Hi Paul, hope your well? As you know I usually fish with mainline cell in England and at Margot they supply quality baits cm60 which I’m told is very similar to the cell, as your a field tester for quality baits do you think that this bait will be a good substitute to use in France when we go in July? One of the other reasons I’m keen to use it also is because its supplied in fresh frozen which I prefer.

Many thanks.

To check out the reply click here on the Angling Lines blog page

To check out more articles from Margot, including the capture of the 71lb lake record, click here.
Margot Carp Fishing in France

With the weather warming up I have been keeping an eye on the fish in my local syndicate water for signs of feeding fish. I called onto the lake mid-afternoon on the Sunday and saw around 20 carp milling around on the edge of the scum caused by the lake bottom breaking up and rising to the surface over the past 48 hours. Within 15 minutes I had my first rod in the water on the edge of the scum in only 12 inches of water. The fish were cruising in and out of the scum feeding on what ever had gathered and were not perturbed by my putting a bait in their close vicinity.

I baited all three rods with some baits I had just fetched out of my freezer, the remnants of my Quality Baits Winter birdy mix. These were bright red/orange and a fruity flavour but I felt that they would work in this situation.

Within 20 minutes I had my first pick up and shortly after that landed a perfectly conditioned 18lb 9oz Common. Out went the same rod again baited with the birdy boilie. It took a while before the fish moved back into my corner but after an hour. Coincidently, I was again on the phone to Jim Kelly, when the same rod bent round and I was into a 23lb 14oz Common. A few quick self takes and the fish was quickly returned to the water. That was the last of the action as all the fish moved off and my evening meal was calling.

Paul Cooper

Paul Cooper’s 2013 Fishing Diary

29lb 2oz common on Squid and Orange

Paul Cooper’s 2013 Fishing Diary

Having returned from a recent French trip I assembled 3 rods together and dropped onto my local syndicate lake for a few hours on a wet cold afternoon. Within 1/2 an hour I picked up one of my stock fish, a 9lb 2oz common on a Squid and Orange bottom bait. Out went the same boilie on the same spot with a few more free offerings. I decided to give Jim a call on my mobile and while speaking to him I had a couple of bleeps on the same rod then a massive drop back. I was soon into a hard fighting fish that took line at a fast rate.10 minutes later I banked a 29lb 2oz common. Patshull Park Squid and Orange in 16mil did the trick, what a nice result for a short session!

Paul Cooper

Ron Key fishing a flooded swim

It’s the beginning of May and Ron and I are off to test a 17 acre lake for Angling Lines situated 150 miles South of Paris.

The new owner of the lake, Guilliam, only took ownership of the venue in January this year. Since taking on the lake he has stocked the lake with around 120 carp consisting of mid-twenties to his prize carp of just over 60lb. There are a number of back up fish in the forties with a good number of thirties, all in all for a new lake this is a magnificent head of carp. The lake itself is set in the middle of rural France and is totally surrounded by woodland, fields, and reed-lined margins. It is a place of beauty!

Muddy track leading to the swims

We arrived at the lake on Thursday morning to find that the banks were flooded due to the recent excessive rain fall and the fact that the sluice gate had not been dropped, exasperated the situation. Out of 9 swims set around the lake we were limited to a couple of swims to fish that were dry and comfortable, all the others were under water and access was either through deep water or deep mud. There were 2 other anglers on the lake one being the owner and the other his friend. They had the use of a boat and occupied the far corner of the lake, bivvied up on a muddy grassed bank.

View of the lake from my swim

Now you might think that this is unusual and not acceptable , but we are testing the venue and not just fishing the lake for our own benifit, this is the reason that Angling Lines send out testers. Any problems need to be rectified and ironed out before the first Angling Lines customers arrive. Our first impressions were not looking good, French style toilet, a poor shower set up added to the poor banks and swims.

I set up in swim 1 and Ron in swim 2 both with shallow margin’s gently leading down to around 8 foot at about 70 yards. Ron had open water for all his rods and I had open water and a dam margin with over hanging trees and a rocky margin to play with.Our initial tactics were very similar, Ron found the old stream bed where he put down a mixture of Quest Chilli Chocolate, Special Crab and Magnum white and also cast a couple of popped up baits at distance.

