Jonny smashed his Pb – 49lb

Rob & Jonny have just landed 2 commons for 98lb in just 24hrs at Lac du Val !

Rob baited up the big tree with corn pellet and Lac du Val‘s to land his Pb @ 49lb 8oz and hit his target – his method was a pop-up tipped with corn

Jonny baited up the willow, left it all day then dropped a rod on top of mixed size LDV`s ( 10, 15 & 18mm).  A snowman nailed it and smashed his Pb by 20lb!

Heaven is Lac du Val!

Rob hits his target - 49.08

Carp Fishing France

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Just now, when the weather isn’t the best, you need something, a shell, that will keep the wind, rain and cold out when out on a long or short carp fishing. Being comfortable and keeping your fishing tackle dry and safe can sometimes mean the difference between a good or bad fishing session.

The peak on this bivvy really makes such a big difference when the weather is a bit iffy, from where I sat I could still watch the water perfectly but the wind and occasional shower where kept just out of harm’s way, no annoying dripping of rainwater into the front of the bivvy area either. All bivvies come with some sort of front protection, but nothing that protrudes this far forward or extends so far around. You do need to be comfortable at this time of year as the winter nights just seem to drag on forever and I think there was about fourteen hours of darkness to endure, luckily though, for some of us the boredom can interrupted at any time of the night or day by a take!”

Dave Lane Hardcore Bivvy

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David Winters landed this 50.04 Grass Carp at Margot (w/c 5th May).  It is believed to be the record grassy… unless you know different?

It was part of an 18 carp haul including 5 x commons to 37-10, 8 x mirrors to 36-14, 1 sturgeon at 36lb & 2 x grass carp.

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43.03

A new Lillypool lake record common for Martin Larner @ 43lb 3oz  -  a new PB for him.

It was his last day and it came with the last cast of the week!

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42.12 – The lake record Common

Molyneux Report to 14^th April 2012;

Saturday arrived and after an early breakfast, Paul was on his way. Living Ooop North, means he has an awful long drive from Dover, so he set off in plenty to get home during daylight.

Our next anglers consisted of two parties of friends who all travelled across together.

Richard Dawson, his sons James, and Matt, and their mates Reece, John, and a non angler Perry who had come along for the social side of things. The guys had the obligatory cuppa and after introductions and a chat about the lake we wandered round and showed them all the swims.

John, and Matt decided to plot up in the double, whilst Richard chose to fish from the Barn swim. James set up In Social 1, whilst Reece joined him fishing in Social 2

The weather was much the same, chilly, although a lot more overcast, and there was the promise of a massive drop in air pressure, and rain to come on Sunday night/Monday morning.

There were two fish caught late Saturday evening. James was first out of the blocks with a 27lb 6oz Mirror, John following closely behind with a common of 19lb 8oz.

Matt had an early morning call in the shape of a 28lb 8oz mirror at 2.30am, he was up again at 5am to photograph a stunner of 36lb for his dad Richard in the Barn swim.

Just before tea, James was in again, this time a 24lb common. With the promised weather closing in, things were looking very good.

The next morning the chill wind had died, it felt distinctly warmer, and the pressure had dropped, large clouds loomed over the slopes of the valley, and it looked like we were in for a drop or two of rain any moment.

The fishing had followed the pattern of the night before with four fish being caught between 2am and 7am, Matt started the ball rolling with a 32lb mirror, John chipped in with a 23lb 5oz mirror, Matt then had a 24lb 2oz mirror. James around the other side of the lake had only the one fish, but what a fish. A cracking mirror at a weight of 40lb 2oz. The first time this fish had been caught over the magical barrier.

40lb exactly!

The rain came at around 2pm in the afternoon, dropping steadily straight down as it moved slowly across the lake. At around the same time, the two guys in the social swim suddenly became very busy, with James landing a gorgeous 30lb 2oz common,  Reece following closely with a mirror of 33lb, and James catching his second forty of the day  with another new one of 40lb exactly.

