THE GUIDE TO FRENCH CARP FISHING
Heading to France to fish for carp is something I do two or three years and have done for the past 14 years now.
Some people treat their French carp fishing differently to back home, but I don’t, because French waters are usually full of anglers between March and November, which means the carp are under just as much pressure as they are in UK waters and have seen every rig there is!
Therefore, I’d recommend sticking with the tactics you have confidence in and certainly don’t try to reinvent the wheel!
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE TRIP?
Think about what you want from the trip. Is it a social with mates? Do you want to catch a number of fish? Do you want to catch a giant? There are a few waters in France that will allow you to tick all those boxes, but not many, so pick somewhere that works for you. I tend to find a water which produces a lot of fish tends to have a high percentage of smaller carp, so you generally can’t have it all.
Once you’ve decided what you’re after, consider how much work you want to put in to organising it. There are some very good companies that will do all this for you; all you have to do is pick one of their lakes and they sort out transport and everything you need to get you out there. Alternatively, you can make all the arrangements yourself, which is what I tend to do, as I am happy to do a bit of planning and I find it gives me a bit more freedom to do things my own way on a trip.
Organising a trip to France can be as simple as you want it to be
THE CROSSING
Travel-wise, always look at the different crossings that are available. Don’t just think that Dover to Calais or the Tunnel are the only options. I mainly fish waters in Brittany, so normally go on the night boat from Portsmouth to either Caen or St Malo, which suits me down to the ground.
Something else to think about when you plan your journey is that although there aren’t any tolls as such in Brittany, I have fished a few lakes that require the use of toll roads. I have noticed that most toll booths now seem to have contactless payment machines, so it pays to get a card that doesn’t charge for foreign transactions, and remember, the tolls do act as speed cameras. If you leave one and get to the next one too soon, you can be given a speeding fine!
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
However you decide to get to France, do your homework on the venue. Again, this is no different to the UK. Not all the articles you read will necessarily be accurate, both in terms of the good or bad comments. As with anywhere you visit, there will be people who preceded you who had a bad time and others who loved it. Try to read between the lines and don’t take everything you read as gospel.
Make sure you read the rules of the venue and not just skim through them. I’ve come up against some rules that would have caught me out had I not checked in advance. On most venues I’ve fished it’s generally a rule that leaders aren’t allowed, but a few others I have come across can be very specific, such as only allowing certain items of end tackle, at least one metre of anti-tangle tubing, no Ronnie or spinner rigs, and only bait purchased on site allowed to be used.
Quite a lot of lakes now supply the wet kit, as in landing nets, slings and unhooking mats, but I always take my own now and leave them in the van, just in case. Earlier this year, I went to a lake that stipulated anglers must their mats, nets, etc., but when I arrived at the lake, those rules had changed! So make sure you know what to expect before you arrive.
TAKE YOUR A GAME
Finally, don’t expect the fish to jump on your hook just because you’re in France. Always take your A game, because you really don’t want to be sitting on that ferry on the way home wishing you’d tried harder.
As I have referenced, I don’t do a lot of things differently when in France, but there are two standout things I admit to changing when I go to France. Firstly, I used a baitboat, and secondly, I use a lot of boilie crumb, which just seems to work so well for me in France. Apart from that, I could be fishing back home, as nothing else changes.
Rig-wise, I nearly always use a spinner rig on a stiff hooklink, if it’s allowed, and 15lb line, which is as simple as it gets for me.
Make sure you take your A game!
BAIT
My last trip over was in early October and for bait I took a 15-litre bucket of boilie crumb, 20kg of whole Bug boilies and two 15-litre buckets of pellets. For this particular trip, I was returning to a water I had visited before in Brittany. I went on the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo and once I had arrived at the lake settled in and found three spots I was happy with up against an island. I tend to try and stick to spots I find and keep the bait going in. If the carp come across my bait, I want something that will keep them in the area. My rods were all put out using the baitboat, along with a good handful of boilies in it, plenty of crumb and pellet and a squirt of Amino Smoke.
There were six anglers on the lake for this particular trip, with 12 fish hooked overall and seven landed. I had four of the bites, so must have been doing something right!
I hope this little guide helps at least one person enjoy a memorable trip to France. Bon voyage!
