Foxpool France

25/01/2026

Now we have some revenue coming in off the lake bookings ive started to do some shopping. I bought a couple of bivvy tables to replace the 2 that dave and Tyrone broke. Got the fabsil to re proof the bivvys . Aldi have the neoprene wellies back in but only in black at under £30 if you like a bargain saves paying £100 plus for dirtboots for the sane thing. Also got a service kit for the mower and oil for the machines.
I got a shock off angling technics for the boat conversions that came in at well over £2000 with delivery back they've been taken over and I think the new owners are trying to recoup there money fast. Apparently its £225 minimum charge to split the boats . So the handle that got broke last week would £250 to repair £25 for the handle to to split the boat ridiculous 🙄. I will maybe look at phasing them out but there grest boats . But we will have to increase rental by €10
To recoup some of the outlay. I had them all converted to self prime now so you just push the button and they go rather than kneeling down getting the jets to prime . Better for us old folk.
Its a windy day here after a wet week the new lake is totally covered now and we will have to close the pipe soon to stop it flowing back to foxpool.
A few more booking and enquiries in this week but still have availability in April may june and September/October..
Only 10 weeks till we open now for my 8th season, how time flys.

12/01/2026

Getting a lot of enquires in this week .unfortunately there's been a error brought to my attention on the dream carp holidays website where it says there is 235 fortys in the lake. I wish. there's not 235 carp in the lake never mind fortys . I dont know any lake with that amount of fortys in it, never mind our little pool. I'd be booked up 10 years in advance with that amount of big fish swimming around.
Just to confirm we have head of approximately 150 fish in a tad under 4 acres with 3 known 50lb plus carp a good head of fortys between 30 to 40 depending on the time of year most fish are over 30lb with the rest twentys and few small ones that have sneaked through since the cats have been reduced. We still have a couple of large catfish in but will continue to remove them as there landed.
We still have a few prime weeks left April the 11th is free surprisingly the 2nd week were open and early may when they can be at there biggest. Im hoping the leather dave had at 48lb last September will go 50 this year and a lot of those 38 ,39lb fish will push on to forty plus.
We have doubled the feed of cooked maize and pellet going in the closed season and the fish haven't seen a line in since Jason and steve brought the curtain down on last season in October so they'll be in top condition come April when kierons group kick off the new season.
Anyone wanting to book please get in touch for the latest availability as its changes rapidly at this time of year now Xmas holidays are finished and people plan there summer holidays. Thanks Graham foxpool.

09/01/2026

What a difference a few days make. on Tuesday the lake was covered in snow sat on 2inch of solid ice but its all melted now and the ducks are back on the lake so I can now put the lime in the deep end.
The last picture shows Chad's pool filling up to the 2 patches of old lake bed in the shallows so all the water in now, is below the original depth another 2 weeks it will be completely full. Been repairing the jcb this week ready for the summer.
Notice the difference in colour from the 2 pools , despite filling from foxpool
I think eventually when the lakebed settles it will be gin clear obviously the fish will stir it up a bit when they go in.
Only 12 weeks now until kieron and the lads kick off the new season I will need contacting the groups out in April overr the weekend to let them know there balance is due later this month 12 weeks prior to coming out. Thanks Graham foxpool.
Anybody interested in a set.of 3 12ft greys plantinium 3.5 lb tc rods with a 50mm butt ring £300. In original bags

Or a set of 3 shimano ultegra 10000 xsa big pit reeels with spare 12000 spools
£200. Get in touch there in the uk now. In macclesfield

02/01/2026

31/12/2025

Happy new year to all anglers past present & future from france where 2026 is here. Have a great year all.

