The English Version

She’s here. She’s arrived. French Anna!
The French edition of my children’s book Anna’s Secret Granny – La Mamie de Rêve – is in my hands at last. It was published on Friday May 10 so I only needed to wait a day but if felt like a long time!

I’ve been a published author since 1996 with more than forty books out now but this is my first full-colour children’s book to appear, as well as my first French one, so it’s quite a celebration.

I am thrilled to bits with the book. I was worried it was a bit too pink when I saw the announcement for it on the Fnac site, and it is pink, but it’s beautiful. Artist Peggy Caramel has provided the loveliest illustrations for the book. I was chuffed to see Anna was a redhead like me! And Granny is fabulous, a real, elegant Mamie (a French grandmother).

The story is about Anna who, like my kids, doesn’t have any grandmothers. Her friends are always going on about how their Grans take them to the cinema, or the swimming pool, or buy them treats, but of course Anna misses out on all that. So she draws a picture of the Granny she’d like – and next morning that Granny turns up on the doorstep.

The French Edition

The French version is altogether more luxurious than the original Irish one, which is now a teenager as it first appeared in 2000! But horses for courses. Anna’s Secret Granny was intended as a low budget easy reader for kids with some black and white illustrations. La Mamie deRêve is more indulgent, full colour illustrations throughout, and has a very classy feel to it. However, it’s only 63 cents more expensive than the original at €5,70 which is very impressive, given that books tend to be very dear in France. It’s not unusual to spend €18 on a paperback. It’s also printed on paper made from sustainably managed forests, which is very good news.

The story has been changed very little. I was delighted to see that the names of mine and Chris’s mothers for Anna’s two dead grandmothers were kept – Eileen and Kate (although she was Cathleen in the original). The only change is the fictional Australian Aunt Matilda becomes grande-tante Eulalie!Oh yes, and the cod’s liver oil becomes a carton of fish soup.

What am I talking about? You’ll have to read the book for yourself!

Related posts

• Walnuts everywhere! (0)
• Tour de France Action 2011 (0)
• The Zoo Parc de Beauval (0)
• The swallows at Notaires (0)
• The Great Pig Experience (0)

Big fish on the feed

After a 6 hour drive from Holland we arrived at the gates of Laroussi. Mehdi must have heard the cars stopping because the gates to heaven opened almost immediately. We greeted Mehdi and had a little chat about the normal things in life.

Rods out on the 1st day

Soon the subject changed to what we came for… tackling the big carp that inhabited the lake. Mehdi informed us how the lake was fishing and it all became clear nature was almost a month behind due to the bad weather last winter. Fishing was slow, but the fish that were being caught were, in most cases, the bigger residents of Laroussi.

The 2 other anglers were already walking around the lake as they arrived before us. We greeted them and after Mehdi completed his talk about rules and things we would need to know we were ready for the draw. First timer Jos had the first choice and went on the point. 2nd was Neill picking Le Chene. Damn… that’s the one I fancied were my thoughts. Coming out 3rd myself I was in a bit of a dilemma, L’Anse was still free and having already fished from there several times, knowing where to place the baits would be a big advantage. But the strong South-west wind pushing in Le Saule was also looking good. Knowing that there are nearly always fish there meant this would be the peg for me for the week. Ron took number 4 and jumped in L’Anse, Mark going in La Plage and Marco en Maikel in La Bouleau and Le Haut Fond.

After setting up camp the rods where placed in the obvious spots. 2 were placed on the far bank in 8 ft of water. The 3rd rod’s destiny was a bar running on the left of the swim. There was 6 ft on top of it and 8 feet around it.

Lake Map

Tactics

Partiblend with sweetcorn and crushed boilies

My tactics for the week were to go for very small baits. Freebies would be a mixture of 10mm’s and a few 15mm’s fished over some of the partiblend that Mehdi supplies. To the partiblend mix I added some sweetcorn to give it a bit more attraction. Hookbaits would be 15mm’s with fake corn and a double 10mm snowman presentation. Rigwise I would stick to my beloved fluorcarbon hooklinks using Korda curved shank Barbless size 6 and Rigmarole Specimon.

