by Gareth Watkins
The “Lac de Madine” seems to be the No.1 big water destination this year and as such, has usurped “Foret d’ Orient” at the top of the French carp waters tree. Rumours have been rife in the press of late that “Orient” is finished and no longer holds as many big fish. Well, results by friends of mine over the last 12 months have been equal to, if not better than years prior to the “vidange”. Reports of catches of fish to mid-sixties certainly caught my attention. A more recent capture by a French angler, of a 65lb 4oz fish helped renew my interest in a water where I have never had much success.
So it was with huge anticipation that I agreed to my friend Laurent’s invitation to try an assault on this most daunting of waters. Orient is a veritable inland sea covering some 2600 hectares. Despite its size, and typical of French waters, the night sectors are very limited.
No tag for this post.
I’m sure many of you will have seen that there are Carp anglers that just seem to have the knack of getting on the fish and catching them. No matter where they go, they have a sixth sense and can tune into the water. I’ve seen this on a number of occasions and have been in awe of the talent… because you do have to talk about this in terms of talent. Carp fishing has been democratised and is now accessible to all, but this doesn’t necessarily make it easy! How many have gone to France with huge aspirations only to have them shattered once there. So not only can Carp Fishing be difficult, you have to be good at it to succeed.
