French carp fishing. How much bait to take?

[Comus]

Hi,

 

I'm off to France in August for a weeks all inclusive with my son. This is my first time fishing in France so not too sure about tactics etc.

 

I've never fished for a weeks session before and wonder how much bait I should take.

 

I'd really appreciate any advice on this. I imagine I'll be fishing boilie with pellets etc.

 

Regards,

 

Comus.

[tincatinca]

Hi,

 

I'm off to France in August for a weeks all inclusive with my son. This is my first time fishing in France so not too sure about tactics etc.

 

I've never fished for a weeks session before and wonder how much bait I should take.

 

I'd really appreciate any advice on this. I imagine I'll be fishing boilie with pellets etc.

 

Regards,

 

Comus.

Hi Comus,

It depends on where you are fishing, what size is the water, what stock levels and how it has been fished. Waters in France can vary considerably and also if there are Poisson Chat present you would need something different than your standard boilies. Can you tell us a bit more about the venue that you are fishing.

[Comus]

Hi Tinc et al.

 

We're going to Angel Lakes in the Limoges area.

 

My son will be fishing a 2.5 acre lake with average depths of 4 feet. It's described as an action water heavily stocked with carp to 30lb. There's no mention of any other species.

 

I'll be on the adjacent lake which is 8 acres, varying depths between 3 ft to 14 ft. It's stocked with fish to over 58lb. Again, there is no mention of other species.

Both lakes are totally tree lined. They were dug in 1962 and are Spring Fed; up until 2005 they were used for irrigation and have hardly been fished. It appears to be a new venture, with references to the venue only going back to last season.

 

The reports from other sites suggest that it's a winning location but don't really discuss tactics and baiting.

 

We've never fished in France before and as a previous carp syndicate member of Wingham I've always been used to the idea of the importance of where your small amount of bait goes, rather than that of throwing beds upon beds of boilies in and waiting for the fish to come to you.

 

It's an all inclusive holiday so the only thing that we need to take is end tackle and sleeping bags. I've read that 'euro baits' are of an inferior quality so was planning to buy some bulk bait here and take it with us.

 

I'm really keen for my son to have a fantastic time as:

 

1) I want him to fall in love with carp fishing, and

2) We're away for a week and if he's bored after a couple of days he's going to be an absolute nightmare!!

 

I was planning on using both boilies and possibly pellets but will take any advice from experienced 'Frenchers'!

 

Thanks,

 

Comus

[RobStubbs]

Fish in France just as you do in the UK ! Don't 'chuck it in' and sit on bait, just fish as you would do in the UK. As a note, I normally take about 5Kg of boilies for a week, but don't often use them all ! I'd prefer taking more particles, such as hemp as that normally doesn't fill them up. You can then fish boilies on the top of it.

 

Rob.

[tincatinca]

On the smaller French Lakes, Rob is right inasmuch as you do not need loads of boilies.When I first started fishing in France many years ago I made the same mistake as most do and that is to take far too much bait. Everyone will have favourites and different opinions but what has generally worked for me and my mate is using a method feeder loaded with a partiblend type mix in conjunction with a boilie arrangement on the hook, normally a snowman rig. We do prefer fresh baits as opposed to shelf lifes and Big fish cranberry and active-8 have been particularly successful for us over a range of waters Also we have had more success with smaller baits ie up to 16mm. If there are Poisson Chat in the water, you may need to harden your hook baits as they will remove a standard bait without as much as a beep. It is also worth taking a few tiger nuts. Worms float fished off the dam end can also be productive.

[Chris Goddard]

Is this the water in the Limousin (South West) of France??

[Oldfellah]

I would suggest that your first port of call is to speak with the owner and establish what pellet and boilies he stocks. With most well managed carp fisheries feeding pellet throughout the year it becomes and accepted food source so it is always worth buying on site if possible. With boilies ir really is an open question as we have weeks on our lake when 5 kilo is more than enough and others when anglers will use 20 kilo of boilies and several sacks of pellet. So much depends on fish stocks and weather when you are there but having fished France for over 10 years before moving out here I always used a good quality fishmeal boilie and quite honestly you will find that most quality baits will work. The so called 'euro boilie' is not the norm these days and many of us have top quality boilies hand rolled for sale.......quality because thats what helps our carp stay in great condition and grow !!!But, as said earlier check out what is available on site.

Hope you have a great holiday.

[Comus]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys.

 

It is the venue in the limousin area of South West France.

 

Funnily enough the owner rang me yesterday to confirm the booking and to give me some pointers etc. He's well keyed up for my son and I going and really seems prepared to go all out to make sure that we have a great time.

 

He explained that he does sell bait on site at a very reasonable price and told me that the bailiffs on site are always on hand to give advice on rigs and baiting so I'm really looking forward to this our first trip abroad.

 

Thanks again.

 

Comus

[Chris Goddard]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys.

 

It is the venue in the limousin area of South West France.

 

Funnily enough the owner rang me yesterday to confirm the booking and to give me some pointers etc. He's well keyed up for my son and I going and really seems prepared to go all out to make sure that we have a great time.

 

He explained that he does sell bait on site at a very reasonable price and told me that the bailiffs on site are always on hand to give advice on rigs and baiting so I'm really looking forward to this our first trip abroad.

 

Thanks again.

 

Comus

 

THAT was the reason for my asking!! I have heard of this lake and the guy who runs it is as far as I am aware an EXCELLENT host!!! And does sell bait onsite (As most people do!) And it is NOT expensive for one and as MOST of the anglers use it the fish are NOT frightened of it either!!

 

Give us a wave as you pass by?? OR are you going through Dover??? Well wave anyway!!

[Comus]

Thanks Chris.

 

I've managed to secure us a god deal on the Eurostar/TGV with a metro trip across Paris, which I thought my son would enjoy. Really can't wait to get out there and now with the recommendation I'm sure that we'll have a great time.

 

Thanks again,

 

Comus