How many carp anglers use YouTube?

Ok this is not an article on carp fishing per se, but more on the use of the fabulous tool that is ‘YouTube’ ,a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips of your carp fishing adventures, with your mates and indeed with the whole world. YouTube was created in February […]

The Angling Lines 2009 Brochure & DVD is out!

The Angling Lines 2009 Brochure & DVD is out now – and it’s FREE! The DVD stuffed with over 4.5 hours of film from all of our French venues, giving you a real insight into the lakes and the facilities on offer. See action on the bank plus interviews with both owners and anglers. Making […]

Carp care – treat them with respect!

By Paul Cooper Carp fishing has come on leaps and bounds over the past 20 years with carp care being at the forefront of the conscientious carp angler. Even the sacking of carp is slowly decreasing with a more carp fisheries, banning the sack altogether. This has come about as a result of the occasional […]

6 Tips for Tackling Big French Carp Lakes

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. […]

Driving in France – new legislation

There has been a lot of information circulating on the net and web forums about the new legislation in France regarding safety equipment. This has caused some confusion. So here is a translation of the latest press release from the French authorities. Fluorescent Vest and Warning Triangles will become mandatory as of the 1st October […]

A Week’s Carp Fishing at Island Lake

I have just come back from an interesting weeks fishing with Paul Cooper on the Angling Lines Venue, Island Lake. Island Lake is a mature looking Gravel Pit of approximately 25 acres in the Champagne Region of France; roughly 3 ¾ hours drive from Calais. As the name suggests it has a large island and […]

How do I catch the bigger carp?

Oliver Wilkinson wrote: I fish at my local day ticket water Birkwoods Farm in Stanley, Wakefield.  It’s a 10 yr old lake holding hundreds of 4lb carp but there bigger fish. My question is how do you get to the bigger fellas?  All methods I’ve used catch the 4lb’ers. To make matters harder there a few bans […]

French carping – what should I expect to catch?

I often hear anglers who have booked onto a commercial venue in France complain about the difficulties they face catching carp. “It’s outrageous, I’ve paid X amount and I still haven’t have a touch!!” Some anglers even doubt the presence of the fish in the lake!! It is almost as if having paid to be […]

Carp Fishing Knots

David Mills wrote: I have just started fishing. Could you tell me the best knot to use to join a main line to a hook line? At present I’m using a 6lb main and 4lb hook line. Hi David, I wrote an article on the type of knot you wish to know about a few […]

Making the best of carp baits – Pellets are dynamite

Pellets are great carp catchers. Period. Most anglers have used the usual trout, salmon halibut, betaine or corn steep liquor pellets in the past, but there’s far more to pellets than meets the eye! The great boilie revolution in carp fishing meant that in Europe, carp became very used to being caught over large beds […]

True carp weights

  Have you ever caught a carp, weighed it accurately and then a few days later the same fish is caught weighing 2 to 3 lb heavier by another angler. Watch some of the angling video’s on the internet web sites and you can witness for yourself, examples of fish being weighed in-correctly. I have […]

Surface fishing for carp

How can you really get the best carp fishing results when things really hot up? How many anglers have not yet savored the joy of summer carp fishing and all the great opportunities and experiences of great catches, that summer brings? Why miss out on the action! Surface fishing is possibly your favorite method of […]

Do carp have soft mouths?

There is a statement I often here while I’m fishing, “Oh ! I’ve lost several fish because the Carp in here have soft mouths!!” Most of the time I have a hard job accepting that carp in any particular lake have soft mouths. My own waters are gravel/sand pits where the bottom is hard and, […]

Bivvies – what does twin skin mean?

Tom wrote: With regard to bivvies what does twin skin mean ? Gareth Watkins replies: I wrote a blog piece a week or so back on this subject hope this replies to your query: Ever since carp anglers started night fishing we have been searching for the perfect overnight shelter. These bivvies, as they have […]

Carp fishing tackle : What bivvy options do I have?

Ever since carp anglers started night fishing we have been searching for the perfect overnight shelter. These bivvies, as they have been christened need several essential qualities. Firstly they need to be spacious enough to cover a bedchair and all your tackle in order to protect it from the rain. Secondly they need to be […]

The PVA carp rig

PVA RIG MADE EASY One of my favourite methods of carp fishing is using PVA bags. It can be an absolutely deadly method of catching carp, because it presents a bed of bait you choose to use, with your hook bait disguised in amongst it. The rig can be cast a long distance when assembled […]

In carp fishing small things can make a big difference!

  Towards the end of April I had a week on one of the Angling Lines venues called Long Lake. I have written an article on the weeks fishing on the Angling Lines’ venue website. Now although I didn’t catch any massive fish I did catch a few. But the main thing that the week […]

Grosley and spawning carp

Jamie Simpson wrote this excellent write up about his recent trip to the Angling Lines venue at Grosley sur Risle on the Quest baits blog. By Jamie simpson I recently went on a week long trip to Lac De Grosley in France. A well run 25acre venue in Normandy, and only a 2 1/2 hour […]

Combatting Poisson Chat Problems

Craig Alldrick wrote: When were the poisson chat netted from Margot? Was it 2006 or 2007?  Will there be a problem this year [any reports yet?]. I am going in June and know poisson-chats get more active as it gets warmer. Any info or tips would be gratefully received as I would rather be prepared. I […]