Nick Bull, Nev Whitehouse and Ray Pugh had the lake to themselves for the last week in August and managed to land some good fish over that period.

Nev landed 9 fish including 3 forties with the best going 41.12lbs. He fished 3 swims, 11, 5 and 3 over the week moving with the fish.

Nick banked 6 fish with 2 forties, the best at 45lbs. The margins of swim 4 producing for Nick.

Ray spent the week in swim 7 and took 13 fish with a 31lbs being his best.

In all 28 fish were caught with 5 over forty. Premier Martix in 12 and 14 mm working for the lads.

Into the last week of August/first week of September and the 4 anglers banked 43 fish with 5 over forty and 17 over thirty.

Kevin Haywood in swim 11 had the best catch of the week. He took 24 fish with 3 forties, the best going 49.8lbs, a pb and 9 over thirty to 38lbs.

Paul Hancock fished swim 4 to take 10 fish to 34.8lbs.

Jake Hancock in swim 2 beat his pb many times in his 9 fish haul. Jake had 2 forties up to 41lbs with plenty of back up thirties.

Rob Hancock somehow managed to blank despite fishing swims 7, 6 and 1.

Mainline maple 8 fished over millstone pellets scoring well for this party.

September 4 to 11 we had four anglers on the lake. Steady weather and little and often baiting ensured a good week for the anglers with a total of 51 fish banked including 1 fifty, 6 forties and 19 thirties.

Phil Hall in swim 7 scored best with 24 fish. Phil has been to France many times and was looking for his first forty, he passed the mark 3 times during the week with fish of 40.8, 42 and 46.9lbs.

Dave Fordyce in swim 2 banked the best fish of the week, a pb of 50.3lbs in his 10 fish catch which included a further 2 forties to 44lbs and 4 thirties to 39lbs.

Dave’s son Glenn in swim 4 banked 4 fish and lost 4. Best, a pb of 39lbs.

Alan Wakeman set up in the consistent number 10 peg and managed 13 fish with 11 of them over thirty pounds. Smallest, 30.8lbs and the best a mirror of 42lbs. Alan also took a 35.12lbs common.

Millstone pellets, Mainline maple 8, Nash scopex squid Liver and Premier baits all scored for the guys.

The following week saw four anglers on and another good week of fishing for the anglers who banked 46 fish with 6 forties and 23 thirties.

Craig Evans in swim 10 caught 13 fish including 3 forties and 6 thirties. Best a 42.8lbs mirror.

Paul Couling in swim 8 also took 13 fish with 7 thirties, best 37.8lbs.

Brian Williams tried something different in swim 4, maggots. This approach worked well for Brian who took12 fish with 3 forties including the weeks biggest, a common of 47.8lbs.

Terry Newman fished in swim 11. He banked 8 fish, 5 of which were thirties, best 37lbs.

The next week was somewhat slower for the 5 anglers. The large amount of bait used the previous week having an effect I feel. Millstone is not a lake that needs huge amounts of boilies. 21 fish were taken with 3 over forty and 9 over thirty although 11 were lost to hook pulls????

Bob Styles took the biggest of the week at 45.6lbs amongst his 6 fish, which also included a 39.12. Bob fished swim 3. He also stalked a thirty from the shallows.

Kev Styles had 3 thirties to 34.8lbs from swim 1.

Benny Lynch and Mark Trip shared swim 4 to bank 11 fish with 2 over forty. Both forties going to Benny, the best at 42.8lbs.

Sam Oliver in swim 2 netted a 36lbs mirror toward the end of the week.

For booking information call Rob on 01628 522088.

Warm and humid weather at the end of July/beginning of August accompanied by an explosion of natural food made for difficult angling conditions. No large hauls of carp for the fisherman but some good results in the circumstances.

Paul Chivers took 4 fish to 41.8lbs, Dean Bowden landed a 48lbs mirror, pit 3’s Les and Ginger shared 18 fish to 37lbs, Ian Ockwell and partner Bob took 6 fish with 2 forties to 44lbs, a common.

Stormy cooler weather during the second week of August brought the fishing back to its normal consistency with 64 fish coming out with 5 forties and 27 thirties to the 5 guys on.

Peter Jeans banked 26 fish with 10 thirties to 37lbs, brother Kevin Jeans took 16 fish with 2 forties to 44lbs plus 4 thirties and the other brother, Colin Jeans had 6 fish with 5 thirties.

Steve Rowe caught 9 fish which included 2 forties, best a 43.8lbs mirror plus 4 thirties. John Devonshire managed 7 fish with a 41.10lbs plus 3 thirties. All the fish coming to the consistent Premier Matrix over Millstone pellets. The following week and 51 fish were banked with 3 forties and 16 thirties. Paddy Blake banked 19 fish with a forty at 42.8lbs, a pb, plus 9 thirties to 38lbs. Paddy fished from swim 7 around the islands. Dan Moore landed 18 fish to 39.4lbs from swim 6. Ron Manning, fishing peg 4, caught the biggest fish of the week, a pb common at 46.8lbs in his 5 fish catch. Chris Petter in swim 10 managed 9 fish to 43.8lbs.

Improved weather conditions the following week enhanced the fishing with Millstone regular Billy McKinves's party taking 33 fish with 5 forties, 12 thirties and 16 twenties. Billy with brother Ian managed 22 fish (3 forties and 9 thirties) from swim 10, Frozen NRG doing the business. Chris reeves took 5 fish to 41lb and Steve Woodley took the weeks best, a common of 45lb.

