A Guide to Armfield Angling Venues BY STEVE BRIGGS

A Guide to Armfield Angling Venues

BY STEVE BRIGGS

www.armfieldangling.com

info@armfieldangling.com

Lac de Villedon The area around Limoges has become a hotbed for great carp fisheries in recent years and while most of them are quite small, it is one of the larger ones that perhaps offers the most. At over 100 acres Villedon is almost like a crossover between commercial and public water fishing and offers something quite unique. I was quite excited at the prospect of fishing the lake – yes I liked the idea of the size of the venue but I couldn’t help but be impressed by what it holds! There are simply stacks of big fish on offer and they are good looking fish too.

Villedon is a long sprawling lake that winds its way through the fields and farmland. The width varies somewhat although it’s not particularly wide in any area and that provides many spots to intercept and hold the fish on their travels. The carp stock of the lake is large and they like to rove around so that could mean that areas could be quiet at times but the really exciting thing is that when the fish move in, they do so in numbers and that means anything is possible and big catches happen regularly. I don’t know how many 50’s are in Villedon but I do remember something that was said to me when I first arrived – ‘In 2011 Villedon produced it’s first carp over 25kg and yet in 2014 there were 140 captures recorded over that weight!’ That tells its own story, the fish are growing fast and the lake is just starting to come in to its prime and now the lake record stands at over 70lb.

The Gite swim situated at the dam wall is the only swim where you can park directly behind and is perfect for the people who want all the home comforts and what is a very productive swim. Otherwise there are 20 more swims spread out along the two main banks and access to them is by boats, which are loaded up at the dam wall. I’ve fished the Cabin (swim 21) both times I’ve been and it has become one of my favourite swims. You then have several options of how to fish, you can use the boats provided for baiting up, bait boats are also allowed if you prefer or you can just use plain old casting from the bank, which is quite popular and effective there. Generally the lake is fairly shallow anyway with a maximum depth of around 8ft or 9ft but it does shallow up gradually towards the far end. Obviously the fish will favour certain areas more depending on time of year and the conditions at the time but I did find that through the course of a week most swims were visited by fish and by the end virtually all swims had good fish to report. The trips I’ve had there have been very productive but the last one in particular

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where 12 anglers landed 251 carp between them with an incredible 55 carp over 40lb and 12 over 50lb.

Large beds of bait have certainly accounted for big catches over the years and it makes sense if you are trying to hold fish for any length of time but it has been done a fair bit so sometimes smaller baited areas or even spreading the bait more can pay off. I found bottom baits to work well even though the lake bed is quite soft and the fish seemed to really like hemp. The bait and wait approach does work but I did find that looking for signs was really worthwhile and carp would often give the productive spots away by showing over them every now and then.

The whole set up at Villedon is one of the best I’ve seen. Armfield Angling are so professional and so helpful that they make organizing a trip very easy. Once on the lake good meals can be provided and are delivered to each swim by boat – the dinners are really nice! There is also a tackle shop and restaurant at the base behind the dam wall.

The restaurant food is exceptional and reasonably priced and great if you fancy a break from the fishing.

Villedon is undoubtedly a lake that is just coming in to its own and with the rate that the fish are growing the best years are definitely still to come. With the large stock of big carp that it holds big catches are always on the cards and many people have come away with personal bests and catches that they had only dreamed of before – I’ve managed fish over 50lb every time and cant wait for the next time!!

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The Secret Garden Sometimes as soon as you see a place for the first time you just know you’re going to like it and that’s how it was the first time I set eyes upon the Secret Garden. The name itself describes perfectly the feeling you get when you arrive, once you drive in and shut the gates behind you it’s like you are in your own little world. The lake actually reminds me very much of an old English estate lake with beds of lily pads and surrounded by large mature trees. It is so secluded that even people living in the local area for many years didn’t know the lake existed!

One of the main features is of course the house that comes with the package and it provides family and friends with everything they need while you are out on the banks fishing in peace. It has three large bedrooms and will sleep up to ten people if required but also comes with a fully equipped kitchen, two bathrooms as well as a utilities room with washing machine and chest freezer and English and continental power/charging points. Just so that you don’t miss anything while you are away there is also a large TV with all UK freeview channels and also full wifi.

Paul and Carmen Armfield were very passionate when describing the Secret Garden to us and with good reason. Their services are very much in demand these days but they only pick the venues to represent that they feel are very special and so there’s no sales pitch or anything like that – they just have venues that they know will be popular and if they say it’s good then I know that it is!

