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…
