Carp fishing cuisine – my top 5 bank side recipes

  Bankside food while carp fishing needs to be tasty, but quick and easy to prepare. So aside the fry up what can you eat? The main problem you get cooking on the bank is lack of space and only one or at the most two cooker rings. I’ve used a Coleman double burner in […]

Quick Guide To Using Backleads In Carp Fishing

Backleads are an item of tackle I have rarely used, mainly because on the gravel pits I fish I find they are not appropriate due to the amount of weed present most of the time. In this case I believe the use of backleads would lose me fish. So what are the types of Backleads […]

What’s the bottom like in Willow Lake at Mas Bas

Craig Lea-hair wrote: What type of bottom is Lotus at Mas Bas? I’ve been thinking about what type and colour hook link to use. Gareth Watkins replies: First off you’ll love Mas Bas, I went to Lotus with my family last summer when I shot the video. We had a great time; if you look […]

17 tips for driving in France

First rule for you to remember (should you come from the UK) when planning to drive in France for a carp fishing holiday is : drive on the right side of the road! Be especially careful when setting off from service stations or restaurants on the left side of the road. Also, bear in mind […]

Carp care – please use an antiseptic!

Why we should all use Klin-ik  Klin-ik is a Laboratory Formulated Fish Care Product. Dave Chilton of Kryston tells us why and how the totally safe and laboratory formulated fish care product Klin-ik was introduced. This is an issue that many carp anglers still ignore, especially when they come to France.  I see anglers turn up […]

Looking for a big carp venue for my 2009 trip…

Mike wrote: Looking for a new venue for a 2009 trip.  Needs to have a good head of fish above 50lb (PB) and a good head of 40’s, 30’s etc and not many below that sort of weight.  Any suggestions? Cheers Mike Hi Mike, Thanks for your query. 2009 is a fair way off so you’ll […]

Extreme Orient

The “Lac de Madine” seems to be the No.1 big water destination this year and as such, has usurped “Foret d’ Orient” at the top of the French carp waters tree. Rumours have been rife in the press of late that “Orient” is finished and no longer holds as many big fish. Well, results by […]

How do you choose a carp fishing swim?

I’m sure many of you will have seen that there are Carp anglers that just seem to have the knack of getting on the fish and catching them. No matter where they go, they have a sixth sense and can tune into the water. I’ve seen this on a number of occasions and have been […]

Carp fishing – take better photos

As a follow on article to my post on ‘Making Fishing Videos’, I thought I’d look at the close links there seem to be between Fishing and photography. I know a number of anglers who are accomplished photographers. Nearly all the guys who contribute regularly to the Angling Press are good shooters. You need to illustrate […]

Making angling videos

I read to a recent Opinion Piece – by Jeff Woodhouse on Making Angling Videos posted on the Fishing Magic website, commenting on the poor quality and low standard of angling videos on the market. As a photographer/cameraman the subject is naturally of interest to me. Jeff writes:(…..why should we put up with this sort […]

My 4 favourite carp fishing knots

Carp anglers need to be able to tie strong and reliable knots in order to successfully land the fish they hook. Now many people get confused by the vast array of knots that are possible in fishing but I use just four knots for virtually all my fishing.   Knotless Knot: This has now become […]

Spooling up; filling your carp reel with line

One thing that we all need to do in angling is fill our reels with line… Fixed spool reels have an inherent tendency to twist the line, eventually making casting impossible. This twisting is down to the clutches fitted on the reels and is compounded by the technique in carp fishing of letting the fish […]

Do long shank carp hooks cause less mouth damage?

I found a really informative set of posts on the Fox Blog today. The series of four pieces called “Safety Zone” by Stéphane Hanff offers some really useful information about Carp Fishing safety that is relevant to both UK and Continental fishing. The piece that caught my eye was the article on SAFE AND EFFECTIVE […]

What is the minimum carp tackle we need to fish?

When I first started out carp fishing in the late 70’s, most of today’s gear didn’t exist, I used to walk around the lake with every bit of carp gear I owned in a green army surplus rucksack, with my rods & brolly in a roll-up holdall and a sun-lounger to sit & sleep on. […]

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Budget carp fishing in France

February & March can be unpredictable months for the fishing in France. Some anglers feel the weathers too dodgy to warrant spending hard earned cash and risk blanking. But February bookings this year have had some great results – 1 angler caught around 30 carp at Vaux the first week of February and we’ve a […]

Carp fishing holidays abroad – what are my options?

As carp fishing gets ever more popular each year so more anglers look to Europe for their fishing and in particular – France. Most of the waters in the UK which hold fish over 35lb are either exclusive syndicate waters or cost a small fortune to fish. France then, can offer the chance of large […]

Bait tips for French carping

Choosing the Type and Quantity of Bait for a Carp Fishing trip to France… “I’m going to France, what sort, and how much bait should I take ? ” Which Bait should I take? The first thing to decide is which boilie you want to take and go with that. I’ve never been one to […]

Carp fishing techniques – are bait boats cheating?

Izaak Walton’s famous book ‘The Complete Angler’ was a celebration of our sport, based on the central theme that angling is an art that transcends the objective of catching fish. Angling then is the technique of catching fish using a rod and line; it is called “angling” because of the angle formed by the two. […]

Essential tackle for your French trip

Generally speaking the bulk of tackle used for UK carp angling is perfectly adequate for the continent, but it is worth bearing in mind that many of the French waters are much larger than the UK and more importantly, you will be faced with bigger fish for the most part. Here then I propose a […]