My 1st French trip

[Mald]

my 1st french trip is nearly upon me and no matter how organised I attempt to be I can't stop thinking I'm missing something...

 

I know there are some seriously experienced anglers on here and I would be grateful to get some advice on what to expect from a week longs session

:confused:

 

I do regular night sessions but 7 days in a foreign land is a whole new experience for me especially considering I've never driven in France either

[corydoras]

Mald:

... especially considering I've never driven in France either    

Then watch out for the priorité a droit rule. This basically means that if you are driving along what you would consider to be a 'major road' and you come to a T-junction cars approaching the junction (on your right) have the right to pull out in front of you. Read up on it and understand it or you might end up having a prang.

[Mald]

Your the 2nd person to tell me that.Seems odd.

 

Do they have to stop before pulling out or can they just zoom straight onto the road ?

[corydoras]

It seems very odd, but it happens. No they don't have to wait they can just pull out. (They have priority after all.) It is not just in France you will find this rule, most of our contintal cousins do it. At least the French, Germans and Spanish have a version.

[mpbdsnu]

Out of interest Mald, where in France are you going?

 

Are you going with other carpers experienced at fishing in foreign lands?? Or you going on your own?

 

Let us know what you are planning to take, and perhaps we can point out a few thing you may have forgotten?

[Tog]

Tackle can be hard to find, The big 'hypermarkets' do have some (& cheap groundbait) but most towns do not have a 'tackle dealer' like we do. Many bars & tabac have 'bits & bobs' but don't expect much.

If your fishing a 'camp site' lake or other with public access the floater fishing can be very good so take some biscuits etc (& use french bread). Good luck

[Chesh]

take plenty of termianl tackle bits as mentioned above ! you might find 'a' tackle shop which will sell very very little

 

apart from that, bait wise? is it being supplied? if not then 10kilo of particles and 10kilo of boilies !! better to go prepared than run out half way through your session

 

If your on your own and not a lake that caters for anglers, i would also take a waer purifier, just to be on the safe side, you dont want dodgy guts etc...

 

any more for anymore?

[RobStubbs]

It depends on where you go as to what you need. Take the same fishing tackle wise as you would here - you won't get gear over there unless you're really lucky or the venue sells it. I take 10Kg boilies and 10Kg (dry) particles and go prepared to cook them (particles) over there. Also a tin of ready prepared tigers just in case you find you have crays / poisson chat. Oh and a pack of that artificial corn / maize.

 

I normally take food for a couple of days especially a few tins, bread and milk (& of course tea / coffee).

 

Apart from that washing stuff and clean clothes. I forgot enough of the latter before and had to buy a couple of T-shirts in France, which can be interesting.

 

On the driving front make sure you have what they legally require; GB sticker, spare light bulbs, warning triangle and first aid kit oh and all your driving / insurance documents.

 

Rob.

 

[ 23. June 2004, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: RobStubbs ]

[Mald]

mpbdsnu

 

It's a drive and survive at a place called Authon down near Le Mans. I am planning to take bait and terminal tackle to last.

 

I have 2kg of tiger nut, 2kg of halibut, 1kg of squid and octopus, maize, 10kg of pellet, 7kg of particles, 5kg of hemp, and a huge mix of groundbaits and about 10 differant shelf life pop ups.

 

The only thing I want to buy over there is food.

 

I have a good selection of hooks 20 leads and lots of the bits and bats.

 

There are 5 of us going in a sprinter with 2 extra seats legally bolted into the back and all 5 of us are carp fisherman who have only fished the UK, taking similar amounts of bait and tackle.

 

OH and offcourse we will have to pick beer up over there !

[Tog]

Re: the driving, I know many people have no probs but i've seen a few go wrong over the years(and my yelling 'right' at them did'nt help!!)

What I do is have a large orange card with 'Drive Right' written on it and leave it on the dashboard in front of me - when I get back in the car it reminds me of the fact i'm not at home!(very usefull when tired or in the morning when not quite with it!)

(mind you I did drive off on the right once over here!!!)

Don't speed - it's very expensive! Make sure you have written permision to take the van with you and insurance docs (not copies)+ drivers licence. Be sensible with the booze and fags on return & you won't have probs.(I.E not restocking the offy!)& watch you don't overload the van (favorite of the customs boys at present).

Oh & good luck & tight lines!