Boost your carp skills with technical guides, tips and techniques that focus on improving tackle, baiting and tactics for success on the water.
By Andrew at Molyneux lake; I often get asked about bait but I was a bit hesitant to write a piece about it in case people thought they could gain an ‘edge’ by doing the opposite of what I advise, but here’s what I’ve found at Molyneux. Of course every lake varies, but these are […]
Quest have just launched their new boilie for 2010 – Chilli Chocolate. Shaun Harrison describes it; Every once in a while you stumble across something in life which cannot be ignored! This is the case with our new Chilli Chocolate range. I was working along a totally different theme when I uncovered some […]
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 […]
David writes; The Winter fishing at Vaux this year has been superb – see the January 28th Blog post here In this post from Chas, the owner of Vaux, he gives away one of his winter edges… his Ice Rig! From May 2002 when we bought Vaux until March 2004 when it was opened as […]
A very interesting series of posts on the Forum at the moment covering the Barbed Vs Barbless debate. As with most things in life there’s 2 sides to every argument and whilst I’d always thought that the pro-barbed argument was more about it being to the anglers advantage (as opposed to the carps) I must […]
Following on from yesterdays post which definitely proves it’s worth winter carping in France, today we address the age old question – do UK carp feed sufficiently often in the winter to make it worth while fishing for them? In this excellent piece Shaun Harrison gives us the benefit of his 30 years of carp […]
For the brave ones who’ve crossed the channel in search of French winter carp there’s certainly been good rewards. Ian Lewis & 3 mates have just had a great week at Vaux (17th – 24th January) taking 6 mirrors, 4 being in the 30s, biggest 38.07; 2 commons, biggest 21.06; and 7 pike, biggest 25lb. […]
PVA and other water soluble products which either melt, separate or shrink in the water are incredibly useful products for many carp anglers. Most would be totally lost without several different forms in their tackle bags. From PVA bags, mesh stocking tubes, string, tape and foam nuggets… all are fantastic carp catching aids when used […]
The death of Benson, the immaculate common carp from Bluebell Lakes back in August this year ignited the uncooked particle debate once again. You can read the Daily Express article here. The article contains a couple of quotes. The first come from an anonimous Web Poster; “Tiger nuts and peanuts are not swallowed whole, they […]
The Chod Rig has to be one of my most my favoured rigs. I’ve opted to use it for the majority of my sessions lately, and with some personal touches I think it’s as perfect as I can get it. Instead of using leadcore I use a 48-inch Tungsten Ex-Heavy Leader from TFG and instead […]
Gary wrote; As I’m going to France next year and the average fish is 20 – 25lb, but there are bigger ones in the lake, so what line should I use? I normally use 12lb. Should i go up to 15 or even 20lb? Could you let me know many thanks. Hi Gary, When […]
Brent wrote: I am going to La Fritterrie in november and am thinking of using either club or red herring. Any tips please? Hi Brent, Not too sure what ingredients are used in Club Mix or Red Herring but would presume the Red Herring is fish meal based and possibly contains fish oils too. If […]
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? Thanks for your query. It’s normal to present the bait on the bottom unless you […]
Carl wrote; I’m new to spodding. How many spods should I put in when I start fishing? Hi Carl, I would put 6 spods in to start & not top up until I caught a fish. Every fish top up with 3 spods. Keep it accurate by casting to a marker float & […]
by Lee Johnson Being a lake owner doesn’t always mean you get to fish whenever you like. This May, I did manage to get a few days fishing in on Lake Lauren here at La Gléhias and decided to go for a Catfish or two as they are hooked often, but rarely landed as the […]
During the long (and seriously hot) summer days, sitting behind a set of rods waiting for it to happen is can often 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 […]
Mike Burt wrote: I’m a reasonably experienced angler but new to dedicated carping and very confused about lines, braid, shock leaders, hook lengths etc. I have all the tackle but am not sure what line to put on the reel. What I really need is a configuration of the type of lines from my reel to the […]
Simon Rooney wrote: Could you please find out for me if the fish at Hideaway feed off the surface as I have found out that some lakes in France don’t. Hi Simon, Generally speaking peole have the impression that carp don’t take of the surface in France. This is of course rubbish. However this […]
France has had a hard winter this year, many lakes were frozen for a number of weeks at the start of 2009 and even now in the first week of April we are still getting frosts. This has naturally had its effect on water temperatures. Water temperatures are the key to fish moving and feeding […]
by Ian Gemson Solid PVA bags are excellent for getting a wide verity of baits and liquids out into the swim with your hook bait. However, when fishing at range, PVA bags can be problematic. The first problem is making a solid bag tight and aerodynamic such that it flies straight and true. The second […]
