Croix Blanche
A renowned big fish destination that is back on our books is the Etangs de la Croix Blanche in the Aisne region of northern France. This is a fully inclusive venue run by A & J Euro Carp Sessions. They've been running trips to Croix for the last 7 years and it's fair to say that their package is amongst the very best you'll find.

You'll be picked up at Dover & transported to the lake by luxury coach. The food is excellent and the quality of the fishing is simply stunning - 3 x 60's & 8 x 50's backed up by dozens of 40's make this a true specimen lake.

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Ron & Martyn’s Guided Trips

Angling Lines are delighted to announce that we will be working alongside respected big fish anglers Ron Woodward and Martyn Bocarisa to offer you the opportunity to accompany them to a number of International venues to catch that fish of your dreams. Ron and Martyn will give you complete confidence that your trip will be professionally organised and offer you the best possible chance of catching. This is your chance to join them, benefit from their vast experience and tackle waters you’d probably be nervous of doing on your own… and in the process probably improve your own angling skills too.
The venues they offer are:

Town lake, Austin Texas: If pristine, uncaught and hard fighting carp are your target then Town Lake could be for you. Over the past 5 years it has consistently excelled in both the quality and quantity of carp it has produced. With carp close to 50lb already banked, 40's in increasing regularity and more 30's and 20's than you can shake a stick at it offers everything the travelling angler could dream of!

Lake Chira - Gran Canaria: Lake Chira, high in the mountains of Gran Canaria, is a venue which has been well known in carp-circles over the last 15 years. The fishing is extremely prolific and Chira has an excellent track record of producing 20 to 30lb fish.

Chantecoq - France: One of the most famous big fish destinations of all the French public lakes is Lac du Der Chantecoq. It's the largest man-made lake in Europe, which when full covers over 12,000 acres. Forget any pre-conceived notions about fishing this lake English-style as it's a massive sheet of water and the fishing conditions change constantly according to the water level and the weather.

Royal River Seine - France: The Seine is a river that’s legendry for producing big carp. It’s one of France's premier rivers, stretching through the centre of the country from Chanceaux to Chatillon-sun-Seine and on to Troyes, before passing through the heart of France ’s capital city, Paris.

River Saone - France: The Saone is a powerful river which winds its way through some of the most beautiful landscapes in France. It’s well known for it’s large catfish, but it’s also an extremely prolific carp water. For example, on one of Ron’s trips, Ron and a good friend had 59 takes in 3 days and nights fishing, landing fish to over 30lb, with the majority being over 20lb.

River Ebro – Spain: Famous for its monster catfish and hard fighting common carp, this Spanish river system is an ideal destination if you are looking for a true adventure and the chance of hooking into an unknown monster that lurks in the deep. Ron has landed cats to 175lb and carp to over 40lb on his numerous trips here.

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Etang Rémy NEW
A second no fuss specimen water that we have added to our books this year is the Etang Rémy, set in the beautiful forested area near the Orient Lake in north Eastern France. This 25 acre venue really is a superb piece of water and a more secluded and carpy looking lake one couldn’t imagine. The banks are lined with reed mace and in mid-simmer the lily pads make it a very picturesque lake indeed.

Remy is owned by one of France's most respected fish farmers, Patrick Bachelier. It's no surprise therefore that the lake holds an excellent head of large carp. In fact its stock is quite exceptional with numerous fish over the 35lb mark. As you would expect given that the owner is a fish farmer, Remy is regularly drained to control the fish stocks so it's possible to be reasonably accurate when stating stocks. In total the lake holds at least 330 carp, the largest well over 45lb. There's also a small head of catfish, but no nuisance species such as poissons chats.

Remy is a carp angler’s paradise set in wonderful woodland scenery, but the lakeside facilities are somewhat basic, consisting of a small wooden toilet block at the entrance. There is no running water or electricity but additional facilities, which include a hot shower, toilet, kitchen and sleeping quarters, are available the main club house on the nearby Jonchery Lake which is about ten minutes away.

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Belgium: Tertre, Grand Rieu (Rue) & Herbieres
We have received a few reports on the developments at the big fish complex in Northern Belgium that comprises the lakes Tertre, Grand Rieu (Rue) & Herbieres.

The first is the news that a Belgium angler Damien Sauvage has landed a whopping 50lb 2oz fish this month. The giant mirror captured on the Lac de Tertre on February 20th fell to 22mm Halibut pellet fished over a bed of pellets at range. Tertre has certainly produced the goods over the last twelve months with no less than 105 carp over 20kg (44lb) banked by visiting anglers. The two largest topping the 30kg barrier at 66lb and 77lb. The big fish potential on this complex is outstanding and it’s an ideal destination for the serious specimen hunter who’s not too worried about luxury facilities.

Further stocking has also taken place over the last few weeks on the two sister lakes to Tertre. Both the Lac des Herbieres and the Domaine du Grand Rieu (Rue) have seen new carp introduced. Grand Rieu is an established venue which already boasts a good head of carp to 50lb plus. In February a further one and a half tons of carp were added to the water ranging from 25lb to 50lb. Results on this already prolific water should be excellent in 2005.

The Lac des Herbieres is a new venue for this season and on my last visit work was still under way on the banks to improve accessibility and the pegs. Following the introduction of around 4.5 tons of carp in 2004 up to 32lb, this lake also received a substantial number of fish during the February 2005 restocking. This time three and a half tons of carp were introduced of a better stamp than the existing carp stocks. These fish weighed between 25lb and 50lb. The total now on this 50 plus acre lake is approximately eight tons of carp, without counting the substantial head of smaller fish that it originally held. It’s certain to be an all-action water in 2005, with the chance of a biggie too.

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***STOP PRESS: LATEST BAIT NEWS***

We just received this from AL regular Darren Buck:

”Just thought I would let you know that on Saturday and Sunday just gone I took part in a carp match at one of my local waters. I went armed with just your ANGLING LINES SPECIAL boilies and some pellet. I was very nervous when I learnt that I was up against 30 anglers, nearly all of which were fishing with Mainline baits. I baited my swims carefully and had no response for 7 hours which didn’t do my confidence any good at all. On one of my rods had put out 1kg of chopped boilies and off it went. The first run I missed but the second I landed a 32lb 3oz mirror. I bought all my lines closer together and heavily baited the area I was fishing. Over a period of about 12 hours I landed 2 mirrors 20lb+ 1 common of 15lb and the final fish of the weekend was another mirror of 27lb 1oz. It was enough to get me into the second round (which was not too difficult as only 4 anglers caught anything!). I did win the largest fish of the match. I have to say that I am over the moon with the bait and although it does not seem a huge catch I am sure you agree that on a commercial fishery in the U.K and in winter I didn’t do too badly….I can’t wait to use it when I go to France in May. There is just one draw back with the bait. I need to buy some more. Regards. Daren Buck.”

See you next month.

Gareth