I found a nice clean bottom 80 yards out and put out Quality Baits HG42 and Patshull Park Squid and Orange, and a similar baiting strategy to a point on the dam margin.

First fish of the session for Ron at 26lb 6oz

We were into our first evening meal at the venue when Ron saw the first action with a run off one of his magnum white pop ups, and landed a 26lb 6oz mirror which was in perfect fighting condition. We were off to a great start and we both thought that this was the beginning of a very successful session. Wrong!

Over the next couple of days a big shoal of carp gathered in the far corner of the lake in front of the 2 French anglers. We were unable to move from our swims due to the flood water so the fish remained well out of our reach.

Fish spawning on the dam

We had to wait until Saturday morning for the next run which came to one of my rods which I had cast to within a yard of some over hanging trees off the dam margin. I was not sitting on top of my rods and the fish ran straight into the trees and escaped my capture. Three days I had waited for that run, I was annoyed with myself and still remained without a fish. Ron was equally frustrated as he had not had a single bleep since that first fish, with fish showing 300 yards to his left he had not got a chance of reaching them.

I waited 3 days for this fish. A 23lb 7oz mirror

In the Early hours of Sunday I picked up a 23lb 7oz mirror from my baited area on the dam, a Squid and orange snowman set up did the trick. We had some problems with my new camera but managed a couple of half decent pictures. Out went the rods again and about an hour into daylight I had another run off my baited area on the dam margin, and landed a good hard fighting 26lb 10oz mirror.

This proved to be the last feed for 3 days. By lunchtime we were watching shoals of carp spawning in the dam margins and in the far reed-lined corner. Day and night until Tuesday evening, the fish spawned and spawned. There was no point in putting out anymore bait as it appeared that every fish in the lake was involved in a huge orgy.

Last fish before the spawning began.26lb 10oz

By Tuesday evening the waters had settled and the spawning was over, we were due to leave the lake the next morning. Out went a few more baits for the night. It paid off as around 4am I had another run off the same baited area and picked up a 21lb 4oz mirror. Scared and bruised and obviously down in weight from the last 3 days, I took a quick picture and returned the carp back to the depths.

6 nights fishing for 4 carp between us, not the best result, but it has given us an insight into the potential of the lake. The fact that the fish went into a mega spawn gave Ron and myself the opportunity to see a large percentage of the carp in the lake as they splashed and barged through the margins and reeds. We both saw some of the huge specimen carp that the lake holds. They swam within feet, even banging into our legs as we waded out into the shallows to view the show. The lake surely holds the stock that the lake owner claims and with his future plans to boost the stocking to over 200 carp over the next 2 years, will make this a top big fish water.

scared and spawned out 21lb 4oz mirror

Conclusion

Since taking on the water the owner has already made some vast improvements to the road and car park, along with building a cabin, shower and toilet block. His near future plans include improving all the swims to a top standard and making access to each swim by vehicle, viable. Future stocks of carp will all be around the 30lb mark and I am sure that due to the rich environment of the lake, most of the carp will be over 30lb in the next 18 months. Guilliam does not want to create a runs water but a water that produces good quality large carp.

This lake is not for the novice and will prove a challenge to some of the more experienced anglers. It’s location and the chance of picking up some big specimens will keep anglers coming back to this venue year after year.

Our recommendations to Angling Lines are that they should consider taking on this lake once all the improvements are made. The owner himself is a top big carp angler on the French carp scene and wants to create one of the best big carp waters in his region. I am confident that he can do this and I am sure that this lake will be hitting the Angling press in the next couple of years.

Carp Fishing in France with over 30 lakes. Angling Lines.

Paul Cooper

Angling Lines have asked me to put together an itinerary of the tackle that I use for my carp fishing in France, and to talk about tackle in general for the angler just setting off for his or her first French carp fishing adventure.

