Carp Fishing in France

Friday, 8 June 2012

Free Running and Dropper Carp Rigs

Free Running and Dropper Rigs

by Chas Cook

A large proportion of anglers carp fishing in France still prefer to use free running lead set-ups incorporating little or no bolt effect. This combination of no bolt effect, slack lines and slack bait runners results in many anglers missing many takes, or when the anglers are winding down to the carp and striking to set the hooks, the carp either pull the hooks or cut themselves off.

The bolt effect in the rig I’m about to describe is achieved by the swivel being pushed firmly home into the Fox in-line sleeve. This set-up lends itself to fishing to open water marks and is very good on lakes with silty bottoms and also with some weed cover. When casting this rig to the anglers’ spots the multiple pva foamed hook length feathers the lead through the water bringing it to rest as shown in Photo 9 below. The rig is also good on waters where there is heavy silt.

Using this rig, I have caught many wary carp on pressured venues. When the bait enters the carp’s mouth, the weight of the lead pricks the carp and as soon as it tries to dislodge the hook by shaking it’s head or spinning on the spot, the swivel pulls from the lead and the rig immediately becomes a free running set-up. The carp believes it has dislodged the lead set-up and rapidly leaves the area, resulting in a one-toner take.

The rig can be used with a pop-up or bottom bait or critically balanced bait set-up; the mainline is fished slack and bait runners are engaged. It is the only time I use bait runners.

The Free Running Rig

This rig has been shown in past UK carp magazines and retains the lead. It is a free running rig incorporating a bolt effect and is for slack lines and baitrunners.

Component parts;

* 3oz – 5oz distance lead

* Fox inline inner sleeve

YOU CAN READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Carp Fishing in France

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

A Tactical Approach to Carp Fishing at Margot

It has been over 6 years since I visited the Premier Big fish water of Margot. It was back in August of 2006 when Jim Kelly and I made our visit to the lake as test anglers for Angling Lines. The temperatures were in the late thirties early forties, blistering hot but we still managed to catch plenty of carp. At that time Margot did have its problems, with low water levels, lots of weed and the lake was full of Poisson chat.

This time it is mid May of 2012 when I arrived at the Margot along with my fishing companion, Phil Russell. The temperatures were in the mid teens and the forecast was for bright sunny days at the beginning of our week and turning changeable towards the end of the week. The water level was high, almost to the top of the banks and there was little sign of weed and no reports of Poisson chat problems.

Lake improvements and facilities

The facilities are 1^st class for a bivvy only water, excellent shower, toilet, washroom, plenty of freezer and fridge capacity, plenty of electric points for charging bait boats etc, and a fully equipped kitchen, with oven, grill, electric rings, and microwave.

All the swims have been either extended out into the lake, or the margins have been deepened for landing fish. Each swim is now provided with a Nash Monster carp cradle and large rubber horse mats.

All the swims have vehicular access and all have plenty of water in front of them to apply 4 rods with ease.

Another asset to the lake is the bread deliveries that are made to the lake each morning by a local Baker who supplies, baguettes, croissants and cakes

Arrival at the Lake

The previous week’s anglers had numbered 8 in total, so every available swim had been fished, with 7 out of the 8 anglers using bait boats. Mark Bushell had already completed one week in swim 5 and was there for his second spell on the lake. Only one other angler was to join us and that was Alex Shepherd.

We sorted out our swims with Mark moving into swim 6, Alex in swim 8, Phil in swim 4 and I dropped in swim 3.

Tactics

Now my usual tactics for a lake of Margot’s size, this being around 19 acres, would be to start off fishing with single baits or PVA bags and introducing bait slowly until I had built up a feeding pattern. On this occasion I decided on a different approach due to the fact that there had been 7 anglers on the lake with bait boats.

I envisaged that there would be a large spread of bait all around the centre of the lake.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Carp Fishing in France

The results of the Winter Work at Vaux

The platform double swim

Once again major work at the top end of the Vaux continued throughout the winter of 2011/12.

We removed (we hope!) the last of the old tree stumps and tops of trees which had been blown into the lake many years ago.

In addition, some 45 small trees were removed from the area, some growing in the water and the others along the bank. The top was dug out again to further extend this area of the lake.

First double swim as it is now

The shrubs along the fishing bank were all cut right back to allow anglers more access to the water; one large shrub has been completely removed from the first double swim giving the swim all round access to the lake, a true double swim.

The platform and all other decking were covered with non-slip materials and the remaining paths with geotextile.

Lastly, carp are now prevented from swimming beneath the large platform.

Hard work… but worth it!