Two new forties in one day was excellent news for Helen and I, and of course Molyneux. The lake has so much potential, with lots of lovely big carp in, it is a slowly slowly scenario, where you watch and wait for the carp you know so well to grow and prosper. Finally it seems they are getting there.

9pm saw John land another fish of 27lb 4oz. shortly after Reece landed his second of the trip at 28lb, this was quickly followed by his third a 31lb mirror. James then capped his day off in style with a mirror of 38lb 4oz just prior to midnight.

Richard had a 23lb common during the night, and James landed a 30lb 4oz mirror at dawn the following morning.

After a slow morning, things picked up again at lunchtime, with James away again, this time landing a 15lb common. At the same time John in the double swim was photographing a 32lb 12oz mirror. Half an hour later, James lands another corker of 36lb.

At 4pm Richard landed a 37lb mirror. After dinner the guys headed back to their swims and it wasn’t long before James was in again, this mirror weighing 37lb 8oz.

At midnight, Matt caught a 29lbmirror, at 12.30 James had a 31lb mirror, a  short while later John caught a 25lb 8oz mirror. Then at 1.30am Reece landed a 38lb mirror.

At first light John had another, a mirror of 25lb 8oz, then as the guys were gathering for breakfast, someone spotted James playing yet another fish across the lake in Social 1.

This was to be the highlight of an already extraordinary week.  A stunning common of 42lb 12oz, a new lake record common.  Surely this could not continue.

That afternoon James had a 29lb mirror. 7pm and Richard in the Barn had a 36lb 12oz beast, his third fish over 36lb’s. There were two fish out around midnight. James with a mirror of 24lb, and Richard again with a 23lb 2oz common. John then landed two before first light, 23lb common, and 25lb 12oz mirror. James also had another just after first light, a mirror of 23lb.

For the first time this year fish and plenty of them had been coming out during the day, so Matt having had no luck  in the double during the day decided to try the cabin swim and see what happened. His luck changed is what happened. Within half an hour of casting out, he was in, the result a 23lb mirror, and it wasn’t long before he and  I were guesstimating the size of another much bigger chunk in his landing net. Neither of us guessed it right though, it was a massive 37lb’s. A male fish, built like a pit bull with attitude to match, it fought like a brute and looked like one.

Meanwhile, just before tea, James who was on a mission now to beat our previous record of 48 carp for a group, almost single handedly, landed another thirty in the shape of a 33lb 4oz beauty.

By breakfast time on Friday four more fish had been added to the ever increasing total,

Reece contributing two mirrors of 25lb 4oz, and 29lb 12oz. James had of course chipped in with two, a 21lb mirror, and another massive fish of 38lb 4oz.

Reece had fish in front of him now and was making hay while the sun shone, (so to speak as it was still peeing down more than it was dry.) He caught two more mirrors of 30lb 4oz, and 26lb.

40.02

That evening Matt, deciding to do the last night in the cabin swim was rewarded with three lovely mirrors, of  29lb 6oz, 33lb 2oz, and 27lb. Richard landed a 30lb 2oz mirror.

In the early hours of Saturday morning Reece had two more, both mirrors weighing 26lb 10oz, and 36lb 4oz.

A record breaking week in so many ways, A total of 52 carp landed, for a total weight of 1’543lb’s between 5 anglers. The average weight across the 52 fish being 29lb 10oz, Incredible!!

It proves that all the winter feeding is doing the fish and the lake the world of good, Almost all the fish were in stunning mint condition, with a few showing signs of flanking or flashing over either stones or branches and having the odd nasty scratch, all were treated with a very good Koi treatment and will heal well, and continue to thrive.

It was a pleasure to meet you all guys, I am so pleased that everything clicked for you with the weather conditions and the fish playing ball. You undoubted angling skills shows that with a little application and working at your fishing, dreams can indeed be made at Molyneux.