In the first Blog I covered the most essential parts of a carp angler’s itinerary, Rods, reels and line. Following on from that in Part 2, I covered the next section which was alarms, bite indicators, and how I fish both slack and tight lines and why.

The 3rd part of the series of blogs will cover essential end tackle that you need to make your trip a successful one. Click here to read the full blog

Paul Cooper

It was the end of March and Jim Kelly and I were about to take on our first field testing trip of 2013.We were off to Northern France to fish a lake on a trial for Angling Lines. With these first exploratory trips on a new lake, our purpose is to provide feedback to both to the owners and Angling Lines, with the prospects of the lake being taken on as a viable concern.We not only take into account the fishing, but also the facilities provided and services provided such as meal packages etc.Prior to our arrival at the venue we were fully aware that the facilities were still under construction so we would be unable to comment on them. We had however arranged to have the meal package.We were to concentrate on trying to get an idea of the stocking density of carp in the lake along with lake features and anglers swims.

April in France.Lovely!

We arrived in Calais around midday and made our way to the Normandy Region of Northern France with temperatures varying from 3 degrees to 8 degrees. During the journey we saw odd snow drifts scattered about the country side, remnants of heavy snowfall from the previous week. Around 5 miles from our destination we noticed the temperature dropping as we started to climb up hilled areas. By the time we reached the lake the whole area was still covered with around 4 inches of snow. Apparently we were 1000 feet above sea level and they earlier had between 6 and 8 inches of snow that very morning.

We couldn’t set up on the snow comfortably so the first night was spent in the comfort of the lake owners gite. A good hearty meal and we had an early night.On the Sunday morning both Jim and I set about plumbing and leading the lake.We found that the majority of the lake bottom was covered in meadow grass that had grown and died back. This was a result of the lake being drained last year for major work on the lake bed with the grass taking hold during the drying out period prior to the lake being re-filled. Depths ranged from 2 foot to 11 foot with the majority of the lake being over 3½ foot.

One of Jim’s deep water carp                                   The cold West bank

The recent snow along with the recent work on the lake had left three of the banks muddy and un-fishable so we had no choice but to set up camp on the West bank of the lake, still partly snow covered but now mostly snow free. Jim dropped onto the left of the bank where the deepest part of the lake was situated, giving him around 11 foot to play with. I was further along the bank with depths of 6 to 3 foot available to me.

Beautiful conditioned carp

Jim put out single fluro pop ups on all three rods and cast them out into the deeper water and within the first couple of hours he had banked 3 low twenty pound mirror carp. I put out an assortment of pop ups and bottom baits but I could not buy a bite The Easterly wind was chilling the water in front of me as well as freezing us both to the bones. The temperature dropped to -8C overnight and by Monday morning Jim had banked another 2 carp and I had managed to wheedle out a single carp.As it came light I began a slow move to the more sheltered East bank. The temperature appeared to be around 5 or 6 degrees warmer than the other bank, this would do me for the week as long as that wind kept in the same direction.Jim stayed with his deep water marks to freeze on the cold East and North Easterlies that were to hit us for the rest of the week.On the East bank there was only one possible location to fish which was on a grassed slope with a muddy bank leading down to the water.

Typical low twenty carp.                                      Muddy slope to my rods

My rods were at least 20 yards in front of me, this was the closest that I could bivvy up to them, but I was comfortable now and warmer. I found an area in front of me around the size of a table tennis table that was totally clear of this dead grass. I decided to put out a bit of bait and spombed out about 150 boilies onto this area made up of Quality Baits 12 mil HG47 and 16mil HG42 Specials. I put 2 rods on this area, one with a critically balanced pop up and the other on a HG42 Special bottom bait.I started to pick up the odd carp, re-baiting after each fish with 4 spombs of assorted boilies. This seemed to work, I was on the back of the cold wind in much warmer water and my baiting strategy was working. Jim had another 3 fish, taking his tally to 8 carp by Thursday Morning and I had managed 14 carp.The forecast was for more snow and we had achieved what we had set out to do. Despite the poor weather conditions we had still caught 22 carp averaging low twenties. Not bad!

