It was great to be back for our 2nd family holiday at Hirondelle in as many years. The lake looked amazing, and the accommodation was all clean and tidy and ready to go, a credit to our friendly and helpful hosts Glen and Linda. We only fished dawn to dusk for the week and on Wednesday, just the evening, as we visited the nearby leisure lake during the day, which was well worth a visit. As for the fishing, we steadily fed our chosen spots all week. By the end of Thursday, we had caught 14 carp to 39lb 10oz, a sturgeon of 32lb and a grass carp of 33lb. Having now caught 4 carp over 39lb 8oz but all under 40lb, in the last few years at various venues, I was beginning to think it was not to be once again. Then Friday happened! The day started badly, losing what felt like a good fish early morning. 30 mins later, a 28lb common was in the net, which put a smile back on my face. It then went really quiet and by lunchtime I decided to reel in and put a few kilos of bait on each spot and leave them until early evening. It wasn’t forecast, but a light drizzle moved in late afternoon and remained untill dusk. To cut a long story short, that evening, I finally beat the 40lb barrier with a mirror of 45lb 9oz. Over the moon with this, imagine my surprise when 30 minutes later I had a 49lb 8oz fish in the net. But before we could get photos, we were in again. This time it was a 34lb sturgeon. What a way to finish the week! Great memories indeed. 

We can’t make it back next year, but we hope to return in
2026.