Maiden French fishing trip...arrival and setting up

After the previous nights food and drinks whilst getting to know each other I woke up in a strange room on a bed that was harder than dry weetabix feeling a bit sorry for myself. The alcohol was definitely punishing me and I did not feel fresh. Well...for under a minute until I got all excited remembering why I was here. With a dead phone battery and no clock in the room I had no idea what the time was but there was daylight creeping through the 1980's styled curtains so in the shower I jumped. This was like a toilet cubicle that had been borrowed from a Motts travel coach and there was little room. So little room in fact that as I turned round to wash my face and chest I experienced instant burning as my gentleman morning problem moved the water temperature from warm to 10 on the heat factor. Sun burn over I left the room and headed downstairs for breakfast. I was greeted by a very happy French lady who's face looked like I'd kept her up all night with my alcohol fuelled snoring. Then I entered the breakfast area....haha some bad headed anglers holding their heads drinking many coffees. A bit of food and we headed off.
After a quick stop at a supermarket to stock up on bottled water we were lake bound. The scenery itself was amazing and all around there was lakes. After 20 minutes and a few wrong turns we arrived. Finally we were here and myself and Fenlon couldn't wait to get walking round. Bailiff Mick came down to greet us. Andy, who organised our trip, had a small catch-up with Mick and introduced us all. Mick gave us the heads up on recent catches and let us do a lap of the lake. This was it, the time was here and we were exploring. The lake has 14 swims and allows 8 anglers at a time. 4 swims were doubles and each swim or double swim had a hut with English plug sockets and also fridge freezers. Perfect for keeping the bait fresh over the week.
After an hour of walking and viewing all swims we met back with Mick. He explained the rules and gave us tips on rigs etc. We had all chosen swims and off we headed. I chose swim 12 which had a bay to my right and open water to my left. Fenlon chose swims 10 and 11 directly behind me. We agreed to help each other at all times. When walking the lake I noticed feeding bubbles under a tree and hoped nobody else see it. But the carp had other ideas of my secret and belted out the water thinking it was flipper the dolphin...cheers mate.

Not that I enjoy rushing things but after that show I couldn't spend the time to get comfortable..... 1 rod quickly setup with a Ronnie rig and a washed out homemade fruity popup and chucked out. Hoping I could feel the lead hit the lake bed rather than cast into weed I stopped the line reeling off and held...bang! Solid landing and that was me chancing a quick bite. I got the bivvy set up and bait in the freezer and got everything sorted out and then set up the other rods. Mick came into the swim and gave me a few spots to aim for. He said to get out in the boat and use H-block markers to mark each spot. I've never had the opportunity to use a boat and I don't actually own any H-block markers so I stuck to my guns and started casting around with the marker rod. I get a lot of stick for my little blue book but I have used this since I started fishing. I write down everything from baits used to number of yards fished at to horizon markers to aim for. After 6 hours with the marker rod I had built up a good idea of the swim.

At 68 yards there was a gravel bar surrounded by thick weed. 10ft deep either side of a clear spot and 7ft on top I chose to put 2 rods on here. 1 would be fished a snowman rig and the other a Ronnie rig. The 3rd rod was to be fished into the bay on my right. 2 kilos of boilies scattered over the 2 spots and I was set for the night. A big dinner and an early night was on the agenda and day was 1 was reaching a close.

'till next time...

Carper Dee