Carp fishing at Etang du Moulin
Vergaville, La MoselleLake Description
Etang du Moulin - Allocarpe
Etang du Moulin is a very natural looking lake in a vast landscape where tranquility rules. Just before arriving, when you take the last turn on the path leading to the venue you'll get the fist glimpse of the lake amid the hills from a height and you'll just know: this is going to be a good one!
This 44 acre lake was created by building a dam for agricultural purposes, but now it's only being used for carp angling. The current owner started this activity 12 years ago en has not allowed any other activity since. The whole lake has been made obstacle-free. Depths vary between 4 and 13ft, with an average of 8ft. The deeper zones are to be found around swim 22. In summer you can expect some weed-growth around swim 26 and 8 but this has never been problematic.
This venue is situated a bit more to the north than most of our lakes, and it's higher. This implicates colder temperatures, and therefore the lake is closed during winter months. This being said, don't underestimate the temperatures in summer.
Swims and stock
There are quite a lot of swims here, but most of them are one angler only. Also, a maximum of 16 anglers is set to fish at the same time. Swims 1, 3, 5, 18, 24 are double swims. Swims 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 24 and 26 are accessible by car and your car can be parked there as well (with heavy rain, the track can sometimes be inaccessible). All of the other swims can be reached on foot or by bike, your gear will be dropped of by the bailiff by boat. Swims 11 - 12 have the 10€ taxi boat fee included in the price.
The exact amount of carp on the lake remains a big mystery, even the bailiff has no clue of the actual number. But please consider this quick calculation:
The last time that the lake was emptied to count fish was 12 years ago. At that time, 8 tons of carp between 15 and 18kg were counted. So that should have been a number between 445 and 534 carp. These have grown quite a bit since then, resulting in a few 30+kg fish and a lot of carp between 25 and 30kg. Those are caught regularly. Next, the owner has been restocking every second year, 6 times by now, about 70 fish per year each time. In total that gives us a total number between 865 and 954 carp, not counting any offspring!
The lake record is a 32kg mirror carp, and a 31,5kg common. There are also a multitude of big koi on this water, making this one of our top venues for all of those specimen-hunters out there. Be sure to check out the pictures for more details.
Facilities: Drive & Survive
Etang du Moulin is a "Drive & Survive" destination. There is no running water or electricity on the venue. There's a WC and shower (only cold water) but mostly these are closed. Simply don't count on it. Customers improvise and do their needs in the nature using a bucket and a shovel.
In the neighbouring town of Dieuze there is absolutely everything you could possibly need: pharmacy, supermarket, bakery, butcher, tobacco, ...
There's is no tackle-shop in the area, so keep your check-lists close before leaving. There is no option of leaving garbage on the site. You need 2 transparent bags (can be bought on site for 10€), one for recyclable materials and the other for the rest. In the little village or on the motorway home you can leave most of your garbage.
Key points
- The Lake: Etang du Moulin
- Department: Alsace
- Open: mid februari - mid november
- Distance: Calais - Etang du Moulin: 529km
- Surface: 18 hectares (44 acres)
- Bottom: clay, hardly any obstacles
- Depths: in between 1,2 and 4m
- Max # anglers allowed: 16
- Stocking: Around 900 carp
- Access: swims 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 24 and 26 are accessible by car
- Price per angler: 35€ per night
- Price per non-angler: Non-fishing guests can come for free
- WIFI: no
Rules - Etang du Moulin
La Moselle1. The angler should bring a valid booking confirmation.
2. It’s allowed to fish 24 hrs per day - catch and release
3. Bait boats & boats aren't allowed.
4. Swimming is forbidden.
5. Allowed rigs: “carp friendly” rigs (safety bolt rigs), barbless hooks and hooks with micro barb (max. size 2) and nylon mainline. The hook link should always be less strong than the main line.
6. Not Allowed: carp sacs, bent hooks, braided line, peanuts, tiger nuts. Lead Core is not allowed. Rig tube is allowed.
7. 4 Rods per angler. Bivvies and tents should be brown or green.
Each angler should have a big landing net with a min. size of 90 cm and a big unhooking mat (min. 4 cm thick, 1m large and 1,2m long)
8. Fishing is only allowed on the booked swims.
9. Please return the fish carefully to the water
10. Marking or stealing fish will be reported immediately to the local Police (Gendarmerie).
11. Alcohol abuse and drugs are not tolerated.
12. Please respect the nature and the tranquillity of the site. Keep clean the sanitary building and the swims. Please separate waste in the designated containers.
13. Dogs are allowed. Open fire is not allowed. Gas cookers and barbecues are allowed.
14. The owner can keep the refundable payment if you don’t respect the regulations
15. Arrival between 10 AM and 01 PM (after 01 PM there's no boat to bring you to the swims). Departure before 11 AM.
16. The owner and the bailiff can check the hook links at any time.
17. The owner is not responsible for theft, fire, injury or what so ever.
18. Each angler should sign the regulations declaring that he/she accepts them.
19. Waste separation: please separate glass from plastic and from paper. Do not use bags bigger than 50 liters. There's a 2€ waste collection fee per day per angler, due on arrival.
20. Guests for swims 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 21 & 22 have to pay a 10€ transportation fee per person for the "taxi boat".
Reviews
Not happy about the amount of coming and goings, was only Saturday & Tuesday but now seems everyday like a commercial day ticket, I even had someone trying to drive his van past me at 2am on Friday morning, madness!!
Fantastic time was very happy with it would book with fisherman's holidays again painless pleasent experience
beautiful lake with wonderful people.