67lb Mirror Banked at Laroussi

Angler Steve Gaunt smashed his previous PB of 56lb 5oz this week with this Laroussi monster...

Here's what Steve had to say;

'Fish fought really hard , bite happened at 3:30AM at 65 Yards along the margin from L'Anse peg on a spot that Mehdi suggested to me the previous day!  I'm over the moon! Great place, we'll be back!'

They had a few other really decent sized carp during the week including a 51lb and a 48lb.

67lb

For more information on Laroussi follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Water Temperatures at Notaires

I have seen from the forums that there is a great deal of interest in the environmental conditions at the various carp lakes.

Raspberry Pi and circuit board

I am pleased to announce that Notaires Lakes now has live online monitoring which can be seen here. The system is based around the famous Raspberry Pi “computer on a credit card”. We have sensors for air and water temperature, air pressure and humidity.

One sensor is in the swimming pool (for interest, although it’s also providing a reference point) and two are in the lake margin under the willows; one just under the surface and the other about a foot deep. With the sensors shaded by the willows they should be unaffected by direct sunlight and are in the current of water flowing out of the lake spillway.

Water Temperatures

Even with the only two days of “in water” data, the trends are fascinating. The variation in temperature between day and night is 3 degrees. The other particularly useful sensor is the atmospheric pressure sensor, or barometer. Guests can check the current trend, rising or falling each day, and adjust tactics accordingly.

One guest recently emailed me to ask what the weather was doing that day. Well, now you can check online for yourself in an instant!

Chris and Steph Dagg, Owners at Notaires
For more information on the lake follow the link - Fishing Holidays

How to get the best out of French Carp Fishing in France

I think that it fair to say that most anglers that visit French carp waters expect to catch big carp and lots of them, beating their British PB's by a fair margin.

A feedback report from Villefond, you can even select exact months to see how what to expect throughout the year...

Carp are the same in France as in England, they can be temperamental and totally shut down their feeding programme for weeks at a time. When they do go on the feed anglers can have bumper catches with some huge fish gracing the bank.

There are many companies that provide French angling, either exclusive bookings or shared lakes. Unfortunately the catches that are reported are usually only when a group of anglers have a big hit. They do not provide any information when folks blank or catch very few or even small fish.

Now lets take a look at Angling Lines. Check out the feedback reports that customers put on the web site following a visit to one of the Angling Lines waters. You will see unedited reports and true feedback. If there are issues that are controversial, Angling Lines may add a comment but will not remove the feedback unless it is offensive.

Things to consider before making the decision on what water to fish.

• Firstly look at your angling ability and experience. It is no good aiming for a big fish water that contains only a small stocking of carp if you want lots of runs, especially if you are new to the carp scene. The reason that the carp are big is because of a healthy stocking level, which means fewer fish and fewer runs.
• There are plenty of waters that are available that will provide runs galore, but you may have to wade through lots of smaller carp to catch some of the bigger residents.
• Check out the location of the venue as there can be vast differences in travel times from ports.
• Decide if you want exclusive, shared lakes, bivvy only or a lake with accommodation.
• If you are a bait boat user, clarify if they can be used or not and also check on the availability of power points.

Once that you have selected a venue that suits your requirements.

• Read the feedback reports, baring in mind that some anglers may knock the venue and fish stocks, just because they have had a  poor week's fishing. Read lots of reports and you will get a clearer picture of what to expect.
• Check out the articles, they are written for the benefit of new customers as well as old ones.
• Make sure that you have 100% confidence in your choice of bait and check out what is supplied at your chosen venue, just in case you need a top up.
• If their are issues with Poison Chat or crayfish, be prepared to combat them because these waters usually contain some huge carp. Check out the video's here in the technical section for more information.

Your 1st day at the venue

Now it can be easy to have a pre-conceived idea prior to your arrival that a certain swim will produce the most fish. It is worth taking note of what areas have produced the goods in the past but on the day of arrival everything could have changed. Angling pressure and climate change could easily move the carp to an area of the lake not normally associated with high catch rates.

Watch for signs of carp movement

So what should you do.

• If there is a catch report book, check it out to see which swims produced the previous week.
• Speak to the bailiff or owner, they can usually point you in the right direction.
• I would still get hold of a marker rod, a pair of good binoculars and a pair of polarised sun glasses.
• Study the water looking for any signs of feeding fish, vortexes caused by carp, clouded or coloured water, fizzing or carp showing themselves by crashing or lumping out. This may take a few hours but it could be worth it as you are there for a week. Make the right decision on swim choice could make the difference between a good and a poor weeks fishing.
• Lead and plumb your chosen swim, trying to find an area that you can present a bait comfortably.
• Even if you are using a bait boat it is important to try and find a clean suitable area to fish, at a distance that you can cast to comfortably. If your bait boat breaks down or the wind picks up, you may find it difficult to cast to your baited area, and you will have to start all over again in developing another one.
• Begin a baiting campaign with a little and often approach. Once the carp start feeding introduce more bait accordingly to the ratio of feeding carp that you think are in the swim.
• Always watch the water. The fish may move and if it is possible you may have to move with them. I have moved 3 or 4 times during a week to keep up with feeding fish.

