Blavet Valley Lakes

Well I have finally found time to sit down and tell all about our trip to the beautiful Blavet Vally Lakes.

There is no doubt that this lake itself is one of the carpyest, most stunning lakes I have seen. In fact the whole Blavet Valley it nestles in compliments it wonderfully. We arrived late evening on the Friday to a warm welcome from hosts Berny and Gordon, despite Gordon suffering the tail end of flue. Beers were quickly to hand and after more pleasantry's Gordon was left preparing our Steak and Mushroom pie whilst Berny took us round the lake.

There were 2 on the lake coming to the end of their stay, Cath and Sean. We arrived at their swim, Rails, still trying to take in the sights and sounds. They greeted us with tales of poor weather and difficult fishing but had managed 4 or 5 including 2 at 30lb+. Within half an hour of joining them Cath had a screamer and before long we were all introduced to the lakes pet sturgeon, christened Serge by Berny and Gordons son Ross.

All the above was to become all to familiar for Si and I.

Friday night came and went after many beers in the lodge with our hosts, talking nothing but fishing. Establishing PB's, gauging our options and forming our strategies. We also told all that would listen about the new venture with the formation of the RNRMAA Carp Section as you never know what may come of it. Making friends with the locals seemed a good idea too.

The next morning started with a huge fry up, a regular ritual for most, and a further recce of the lake. Sean and Cath had said their goodbyes and we waited the arrival of the other 3 anglers sharing the lake for the week. Bungle, Don and Little Niel arrived a little latter than planned and despite Si almost being unable to contain himself we were soon setting up in our chosen swims. We both plumbed for the same double swim as Sean and Cath, monopolising almost half the lake and the other 3 had the whole of the far side. ping on the fish!!

Bring on the rain would be more accurate. The theme for the rest of the week was wet with a few fish thrown in. All this being interjected with welcome visits to the lodge for hearty peakfasts and plentiful evening meals. The food is a highlight for anyone visiting Blavet, not far off all you can eat and all washed down with plenty of beer. Si got the ball rolling with his first capture of Serge, quickly followed by a PB peam. Bungle lost one the second night and then Si had Serge again on the Sunday, along with another PB peam. Nice T-shirt

Wednesday pought a lul in the weather and the sun came out. Lots more fish movement came with the weather change. If you have ever heard a cow jump in a lake in the middle of the night you will have some idea of what we had to sit and listen to some nights, the fish in this place like to play. That night and Little Niel had a 28. Thursday and more rain, and another PB peam, this one about 5lb. As you can see from the pic in Si's last post bait boats are a must as alot of the fish come from the far margins from under the trees.

This was highlighted further on Thursday night when Gordon took pity on the three blankers and came down to point out a few hot spots and not just to share his beer fridge with us all :P. That night Little Niel had the biggest fish of the week, 40lb mirror thus keeping up the average of a forty aweek for the lake. His previous PB was 18lb i think so you can imagine how good that felt. By Friday i was a little worried, they had really started to wake up now and the night before put on an impressive aerial display all over the lake at about 3am. The pressure really rose when Don finally caught a 20lb common early Friday evening after Gordon accurately placed his bait not 30 mins earlier.

Friday night became Saturday morning after several bottles of vino with Si and Gordon. I woke to the deafening sound of silent alarms and the fact that i was going to blank, not even a peam had graced my net. Then with thoughts starting to turn to packing away before the looming rain my right hand rod was away. It had lived under a marginal tree for most of the week with nothing to show for it despite Gordon directing me to the spot. A deep powerful fight later and thankfully was no longer the only blanker on the lake. She went 31lb on the scales and with just 2 hours before we left for peakfast and the ferry. Thank god for that.

And that brought a great end to a great week. Many thanks to Berny, Gordon and Ross, we will be back. Maybe sample some winter action!!

"Big Si"