Angling Lines Blog

Trevor Reece asks:

Which bait and size do you think I need for my Laroussi trip in April?

Shaun Harrison answers:

Definitely take some Rahja Spice with you. It has been a firm favourite at Laroussi for many years, particularly in the smaller sizes too. The Laroussi fish like 10mm’s but it is worth mixing the bait size a little. The lake record has fallen to Rahja Spice on more than one occasion. If I were going this coming year I would also take an alternative with me to ring the changes and that would probably be the Ghurkka Spice. I know they both have ‘Spice’ in their names but are very different to each other hardly sharing any ingredients at all other than the obvious eggs and chilli.

Hope this helps
Shaun

www.questbaits.com/blog

Give them a pasting – Jason Rider    www.booksoncarp.co.uk

In preparation for a French trip most anglers will order their bait well in advance which will probably be a generous amount of their favourite boilie and some matching pellet. Boilies are so convenient to use but are they as effective as we think? You might think this is a strange question coming from somebody who supplies them but like you, I always want to catch more.

There are 2 reasons why boilies are made round, so they can be aerodynamic and thus fired out into the swim and secondly because commercial preparation makes them this way! At the point of boiling a number of things happen to your carp bait including some of the following: loss of soluble attractors, loss of food value, food that will be harder to break down and digest and a round ball that will be easier for the fish to associate with danger. All of which are fairly negative points and ones that are only partially negated by using pellet shapes and steaming.

A match fisherman has an allocated amount of time to catch his fish and the concept is a simple one, to catch the maximum amount in that time. Carp fishing is no different and whether you are fishing a day session or have a week in France at your disposal the principal is the same. Now, it is unlikely that the match fishermen will put in a large amount of bait from the off but will try and stimulate the swim with ground bait to attract the fish to his hookbait. Groundbait is simply a mix of colour and soluble attraction but has the ability to pull fish very quickly. The differences between carp fishing and match fishing are not so great with the exception being that we might have to wait longer for a bite and the feeding times might be different. Some lakes I have fished in Europe and in the UK for that matter tend to produce more at night but how often do we set the traps and retire to the sleeping bag? Ground baits and spod mixes can be very effective if baited through the hours of darkness but it does take some effort.

To work out what you are trying to achieve you first need to visualise the situation in your swim. Imagine a five kilo bed of boilies in the swim with some pellets and think of what it looks like. It is hardly inspiring is it? Most anglers like to believe their bait is a cut above the rest and will be the stuff that the carp crave continue reading…

36-08 - a nice fish on the first night with a pva bag only

by Jason Rider
www.booksoncarp.co.uk

The correct choice of bait can make or break a holiday trip but if you follow a few simple rules there is no reason why you cannot have a great trip. The most common mistake is probably going for quantity rather than quality; it is not worth scrimping on your bait. Many French lakes contain large heads of big carp but they are not necessarily easier to catch than those in the UK and in some cases are under almost constant pressure. One of my biggest pet hates is the “Euro boilie”. A bulk carrier of flavours which is made from poor ingredients and has little nutritional worth or appeal to the fish. With a little bit of research on the angler’s part it is possible to get a very good deal on some quality bait especially if buying in bulk. Failing this it is not a bad idea to take exactly the same bait as you use at home, the one you have confidence in.

Nuisance species & rules

Other species have an inpact on your bait as well

When choosing my bait for overseas trips, the first thing I will do is to check what over species inhabit the lake and this will be my starting point. Poisson chat are a miniature catfish that inhabit the French rivers and find their way into some lakes, they can form huge shoals and will consume 10kg of boilies in a matter of minutes. They are a huge pain in the summer months and very hard to combat and the only way around them is to mesh your bait with netting and rebait very often. They are virtually blind though and rely on their sense of smell and can be deterred with cereal based boilies with little flavour or particles which would be the best choice. Always check the lake rules to see if particles are allowed, I will rarely go on a fishing trip to Europe without packing a few tiger nuts and continue reading…

No matter how good an angler you are or how poor, if you have no confidence or have lost that confidence in your bait you are bound to fail.

This article first appeared on the Quest Baits Blog & is reproduced with kind permission

Question from Gergely Pataki;

Hello Shaun!

The last time I go fishing a small lake and have caught some large carp. However, the bait completely taken over after 4-5 hours by the strong smell of rotting sludge. What kind of bait and flavors suggest that the baits can retain the smell for a long time? I think that is much more able to catch more carp.

Thanks in advance for your answer!

Best Regards: Gergely Pataki

Boilies soaking up liquid before baiting in a silty lake.

Shaun Replied:

Try soaking the baits in liquid before you go. The water from cooked hempseed is excellent for this or simply use lake water. By leaving the baits to soak up the liquid before baiting up they won’t be able to take so much of the silt/sludge smell thus retaining more of their own original smell and taste.

I usually fish around a bit though and try and find the areas the silt doesn’t smell so strong, you will usually find the carp prefer to feed in the less smelly areas. Slightly shallower areas should be less silty as the deeper areas act like a sump and collect the old leaves etc.

Hope this helps.

Best fishes, Shaun Harrison