Angling Lines blog

Paul Cooper, an exceptionally consistent carp angler

Here’s an article from one of our field testers, Paul Cooper.  Paul is one of a small band of very good anglers we send out to France to evaluate new venues for us.  They often arrive with very little feedback to help them and they are under a lot of pressure to get the best returns, both for the owner and for Angling Lines.  Paul is a very consistent carp angler who always seems to produce the goods and extract the best possible return from any lake we’ve sent him to.  So I asked him to share with us how he does it;

The approach to a new lake in France can be a bit daunting at times especially when there is little or no literature available on the venue.

Before any new venue hits the Angling Lines website they go to great lengths to provide customers with as much information as possible on the venue and stock.  To this end I get called on by Angling Lines several times a year to test fish new lakes and help provide the information.

In order to get the best possible return from my week at the lake I have developed a plan on how best to attack the fishing;

1. Before setting off from home I check on the weather web sites such as Metcheck, to find wind directions, air pressure and temperatures.

2. On arrival at the lake I speak to the bailiff or lake owner to get the heads up on possible productive parts of the lake.

3. I study the water for signs of feeding or patrolling fish continue reading…

Shaun Greenaway wrote;

As I’m new to all fishing please can you tell me when float fishing for carp in ponds do you always make sure your bait reaches the bottom or is it possible to catch them at any depth?

During the long hot summer days, and we, it seems are heading for a long hot summer, with temperatures soaring to over 35 degrees this week, sitting behind a set of rods waiting for it to happen is more likely than not to end up in a blank session. You may well pick up the odd cruising fish, or get action at night, but with night hours now at their shortest, the time span is at its minimum at this time of the year.

So what is the answer?

Well to do what most anglers new to the sport don’t even consider…Go and find the fish! Using one’s eyes is an aspect of carping many seem to over look.

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Hi All
Saw this interesting article over on the Quest Baits site by Samantha on Snag fishing….

By Samantha

When fishing snags, tree lines or next to awkward features you will generally have more success if you place the rig tight under the tree coverage or very close to the snag during the day. The reason is that many carp, especially in pressured waters, tend to hold up tight under the trees or directly in the snags during daylight hours. This may be because there is noise and/or a disturbances, or probably due to the general angling pressure from fishermen. Whatever the reason, carp prefer to hold up in “safe” areas where they rarely get caught. In the past, I have placed effective carp fishing rigs up to 12 feet away from hanging trees when casting to the opposite bank, and on many occasions, have not caught all day.
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As more and more UK carp anglers venture abroad to France they are confronted with a huge choice of waters and fishing conditions. The giant fish we read about in the magazines, the success stories of leviathan carp all sound very attractive. These fish do exist and the potential of some large waters is outstanding. For this very reason, France has been the number one destination for the travelling angler for a number of years.
Smaller pits and lakes don’t usually pose too much of a problem for anyone who has the usual armoury of techniques and tactics at his disposal, and the usual UK approach will cope without any problem. Those who fancy having a go at one of the big French waters should only do so if they have done their home work and are well prepared for such a venue.

Lakes like the Der Chantecoq, the Foret de l’Orient, Salagou and Madine all hold massive fish, but all are, by English standards very big waters.

Approaching such a venue cannot be taken lightly, adequate tackle and equipment is a must if your fishing to be as enjoyable as it should and your chances of catching optimised.
First of all you need to do you ground work. Large scale maps of the various waters can be obtained from specialist shops and show the access roads to the bankside. These are edited by IGN and can be obtained in the UK or once you arrive in France. continue reading…