I use these in 90% of my fishing, there very hard to tangle and in the gin clear Laroussi water they disappear almost completely. I don’t want to take the chance and have a tangled rig on the bottom when the time is limited. There are not a lot of snags on the bottom at Laroussi so fishing fluorcarbon is not a problem.

Using plastic corn makes the rig stand out.

Quick action

The rods were 2 hours out when one of the far bank rods was away. Striking the take it soon became clear that what was on the other end wasn’t very massive. Soon a grassie appeared in front of the net and was quickly landed. Mehdi had already discussed with us that grass carp that where caught would be removed, because they had now solved the weed problem and were getting too big. Mehdi came round to collect it and soon the rod was redone.

Only 10 minutes later it was screaming again, and another grass carp was the troublemaker. Another 2 fish found the way to my unhooking mat before dinnertime, a 3rd grass carp and 1 of the massive sturgeons.

Another quiet night

Quickly it became dark and after hitting the sack I was soon off to wonderland due to getting up early and the long drive. The night was quiet and in the morning it became clear it passed without any action for the other anglers either. Rods were redone and the waiting game was on. Ron came round for dinner later that afternoon and told me Mark just landed his first fish around the 60 lb mark. Now how is that for a start! And caught from a peg that hadn’t seen a fish banked in the previous week. Its clear different ways of angling can make a huge difference. This would be confirmed true the rest of the week.

The day passed with just some more grass carp action for me and a lost fish for Maikel. We’re now on the Monday and still no sign of carp, well… saying that, the amount of fish showing  in the middle of the lake is unbelievable and some of them are like cows falling in.

Slack lines, dont give your present away.

Its just getting dark and like every evening I started to get liners on all 3 rods. One of the alarms signalled,  the bobbin moving up and I expected it to fall back like is always the case with liners. It didn’t and stayed there on a tight line. I picked the rod up quickly assuming it to be another grass carp on the end. After getting good contact with the fish  it becomes clear it’s definitely not a grassie.

A slow big fish plodders from left to right and stays deep. Yard by yard is gained and in the light of my torch I can see a good sized mirror appear from the deep. It is in the net at the 1st attempt. A phone call is made to Marco to come over for some shots and carefully the fish is placed on the mat. A decent 30 was my 1st thought but the scales tell me wrong. 49.05 lb mirror, full of spawn.

49.05

Marco arrived and quickly some shots are taken and the fish got her freedom back. The rod was redone and after a few beers it’s bedtime. Again the odd liner occurs through the night but no takes. In the morning Ron came round with his camera. This could only be good news. He told me he broke his PB last night with a massive 55 lb mirror. I congratulated him as he walked on to take a shower.

55 – Ron

Le grand male

It was getting close to lunchtime, I was drinking a coffee and watching the lake when suddenly the right hand rod slowly pulled tight. I never strike straight away on a take, often its sturgeon taking line with there fins, waiting until the line is being taken from the clutch is the advice. Slowly the clutch started to make the much wanted sound and the rod was lifted from its rest. There wasn’t a lot of movement on the other end.

Putting more pressure on my opponent got it moving slowly. Mehdi was watching it from his garden and called out to see what I thought was on the other end, “Sturgeon I guess” was my answer.

The fight was already going on for 20 minutes but not a lot of line could be gained. Mehdi came round and that was the first time the fish turned on the surface… “Massive carp” were his 1st words and my first thoughts. Mehdi took the landing net and after a few more minutes the fish came closer and closer. The fish turned in front of the net and Mehdi quickly pushed the net underneath the massive framed fish. Immediately  he said “do you know what fish it is?” with a big smile on his face. “Le grand male”, easy to recognize due to his big back.

“Your new PB Roy”, he said. I wasn’t too sure but Mehdi told me it was banked 2 weeks ago at 62lb. The fish was placed on the mat with combined forces and the scales said 62lb. Yess!

“Your new PB!” Mehdi shouted. We shook hands and he did the honours of taking some pictures. After releasing the fish we talked about the history of the great creature.