Fishing Holiday at Vaux

Bivvy Power Lights the Way!

Power Pack and Lighting system sets available for hire at Glehias for 15 euros per set per week.

Complete set includes:

Power Pack, Charger, Internal Light and External Light with Remote Control.

The ‘Remote Lighting System’ not only allows you to illuminate your bivvy, but the area outside it too… and all from a remote control fob which you can attach to a necklace and wear to bed!

So, in that moment of urgency, when you are awoken in the dark by a screaming run, you can illuminate the situation immediately and see exactly what you are doing. The interior lighting is so good you could even tie rigs in your bivvy in the middle of the night without a struggle!

The power pack is small and is incredibly long lasting. It will power a portable DVD player for up to 10 hours of film play or run your lighting for over 50 hours of continuous use. Not to mention you can use it to charge your phone, PSP, MP3 players etc, in fact anything you can run in your car on the 12 volt car socket, you can run on ‘Bivvy Power’.

The system is seriously impressive… so easy to set up, robust and weather proof, once you’ve tried it, this is one product that you won’t want to be bankside without!

French carp fishing

Good Times with Old Friends at Molyneux

Molyneux Report to 12th May 2012;

As I mentioned at the end of last week’s report, we were expecting some very important guests at Molyneux… our very good friends Oz and Caroline were travelling over to spend the week with us.

We have known them both for a few years now as we used to fish the same syndicate lake in Cambridgeshire and having similar outlooks on life; we became firm friends and have kept in touch even after we moved away. Work commitments meant they couldn’t get over last year, so a date had been set for this year. They arrived late on Friday afternoon, and as luck would have it they were the only people on the lake that week. After they had got themselves sorted and unpacked we cracked open a few beers and sat down to catch up over a lovely evening meal prepared by Helen.

Oz and Caroline were staying in the cabin, at least initially, and come Saturday morning Oz was eager to get his rods out after seeing a few fish topping out in front of the swim. Being a very good and precise angler I didn’t think he would take too long before he got amongst the fish.

It didn’t take him long at all and he had caught a couple of good carp in the early hours of Saturday morning. After breakfast, I took him out in the boat and we had a prod around the swim, and I showed him where I thought he would be advised to spread a little bait. Thankfully the fish were playing ball and the spots proved to be good ones, as he continued catching at a steady rate during the course of the first few days.

After the initial rush to get his rods in, the week took a much more relaxed turn, and we spent long lazy days enjoying a beer or three, and chatting about good times we had spent together on Grenville. It was also very nice for Helen to have a little female company and have a conversation which didn’t involve carp, catfish and pb’s!

We even had a day out which was wonderful, as we are normally so busy around the place with anglers, or preparing for anglers to arrive that we have little chance to get out and about to do the sightseeing bit. We went to Monet’s Garden and house, which is only around 9-10 km away in a lovely little place called Giverny. Whilst I know not many anglers are interested in doing much other than catching fish when over here it really is a beautiful place, and well worth a visit to see the gardens and of course lake where most of his painting was actually done.

Oz decided that for the last night he and Caroline would like to sleep out in the bivvy, and give another swim a go, just so they could wake up in a bivvy during their stay.

They moved into the double swim on the Friday afternoon and after an unhurried dinner of cheese, pate, French bread, chorizo, and wine with the odd beer or two to wash it all down nicely, they wandered around to the swim, where Caroline actually managed to catch herself a monster of a carp at 38lb 8oz on Oz’ rods. A man of the utmost generosity I think you would agree!

Sadly Saturday morning rolled around again all too quickly, we had enjoyed a fantastic week with old friends and it had almost seemed like being on holiday ourselves which was a welcome break to be honest after the hectic start to the year we have seen.

Oz and Caroline set off for home, with a promise to come and see us again next year, and we truly can’t wait.

Oz’s tally for the week was as follows;

26lb, 27lb, 28lb, 29lb, 29lb 4oz, 30lb 2oz, 34lb, 35lb 8oz, 37lb, 21lb Common, 27lb, 38lb, 25lb, 26lb, 34lb, 38lb, and a 30lb catfish.

He also lost probably around six fish as they kited left from his spot across toward the snag tree to the left of the cabin swim.

A cracking weeks angling, when you consider that most of every day was spent socializing.

Awesome to see you both looking so well, and great to be able to spend as much time together as we did. We look forward to your next visit with great anticipation.

French Carp Lakes

Angling Lines May Webcast

In this edition we bring you up to date with all the 2012 carp captures, Billy’s “Living the dream” series… and focus on some great family carping trips.