Tim and Reily Hill Returned Home Yesterday from Etang des Moulinots
What a week we had — got to spend some quality time with my son and made some new friends too. Now to tell you about the lake.
The Owner
Tell Mills is the owner and what a proud and informative owner he is. Nothing is too much. From the moment we arrived at the lake, he was very forthcoming in making sure we had the best service.
Facilities
The facilities are second to none. There is an honesty book for you to use throughout the week.
The fridge is stocked with quality beers: Madri, Desperado’s, Corona and Guinness.
Full range of cold drinks: Coke, Oasis, Orangina, even Coke Zero.
Snacks: chocolate, crisps and pot noodles if you get peckish.
He also stocks a full end tackle board from Atomic for you to purchase should you forget the essentials.
More bait than you can shake a stick at — house baits with matching glugs, sprays and matching pops and wafters. They come in 2 flavours: Maple and Cream and Squid. Top quality, rolled in 15mm and 18mm, sold at a good price.
He also has a good stock of Parker Baits — OG Fish, OG Fruit & Nut and the Magic Beans.
Food Package
For me, the food package is a must when I book a trip as I can’t be bothered to cook. Definitely a great package.
Tell kept us well stocked up all week:
- Massive baguettes for breakfast filled with bacon, sausage and egg.
- If you want a change-up, he also offers ham, cheese and salad, tuna salad, and pâté and onion.
Evening meals are huge — no room for anything else after you’ve eaten, the portions are big. You even get pudding with Sunday dinner, and it was a struggle to fit in. You will not be disappointed with the package.
The Lake
The lake occupies 12 massive swims. 4 or 5 of them can comfortably be used as doubles to accommodate father/son or just friends wanting to fish together, or as singular swims for the lone angler.
The lake bed is mostly silty with some cracking hard spots. Finding them isn’t easy but with some hard work and graft you can find them — or just be lazy and use a bait boat with sonar like we did.
The lake bed is weedy with 3 different types:
- Streamer weed
- Low-lying weed
- A prickly one I have no name for (lol)
Depths vary from 1ft down to 5ft in places. With some work you can find them. The lake has lovely topography and undulations — finding the smallest of humps can get you a bite.
Don’t ignore the advice of the owner. He knows the lake well and can put you in the right spots should you want the help. He is happy to come and sit with you in your swim and direct you to known spots.
Must-haves: carp care kits and waders. These are big fish that sometimes need time to get themselves straight, so getting in and holding them a while is required.
Travel
The drive from Calais is about 3.5 hours along two very easy-to-drive roads. There are 2 tolls which totalled about £30 each way, with lots of service stations for coffee and toilet breaks.
We travelled using AP Crossings — their email is bookme@apcrossings.com. Wendy Phelps and Charlotte are brilliant, very accommodating and will get you the best price.
We stayed in an Airbnb which Tell organised for us. The house was ok, slept 2 people and made life easier. We got there on the Friday night, arriving at the lake fresh on the Saturday morning, raring to go.
The Fishing
I was fishing with my son who has been fishing with me since he was 5 years old, so he can hold his own.
I was apprehensive — we chose the swims like gentlemen. There were 10 in our group, but all little groups, so we all chose swims so that we could fish together. We chose swim 5 and 6 — The Hobbit and The Snug.
Reily got off to a flyer, banking 3 x 40lb fish in 3 days. I was a little slower, only having the 1 bite, banking 1 fish. Nothing for me for 3 days, so I upped sticks and moved swims for the day, banking a mid-20lb mirror.
After that, I went back to The Hobbit to try and catch a fish off my spots. I worked hard for no return. Eventually, on Thursday morning, I decided to move to Cal’s Corner for the last 2 nights to see if I could winkle 1 more fish out to save my week.
Reily continued to catch fish — I felt more like the apprentice than the tutor as he schooled me on how to catch fish. He was smashing me: 5 fish to my 1. He had 3 x 40s and a 30lber to show for his efforts.
The other lads on the lake had caught 5 or 6 more 40s between them. I was just sitting there watching with admiration.
Thursday came and went and I was still not catching. Reily banked another 40lb common. It was Big Fish Friday. I had received a few welcoming WhatsApp messages of encouragement saying “keep going.”
We went for the BBQ where the lads sat chatting about their week’s fishing. Me, feeling sorry for myself, said I wasn’t going to fish and put rods away. Reily moaned at me and said “Put the rods out, it’s your last night.”
I did put them back on my spots, all 3 on the Ronnie’s with match-the-hatch pop-ups and a small PVA bag of crumb. Well, it was worth it! I finished my Friday night / Saturday morning session with 4 fish and the biggest of the week. Well worth the effort — and for me, it was Big Fish Friday.
Our Catches
My fish for the week:
- 19lb common
- 23lb mirror
- 44lb common
- 45lb mirror
- 33lb common
- 23lb common
Reily’s fish:
- 42lb mirror
- 43lb common
- 40lb mirror
- 43lb common
- 19lb common
- 33lb common
- 29lb mirror
Summary
We finished the week on 13 fish between us. Reily caught the most, and I caught the biggest fish of the week.
The other lads chipped in with 16 more fish between them, taking the total to 29 for the week on what was a changeable week with the weather. We had it all — sunshine, rain and thunder, then wind, then sunshine again. Pressure drops and temperature drops too. But we had a great week.
Want to Go?
For anyone wanting a week in France, have a look at:
👉 www.etangdesmoulinots.com
👉 bookme@apcrossings.com
Click this Facebook link for all the photos and videos: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D7iT8rgtG/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Tight lines all.