Similar quantities of fish came out the following week to Paul Lehanes party, 30 fish with 3 forties and 11 thirties. Top rod Jim Goldsmith fished swim 11 and took 10 fish to 41lb 8oz (4 thirties and 5 twenties). Kev Simmons managed the other 2 forties in his seven fish haul. Best 42lb 8oz. Paul Lehanes best of the week came in at 39lb 12oz.

End of April into the beginning of May and 56 fish were banked this week. Dean Raper landed 19 fish including 3 forties and 8 thirties, best 43lb 12oz. Fishing partner Mick Walter took 18 fish to 44lb 7oz. His catch included 4 forties and 8 thirties. Craig Jordan caught 10 fish to 30lb 8oz and Graham Howard took the weeks other forty at 41lb 10oz. The four anglers this week smashed their pb's many times and accounted for 7 forties and 16 thirties.

Not surprisingly the following week saw a slowing down in numbers of fish banked. Heavy mid week rain also effected the fishing, although 23 fish were landed with 3 forties and 8 thirties. Roger "the Dodger" DeVerre managed 2 of the forties and beat his pb with a mirror of 45lb 8oz. Ken "the oldest swinger in town" took one of the much sought after silver commons at 43lb 12oz, a new pb, from swim 11.

Mid May and the five angler party arrived and were soon reduced to two as three of the group were asked to leave the lake for breaking the rules. The two lads who remained both beat the personal bests with a 44lb 12oz mirror to Ina Beaumont and a 42lb mirror to Scott Dryden, the lads also managed a few thirties.

The first few months at Millstone have been very productive. We opened on 6 April and the first week saw 73 fish banked with nine over 40, the best being a 46lb 2oz. Graham Copeland took mirrors and commons over 40. The island swims produced early in the year with Roger DeVerres' party taking 43 fish to 41½lb. William and Nick from Wales took plenty of fish from this area with 40s to 48lb 3oz. The best catch so far this year fell to the ever-consistent Mark Fielding who banked 44 fish, including 20 over 30lb with four 40s for good measure, all on Trigga in swim no 2.

The first 50lb of the year fell to Ian Sutton whose friends, Frank and Craig Errington, managed two 40s each to 45lb. Regular, Steve Williams, took ten 20s, ten 30s and two 40s from Plateau Bay. Mark Bowden fished no 1 swim for 12 fish to 49lb along with a common of 39lb.

In early June Jeff Wills' party of five took 52 fish with 14x30s and five 40s. Dave Redgrave did best on the dam wall with three of the 40s, the best being 45lbs. Mid-June and the fish started to spawn, much later than last year. This made the fishing a little slower. However, Tony Coyne managed three 40s to 46½lb in his party's 36-fish haul. This included 10x30s. The fishing continued in slower mode even though the fish stopped spawning. Steve Kingsland and Chris Parter's group picked up four 40s to 43½lb plus plenty of upper 20s and 10x30s. The last week of June saw a fantastic result for Paul Heaton who took 14 fish with a 40 and two 50s, the best being 51lb. All his fish coming to the Snowman presentation. The other four members of his party took fish to high 30s, including commons of 38lb and 37lb respectively.

This has been particularly pleasing after all the hard work put in over the winter months. We partly drained the lake and created plateau areas to add to the existing features, so that now there are islands, reeds, lilies, gravel and silt patches and the newly created plateau areas. Once that work was completed we introduced another 50+ big carp to the fishery in addition to the existing stock introduced two years previously. As with all of our waters we fed the fish with low oil content carp pellets from when we closed the lake to fishing in October 2000 until when we opened to the first anglers on the 14h April 2001.

Stuart Leese, Mark Lisgo and Daniel Corless fished that first week. Despite cold weather and rain they caught 52 carp, 4 x 40s, 15 x 30s and 33 x 20s.

All the hard work and effort over the winter had paid off. The carp had packed on weight since the pervious year, thanks to the heavy feeding and lack of pressure over the winter months.

As the weeks progressed we expected the fishing to slow down but to our delight it has continued with an average of 2 x 40s, 14 x 30s and 27 x 20s a week to a typical week of only 3 anglers.

The newly created plateaux have proved popular with the carp as well as the anglers and lots of fish have been caught off these areas. These features have helped spread the fish around the lake and made all 12 swims on the lake productive. With a maximum of only 5 anglers per week on the seven acre lake there is plenty of opportunity to move around the lake if you so wish.

The lake is over 300 years old and very mature. With the massive head of carp we have stocked into the lake over the last couple of years, we expect the fishing to be moderately easy. There is no weed or snags in the lake you should have no concerns about landing these big fish, so whether you are an experienced or novice carper you can expect lots of action.

What has been unusual is that the majority of the carp caught have come out during the daytime even in real heat wave conditions which is something we have rarely experienced in France.

For those of you that like a bit of stalking, then Millstone will be right up your street. As the lake has an average depth of 5 feet and the margins are typically 2-3 feet deep, the carp continually come in close to the edge. Every week we have 30lb carp caught by anglers float fishing a couple of feet from the bank. So if you want to get up from behind your rod pod and go stalking there is great sport to be had. Many of our customers have the best intentions to try this, but catch so many carp by their normal methods that they never bother. At the end of the day it is your holiday so if you want to relax behind your rods and catch big carp in a beautiful and peaceful location, then Millstone Pool is just what you are looking for.

With flat banks that can accommodate the largest of dome tents, shower facilities and a fridge/freezer in the mill house at the edge of the lake and shops only 5 minutes drive away there is no need to over exert yourself during your stay with us.

We still have some availability from August to October 20001 and are now taking bookings for 2002. If you would like details of the availability, phone Rob on 01628 522 088 after 7.00.pm. Remember the price is only £250 per person per week and a non fishing partner goes free. With only 5 anglers on this stunning 7 acre lake we will provide you with an unforgettable holiday.