johnhere

The French are at long last cracking down on UK owned venues that are not registered as a French business in other words they do not have what is known as a SIRET number and are therefore operating illegally. Anyone fishing one of these venues is also committing an offence and if the venue is raided while you are there you will be told to leave and I add with a good chance without your tackle. These venues if raided will also be closed on the spot and any person that has booked stands a good chance of loosing any money paid. In view of this it is vital before booking your trip to France to make sure the venue is French registered. Some do show the SIRET number on their web site but it is not a legal requirement to do so. If you cannot see one then before booking ask if they are French registered and ask for their SIRET number. If they cannot give you this number then my advice is to stay well away.....you have been warned. I have confirmed the above with our French accountants. John

Cant agree with you there Rob as we run a good venue and do long weekends in the high season due to the fact we are near Le Mans and close our lakes a week before and the weeks after arace event as we take in campers going to the events. We then take in long weekends anglers the weekend before the race. 2011 events are in May, June, Sept John

The problem you have is most good venues do not do long weekends in the season so you are looking at early and late season.

Buy 2nd hand you will get much better gear for your £150.

This is a copy of a post I put on another forum, (sorry its off topic to the poster) I was talking to a real old guy today about fishing, he gave up fishing 20 years ago. We talked about how much tackle has changed and the subject of bait boats came up. He thought they were a great idea for all the reasons a boat is great for. I then said so many people are against them saying they are cheating etc. He started laughing and said the same thing was said about the fixed spool reels when they came out its cheating, learn to cast with a proper reel......the centre pin. I use a bait where I need to. I can cast as good as anyone but for the life of me I cannot place my feed or bait under bushes or low trees. Well not without endangering the wildlife with lost rigs I can also cast a fly within 18” of where I want to and within 12” within about 15 minutes. I can also cast with a centre pin. Believe me it takes a log time to learn months even years.

"i would be getting the law involved due to discrimination" lol I heard it all now

If your reply was addressed to me then please note what I wrote and I quote “I would not like to see brightly coloured tents all round our lakes". I would have no problem with an all green tent.

As a venue owner over in France my personal view is I would not like to see brightly coloured tents all round our lakes it would just take away the atmosphere if thats the right word and spoil the setting. Most tents are single skin and therefore subject to condensation which can be very uncomfortable waking up with your sleeping covered in water and also your other gear. There are many cheap and excellent bivvies available on the market costing a little more than a tent but will last you years if looked after (but then you can spend a lot on a tent).

The problem is guys with a 3 rod set up use them at every venue they fish which is a big mistake.......sometime at some venues a 2 rod set up is best (at some venues just 1 rod). It all depends on the size of the swim and the area of water in front of you. With a 3 rod set up then the rod on the left is fish to the far left, the middle in the middle and the right yes to the far right lol Banks sticks placed correctly will mean you are far less likely to have fish tangle the other lines. With the above set up I don’t bother with back leads. With a pod then be prepared to pick up and move the other rods away when you have a fish on but warning you could still have a run on these rods, best to get someone to reel it\them in. (I have had 3 fish on at the same time.....fun but landed them all) That is why the Euro pod was invented as many anglers say in France use up to 5 rods. They fish with the tip of the rods high up keeping as much of the line to the rig out the water. Set up correctly they then when they have a fish kick a lever on the pod and the other rods swing down so the rod tips are deep under the water.

Its very hit an miss. Sometimes we get a good response then another time none. Take the special winter offer we have on now a weeks fishing for £25 + the food package many think its too good to be true, there must be a catch (there is it fish lol). But it is a genuine offer a normal week in the season would cost £195 + food and this year the venue have been fishing its head off.

We advertise our venue sometimes on e-bay. We are at the moment as we are offering a winter special deal.

How much money do you have to spend? What sort of venues are you fishing as in small large? Do you need to put out a lot of feed in 1 trip? Do you want to be able to put out just 1 rod or more?

