Technical Carping

Winter carp fishing – at what temperature do they feed?

Finally most lakes around here have eventually crept back up in water temperature to make the catching of carp a much more realistic prospect than it was a couple of weeks back. For 30 odd years I have taken water temperatures during the winter months. I don’t mean just dangling a thermometer in a few […]

Off-set Carp Hooks – Are They More Effective?

Question: Hi Shaun, Nowadays all carp hooks are straight pointed but after purchasing some of these Smart point hooks that you use I see that the point is twisted off centre, not exactly sure what the techincal term for it is!  What is the difference between these hooks, does it affect the fishing? Tom Answer: […]

Winter carping – what’s the best carp rig?

This article first appeared on the Quest Baits Blog & is reproduced with kind permission Can you please tell me what you think are the best rigs for winter and the cold weather.  Thanks. Cold water rigs for me, differ very little from my normal rigs, however I do like to scale things down somewhat. You […]

You can catch carp in the snow!

This article first appeared on the Quest Baits Blog & is reproduced with kind permission.  I must admit I went to bed last night not particularly expecting to be doing much fishing this week-end. I re-loaded the open fire in my bedroom with logs before climbing into bed thinking I would have a nice leisurely day […]

Winter catch on Laroussi

Wayne Naylor with one of his Laroussi carp Wayne Naylor has just proved that cold water carping at Laroussi really is worth the effort.  Fishing the first week in November he took 34 carp in total… 1 x 52lb mirror, 1 x 54lb mirror, 1 x 44lb common, 3 x 30lb+ commons, 1 x 30lb […]

Tying Knots in Korda Hybrid Stiff hooklink

Here’s two knots I promised to show you; To tie a loop in your Hybrid Stiff hooklink This knot is incredibly simple. Just tie two overhand knots and gently pull tight, preferably over the steam from a kettle, or underwater to keep maximum knot strength. Tying to a ring swivel. This is the other simple […]

Why you should always carry 20mm boilies

  We sell far more 15mm boilies than we do 20mm boilies which does surprise me.  I like small baits in my own fishing but tend to do so from 20mm baits. Let me explain. To me there is nothing worse than not being able to quite reach the fish with free baits. This is […]

How do I avoid sturgeon in carp lakes?

I’m fishing a week at Laroussi at the end of September with 7 mates.  Just wondered if you could provide a few bait tips.  I’ve read that it is best to avoid fish meals because of the Sturgeon. David Adams Hi Dave, The Sturgeon love pellets of any kind as well as fish meal type […]

Good carp care on the bank

Another great article from Andrew at Molyneux; So you’ve just caught your personal best, you know how to use the camera but now it’s time to pick the fish up. 1. Control the carp on the mat, if the fish is playing up then keep it in the sling and lift it off the mat […]

The importance of scales if you get that monster carp

Call it what you like… a plea… a reminder… or simply just a request, please, please please any fishermen, & of course fisher ladies (although of course it’s well known that us girls are generally well prepared & don’t need reminding), coming to France for a spot of carp fishing do remember to bring with […]

How much bait should I take on a French carp trip?

A question from Mr C Barnes; “Going to Etang De Moulinots for a week this summer and would appreciate any advice on the amount of bait to take for a week and what type of bait (shelf life, air dried, frozen) etc.  Thanks” Hi Mr Barnes, This is a very difficult one to answer as bait […]

Carp fishing in silkweed

Silk weed – love it! I must admit it does make me smile when I see anglers trying to find clear areas to present their baits when confronted with a swim full of silk weed. Silkweed harbours a lot of natural food particularly shrimps which the carp love which in turn means they will regularly […]

What distance carp rods would you recommend?

Dean asks; Hi there, would like your help… I’m looking to upgrade my carp rods & I’m prepared to spend up to about £600’ish.  I would like something that would give me a little bit more distance.  I’m using Wychwood 2.75 t/c rods at the mo.  Any suggestions would be great, thanks. Reply from Shaun […]

Bag up methods for carp in France

Some tips from Chas, the owner of Vaux ; When I get the chance to spend some time at the lake, I like to experiment. What I see most of the time is conventional fishing using boilies, that is to say a PVA bag with boilie hook link, but I show those visitors who are […]

Buy & sell used carp tackle on-line

Here’s a site all carp anglers might be interested in – a chance to buy & sell second-hand carp fishing tackle.  Run by the same company that operates Golf Bidder, a hugely successful second-hand golf equipment website, they definitely know what they are doing & are unlikely to let you down.  Check it out; www.tacklefanatics.co.uk

How to get the best return from a carp session at Villefond

Based on my own fishing & observing guest anglers anglers here at Villefond the first thing I would say is it’s not an overly hard water and most tactics work. From experienced anglers, to some who would admit freely themselves they are not experts, have all done well!  There are a few tips that seem […]

Advantages of night only carp fishing in France

I go to France with my family several times per year. To keep them sweet I don’t fish during the day, but go out sight seeing, shopping, markets, swimming lakes etc. At first I thought this would be a disadvantage, but actually my results have improved. If the water is easy I just fish evening […]

Why I prefer running rigs for carp

In this post David Harding explains why he recommends running rigs on his lake; You can imagine my thoughts when asked to write an article on the running rig, firstly by trying to remember when I first used it. My mind went back to as far as I can remember to Lincoln 1958 and it consisted […]