‘Le Grand Male’

Its a male fish and shows impressive growing rates. On my 1st visit in 2006 some Belgium anglers had it at 38.05 lb. The following year I banked it myself at 43.09 lb.

‘Le Grand Male’ back in 2007

After that the fish seemed to increase in weight every year with 3-4lb. And taking in mind its a male fish it shows the potential of a lake like Laroussi. I am sure it will hit the 70lb mark in the next few years.

Nothing happened anymore for me that Tuesday and Wednesday. Ron managed another big fish on Wednesday afternoon of 45lb. The other anglers in our group struggled and only a few grass carp and crucians were being caught by them. The week was coming to a end and I struggled to get more carp takes, not that I could really be bothered with already having in my pocket what we came for. I assume there were not a lot of fish present in the bay in front of Le Saule because there were none showing all week.

45 – Ron

Le Saule Swim

Underwater footage

A friend of Mehdi came round with a underwater camera on a pole and decided to check some of bushes on the far bank. My eyes could not believe what I saw after watching the recorded material. In about 10 seconds several decent mirrors and commons made an appearance in front of the camera leaving me with head breaking mind thoughts about how they evaded the hook.

Curved shank’s, 15mm baits topped with fake corn

In some cases the guy even saw fish feeding on anglers bait, and no indication or movement on the bobbins. So it shows how clever and clued up the Laroussi carp are, their growth rates confirm they benefit from anglers bait but often manage to stay out of their hands. Our group ended the week with 6 fish. 1 small common on the last evening for Marco and 2 mirrors for both me and Ron. Jos and Maikel blanked. The 2 English anglers did pretty well with Neill on Le Chene banking 2 fish to high 30′s. But Mark in La Plage did steel the show with a 6 fish by the end of the week with a 41.08, 45.08, 55.00, 49.04, 59.08 & 60.02.

We will be back next year and rethink the way we will be fishing the venue after seeing the footage. If you want a venue that’s a proper carp lake with a lot of big fish and are willing to work for it Laroussi is your carp heaven.

Releasing the great creature

For more information, articles and photos from Laroussi follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Related posts

• What a Start at Laroussi – 58lb & 67lb Mirror Carp! (0)
• Video of Roy Van Goor’s 61lb mirror from Laroussi (0)
• STOP PRESS – Another 70lb’ers Out At Laroussi! (0)
• Monster Laroussi mirror carp for 15 year old Chris Tsourou (0)
• Massive head of huge carp at Laroussi (0)

Hi Paul, hope your well? As you know I usually fish with mainline cell in England and at Margot they supply quality baits cm60 which I’m told is very similar to the cell, as your a field tester for quality baits do you think that this bait will be a good substitute to use in France when we go in July? One of the other reasons I’m keen to use it also is because its supplied in fresh frozen which I prefer.

Many thanks.

40.05 Mirror – Paul at Margot

CM60 is an excellent and well tested bait that Quality Baits have had on the market for a couple of years now. It has accounted for a lot of fish and is equivalent to the Cell. Now that the Bigot’s are supplying it to the customers on Margot, I would think that this will be the going bait for the future. CM60 as with the HG42 is an excellent Summer bait and will not let you down in shelflife or frozen.

Regards
Paul

To check out more articles from Margot, including the capture of the 71lb lake record, click here.
Margot Carp Fishing in France

Related posts

• Winter carping – 9 things you need from a winter boilie (0)
• Winter carp baits; thinking tactics and rigs (3)
• Winter carp bait query (0)
• Why you should always carry 20mm boilies (1)
• Which is the best boilie flavour at which time of the year? (0)

Not only is it a lake record Common but our first 40 banked AND it was Chris’s new PB beating his last by 5.8lb but smashing his Common PB by 23lb. It made good headlines in Carp-Talk in the foreign news section. Congratulations Chris.

Braving the water shot

On returning home Chris sent us this feedback…

42.01

“An absolutely beautiful lake with exceptional fishing and stunning fish! Mark and Angela run it superbly offering advice and in depth knowledge.
The food package is out of this world…restaurant quality food, piping hot and delivered to your swim, every dish home cooked to perfection! I would come back for the food alone.

