August 21 – 28^th

This week saw Jamie, Brian, Dougie, Danny and Peter returning, Dougie chose to fish in Bin There, a swim that has been unused all season, probably because it’s the furthest away from the food and the loo !! After Iain recut the overgrown reeds and grass from the swim Dougie declared himself happy with the swim…. He was even happier a few days later with a new lake record mirror of 45lbs, 3 x 30s , 5 x20s and a 30lb catfish to his name…before you come again Dougie, get a tripod for the photos mate, your pics were, shall we say, not the best !!! Peter went into Stumps. Handicapped by leaving his baitboat batteries on his kitchen table, he still managed 14 fish to 24lbs,

Jamie in Goffees seemed to keep all the doubles in front of him and had a succession of doubles all week

Brian fishing Beatties managed to tempt just a couple of carp to 31lbs and 2 catfish of 23lbs and 35lbs along with a rare 10lb pike

Danny in Blue Camp (Willow swim??) had 28 fish , carp to 28.08 and a 38lbs 12oz catfish

A slow week all round, mainly due to the very high temperatures and hardly any wind !!!

Catch Reports 2010 April/May

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:52:51 +0200

April 24 May 1

Next in line were Mick and Steve Ho from Liverpool. As always these two are great company and love their fishing (and Kim’s food) . Mick was first to score with a lovely 29lb 6 oz common, quickly following it with a 34lbs 12oz mirror. Over what was a quiet week by Rushes standards, they put together a catch of 12 x 20s, 3 x 30s and a few doubles along with Mick’s favourite, a 22lbs catfish, just what he always wanted !!!

Over in Goffees and Beatties, complete with the white trainers and hoodies lol we had Essex boys Kenny, Tony and Kenny’s dad Pete. Kenny and Tony came last year with their girlfriends, but managed to escape them this year, and bought beer instead . over the week they amassed a total of 23 x20s and a couple of 30s including a PB 33lb mirror for Kenny. Tony weighed in with a 27lbs 12oz mirror amongst a load of mid 20lb fish. Peter chipped in with several 20sand a couple of small cats

The weather has been very changeable so far this year, with a very cold, wet start, then warm, sometimes hot days and freezing frosty nights. Now we are having still warm days and warmish nights, although today we have the longed for South Westerly wind and the promise of rain so hopefully things are ‘about to kick off’

May 1 – May 8

The Hoopers have just arrived and on the first night Jase has had a PB 31lb mirror and a 25 so hopefully that’s a sign of a good week to come for the boys

Well, the weather didn’t do the boys any favours with the cold Northeasterly wind blowing for most of the week and quite heavy FROST on the ground most mornings. Mark, fishing in Stumps had a haul including 10 over 20lbs with no less than 3 x 29lbs + fish but couldn’t quite get the thirty he wanted, along with a further 12 doubles around 19lbs

Jason, in Blue Camp had a further 3 x 20s and a beautiful 34lb common whilst over in Goffees Stuart had just 3 x 20s, and some doubles. Dad Martin,next door in Beatties took 7 x 20s to 28.04 (mirror) and a lovely spawned out 26.07 common

All 4 of them went away with new PBs (trouser sizes that is) after Kims cooking and we look forwards to seeing them again next year

May 8-May 15

Gareth and Tim from Wales arrived next and set up in Blue Camp. Gareth being fairly new to carp fishing surprised everyone, including himself, when his first run resulted in a new PB (by 22lbs !!) common of 31.02. Sadly the fish were not playing ball in this normally productive swim and they finished the week with just a few more doubles and 2 x20s to 25.08

Dominic went in Stumps and after a pretty slow start, got amongst the fish with a 32.08 common, a further 12 x 20s up to 28lbs and 18 doubles. Finally on the last evening, the long awaited catfish picked up his double 24mm halibut pellet and proceeded to give him the run around for 20 minutes, with Dom praying out loud that it wouldn’t fall off…it didn’t and a 29lb 7oz catfish was soon smiling? for the camera..his first decent sized cat and was he ever pleased with it?

Meanwhile over the other side Alan and David, who only fished til Friday due to having a wedding to attend on Saturday, had 25 x 20s to 29.06 and 3 x 30s. Sketchy reporting I know but we are still waiting for their pics and catch report (well they did have to shoot off in a hurry for the wedding) Oh yeah they also had several 20 -30lbs catfish….more news when it arrives here

May 15-May 22

Up next was the Courtnell party, made up of Rob, Ash, Bill, Ken and Dave

Dubai Dave pitched up in Stumps and was the captor of the weeks biggest carp, a beautiful 38lb mirror along with 2 other 30s and 3 big 20s. All the time he was playing the 38 he kept telling me it was just a small one, and was quite surprised and delighted when the big mirror rolled into the net, a new PB by over 20lbs, for him after his long trip from Dubai (apparently there are no carp waters in Dubai)

