Fact not Fiction
We pride ourselves on being honest about our fish stock.
Written in August 2010
We are extremely proud of our stock and consider it to be one of the best in France when it comes to small exclusive venues; in fact we feel our stock is comparable to a lot of the larger lakes.
Echo pool is by no means a runs water but at the same time it’s not the type of lake where you’re only going to catch 1 fish during your stay. An average angler so far in 2010 has caught around 12 carp between 20lb and 50lb with the average fish being mid 30's. It is not an easy water to fish and because of the size of fish it’s not really a lake for the inexperienced angler.
We now believe we have 150+ carp over 20lbs and the biggest must now be pushing 60. The lake records are 52lb 4oz for a common and 47lb 2oz for a mirror.
We now know of 4 commons over 40lb, 43, 47, 49, 52 and there is still another very big common that we often see in the water but still hasn't been on the bank, its very identifiable in the water because of a swirly scale pattern on its left flank.
We have lost count of 40lb + mirrors and again know of at least 2 real monsters (50+) which are often seen but never caught, one in particular called "Scar head" for obvious reasons, which I believe to be the biggest fish in the lake. In total I'd guess there are a further 6 big mirrors which haven't been caught, going by 2007 netting photos when compared to anglers pictures.
An average fish is now mid 30's.
I still get really excited when I get the chance to fish the lake because I know there are still surprises to be had.
On sunny days you sometimes get the chance to see just how many big fish we have.
Up until now any fish caught under 20lb has been moved to one of our stock ponds, we are doing this to keep the biomass down to allow room for our bigger fish to grow on, this has meant that spawning was very successful this year and we are now seeing this years fry being caught at around 1lb, they only seem to get caught in the first 24hrs after change over and are obviously removed, they are stunning!
We are hoping that we don't have to net the lake for sometime, our fish are still showing great weight gains and when netting you have to expect up to a 25% death rate and there is also a good chance that the surviving fish will lose a season's weight gain.
Written sometime in 2008
We have not done any mass stockings as it was not necessary, however what we were able to do over the first few years was go to a few local French lake draindowns and handpick approximately 60 carp, not just for their weight at that time but for looks, strength and their potential to grow into some real monsters.
We drained our lake in January 2007 and removed all of the carp under 15lbs,this gives a better potential growth rate for the remaining stock as the water is not overstocked and there are less fish fighting over the food. The lake is continually fed with good quality particle and pellet and the lake also provides good naturel food sources.
Plans are in place to drain and net the lakes again this winter, we will be removing everything under 20lbs unless they are particulary special and as long as there is still a good balance of male and female fish. The best fish left over will be put in our smaller lake and everything else sold.