Angling Lines blog

I got a great text message from my friend Shaun Harrison to today:

“My favourite week of the Year for catching, been horrible not being able to fish it for the last three years. But made up for it now with a 29lb 15oz and a 35lb 6oz on Surf’nTurf (Note: New bait he’s testing) this morning. Shaun”

First off congrats to Shaun for two cracking carp, wish I’d been there with a camera. Looks like he’s onto another winning bait.

All this got me thinking, this really is the best time to catch our favourite species. Haven’t we all done well at some time at this time of the year? Mr Carp, as masters of their universe, knows only too well that Winter is just around the corner and before no time pickings will be hard.

I often find it odd that there are so many anglers crowding the banks and venues in the summer, yet come autumn, when perhaps the weather and conditions makes it more challenging, rods are hung up for the year and it’s slippers in front of the TV time for the next 6 months.

September and October has indeed been the best time for me since I was a boy. This has been extended somewhat into November since I’ve been in France, but I have always had my PB’s at the backend of the year.

continue reading…

There are a couple of sites on the internet that are really useful to help you do a bit of home work on your chosen venue before you arrive.

Google Earth:

This one probably doesn’t need any introduction, as it is run by one of the biggest in the web business. The maps are getting better too for France, in any case. By better I mean more detailed resolution and clearer. There is also whole host of other information to be had from this site, including route planning, local amenities etc.

I’d strongly recommend that anyone going to France checks out their chosen venue prior to going and gets its GPS position and those of the local supermarket and restaurants for example. continue reading…

Ok this is not an article on carp fishing per se, but more on the use of the fabulous tool that is ‘YouTube’ ,a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips of your carp fishing adventures, with your mates and indeed with the whole world. YouTube was created in February 2005 and by January 2008, nearly 79 million users had made over 3 billion video views, with around 100 millions videos watched every day. Youtube is now owned by Google.

In fact Youtube is really a great extension to the blog. As you can see by clicking on the ‘Videos’ section of this blog, there are quite a few of our own clips on line for your to watch. When you upload a clip to the site you get a piece of code on your page that allows you to very easily embed the clip into your own blog pages. continue reading…

Additional stock goes into Grosley & Hideaway…..

The theme of fish weights has come up in a number of articles on this blog over the last few months, we even have a video with Quest Baits boss Shaun H. running through the technique. Below is an article by Jon Perkins a French lake owner and regular contributor to the comments part of this blog. He brings up some interesting points on the way fish weights are recorded.

By Jon Perkins
Being a fishery owner changes your perspective on carp fishing, there are many reasons for this, but here I will outline one of them..
I get to see in the course of a year, anglers of all levels and abilities, here at our French Fishery. we are happy to accommodate people who are fairly new to carp fishing, as well as experienced anglers. When we have somewhat less experienced anglers on the lake, I do feel the need to keep an eye on things/offer help and advice more than when we have people who are obviously well practised at carp fishing. For me the condition of the fish is one the most important factors in running a lake, and all our customers have commented on the excellent condition of the fish here. Nobody wants to see fish with torn mouths or damage to their bodies. continue reading…