111 Carp for 3,300lb+ … & the first 50!

111 Carp for 3,300lb+ … & the first 50!

August 16, 2012DavidNo comments

A group of 5 anglers has just smashed all records with yet another Commons mega catch.

Dickie Williams claimed a new lake record and the venue’s first ever 50lb carp with a 50lb 8oz Common. David Williams also claimed a new lake record Grass Carp at 40lb 1oz.

Total catch was 111 fish, totalling 3,300lb +

40.01 – new lake record Grass Carp

Carp:

*  1 x 50lb 8oz (New Lake Record)

*  3 x 40′s

*  47 x 30′s

*  43 x 20′s

*  1 under 20lb

Grass Carp:

*  13 to 41lb 1oz (New Lake Record)

Cats:

*  3 cats to 68lb 8oz

And just to underline what a prolific venue Commons is, only 8 of the 111 fish were under 20lb!

Fishing France at Commons Lake

Different Tactics Catch Carp

Different Tactics Catch Carp

August 15, 2012DavidNo comments

Chas with his 43.08 mirror

Kevin and Nikki arrived at Vaux on Saturday, 7^th July.  A large area of low pressure had settled over northern France giving lower than average temperatures and higher than average rainfall which continued throughout the week, but this weather did undoubtedly contribute to the catch rate.  Our anglers fished their own tactics for the whole of the week, using slack lines, smaller leads and back leading even to the far banks, using their own baits and only fishing days and not all day, every day.   The carp were showing by rolling or topping and were so active that Kevin and Nikki said that they would have taken any bait, freezer or preserved, and would have come to any tactic;  the tactics worked because of the aggressive nature of the feeding carp.  85% of the carp came from the top of the lake where it is shallower and, therefore, water temperature is higher than the main body of the lake.

Nikki with a 37.08

Kevin and Nikki left early on Saturday morning and I was looking forward to a week of fishing myself, due to a cancellation.  Weather conditions continued wet and miserable.  At 10am I could see a large number of carp topping and rolling in the top bay, with a few showing on the dam wall.  So I decided that I would not fish to the top bay, but would fish for the week from the dam wall to the deeper part of the lake to the right hand bank, heavily baiting one area with 150kgs of particles and carp and trout pellets and using my own big carp tactics, completely different tactics to those of the previous week, with the aim of pursuing the larger carp in the lake and trying to exclude the smaller ones.  I usually like to fish the day following heavy baiting, but an hour later a good sized mirror rolled on my baited spot and contrary to my normal practice, I decided to put two rods out to the baited spot immediately.  Both rods were baited with critically balanced DNA dumbells, a set-up rarely seen by the carp.  My hook lengths and lead set-ups were as shown in my Big Carp Euro Rig article.  I spent seven hours thoroughly enjoying my fishing, managing to catch nine carp of good size:  mirrors – 2 x 40s at 46lb and 43lb8oz, 5 x 30s at 36lb, 34lb, 32lb, 38lb and 38lb14oz, and commons – 1 x 35lb and 1 x 29lb.  I believe the 46lb carp came from where the first fish had rolled and judging from the colour and scale pattern of that carp, I believe it was that same fish.  I ended my session at about 7pm with the intention of returning the next day to bivvy at Vaux for the rest of the week.

However, on Sunday morning Kevin and Nikki returned for a second week at Vaux, continuing their same tactics from the previous week, largely ignoring my baited spot and chasing carp in the top bay where no heavy baiting was needed.  They achieved two outstanding weeks’ of fishing with a final total of 69 carp, but including my catches, 78 were landed during the whole two weeks.

During that fortnight, the large carp were showing by rolling and topping, but although they were very active, no 40s fell to to our anglers.  The fact is that my complete change of tactics of baiting and hook length set-ups definitely contributed to the downfall of the 46lb and 43lb8oz

CHAS

Fishing Holiday at Vaux

Oakview Lake Record Beaten with 42lb 3oz Mirror

Oakview Lake Record Beaten with 42lb 3oz Mirror

August 14, 2012DavidNo comments

42.03

Gary Hewes fishing at Oakview w/c 28th July banked a new lake record and smashed his PB with his first ever 40 pounder.

The 42lb 3oz mirror smashes his previous PB of 31lb 8oz banked at Oakview last year.

Total haul so far this week is 20 and counting.

Carp fishing in France with accommodation at Oakview

7 Tips for Combating Crayfish in Carp Lakes

7 Tips for Combating Crayfish in Carp Lakes

August 13, 2012DavidNo comments

Crayfish occur naturally in most lakes & rivers in France.  The carp love to eat them & almost without exception where there’s large carp you’ll find crayfish too… they are an excellent source of protein which makes the carp grow very quickly.

Under normal circumstances they are not a problem to anglers but in the hot summer months when the water is warm even lakes without a crayfish problem can suddenly find they have some activity in the margins.  They will nibble away at your boilies and if the bait is soft enough they can completely remove them from the rig.  They can also cause the rigs to tangle with their incessant pulling & tugging.  But don’t despair you can get around them.

Here are some tactics you can employ;

1. Use rock hard air dried boilies as hookbaits.  At least 48 hours drying so that they are so hard that you need a drill to get the hair through.
2. Use plastic boilies as hookbaits.
3. Use hemp and/or particle mix as a background feed. Don’t just use boilies
4. Use plastic sweetcorn as your hookbait.  Fish 4 on a “stack” on your hair.
5. Feed on a little and often basis & re-cast every couple of hours.  This allows you to re-bait & check that your rigs are not tangled or have been dragged into silkweed.
6. Use protective mesh or shrink tube on hookbaits.
7. Here’s some videos covering this subject.

