Landing\ngear!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nClearly,\nyour regular 42\u201d carp net isn\u2019t going to accommodate a 6\u2019plus leviathan. So\nwhat\u2019s to be done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well,\nthere are any number of larger \u2013 60\u201d-70\u201d – cat nets on the market. They are however\nrather heavy. And they\u2019re not what you\u2019d call cheap \u2013 running to \u00a3100 or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which explains why so many\nanglers choose instead to \u2018glove\u2019 their fish: gripping the beaten fish’s bottom\njaw with a gloved hand and dragging it on to the bank using an oversized\nunhooking mat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ntechnique is not, however, for the faint hearted. If a cat chooses to twist at\nthe wrong moment, you\u2019re looking at a broken wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly,\nyou should make sure you have a good idea of the hook hold before you embark on\na nocturnal tug of war: a 2\/0 Eagle Wave in the thumb is to be avoided if at\nall possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nhowever good the French health service may be, a trip to A&E could take the\nedge off your holiday experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So,\nfor the inaugural expedition, you might consider biting the bullet, and\ninvesting in a specialist net from the likes of Catmaster or Catfish Pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much the same applies to\nyour weighing gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will simply not be able\nto get an accurate weight for a big cat without a suitable sling, and tripod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So unless you\u2019re happy with\na \u2018best guess\u2019, you will need a purpose made sling from one of the usual\nsuspects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those lovely people at NGT\nalso do a great tripod which, though rather heavy, can usually be picked up for\naround \u00a330.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nthat\u2019s you done for catfish hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your\nregular carp pod or bankstick set-up and alarms will be fine. Indeed, they\u2019re\nessential. Cats are very much nocturnal in nature, most active between dusk and\ndawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which\nis great for you, if you\u2019re booking a family break on a venue with accommodation<\/strong> – meaning you can devote your time to your nearest\nand dearest by day; secure in the knowledge that the best, fishing wise, is to\ncome once the sun goes down.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWin:win!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/looking-for-carp-and-catfish-top-6-french-lakes-to-visit\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
For more information on catfishing in general \u2013 and targeting bigger French beasts in particular \u2013 contact the Catfish Conservation Group. Or get in touch with Ron at Catmaster Tackle, who\u2019s always more than happy to share his decades\u2019 experience targeting the species at home and overseas.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSteve Calder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Targeting monster catfish? Make sure you have the right tools for the job\u2026 Last year, I was fortunate to attend Catmaster Tackle\u2019s annual social at Oakwood Park Lakes, in Norfolk. As an out-and-out carp angler, I figured \u2013 like many before and since \u2013 that, with a few tweaks here and there, my existing kit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,904,1113,890],"tags":[1117,1078,1120,1119,1126,1121,1124,1128,1129,1127,1114,1123,1116,1115,1118,1125,1122],"class_list":["post-26135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carp-fishing-news","category-catfish","category-steve-calder","category-carp-tackle","tag-angling-lines","tag-carp-fishing","tag-carp-fishing-france","tag-carp-fishing-in-france","tag-carp-fishing-tips","tag-carp-france","tag-carp-rigs","tag-catfish","tag-catfish-tackle","tag-catfishing","tag-fishing-france","tag-fishing-holiday","tag-fishing-holidays","tag-french-carp","tag-french-carp-fishing","tag-french-carp-lakes","tag-lakes-in-france"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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