Tactics are the same in France as in the UK. Best advise is when you get there talk to the bailiffs as they will know what working as in bait etc on your swim. The main difference is you are likely to catch a lot more fish than you would in the UK and bigger fish. One point that is often neglected is to keep inspecting your gear as it will be used more so look for weak line etc, so carry a spare spool of line (or 2) Apart from that enjoy and tight lines. John

You mean like this http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nW150U-RuTE

If you mean L'Etanchet the Millers sold it all there other venues are booked up for the year and most of next and then the year after. Your link did not work by the way, well for me anyway

Can I ask why you want the single skin when you can get the double skin for £130. Anyway the STi is a very good bivvie

If anyone is interested in Cat and Carp trip to France from 19th April then pm me. Price includes travel and cooked food. Facilities include bar\restaurant clean showers and toilets Pick up from Hull to Dover. £420 per person. Carp to over 40lb and Cats ovedr 100lb.

Ok here is the pm I sent Hi Bit hard for me to reply as I have just become joint owner. When I fished the venue as a paying guest I fished for the Cats using 21m Halibut Pellets 4\5 on a hair rig with a handful either on a stringer, pva bag or put out with bait boat. Never used live or dead baits. I have had a lot of good Cats this way all early evening or at night. You will need to use minimum 3lb tc rods with min 20lb line braid is ok with rig tube minimum of 18” 450 mm. (rig tube for carp as well). Added The record Cat is 106lb but plenty of 50\70\80lb to be had. You will also need a Cat unhooking mat can be hired at the venue and leather garden gloves are a must. Any further info then get back to me John

Only fished Willow and many many times. Don’t think they allow off the top because of the bird life, not that you need to anyway. I always fished the bank at the end of the car park the one with the bungalows on it. Do not have to cast too far. There are 2 barrs, see layout of lake in tackle shop. Fish with PVA bag or stringers. A fun venue well run with excellent facilities, safe, cafe (weekends) loo’s, showers etc. Best to book for night night fishing.

The thing to remember is if the line is floating or just below it can still spook a fish swimming into it. But when Carp are really at it taking baits off the top I have found they don’t spook very easy. In fact the bait landing on the top acts sometime like a dinner bell to the Carp..... Before introducing your hook bait get the Carp to take baits with confidence that way they are less likely to spook when you hook one. Try to keep the line as tight as you can, in other words in contact with your bait. Any wind try to fish with it hitting your back. In most cases you will not need to strike the tight line will hook the fish so make sure your clutch it set. Catching Carp this way really shows the power of the fish they can go like a torpedo! Tight Lines and have fun.

As the others have said, its all a matter of timing and NOT rushing. One hand on rod the other on the handle of reel. As you pick up rod turn handle at the same time and lift rod to 11 o’oclock position. Normally you will be in contact with fish at this point.

It’s been interesting reading however I am a bit confused. The tread started off regarding using marker floats but some posted about mapping the lake out. That surly a different subject altogether. I understood the first posting was asking if anyone uses a market float as an area to mark and fish to. I could well be me reading it wrong lol Yes a marker float is also used together with a weight to map out the bottom of the lake together with how deep the water is in that area. Then it is used to mark the area you want to fish. If you know already then I use the marker floats (light) I have already posted about. It takes a lot of practise to get the feel of what your lead is doing as you pull it over the bottom of a lake.

Bit lost here. I use the markers to show where I have baited up and also where to bait up. So I fish on top of that area. Why would putting markers out disturb the fish anymore than spodding bait out? Carp are a very inquisitive fish. I often see my markers being attacked by carp and lost count the number of times they have had a go at my controller when fishing on the top. Not trying to eat it just having a go at it.

Sorry people my mistake I was treating isotopes and the ones you snap to get them to glow are one of the same but of course they are not. That’s what happens when you get older the mind goes lol

There is no doubt using a marker floats helps you catch more fish. If you have use of a boat then this is something you might want to try. I use 2 sometimes 3 solar powered floating lights as used in garden ponds. Attache a line and weight (having first found out the depth or the water) drop them in the area I am fishing. I can see them during the day as well as at night. When using 3 I set them up in a triangle. Plus it makes the lake look nice at night lol