Last fish of a cold session                                   I love fishing!

Our prognosis for the lake was that more time was needed for the banks to mature and that more swims should be constructed giving anglers access to all parts of the lake. The average size of the fish that we caught was around 21lb, however the stock that the owner had purchased were the same strain of fish as in lakes such as Margot, Sapphire and Oakview. These fish ranged from 20lb to 40lb and no doubt the bigger fish were present but not feeding in the adverse conditions.Plans for the facilities to be completed over the next month are in hand and I am sure that this lake, although presently not named, will be on the Angling Lines books in the near future.Best of luck to the owners for the future who were excellent hosts and provided an excellent food package.

Paul Cooper

Paul Cooper’s 2013 Fishing Diary

Carp fishing in France with over 35 Lakes

2005 Mangrove carp, Paw Print.

Angling Lines have asked me to put together an itinerary of the tackle that I use for my carp fishing in France, and to talk about tackle in general for the angler just setting off for his or her first French carp fishing adventure.

In the first blog I covered the most essential parts of a carp angler’s itinerary, Rods, reels and line. Following on from that, I will cover the next section which will cover alarms, bite indicators, and how I fish both slack and tight lines and why. Click here to read the full blog ………….

Paul Cooper’s 2013 Fishing Diary

Paul Cooper

27lb 7oz mirror.

I have been introducing HG47 in a small area of the lake for around 2 weeks. Today was my first visit since the bait started going in. I fished just the one rod which was placed in the middle of my selected spot.

18lb 10oz Common/3rd fish of the short session

Around twenty 12mil HG47 shelf life boilies loose feed, and a single 12mil bottom bait on the blow back rig did the trick. My first fish was a 14lb 8oz common. Out went the bait and I was soon into a 27lb 7oz mirror shortly followed by a 18lb 10oz common.

3 Carp on one rod in a 3 hour session in a cold south easterly wind in the middle of March, all thanks to HG47 and a bit of light pre-baiting. What a result.

Paul Cooper’s 2013 Fishing Diary.

Paul Cooper

I have been asked by the management at Angling Lines to put together a few blogs which contain sufficient information to assist new and existing customers, in their search for carp in France.

In these blogs I will suggest what I would list as the most appropriate tackle for the job in hand.

Angling Lines provide various sized lakes to their customers from 2 acres to over 25 acres in size.

Some lakes provide accommodation and others are bivvy only, so things have to be taken into account such as:

• Do I need home comforts, lakeside accommodation etc
• Will I be fishing during the hours of darkness, Bivvy or brolly
• If I am not fishing nights do I need a sleeping bag and bed chair will just a chair suffice.
• If I am using a bait boat, are their sufficient electrical points for recharging etc.
• Is there a food package available?
• What cooking facilities are available?
• Toilet and shower arrangements.
• Vehicular access to swims for unloading tackle etc.
• What tackle do I need

Click here to read more…….

Paul Cooper

Paul Coopers 2013 Fishing Diary

Paul Cooper’s 2013 Fishing Diary

I have been out for a couple of short day sessions over the past couple of weeks but I have failed to bank any carp since the last mild spell in January. I have been keeping an eye on the weather forecast which indicates that we are due for some warmer south easterly’s on Tuesday. This should last for a few days so I am planning on 3 or 4 days on the bank at one of my local lakes. With the nights shortening meaning more daylight hours, the carp are wakening up and should go on the feed. I have just received my 1st Spring order from Simon in the form of 16mil HG47 boilies.

We introduced HG47 at the beginning of 2012 and I had instant success on the new bait, accounting for lots of carp from local and French lakes and also some massive barbel from our English rivers.

My fishing Diary for 2013 is starting to fill with Angling Lines with a few lakes on the cards for field testing. My 1st visit is due in 4 weeks to a new venue in Normandy. There is little information on this new lake as it has not been open to the public before. All facilities should be up and running  for our arrival with the exception of a gite which has yet to be completed. Our objective will be to assess the stocks and report back on the venue in general.

A window of opportunity will be with us in a few days and I aim to taker full advantage.

Paul Cooper