The fishing itself is very intimate and the carp could be right under the rod tips or indeed lurking amongst the pads. The lake owner, Jean Noel chose the stock very carefully for the lake and having a good relationship with the fish farmers of the region he was able to secure some lovely carp. What I found really appealing is that most of them have taken on quite a dark colour. Most of the stock is made up of mirrors with a few commons and also a sprinkling of koi’s and grass carp. The fish that I’ve caught there so far came from a variety of spots and on a variety of baits ranging from maize to large boilies. The takes could come literally any time day or night and there was always something to keep me interested, the fish could be fizzing in the shallows in the morning or rolling up towards the deeper dam end throughout the night – sometimes just the sight of the pads twitching would be enough to give their presence away. I just felt I was always in with a chance – exciting stuff!

The owner is a very friendly and helpful guy and his main aim is that people have a good time at the Secret Garden. If you want help and advice then he can be there to give it but

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he also understands that sometimes anglers and families might want to be left alone in peace and quiet and he has no problem in doing that – I found that quite refreshing! The nearby town of Cognac la Foret is literally a couple of minutes away for supplies with a supermarket, bakery, pharmacy and a nice restaurant. For a quick jaunt in to the town there are bikes provided but I doubt many people will want to leave once they have closed the gates behind them! If it gets a bit warm you can always take a dip in the pool or sit in the air-conditioned conservatory – or for that matter if it’s cold then the radiators keep the interior warm - five star fishing I reckon!

There are lakes that are nice to fish, there are lakes that offer nice accommodation and others that cater for the whole family. It’s almost impossible to find all of that in one place but with the Secret Garden it really does provide the whole package and when I go through those gates the real world can be forgotten for a while – a little piece of French heaven.

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Etang de Brigueuil It was a cold wet spring morning when I pulled in to the supermarket car park to meet up with Paul and Carmen Armfield. “Don’t worry” Paul said “I’m going to take you somewhere you’re really going to like!” A few miles down the road and we were pulling in to the car park at etang de Brigueuil (High Mill lake) to meet with owners Andy and Tracy. To me the owners very much make up part of the whole fishing atmosphere and we couldn’t have been made more welcome – in fact all of the messages I received from previous anglers were full of praise for the lake and for Andy and Tracy and after spending time at Brigueuil I can only agree with them.

At just over 20 acres Brigueuil is a decent size with about ten single and double swims.

We were booked in to the luxurious Gite Swim at the dam end of the lake and as we walked past the large laurel hedges and caught our first sight of the Gite Paul just looked around and smiled! The Gite itself has two double bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom and having gone there with Joan I just knew that she would enjoy all of that (I wasn’t wrong). But the Gite overlooks the swim, which covers a great area of the lake and much of the dam wall. Indeed on the last few days leading up to our trip the Gite swim had produced a run of fish up to 57lb! Looking around at the pictures of past captures it’s clear that the lake holds many good fish, including several 50’s and lots of back-up 40’s – the lake record currently stands at 63lb but the fish are growing fast and I wouldn’t expect that to stand for too long. During the winter Paul Armfield himself spent just a few days on the banks of Brigueuil and managed three 50’s up to 59lb so there is plenty of quality fishing to be had.

But while the Gite swim is undoubtedly the most comfortable swim on the lake it is certainly not the only productive swim and as I soon found out, all of the swims produce well. My first action came quite quickly after getting the rods out with a nice scaly 31lb 8oz mirror and besides the big fish there are also some very nice looking fish in Brigueuil, including some cracking zip linears! Some of the other swims looked so good that for a couple of nights I dragged myself from the Gite and fished swim 8 up at the shallows end and I really enjoyed that – and caught from there too! By the way there are showers and toilets onsite too as well as freezers to store bait in. Various methods and tactics will work at Brigueuil, my approach was to use a snowman set up with fairly basic rigs and keeping the baiting tight. But Stuart and Clare Heather, who did very well fishing from the cabin while I was there by using a straight boilie approach and spreading boilies around the area with a throwing stick. Other people have done well using small pop ups, so various methods will certainly do the job!

Many lakes these days pride themselves on the food packages they provide and I’ve

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experienced some good ones over the years but I really think that the food that Tracy provides is the best I’ve come across. I can eat like the best of them but I struggled most nights to finish everything - and puddings were just superb - raspberry cheesecake to die for!

We really enjoyed our time at Brigueuil and cant wait to go back. It amazes me that somewhere so good has remained under the radar for so long! But then I guess that is the case with all of the Armfield Angling venues, they were all fairly unknown to me before I went there and all have proven to be top venues. Somehow Paul and Carmen find these wonderful places and I’m just pleased that they let me know about them. Etang de Brigueuil has all the comforts if you want them but it is very much a proper carp lake with plenty of good fish on offer. I really enjoyed the fishing at Brigueuil and the food, comfort and especially the hospitality only made the whole experience even better. What a great place!

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