Long weekend at Etang de Planchon

Ray Prickett came to Etang de Planchon for a long weekend.
After he left he decided to do a little write up of how he got on.

This is what he wrote.

Long weekend at Etang de Planchon

“Oh no not another fishing holiday!” that was my other half back in mid December, I smiled and said but this time you get a holiday too, no cooking or washing up, I’d just got my own way again, this time about going for a long week end to Etang de Planchon.
I’d been looking around the internet, looking at various lakes etc, and stumbled across their web site, the promise of un-caught carp up to 50lb, home cooked food and plenty of local wine was just too much to resist, I just had to have a sample of this.

So here we are the 7th of July walking into the terminal of Limoges airport looking for our lift to the lake, easy to find when they are standing there with a placard with my name on. Introductions made, we made our way to the car and to the lake, to be greeted by Kiran offering tea or lager before we take a leisurely walk around the lake and to inspect the kit I’ve hired for the trip, all in pristine condition; 3 chub outcast rods matched with shimano reels and fox micron bite alarms.
So the bags are taken down to Harrier, the swim I’m going to fish, with Kirans words that the fish are not responding to big beds of baits ringing in my ears, I decide to buck the trend and start off by putting a small bed of hemp into the margin and fish a tiger nut over it on my left hand rod, and the other 2 rods have the trusty SBS squid and octopus m1 boilies on, all rods are fished with 2oz in line drop off leads and size 4 Gardner mugga hooks tied to Gardner sinking hook length material.

Rods set up, beds made, camera and torches to hand and all ready to cast out, but that will have to wait, time for dinner and a chat with the 2 lads who’ve been here for the best part of the week, they confirmed what I’d already been told that big beds of bait weren’t working I hoped the 15 pouchfuls of 10 mm sbs squid and octopus wasn’t too much for them.
Dinner and chatting finished it was time to start fishing so back to the wendy house and time to carefully position my hook baits and catch some zeds, it had been a very long day and that bed was really comfortable.
11.15 pm and my left hand rod baited with a tiger is screaming away I’m up and to it with the speed of an arthritic duck, wind down to it and there’s nothing there??
I wound in and lo and behold the nut’s missing, still not quite worked that one out yet? a quick re bait and back into the bag (SLEEPING BAG) not my other half, lets keep this clean, more zeds hope I didn’t keep the other 2 lads awake. Seconds later (well 4 hours later but seemed seconds) away goes one of my boilie baited rods and I’m into the first carp of the session boy did it scrap, something every single fish did, very hard and into the net eventually comes an 18lb mirror in pristine condition pics and weighing done and back out with the bait, another 10 pouchfuls of the 10 mm squid boilies and back into the bag in need of more zeds, yes just over 2 hours of them when away goes the same rod again a bit bigger this time 28lb mirror, yet again in perfect condition. Another 10 pouchfuls of bait pinged back into the hot spot MORE SLEEP PLEASE! I got my wish slept through until the bell sounded for breakfast, a light meal of croissants, sausages, bacon, eggs, fried bread and baked beans, tea and toast then back to the fishing, rods re baited another 10 or so pouchfuls of bait and relax and a quiet mouch around looking for a new spot for the left hand rod, as I’d had no further action on it since 11 the night before.
A fishy sticking its head out in front of the empty swim to my right decides me to start trickling in some particles over its head and see what happened movement wise during the afternoon, I had decided to fish a 10mm snowman of squid and octopus boilies over the particles if the fish decided to feed over it.

1.30pm and I’m getting worried that I’ve over done it with the boilies no action to either of the rods over that spot, have they moved? Have I put to much bait in?? I decide to put 3 more pouchfuls of bait out with the thought I’ve always got the new spot to fish if the original spot dies on me.
Within the hour I’m in again this time a 17lb common, top up the swim with more freebies, want to see if I can hold them there, 4.15 and it looks as if my plan is working as a 22lb mirror is tripped up by the squid, things are looking good and still dinner to come, tonight it’s a barbecue and by the smell, its well on its way, must be time to rest the swim.
A couple of hours later and it’s a well and truly stuffed me that re positions 2 rods on the productive spot and what was my left hand rod where I’d baited earlier in the afternoon.
11.45 pm and it’s that rod that screams out as a 17lb common tries to enjoy a late squid supper, I topped that spot up with 20 pouchfuls of particle and from then on the fish came evenly between both spots after 3 nights of relaxed fishing I ended up with 11 carp 6 twenties to 28lb 10oz, 5 upper doubles and 2 fish lost due to hook holds failing, when I tried using back leads (I hate them).
It was a superb long weekend, the food, fishing, and hosts where top quality, and although the fish might not be responding to big beds of bait they were certainly eating the amounts I was putting in.

First Fish – 18 lb




Second Fish – 28 lb



Biggest Fish 28.10 lb



I’d like to thank Ray for the write up.

Kiran.