Pin-Drop Carping – A Guide to Public Water Fishing in France
Having fished both French and English-run commercial fisheries in France for more than 25 years, I gradually became more and more interested in the mystery and adventure of fishing the many public waters across France. I’d read as many articles as I could find, scour the Internet and YouTube and watch every vlog possible to try and gather information on what extra gear I’d need – and more importantly, how to actually approach these vast and varied venues – before finally taking the plunge eight years ago and giving French public water fishing a proper go myself.
To be fair, I’ll admit my first few trips into this new world weren’t particularly successful. But I learnt something from every session, and over time the mistakes I made early on were gradually ironed out.
Most people’s first impression of French public waters are the famous huge lakes such as Lac du Der, Orient, Salagou and Cassien. These are without doubt the ultimate adventure venues – but they can also be very intimidating, and enough to put plenty of anglers off before they’ve even started.
The reality is that French public waters vary massively. There are rivers, canals, ponds, lakes and barrages. Some are tiny and intimate, while others resemble inland seas stretching for miles.
The French national licence, or Carte de Pêche, gives you access to literally hundreds of miles of bank space across France. The Interdepartmental licence currently costs around €120 and covers the majority of the country. It can be bought online, in local bars and tabacs, tourist offices or tackle shops.
A brace shot of 50lb and 45lb commons
Choosing Your French Public Water Venue
So where do you start?
First of all, get yourself a decent map of France, or simply use Google Earth and Google Maps. From there, decide roughly how far you want to travel. France is a huge country, so to give yourself plenty of options I’d suggest starting around a six-hour drive from Calais. That generally puts you somewhere between a third and halfway down the country.
Once you’ve chosen a region, start scanning Google Earth for “bits of blue” – lakes, rivers, canals and barrages. The key is to give yourself options. If you arrive at your first-choice venue and it’s busy, doesn’t feel right, or conditions aren’t ideal, you need backup plans ready.
I’ve often started a week on option C or D, before later moving back onto option A when things opened up.
There are also several useful websites for researching venues. Carp Spot, Piscamaps and Geocarp are all excellent resources, although they do require subscriptions and not all information is fully up to date. Still, the more research you can do beforehand, the better.
You need to know:
- Where the night zones are
- Whether boats are allowed
- If engines can be used
- Whether bait boats are permitted
- Any reserve areas or no-fishing zones
The more prepared you are before travelling, the smoother the trip becomes.
Preparing Your Gear for French Public Waters
Unlike commercial fisheries, public water fishing in France really does require you to scale up your tackle.
Your standard rods will generally be fine if they’re 3lb test curve or above. However, if you expect to be fishing from a boat regularly, I’d strongly recommend shorter 10ft rods with a 3.5lb test curve or more. Trying to wave around a 12ft or 13ft rod in a boat while netting a fish is an absolute nightmare – trust me!
A quality big pit reel with good line capacity is essential, especially on larger venues where you may be dropping rigs at 200, 300 or even 400 yards plus.
Main Line & Leaders
- Mono: minimum 25-30lb
- Fluorocarbon leader: around 20m of 40lb+
- Braid: 40-50lb with fluorocarbon leader
You don’t need to spend a fortune on braid either. There are some excellent budget options available online. I personally use Spectra neutral density braid in 40-50lb.
The braid I use
Hooklinks & Hooks
Hooklinks should be at least 25lb breaking strain. Several companies now make strong hooklink materials above this, including Fox, Nash and Katran.
For hooks, I generally favour:
- Size 4 or 2 Fox Medium Curves
- Wide Gape Long Shanks
Hooks and rigs need to be super strong!
Leads
Depending on range and conditions, I’ll use anything from 4oz to 8oz gripper leads.
Boats & Electronics for Public Water Carp Fishing
If you’re fishing canals, you can probably get away with casting or using a bait boat. But on lakes, rivers and barrages, having a proper boat is a massive advantage.
Personally, I use a Fox 290 X inflatable, although companies like Nash, Sonik and Raptor all make excellent carp fishing inflatables.
A boat this size allows me to transport all my gear from the car park to wherever I decide to fish – and on public waters you definitely won’t always be parked next to your swim.
Essential Boat Equipment
- Electric motor (minimum 50lb thrust)
- 2–3 leisure batteries
- Echo sounder or Deeper
- Long banksticks and/or rod pod
- Life jacket
Other than the boat itself, I’d say the echo sounder is probably the single most important item you can buy. Without one, you’re effectively fishing blind.
Long banksticks are essential
If you can’t use long banksticks, a solid rod pod is a must
Arriving at the Venue
Once you’ve booked your ferry or tunnel crossing and hit the road, you’ll eventually arrive in France with two choices: toll roads or non-toll roads.
The tolls are much quicker, but if money is tight or you enjoy the scenic route, avoiding them is perfectly doable.
Once I arrive at the venue, if the weather is dry I prioritise finding spots and getting rods sorted before putting the bivvy up. If it’s raining, the bivvy goes up first and everything gets dumped inside until the rods are sorted.
Before I even begin looking for spots, my boat is already loaded with:
- Buckets of boilies
- Tigers
- Maize
- Spare leads
- Rigs
- Scissors
- Markers
For bait, I nearly always carry 20mm and 26mm DNA Baits S7 and Switch boilies, alongside particles and maize.
I’ll also take one rod fully baited and ready to drop on to the final spot I find.
Some of the bait I use
Finding Spots & Dropping Rigs
Once everything is loaded into the boat, I head out with the echo sounder and start searching.
The spots could be anywhere – near margin, open water or far margin – but I always try to cover as wide an area as possible.
When I find a likely spot:
- I drop an H-block marker around 10–15 feet behind it
- Double-check the area with the echo
- Bait the spot with boilies, tigers and maize
- Repeat the process for the remaining rods
On the final spot, I’ll bait up and immediately drop the rig onto the area before heading back to the bank in as straight a line as possible.
I always work methodically from left to right (or vice versa depending on wind direction) when positioning rods.
Once the first rod is fishing, I’ll place a landing net and retention sling into the boat so everything is ready if I get a take.
One little tip that really helps at night: I attach a small bike light or head torch to my bankstick or pod. If I get a take after dark, it gives me a reference point to navigate back to safely.
Get your tactics right and public-lake fishing can be so rewarding
Playing Fish from the Boat
On some lakes you can play fish from the bank, but on rivers and many larger public waters I’ll nearly always go out in the boat to land them.
First things first – life jacket on.
Then it’s a case of slowly winding yourself out towards the fish, using minimal motor power where possible. Once close to the fish, I’ll usually switch the motor off completely unless I genuinely need it.
Boat battles can be incredibly intense and heart-in-mouth stuff, but once the fish is safely in the net the relief is unreal.
If possible, I’ll unhook the fish in the water. If not, I’ll carefully lift it into the boat, unhook it, place it into the retainer and return it to the water while I reposition the rod and rebait the area.
One important thing: always make sure the fish’s head is facing the direction the boat is travelling, and keep it well away from the motor.
Playing fish from a boat is crucial on some venues
The Adventure of French Public Water Carp Fishing
Once you’re back in the swim with the rods reset, it’s time to photograph your reward, return the fish safely and wait for the next chapter of the adventure to unfold.
That first public water trip to France can seem daunting, but trust me – there really is nothing quite like targeting wild carp in wild places.
And all for around €120 a year.
Now that is value for money!