Started the week fishing boilie over a bed of pellet but found fishing boilie over boilie to be more successful. I fished dna baits nuttas and s7 as usual. Most rigs worked but we found balanced bottom baits worked well, also single pop ups.” 

For more information, photos and feedback from Monument follow the link – Carp Fishing in France

Related posts

• Spring(!!) at Le Monument Lake (0)
• Saying Farewell to Winter at Monument (0)
• Rolling back the years at Monument (0)
• Return to Monument for a weeks excellent carping… (0)
• Questions and Answers – Monument Carp Lake (0)

Hi, beginning to plan for our visit at the beginning of July, hoping to have a go at the catfish as well as the carp, any advice or tips for bait’s we can bring with us?

We currently have around 27 Catfish in the Specimen Lake, the three biggest are around 45lb, 55lb and an estimated 65-70lb. Five others are between 18lb and 26lb and all the others are between 12lb to 16lb and growing rapidly.

Lake Map

The best baits for the cats have always been live baits (Roach, Tench or Carp) float fished on a size 1 barbless hook somewhere around 2-5 feet off the lake bed (You can catch small Roach, Tench and Carp from the stock lake on float with sweetcorn when you are here). Ledgered dead fish or small squid come a close second place. Large halibuts have caught the odd Cat though I wouldn’t rate these very highly on our lake but they will catch the Carp with the odd chance of picking up a Cat.

 More importantly, if you really do want to put a cat on the bank here, the crucial thing is where you fish for them.
The deep end is definitely harder daytime fishing for the Carp but is the place to be for a big Cat, they seem to have regular haunts, under a particular bush on the Gorsebank or the Dam wall or around the Outlet Sluice, It is possible to hook them in the shallows but I only know of one big Cat to actually make it to the bank from there due to the snaggier nature of shallow end. They generally appear at night or before mid morning. they are sporadic feeders and will feed solidly for 3 or 4 days and then stop for about the same, They seem to group feed and may be difficult to find in one half of a week and easier in the other half, if you don’t get a take in the first two or three nights this is usually why!

Hope this helps but if you need anything else please let me know

Lee 

45lb – Daniel Spreckley – May ’13

For more information, articles, photo’s and feedback from Glehias follow the link - French Carp Fishing

Related posts

• First ever catfish for Terry from La Glehias (0)
• Chopped Squid meant for the Glehias cats… but the carp loved it! (1)
• What are the best tactics to catch a catfish at Margot? (0)
• Two 30lb+ Catfish Stocked at Lillypool (0)
• The Latest from Morgane (0)

Ray pushes his PB into the 30s with a 32lb mirror, Ian tops that with a 34lb 2oz mirror and Zach trumps them all with his 48lb mirror, which is the third new 40 out so far this year and a new lake record. Well done all!

Watch below for an interview with the guys and footage of the lake record carp itself.

For more videos and articles from Oakview follow the link - Carp Fishing in France with Accommodation

Related posts

• Carp Video News – March 2011 Webcast (0)
• Your Best Guide to Carp Fishing in France (0)
• Winter Wonderland at Oakview Carp Lake (0)
• When is the best time to fish for carp in France… Pt2 (1)
• When is the best time to fish for carp in France… Pt1 (0)

39.11

For more information, articles, fish photo’s and feedback from Genets follow the link – Carp Fishing France

Related posts

• What do carp lake owners do in the winter… go to the Caribbean? (0)
• Two New PB’s Within 3 hours at Genets (0)
• Trainee bailiff checks in at Genets carp lake (0)
• The importance of scales if you get that monster carp (1)
• The Genets owner beats his PB with a 44lb mirror! (0)

Details of your catches: 14 fish, 1 sturgeon, 2 grass carp, all others were king carp up to 40 1/2 lbs
Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Boilies all the way
General comments: Good fishing

40lb – Chris Pink

For more information, articles and catch reports from Blue Lake follow the link - Fishing France

Related posts

• What Tackle Do I Need For My French Carp Session? (0)
• Video Diary – Preparing for a Carp Session in France (part 4) (0)
• Video Diary – Preparing for a Blue Lake Carp Session (0)
• The Testers Return to Blue Lake (0)
• The Testers Return to Blue Lake (0)

Hello Paul,

I have just finished reading your article on fishing tactics at Margot 2012.  I’m due to fish Margot soon, I’m in a party that has the lake exclusively, we have pre-drawn for swims, I pull out of the hat Peg 1.

