Location: Brittany, Ill et Vilaine
Website: http://www.bigfishholidays.com/Redmill/thefishingR.htm
Description: We bought Redmill from Madame Denoual 10 years ago when her husband died. Monsieur Denoual was a Parisian businessman - he'd bought Le Moulin Rouge to retire to. He didn't allow anybody else to fish it. All Madame Denoual knew was that there were "beaucoup des grandes carpes".
There are some stunning original fish. 9 years on and we still get first-time captures when somebody fishes areas that don't get fished. We've dripped in stock fish to minimise the risk to the originals. A handful of the original commons are 40's, with one going 50. One, bigger, that's never been banked.
The bigger mirrors from the early stockings are overtaking the originals - 4 different stocked mirrors going 50, biggest so far 52lb.
Lake: Around 400 carp in less than 10 acres. You'd think it'd be easy. Sometimes it is. Most of the time it takes some figuring out. The lake's over 300 years old with plenty of natural food. They don't have to rely on bait to survive - so most don't get caught too often. That, little weed, few snags, and the level of care shown by Redmill anglers is probably why they're in such fabulous condition.
Depth varies from 10 to 3 feet. Silty, with hard patches. The islands are an angler magnet (me too). Open water features are more subtle. You don't need anything more than a catapult to get bait where they feed. A spod can be useful used thoughtfully. Baitboats aren't fishing.