Top 5 Fishing Lakes in France

1. Gigantica

Right, I know we recommended Lake Genesis on the Carp Fishing Holidays page, but who can argue with a lake called “Gigantica”, with a name this big it just has to be first, don’t it? Gigantica was once called the rather boring and unimaginative “Domaine St Christophe”, French we think, means something like “Christopher’s Domain”, whoever this Christopher is, he is a bit selfish naming the whole thing after himself. Luckily in September 2008, the Lake was bought by Danny “Turtle” Turley or as he is known to the great unwashed who bow before him – “Le Grand Fromage”, which means “The Big Cheese” or to those of you who failed GCSE French, “The Great Munch Bunch”.
By buying the lake, Turtle/Cheese was fulfilling every anglers dream, it doesn’t get much better than owning your own lake, with a lake everyday is like a carp fishing holiday. When he took ownership, Turtle decided a name change was in order and not being a selfish b****** like that fella Christopher, he decided on the mahoosive godly name of…you might need a sit down for this, “GIGANTICAAAAAAAAAAA”, whoah sucker scared ya there sucker? Basically he named the lake, Gigantica because of the huge carp that swim there, like your local Greggs at lunchtime, there are nothing but heavyweights in this lake. Unlike Greggs there is plenty of room to move, Turtle dropped the maximum number of anglers from 26 down to just 12.
Located in the town of St Christophe Dodinicourt, Gigantic is about a 3 and a half hours from Calais.

2. Lake Genesis   Number 2 on our list has to go to the previously mentioned fishing holiday location of Lake Genesis. Genesis is surrounded by beauty and history, just 15 minutes away is the town of Carrouges with its 14 century chateau, which the English took great pleasure in destroying in 1367. Run by Eddy and Val, Lake Genesis is located about 4½ hours from Calais and 2 hours from Le Harve, so it is an alright distance whether you choose to get the ferry across or go through the tunnel. There is about 2 ton of carp in Lake Genesis so it makes for a good carp fishing holiday with plenty to catch, in the lake there are commons, mirrors and even a few Koi and a grass carp. Nice range of weights too, with fish ranging from 13lbs up to 35lbs.

3. Ribiere

Coming in at number 3 is Ribiere, no not the footballer with Frankenstein features, but the lake. Lake Ribiere is a large water of about 10 hectares with swims on both sides. A former gravel pit, check out my gravel pit, Ribiere has depths varying from 6 metres to 1.5 metres. All the pegs there are real wide with plenty of space, so much space they can comfortably accommodate 3 or 4 anglers without any unwanted man loving. Facilities are absolutely top notch, Ribiere really adds a bit of luxury to your fishing in France experience. At the lake there are 6 studio-apartments sleeping up to 4 people and only a mere 150 metres from the lake. The apartments feature double beds (handy for those of you who do enjoy man loving), en-suite shower room, kitchen dining area and all important, a couch. They have satellite TV but English channels aren’t up to much, you have a choice of BBC World, CNN and er Euronews, but hey less time in front of the box is more time spent on the lake. The most luxurious thing however has got to go to the fact you get exclusive use of heated swimming pool and sauna, it may sound more suited to that spa weekend you carted your missus off to, to go on this carp fishing holiday, but honestly they provide some sweet relief after a long day of catching carp. As for stock, the lake houses carp up to 50lbs, there are also a load of catfish present too. Ribiere is located in the south of France, just outside of Limoges.

4. Lac les Pins

At 4 is Lac les Pins, this one is an absolute beaut, set in such a stunning and idyllic location, the lake is set amongst a mass of pine trees. Previously this lake and its surrounding area were used to hunt wild boar, there are said to be a few of the beasts still around and also if you are lucky you may just spot a deer coming down for a drink from the lake at sunrise. A stream fed lake, so there is no need to worry about losing depths, the stream also feeds plenty of natural food resources into the lake (for the fish, not you). The stunning specimens of Carp are a mixture of mirrors and commons with weights ranging from 20lbs to 50lbs. There are 9 swims on the lake, which are accessible from all sides. To enhance the quality of your carp fishing holiday, the owners of the lake, only allow 6 anglers to fish at a time, giving each angler a larger area to fish. As for facilities, there are gas burners near the swims for hot drinks etc. Hot showers and luxury wash facilities are also available in a newly refurbished lodge. Lac les Pins is located in the Limousin area of France on the border with the Dordogne.

5. Etang La Ridelee

Finally comes Etang La Ridelee, which at first sounded a bit like a dogging site to us, but we were assured its not. Situated in the Mayenne region of Northern France, Etang La Ridelee is another beaut, a private tranquil 40 year old 5 acre fishing lake. Etang La Ridelee really is a private affair with just one log cabin that will accommodate up to 4 people. The cabin has all ya usual shower and toilet facilities, so you don’t have to go at one with nature. It also features a fridge-freezer, satellite TV, DVD and a kitchen. As for fish, it is a bit of a mixed bag, it currently has some middleweight carp with weights up to 36lb, it also has some Crucians, Zander, Catfish, Tench, Bream, Roach, Rudd, Pike and Perch.