Rob (Dubai Daves son) and his mate Ash from Norfolk, set up in Blue Camp where Ash helped himself to 2 x 30s (1 mirror, 1 common) and 7x 20s and a 20lbs+ catfish (his first cat). Rob in the meantime couldn’t quite get his 30 but came close with carp to 29lbs 12ozs (common) amongst a catch of 9x 20s and a rake of doubles

Over in Goffees and Beatties were Bill (Dubai Daves brother) and Ken . Bill managed to land 29 fish including a lovely 27lbs common, loads of other mid 20s and 4 cats up to 31lbs

Kenny, had less fish than Bill but topped him on the weights with a fabulous 33lbs common , several upper 20s including a 29 lbs mirror and a few catfish to 28lbs

All 5 of them went home very happy with their weeks fishing and eating, after booking for 2011

Heard from them the next day and it seems it took them 26 hours to get back to UK, due to an incorrect spelling of Boulogne in the satnav (which took them in completely the wrong direction) and a small problem at the toll when they ran out of cash to pay the nice lady……..

May 22 – 29

The Crafty Carping French Social trip was next and although reduced in numbers due to some personal problems in UK, the guys who did get here had a great weeks fishing and some lovely weather

In Blue Camp we had Rob and Tim, who, despite the very hot weather amassed a total of 12 x 20s with the biggest at over 28lbs to Rob, both smashed their pbs by over 15lbs also had a couple of cats, the best being a shade over 20lbs

John moved around from Stumps after a having a 26 & a couple of quietish days and landed up in Goffees, where he turned into Catman, having 4 cats to 31.5lbs, another of just over 30 along with a number of carp to 26.5lbs

A good week was had by all and they too have rebooked for 2011… see you & your wives next year chaps!

Chris 40.4 March 2010

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:19:06 +0200

Chris 40.4 March 2010

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:18:59 +0200

More in depth reviews from 2009

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:28:52 +0100

,Just like to add a big thank you to Iain and Kim for what was a superb week on Rushes. This being my 1st time in france I managed to beat my P.B 3 times while there with the biggest being 30 1/2lb mirror on the last nite. This being followed with a 27 1/2 lb common which turned out to be the last fish before going home. What a way to finish a cracking few days fishing.

Definately looking to bring a few mates over next year and look forward to meeting you both again. Also big thank you to Iain for accompanying me to Le Mans A&E to sort out my finger !! Add to that some great food by Kim and I could not have imagined the week to be any better.

Also thanks to J.P and Makes for the advice.. Makes your texts were an inspiration.

Thanks to everyone again...

Barney.

March 2009

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We have just returned from Rushes and what a great week we had!

Before we went I contacted Makes as he has many pics on the forum and many from Rushes, he gave me some great advice on bait and rigs etc. I must admit when Makes told me to try Mega Reds I was sceptical as I normally prefer brand names like Nash, Richworth etc. He was proved right later in the week.

So I took Nash Scopex squid + robin red and some Richworth Tutti Frutti. The Nash bait worked really well but nothing was interested in the tutti frutti. I bought this home with me! We would have definitely caught a lot more fish , as the weather was rainy , windy during the first couple of days and then it decided to go all Mediterranean on us , it was very hot Thursday and Friday, no fish coming out during the day, as soon as it cooled down , the fish decided they were hungry. We hardly fished Friday and not on Saturday. Some fish also spawned in the week.

I ran out of the Nash bait so bought some from Iain, 5kg of Mega Red, these worked really well.

Over the week I had 38 fish, which included :

2 x 30lbers

20 x 20 lbers

2 x cats , 21 and 14 lb

8 doubles

6 under 10lb

I did not break any personal bests on this trip, but I did catch my first two catfish , which are not big by catfish standards but I was still very happy with these. I fished every night for catfish and had the two fish, both on big 20mm pellets, I tried a big bunch of worms and liver but these bought me no fish.

My fishing partner Andy came to France with a PB of 8lb! He has never really fished for carp as such, he has fished commercial mixed fisheries by float or method feeder in the past. By the end of the week he had caught quite a few 20â€™s, a couple of 30â€™s and a big 47 lb 5 Catfish caught on 2 boilies during the day. He was delighted as you can imagine.

We really enjoyed our trip to Rushes , we both took the food package at 100 euros and that was well worth the money , breakfast bought to your bivvy and a really BIG 2 course meal in the evening. The food was excellent. I dont eat meat but this was no problem for Kim.

Kim and Iain made us feel very welcome from the minute we arrived until we left early Saturday morning.

I would thoroughly recommend Rushes its a runs water, with some beautiful fish. Be careful if you are fishing from Blue camp towards the dam wall as it is snaggy, more so, the further to the right you fish.