Using the information and tips in your article, I will contact Angling Lines to find out how many anglers will be on the lake the week previous. I was hoping that you could possibly give me any tips on fishing Peg 1?

Swim Map

On my previous visits to Margot I have not fished peg 1, however I can tell you as much as I can recall about the swim.

Peg 1 is situated on the bank to the left of the facilities which is a corner point swim giving access to an area to your left that is not accessible by anyone else on the lake. You also have the option of fishing directly in front of you to the middle of the lake.

Peg 2 is only yards to your right, however due to the point location, peg 2 has a vast amount of water to fish to the right and also has the option of fishing open water directly in front of the swim. The ground is made up of hard rubble so you will need a rubber mallet to hammer in your tent pegs. There is little shade on the swim so take be prepared for some sun.

From what I can recall the lake depths are around 4 to 5 feet with a thin layer of soft silt on the bottom of the lake, with some graveled areas. To your left is a long peninsular and the gap between the end of the peninsular and the far bank is a good feeding area, but is very shallow. A lot of carp feed and hang around in the shallow bay to the left and you do pick up fish as they return to the main lake.

Fish in the Shallows at Margot

I would select my main feeding area in open water and have 1 rod to the left. There are lots of grassies in the lake to over 40lb which I always try to avoid but still pick them up. To avoid the grass carp I would not use any pellet. Boilies, hemp or party blend should do the trick. Start off light, increasing the amount of bait as you develop your swim. Do not spread your bait to different areas, sticking to your 2 baited areas and you should pick up carp on a regular basis.

Best of luck. I am sorry that I cannot be of more use but as I said, I have not fished this area of the lake.
Paul Cooper

To check out more articles from Margot, including the capture of the 71lb lake record, click here.
Margot Carp Fishing in France

Related posts

• Which bait do you suggest for Margot? (0)
• When to go Carp Fishing (0)
• When is the best time to fish for carp in France… Pt2 (1)
• When is the best time to fish for carp in France… Pt1 (0)
• What are the best tactics to catch a catfish at Margot? (0)

Mick’s New PB – 42.03

Details of your catches: 28 Carp, 2 x 40′s up to 42.3, 4 x 30′s up to 31, 19 x 20′s.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs: Bottom baits tipped with plastic corn or double 14/15mm boilies. I was trialing baits for Custom Baits Ltd and their peach/black pepper boilies out-fished Mainline Cell, it was only when we ran out (had 5kg) that the cell come into its own.

General comments: The fish in alder are some of the prettiest, hardest fighting carp i have had the pleasure of doing battle with, they don’t know when to give up, amazing stunning fish.

We were up against it before we arrived as the temp dropped 20′ over the 2 days before we got there, we had a NE wind blowing most of the week and this kept water temp cold but the fish still fed. Was harder than expected but in the conditions, what we had was great.

Alan – 30lb

Chris and Steph are two of the most down to earth people I have met, nothing phases them, a real pleasure.
Not in your face but on hand if needed, would walk their dog each evening and call in to see if all was ok and see how we had done ( even gave us warnings of 2 thunderstorms coming which was big help).

40lb on the nose

For more information, articles, photo’s and feedback from Alder follow the link - Carp Fishing in France

Related posts

• Win a French carp fishing holiday at Alder (0)
• Win a carp fishing holiday in France at Alder (0)
• What boilie would you recommend for Alder lake? (0)
• Video of Aug ’11 Alder session – 73 carp to mid 30′s (0)
• Tips for Hot Weather Carp Care (0)