Angling Lines Blog

Mick and Alan fished Alder for a week from Saturday 27th April and here is a round up of their feedback;

Mick’s New PB – 42.03

Details of your catches: 28 Carp, 2 x 40′s up to 42.3, 4 x 30′s up to 31, 19 x 20′s.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Bottom baits tipped with plastic corn or double 14/15mm boilies. I was trialing baits for Custom Baits Ltd and their peach/black pepper boilies out-fished Mainline Cell, it was only when we ran out (had 5kg) that the cell come into its own.

General comments: The fish in alder are some of the prettiest, hardest fighting carp i have had the pleasure of doing battle with, they don’t know when to give up, amazing stunning fish.

We were up against it before we arrived as the temp dropped 20′ over the 2 days before we got there, continue reading…

A view from the dam to the bays on the Southern part of the lake

As with any lake, it is important to do your research as best you can prior to your arrival at the venue. With the venue that I am going to talk about, I was fortunate enough to have previously fished it in mid-November 2 years ago.  I was aware of the stocking levels and potential of a big hit along with the depths and potential feeding areas to catch the carp.  My destination was Alder Lake.

I arrived at Alder Lake with my fishing companion for the week, Jim Kelly.  The lake itself is oval in shape with two small bays at the Southern end of the lake. The bays are surrounded by overhanging vegetation and are the idyllic place for carp to feed and bask during the summer months when the weather is hot.

The forecast for our week on the lake was for clear blue skies and temperatures into the low thirties during the heat of the day, only dropping to low twenties at night.

I was well prepared for my week’s ordeal with over 35 kilo of boilies from Quality Baits, a few kilo of prepared hemp and a few kilo of carp pellet. My main objective was to get the carp feeding solely on my boilies.

A view of the point that was between the 2 bays

The most important thing was to select a possible productive swim to start my campaign. I chose to fish at the mouth of one of the bays with the intention of creating a baited area at the point at which both bays meet. The lake bed here was in around 5 feet of water and had been cleared of silt by previous foraging fish.

I initially introduced around 3 kilo of boilies continue reading…

Introduction

Paul Cooper and I had the week beginning 21^st July 2012 booked on Alder. This is in the same grounds as Notaires.

We had both fished Alder before Paul a week in November 2010 and myself two nights in October 2008, which was before the lake stocking. Hence we both knew the lake depths, consistency of the bottom and general layout, what we didn’t know was the way the lake would fish in July. When this was coupled with high pressure forecast for the whole week and temperatures into the low to mid thirties we both expected to struggle. We need not have worried.

The Lake

Alder is an absolutely stunning lake located on the edge of the Central Massif in the heart of rural France. It is miles away from the nearest town or major road, an idyllic location. Alder is an old lake formed by damming a valley. The lake itself has two shallow arms continue reading…

Paul Cooper & Jim Kelly enjoyed a prolific session on Alder taking 161 carp in the week, even though temperatures exceeded 30 degrees most days. In this short video Paul gives us some tips on how to ensure the carp are well looked after on the bank in such hot weather.

Carp Fishing in France at Alder

Jim Kelly – 39.09

Paul Cooper and Jim Kelly were fishing Alder lake for Angling Lines, both anglers were quickly into the fish and the action became so manic that Paul reduced his rods down to two and pulled them out for a rest at night.

Although Paul caught the most fish, Jim caught a bigger stamp of fish rounding out at 39lbs 9oz.

Paul Cooper – 26.06

While not pre-empting what will be a great article from Paul and Jim, one of the key points I took from their session was the importance of an adequate supply of bait to keep the carp in the target area. Unlike English lakes, these lakes are not fished week in and week out leaving the 200+ fish easily triggered into a feeding frenzy. Paul and Jim were trickling in 5Kg of boilies, each per day.

Interestingly the previous holder of the individual catch record (Bill Holcombe with 80 carp) also followed the feeding strategy of little and often and got through approx 30Kg of boilies.

You needn’t be worried about spoiling the fishing for the following group, the fish are continuing to feed this week.

Congratulations to Paul and Jim for a great and educational session and well done for the new Alder individual catch record of 100: Paul.

Carp Fishing in France at Alder