Carp Fishing Videos

Great Mas Bas Lotus Lake Feedback

Great Mas Bas Lotus Lake Feedback

August 12, 2012DavidNo comments

Holiday date: Sat 7th Jul to Sat 14th Jul 2012
Name of customer: Adrian Brown
Number of anglers: 1

Details of your catches: There was just myself fishing, too many fish caught to mention here but the highlights were: pb mirror 37lb in fact 1st fish caught! Double mainline cell 18mm with mixed pellet pva bag. Pb common 21lb 8oz double mainline cell 18mm lots of 10lb + and mid twenty mirrors and the odd common, also just a few grass carp up to 17lb +

Your best tactics/bait/rigs: First of all i must say i have only been carp fishing for a year so i’m a complete carping novice, but i have coarse and sea fished all of my life. Main tactics were big baits, big sharp hooks (micro barb is recommended by giles) and big leads 3-4 oz as the fish have hard mouths, most bait worked, if you use small baits expect smaller fish. Lead safety clips are a must – expect to lose leads! I used 18lb fox mainline to leadcore leader and coated hook lengths to size 4 fox arma point hooks. Although quest raja spice boilies were available, i found that most bait caught fish, i will next time however use just one type of boilie either raja spice 20mm, scopex 20mm or mainline cell 18mm, and about 10kg is adequate for the week, scattering bait in a wide area brought in the fish there is no real need for bait boats on lotus, dumping piles and piles of bait in one or two spots is frankly not needed, the fish do patrol from the shallows to the deeper water to feed, fish were caught from the shallows but it is very snaggy. There was lots of fish caught, too many to list, i fished mainly in the afternoon and evening, i baited the left hand bank in the morning with mixed boilies went out to visit the local markets and towns and sight seeing during the day as the carp tended to congregate in the shallows at the far end of the lake basking in the sunshine. Nearly all my fish came from the left hand bank it was the easiest place to fish and bait, but beware there are a couple of sunken stumps and the fish know they are there! Only had to use the dingy once to rescue a fish which, i was told, looked hilarious as i’m not a small chap and its a very small dingy!

Were the facilities what you expected? The accommodation was fantastic in willow, dish washer, washing machine, fully equipped kitchen, very comfortable beds, the outside gazebo made an excellent base to sit and wait for fish while eating and drinking, the gazebo has a powerpoint and two lights, one over the fishing platform, excellent idea giles! The hosts leslie and giles were brilliant, very helpful and nothing was any trouble to them to satisfy our stay, even giles finding some maggots for us, top tip if you want to fish maggot or worm for the coarse fish take your own as the price of maggots is extortionate in france and not easy to find.
Were you happy with them? Very happy

Accommodation facilities (rated 1-5): 
Accommodation cleanliness (rated 1-5): 
Accommodation overall (rated 1-5): 

Would you recommend the venue to a friend? This was not just a fishing holiday, this was a relaxing holiday for us as a couple, and my wife was really pleased with mas bas (phew!) and has absolutely fallen in love with the place and surrounding area. We drove down from roscoff and stayed in limoges over night and then on to cahors and finally mas bas on late saturday afternoon. It is a long drive but don’t let that put you off, we avoided the dreaded motorways and saved about £70 on tolls, to be honest the roads were fairly empty compared to gb and very easy duel carriageways.

Would you recommend our services to a friend? I have recommended to all my mates already and hoping to return august next year with all the family!

General comments: Just a brilliant venue

Fishing holidays at Mas Bas

Tips for Hot Weather Carp Care

Tips for Hot Weather Carp Care

August 11, 2012DavidNo comments

Paul Cooper & Jim Kelly enjoyed a prolific session on Alder taking 161 carp in the week, even though temperatures exceeded 30 degrees most days. In this short video Paul gives us some tips on how to ensure the carp are well looked after on the bank in such hot weather.

Carp Fishing in France at Alder

Maiden Century at Alder Carp Lake

Maiden Century at Alder Carp Lake

August 9, 2012DavidNo comments

Jim Kelly – 39.09

Paul Cooper and Jim Kelly were fishing Alder lake for Angling Lines, both anglers were quickly into the fish and the action became so manic that Paul reduced his rods down to two and pulled them out for a rest at night.

Although Paul caught the most fish, Jim caught a bigger stamp of fish rounding out at 39lbs 9oz.

Paul Cooper – 26.06

While not pre-empting what will be a great article from Paul and Jim, one of the key points I took from their session was the importance of an adequate supply of bait to keep the carp in the target area. Unlike English lakes, these lakes are not fished week in and week out leaving the 200+ fish easily triggered into a feeding frenzy. Paul and Jim were trickling in 5Kg of boilies, each per day.

Interestingly the previous holder of the individual catch record (Bill Holcombe with 80 carp) also followed the feeding strategy of little and often and got through approx 30Kg of boilies.

You needn’t be worried about spoiling the fishing for the following group, the fish are continuing to feed this week.

Congratulations to Paul and Jim for a great and educational session and well done for the new Alder individual catch record of 100: Paul.

Carp Fishing in France at Alder