Over the last few years since I first stocked Lac Du Villefond I have been witness to a lot of changes at the lake not least how the fish have grown into absolute monsters in a relatively short space of time. As the carp have grown in size they have become accustomed to more and more anglers trying to pose for a photograph with them and as a consequence of this they have seen many rigs and become experts at spotting or ejecting carp angler’s rigs.
Gone are the days when I could pop down the lake after lunch with a PVA bag of shelf life baits, flick them out in front on me on a basic bottom bait rig with little thought of hook or presentation and land a few fish before dinner. Now as the fish have grown in size they have grown in cunning and in the following article I will try to show some of the rigs used to bank some of the real characters at Villefond.
First I’ll start by explaining the problem. Some weeks at our lake have proven very frustrating for anglers; some even having 15+ fish take the bait and give them absolute screaming takes before they strike only to have the bait come straight out of the carps mouths. The problem also comes in the form of very funny indication on the anglers bite alarms… bleeps but not runs.
The problem lies with the fish and not the angler!  The fish particularly the older and larger fish, have seen so many rigs that they have changed the way they feed to ensure they visit the bank less often, which some have become very good at. Some of our residents grace the banks maybe once a year, some once every 3 years and some are still being caught for the first time!
If some of the fish have never been caught then how do they become rig shy? I believe the answer is in the lake, more accurately the natural food in the lake. I have fished hundreds of lakes but rarely do I hear of a lake that has the natural food source that ours does. The carp have no competition from other bottom feeding species like tench/ bream or other small….

Carp fishing in France at Villefond