31/12/2025

Got up this morning planning to stick the rods out whilst i did a bit of work around the place. But its -4° here now as the sun rises and the lakes iced over so better get the ice skates on instead.
Hopefully the sun melts it but its dropping to minus 6 later this week so i'm not optimistic . I went get the lime yesterday but there not chance of getting that in this week either I think.
Looks like i will have stay in front of the fire instead. 😁

29/12/2025

I hope you all enjoyed your Xmas with family & freinds. I was in cape Verde running up to xmas in 26° chilling with tom which was a nice break.
I just got back to the lake at dinner time today, after a long drive from Cheshire last night catching the 03.30 boat . I was booked on the 09.15 and usually split the journey staying at my brothers near London on route. but unfortunately he was on holiday, so I had to do it in one hit. P&O ripped me another £60 for getting a earlier boat the swines.
When I got off in calais at 06.10 It was freezing and as I drove further down it cooled more dropping to minus - 6° when I re fueled in dreux. As the sun rose just before 9 it was like a scene from a Xmas card with the trees all white. As I got to Orleans it started to cloud over and was quite foggy but it was a couple of degrees warmer but never rose above -1 all the way down.
I passed a few lakes that looked frozen and wondered if foxpool would have a lid on it. As i pulled in the gate it was -2 but no ice on the lake.
Thankfully gert and silve had been and switched the log burner on for me and the house was like toast. Gert had just fed the fish aswell . I was thinking I might stick a few rods out over the next few days before I lime the lake again . Gert said nothing has been showing recently, so im not too optimistic in these temperatures.
I called a bookers to stock up on the food for breakfasts and brought a new dishwasher over from curry's to fit.
The lake is full and the back lake is filling nicely, but there was some cat ice on the shallows. There's plenty of water coming in on both lakes and the pipe from foxpool is filtering water into Chad's pool nicely so it won't be long before thats full another 3 to 4 feet to go. As I walked around it seemed a lot drier than when we finished the dig and even the soft silt we dumped in between the the two lakes had a crust on it. Don't get me wrong its still soft as you can see from the deer prints in the mud.
Foxpool is about 4cm off running over the spillway so when its full it will be about 6cm tops off the top of the new swim 4 which is ideal for netting fish. So im glad I judged that right as it was low when I re did the front last year, before we completed it,so least I judged that right.
There's still a monumental amount of work to do on the new lake but ive got a few years to chip away at that. But least we can move the fish over this spring when we net the stockpond. i think the water will clear after the bottom settles aswell.
Big thanks to gert for looking after the place and feeding the fish in my absence much Apreciatted. Im off there now to sample some of silves culinary delights 😊.
Have a great new year boys and girls and hope 2026 is a good year for you all.
I look forward to welcoming some of you back next season and meeting our new anglers . Thanks Graham foxpool.

12/12/2025

Sorry its been a while, but life's been hectic to say the least with having the contractor in for the dig out, then packing down and back to the uk for my mates funeral.
I hope your all looking forward to Christmas and some time off with family & friends, I know I'm looking forward to time with Thomas.
Whilst in the uk i've stocked up on supplies for next year as we ran out of beans and tomatoes the last 2 weeks of the season and lidl beans dont cut it tbh. So sorry for those who had to make do with lidl beans but were fully re stocked now courtesy of bookers.
Just a quick one on availability for 2026 there's still some great weeks left. I know lots of you tend to book up after Xmas is out of the way . Here is what's left .
AVAILABILITY 2026
APRIL
11TH. FREE FOR minimum of 2 anglers
MAY .
2ND MAY 3 SPACES AVAILABLE
10TH MAY FREE
24TH MAY FREE
JUNE.
6TH,13TH AND 27TH FREE
JULY. FULL
AUGUST
22ND 3 PLACES AVAILABLE.
SEPTEMBER
5TH ,12TH FREE
OCTOBER
10TH,17TH & 24TH FREE.
There were some big fish not seen last year and some characters aswell.
The big plated linear, the big mirror the fully scaled and stus common didn't come out last year so hopefully they'll be out soon bigger than ever. We have upped the feed over the winter and im going to lime the deeper half of the lake in January as I think it makes a big difference especially with decreasing natural food . Im hoping to empty the stock pond late march early April and move the best fish into the new lake to grow on in there.
Im switching to solar slings next year as the new ones we got last year didn't last unfortunately. I also will have the tackle wall up and running for the start of the new season with hooks pva leads clips sleeves ect and re stock on the rig marole tubing too. So lots still to do over the winter the lakes are filling slowly.
Here a few pics of the ones that got away last year. And few of the little gems that sneeked through.
Have a great Xmas boys and girls hope Santa brings you lots of new tackle 😁.
We look forward to seeing you all soon.
Thanks for everyone who's been out ladt year and those who have booked on for next year .your continued support is much Apreciatted . Cheers Graham

