gfish

good fruity bait as said in previous thread. small beds of bait. plenty of warm gear

alright mate there will be some baits that will out fish others but very much doubt it will be the only one that works. in my opinion carp will almost eat anything presented to them and quite often the location of the bait will be more important than the bait itself

personally i would use a seperate hook length. try using double strength in about a 10lb breaking strain. really good for surface work

befor anyone could advice you on what rod to buy it would be ideal to find out what fish you are actually fishing for, method of fishing etc. there are some good bargains to be found on rods but choosing the wrong one for the method of fishing you choose will just be a waste of money.

i personally use leadcore myself and if used correctly it is pretty safe. i will agree in the wrong hands it could be quite dangerous. as for the issues of bulky knots, once again i do not have this problem if tied correcltly ther will not be a bulky knot. i will always ensure that my lead set up will always pass over any knots. as for the scaring of fish you will often find that this comes from stuff in the lake, including lateral scarring. another thing how many of us have been surface fishing whare no tubing in used, has your nylon ever resulted in the damage of fish or the lifting of sacles as i have never seen this and nylon is as sharp as cheese wire when stretched. in my oppinion there are many items of tackle out there that when used wrong are a danger to are much loved fish. take for example the great barbed - barbless debate???

like in above posts will last an age. i tend to re hydrate them when i go back out on another session. i either use the water from my hemp or lake water, and always use a dip.

standard hair rig mate, will never fail you. bait wise, well what ever works on your particualr water. big beds of particles work well for both carp and bream. dont ignore natural baits like maggots and worms.

pretty much agree with budgie, the fish will often follow the wind, especially a warm breeze. depending on what alarms you use the wind really shouldnt make a diffrence. as for your set up, if your having trouble with accuracy, just increase the weight a little.

right matty i fish quite alot in france and theres is alot to offer. what i will say is dont just think that because you are going to france that you are going to catch. i have been on a number of occasions and caught sod all. like said in a previous post jan probs aint the best time to go, fish behave in exactly the same manner as they do over here. as for venues thres thousands to choose from its just finding one that suts your particular needs. it can still be really hard going but the rwards can be there if you put the hard work in. best thing i can advise before booking anywhere ask around on the forums about the place you are intrested in that way you can usually build a picture up of what the place will be like, you will be well advised to do this once you have chosen your venue, to pick up little tips and tactics before you go. as for what will you need to take, what ever you use over here.