The video below shows how to effectively find features in your swim...

The rest is up to you. I know that there are a lot of anglers out there that are very experienced in what they do, but we are not all blessed with that wealth of experience. The articles and videos that are available on the Angling Lines web site, are put on for the benefit of all anglers, especially for those who are willing to learn and develop their fishing.

I wish you all the best in your future angling. Take a look at Paul Cooper's fishing tips on Quality Baits for some more tips.

Paul Cooper

For over 60 technical videos on baiting, rigs, techniques and tactics follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Winter is Coming

It's approaching that time of year again when the carp go on a massive feed before the Winter sets in. September and October are, in my opinion, the best times of the year for a number of reasons.

21lb 13oz on new bait, September

Firstly, the carp should have fully recovered from this years spawning and will now be at their natural weights. Any weight gain for next year will be made in the next few weeks as the carp prepare for the winter and begin to develop their eggs for the next years spawning. Over the next 6 weeks the fish will be feeding hard and can be caught over large beds of bait. Most of the weed has died or is dying back make natural food abundant in open water. If you can compete with the naturals with a good quality boilie you could have some excellent results.

Boux carp caught Mid-October at 49lb 14oz

Now is the time that I start to reduce the size of my boilies from 18 mils down to 15mils or even smaller. The water should be getting cooler so I never over flavour any bait at this time of year and I will be working towards reducing the fishmeal content and oils down to zero as winter sets in. Also I stop using  particles and pellets and go to a boilies only approach.

Another October English carp at 24lb 12oz

I am off to Old Oaks this weekend with David Keep of Angling Lines, and although the usual approach for this water is particles and boilies, I aim to stick to my principals with a boilie only approach. The boilies we will be using are provided by Quality Baits in the new HG All Seasons and the ever faithful Patshull Park with a new combination of flavours and essential oil. I have been putting the new baits through their paces over the past fortnight resulting in captures of carp on all of my 4 trips, each lasting no more than 3 hours.

November and they are still on the feed

Shortly after returning from Old Oaks I will be preparing for a trip to Brocard with Jim Kelly. This should take me through to mid October so hopefully I will have a few decent weeks of fishing left before the cold days set in.

Paul Cooper

For more field testing tales click herePaul Cooper 2013 Fishing Diary

Inflight at Boux

An aerial flight over Boux carp lake, designed to give you a real taster of the venue's layout and lake features.

As many of you will know, Boux has had reputation for top class carp fishing in France since the 1980's with many famous anglers having visited its banks. That tradition continues and Boux still produces hard fighting carp at consistently high weights with 40lb+ carp out almost every week.

For more information on Boux follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Hail and cold water - Was this really August?

I was very fortunate to fish Jonchery's smaller counterpart, Jonchery 7, earlier this year. During my visit I took the opportunity to do a few laps of the main Jonchery lake.  On my way around I chatted with the anglers and was amazed to find that some had been coming since they were children, others only fished at Jonchery and visited six or seven times a year! That’s a measure of their loyalty that I haven’t seen at other French waters and speaks volumes for the venue, the fish, the facilities and of course the owners who manage it.

It’s an easy drive to Jonchery straight down the A26 motorway onto the new Reims ring road and down towards Troyes. As we motored along we chased dark storm clouds and eventually overtook them. At the venue we chose swim 2. I had seriously hurt my back putting the whole trip in jeopardy so we took the swim nearest to the car and the facilities. We quickly put up our camp and as I organised my bivvy the storm caught up with us. There had been a heatwave in the weeks preceding our trip and suddenly there was torrential rain and massive hailstones in August!  Over the next few hours the water temperature went from bath water to cold water. We were unsure whether the influx of cold water into the lake was a good or a bad thing, only time would tell.

We quickly set up our camp...

All the swims on Jonchery are doubles so Phil took the right hand side and I took the left. I was happy as I’d seen fish showing only two or three rod lengths out about sixty yards along the bank.

Pat Gillett’s Diary for August 2013

Thursday 1st August 2013 – River Derwent

This was to be the second trip of the season to the Derwent. To be honest I didn’t really fancy going. The weather forecast was for temperatures of up to 34 Deg. C. (the hottest day of the year so far) and I really don’t like the very hot weather! Add this to the fact that I had transport issues and it was the first day of the the third test between England and Australia and I could quite easily have stayed at home. However after a quick telephone call with my good mate Geoff Dace, he sounded keen and persuaded me to give it a go. A quick call to the garage and they confirmed that my new tyre had just come in and that if I got round there quickly they would fit it and balance it for me while I waited.

This session produced a superb barbel of 16lb 7oz, a fish which is only ounces off the river record!

After looking at the various EA sites for the different river levels, it looked as if the Derwent could well be the best bet (it was dropping, but not too quickly). We arrived at the river at about 4pm and upon stepping out of the cool of the car it was like walking into an oven, with the air temperature now being around 30 Deg. C. There were anglers already present in the area that I had the 12 pounder from last time out, so I ended up picking a likely looking swim (that I had never fished before), a good half a mile away.