02/12/2025

Its appears Ryanair has released next years flights now. Unfortunately it seems that Manchester flights are now friday and sunday not Saturday but its possible they may change at a later date, as happened previous year's. Both east Midlands and stanstead are both Saturday flights .
Also Leeds Bradford from June is a Saturday flight. And Bristol is currently a sunday flight. We will still operate Saturday til Saturday next year as usual .
Many thanks. Graham foxpool.

13/11/2025

its that time of year where everything turns from green to gold and days go shorter than nights.
A slow end too what has been a tricky season at times. It's been the driest summer in france for a long time with many lakes struggling for water .
We were lucky in that sense as we emptied Chad's pool in preparation for the dig out.
Thankfully the dig is finished now, well i say finished unfortunately the contractor had to pull a lot of earth to the side as we struggled to get everything moved due where it needed to go due to the rain . So I will drop the water next summer again to move what I need then we start to.look at getting 3 pegs on it and landscaping the banks and track . Unfortunately its far to wet to do anything with it now and its going to be 6 months before I can start working again on it.
The plan is to move the best of the stockpond fish over there next year and start to feed them over the next few years then look at buying some bigger fish i intend to put 200 fish over there as I want to grow some fish on to put another 40 fish in foxpool to create more competition for food in there as its been slow at times this year.
Im going to lime foxpool again this winter as it i think it kills a lot of the natural food chain in the lake and I think a lot of fish switched on to naturals due to angling pressure.back end of the season. Im also going to try and close every 6th week to give them a break and let them mop up the bait we also close aswell for the summer shutdown.
We had some nice little scaley mirrors come through this year and with removal of the catfish we need to get some more predators in there to keep the small fish at bay but we can now remove any that come out into next door.
With the cost of the new dig that takes my investment since taking over, to over £100,000 which is staggering but we have a lot of heavy plant now to maintain and develop the lakes. Fortunately this season we dont need much to purchase tackle wise unfortunately the slings we bought last year were not up to standard so im going to switch to solar slings next season I have new bivvys .
The cabin could do with a re fit next season but I also need to get electricity and water over to the cabin on Chad's pool and fit that out as a two bedroom chalet. So still lots of money to invest.
Well xmas is just around the corner im away next month on a much deserved holiday to cape Verde with my son .Then we start again in preparation for 2027.
We have doubled the feed going in foxpool over the winter with gert feeding the fish when im away so a big thanks to him and silve for there continued support .

31/10/2025

A big thankyou to Jason and steve for coming out last week to help me pack down . We got lots of jobs done like the roof for the lean too at the back of the house, some fencing to close access from the road ,encased the water meter that had collapsed cleaning the machinery. Unloading a ton of maize for over the winter. Big thanks for j for treating us all to the Chinese buffet in chatauroux.
Fishing was slow but steve managed a 39lb mirror from peg 1.
We're all closed up now until next April when we kick off again. Thankyou all who have been out this year its been tough at times this season. Especially the last month.

28/10/2025

Last morning on the dig out today before the low loader comes to collect the machine.
The weather has gone against us the 2nd half of the dig limiting the use of the dumper .
We have a good depth of over 7ft at the deep end and 5ft in the shallows where we left a bit of the original lake bed in.
Hopefully it fills over the winter but it needs to dry out around the banks until we begin the big job of tidying the banks .
A long way to go yet but a big step forward getting the depth required to open it as a fishery.
It will be interesting to see the water colour after it fills as it was a clear lake before but now we're back to a clay bottom it may brown up .
Im shattered now after a long season followed by the works.
Im heading home for my mates funeral on friday and a short break .
Then we go again next April.
Thanks for your continued support this year . See you all next year . Graham foxpool.