Well what a busy first season that turned out to be!

For those of you interested in stats I can report that before we closed Lac Serreire 30% of all carp caught were above 40lb with the average weight at mid-30.  On Badgers Holt the average weight was mid-40 with 60% being above 40lb, 35% above 50lb and 10% above 60lb.  Best fish across the complex was a 65lb mirror to Robin Eden from Badgers Holt and a 112lb cat to Peter Clifford from Lac Serreire.

During summer 2019 we completed work behind the scenes on our diversion channel which included the building of a new deriation basin.  The deriation controls the waterflow into Lac Serreire ensuring sufficient water diverts around the lake for the migratory fish, it also has the added benefit of reducing both the silt and numbers of crayfish and poisson chat entering the lake.  During these works we also repaired several areas in the out of bounds where the Serreire lake was breaching into the diversion stream and raised the level of the overflow, this will hopefully improve water levels during the summer months.  Unfortunately, due to the low water levels and high temperatures water quality was affected and we were very sad to report that we lost 60 fish on Lac Serreire, this number included 50 carp of all sizes but mainly commons in the 20 to 35lb bracket.

After listening to your feedback, we have reintroduced a few additional lily pad areas in front of both Tim and Mary’s and Island swim.  Once established we are hopeful these new pads will become good fish holding areas for the seasons ahead.

We also installed a bottom diffusion aeration system on Lac Serreire and two additional stand-alone vortex style aerators on Badgers Holt.  The diffusion aeration system on Lac Serreire consists of 4 aerator heads which are evenly spaced and situated down the centre of the lake from the dam wall towards Heron Point (approximately 160 yards from each side) so should not interfere with your fishing.  The additional Badgers Holt aerators are situated on the dam wall and on the lodge bank.  In these times of prolonged hot french summers these additional measures will ensure continued stable oxygen levels meaning hungrier fish and accelerated fish growth!

Winter 2019/20 is another busy time on the complex, we are continuing to feed both lakes with Coppens winter pellet, boilie  and maize thus ensuring the fish maintain weight and are in top condition during the colder months.

In terms of stock fish we have drastically improved the biomass levels of both lakes by removing huge numbers of crayfish, silvers and poisson chat.  We have also added twelve young special fish ranging from 20 to 40lb to Badgers Holt to further complement the stock.

2019 was a particularly difficult year for Lac Serreire, the fish kill on the main lake was a tremendous blow to us especially within our first year of owning the complex.  What made this particularly difficult to swallow is that unbeknown to us this also happened in summer/autumn 2018 under the previous ownership.  Following expert consultation we have established that these problems occur during the hottest, driest weeks of the year due to the huge numbers of poisson chat, shallow water and vast areas of silt, all of which affect water quality.

We have therefore decided to take drastic action and future proof Lac Serreire.  Lac Serreire will therefore remain closed during 2020 and we are delighted to announce that we will be working closely with the team from EARL Stockcarp and Keith Williams to address these issues.

Our 2020 plans for Lac Serreire include the following;

•  Complete drain down of the lake.
•  All fish to be temporarily re-homed and professionally looked after off site.
•  Complete removal of all nuisance species including catfish and poisson chat.
•  Extensive silt, lily bed and snag removal with a view to drastically increasing the depth particularly at the shallows/woods end of the lake.
•  Building of a new silt trap preventing future silt and sand entering Lac Serreire.
•  Selected removal of trees around the perimeter thereby increasing oxygen and light and reducing leaf fall.
•  Further repairs to perimeter path and outflow allowing us to retain more water during the drier summer months.
•  Re-open areas alongside the Shallows and Woods swim that are no longer fishable due to extensive silt/sand build up with a view to creating two new additional swims.  I anticipate this will create an additional 2 to 3 acres of fishable water.
•  Further handpicked carp will be added to the lake during winter 2020 with stock expected to be in the 300 – 350 range.

We fully appreciate the closure of Lac Serreire during 2020 will be a blow to many of you and for this we sincerely apologise.  We are confident however that these measures will drastically improve the fishing and future proof the lake for many years to come.

The new improved Lac Serreire will still be limited to a maximum of six anglers per week and will re-open on March 21st 2021.  We are now taking bookings for 2021 onwards so please get in touch if you want to be one of the first the fish the new improved ‘Serreire’.

Badgers Holt is unaffected and will of course remain open during 2020.

So as we write this newsletter we are busy painting the lodge and deep cleaning the shower block and toilets.  I can’t remember who told us the life of a fishery manager is a glamourous occupation!!!

Richard and Lindsay