Take your own bait if you wish but I would definitely use Mega Red as well as it really works.

Thank you Kim and Iain for a great week,

Jim ( Kestrel )

May 2009

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I said to the other 3 i would do the writeup for the week and stick all the pictures up and they can add there own bits and pieces....

A few people know Me, Gordon, Neil and Martin were fishing there last week.....We done the Dover to Calais ferry crossing and arrived at Rushes around midnight Friday night.....Kindly Kim let us kip in the anglers room and guest room so after a cuppa and some catching up we got our heads down....

Saturday morning when we woke up it was raining, cold and the 3 anglers on at the time said it had gone pretty dead since the rain had kicked in and the wind had turned and was pushing into the shallows...We agreed that Martin and Neil could have Blue Camp and me and Gordon would go in Beatties. I agreed to let Gordon have the dam wall, i couldn't be arsed with the argument fo the dam wall, he had, had a nightmare the previous time he was at Rushes and i was just up for a few fish, beer, sun and chilling. Neil started on the dam wall in blue camp with martin going into open water.

I went out in the boat on the Saturday and moved the markers to points i wanted them at. I fished one side of them with the other person in blue camp fishing the other side...We chose to take Catcherbaits with us.....good prices, nice guy and the fish in there absoloutely love the stuff. We took 20kg of frosty fruit, 20kg scopex squid and 10kg of big red to mix things up abit. Over the course of the week by Wednesday or Thursday me and gordon were out of bait, a quick chat with Iain and we had another 15kg of scopex and squid going in our side of the lake...the lads on the other side just lasted with there 25kg.

The weather for the week was on and off.....bit of rain here and there but alot of sunshine.....i even managed to burn myself. over the week i reckon between my two markers i put about 20 - 25kg of boilie....every fish i had was shitting the stuff out so they were obviously enjoying it and to keep them there i had to keep feeding them.....Since the netting the fishing has changed massively....this water is going to be a massive 30s and 40s water the way there putting weight on and the way they are looking...

The fishing was awesome....Neil in Blue camp broke his pb 4 times i think, it started off being 22ish and finished being 28ish so he was over the moon, not fogetting he had a 46lb cat which he's still buzzing about....after having a mare last april in france it was good to see him land alot of fish here. Martin done well, he had 2 30's and none of the 10ish 20's he had were below 25lb.

The food and hospitality is awesome, Kims cooking is out of this world everything was spot on. Iains got a lucky charm, every time he came round to our swim our alarms went....nice bloke and can chat for hours with him..

I wont go on and on, we all had an awesome week and will all be returning.....i wanted to return this year but there fully booked so i've got something else sorted...It's one of them places you just want to keep going back and back....

Biggest mirror for the week was Gordons 36.12 Mirror from the Damwall.

Biggest common and biggest surprise was my common at 33.02, I was out in the boat netting a fish off the dam wall, i unhooked it and released it, as i was coming into our swim my middle rod belted off, i rowed over grabbed the rod and played it from the boat.....It just kept going and going. On the bank when Iain said it was 33.02 i didn't believe him, i weighed it myself to make sure they wern't lying lol.....massive result and best fish i've had from there, it was pristine, Iain was well impressed with that. The commons seem to like me in France, i had the big'un from Etang De Brigueuil and then set a new lake record common here.....pucka

Biggest cat was neils 46.10, great fish and i'm glad he had it, he could have had no carp, banked that and would have still been over the moon.

Mine and Gordons pictures have come out wicked, after seeing how his works and the pictures it's done i know what i'm buying next, after seeing the pictures on my camera and his there is a difference in the quality....the pictures come out great, apart from a rubbish bag which we forgot about in nearly every picture which will get photoshopped out haha.

My results (hopefully the other 3 will put theres up):

1x small cat

1 x 11lb cat

6 x carp under 10lb.

Sunday: couple of littleuns and the two cats.

Monday: 17.11 mirror, 11.02 mirror, 20.14 mirror, 23.09 mirror.

Tuesday: 26.01 common, 23.14 mirror, 14.07 common, 25.14 common, 24.02 common, 26.06 mirror.

Wednesday: I had a dead day....just drank beer and sun bathed.

Thursday: 33.02 common, 28.00 mirror.

Friday: 18.10 mirror, 21.04 mirror, 24.15 mirror.

4 fish between 10-20lb, 10 fish between 20-30lb and 1 30lb fish......between me and Gordon we reckon we done around 800lb of fish which i thought was pretty good.

Thanks to Frank for the deal on the bait.....will need to take more next time, luckily Iain had some in his freezer.....top bait and fish were proper on it.

Dale

April 2009

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Gallery 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:42:47 +0100