French Carp Lakes

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Part 2 – Bait

by Jason Rider

When Fred Wilton made public his HNV bait theory it had its doubters and still does to this day. It was pure genius and so far ahead of its time but was ultimately perfect for the time. Fred had no doubts that he was right and if he did I am pretty sure they vanished very quickly as his baits totally tore waters apart. Carp fishing is very much like life, if you know when you are right and you have won you are in a good place and confidence is high. Some people will never even know when they have it all but that is another story.

Now, having said I understand how the theory works and taking the giant step in proclaiming that carp can recognise what is good for them, I also believe that the theory is nowhere near as relevant today as it was back then. Just as important as the quality was I believe, the quantity. Here was an easy meal with everything needed for a healthy life in one convenient parcel that would quickly satisfy the needs of the carp. At the time of the boilie revolution the fish were not really subjected to anglers baits at anywhere near the level they are now.

Boilies have become a very clean and efficient way to fish, furthermore they are available to all and at a price where we can afford to use plenty as free offerings. There cannot be a fish that swims that does not realise that they are food or encounter them on a day to day basis.

The bass of the theory is that the fish can tell the difference between baits and will always pick the best, if you follow this literally you will always be looking for a better bait that will catch you no more fish!

Most bait companies offer good quality baits and we know this for sure just by looking at the weight gains in our lakes. The fish just get bigger and bigger and within the next twenty years the UK record will way 80lbs and that is a fact. So looking at the HNV theory we have to think about what the carp is lacking in its diet now and the answer is very little. They probably have a lot more nutrition than they could ever need and resemble farm animals that are produced for weight gains. I am again talking generally and could never hope to deal with every exception with the space available to me here. In my job I meet a lot of people that do not have the intelligence of a carp but I would like to think that I have a lot more going on upstairs than a cold blooded fish!

I know exactly what I should eat and no specific nutrition that I need for my health and wellbeing but I choose to ignore most of it. I am 44 years old and still struggle to hydrate myself most of the time because I do not like water. I also prefer a good Vindaloo and a pot of Hagen Daz to a balanced meal. From this I can conclude that I eat what taste good to me and also that I am drawn to foods that have drug like qualities such as chocolate. I have at my disposal the choice of anything I want and still choose the stuff that will do me little good. The same NOW applies to fish, it is all available and other things will determine their preference.

I have fished a lake in Slovenia for a few years now and for one reason or another I have not done as well as I should have and the main reason why is sitting in the bucket of bait in the picture. The lake is fished by various Europeans of differing angling abilities but nearly all approach the lake with the same tactics which is a handful of boilies over maize. Carp can learn and do so by getting caught and any carp in the lakes knows that if eats 20 boilies it will get caught. The other option is that it eats as much maize as is possible and does not get caught. Maize has a few things going for it in as much that it is bright, has a low pH and contains enough nutrition to sustain life, it is nowhere near as beneficial as my really good boilies that catch me very little out there!

A nice result but I would have caught a lot more using maize.

A similar thing is happening on our home waters all over the country. By feeding particles and pellets we also make it harder to hook fish on our rigs. The fish can feed hard on a spot hovering up these bits and pieces and do not really have to swim or travel which in turn makes it easier to get rid of hooks. I am not a rig boffin my any standards but we pretty much all use bait tied on to a hook with some line of some sort of another. Rig development has not really come very far at all in the last twenty years and the way we feed can also make these rigs a lot more effective but I will go into this in greater depth in the next part.

Various particles and certain ingredients can also have drug like affects. When you get a situation when half the lake get on the going bait it becomes a staple source of food. An example of this is a certain type of yeast in one of the popular baits at the present; the fish clearly love the taste of it and are constantly on the lookout for it. Tiger nuts have a similar sort of affect, although there is much better food available they just love them and get caught over and over again which I believe is due to a particular taste faction found in the shell of the nut and of course the different texture of the food item itself. This is quite an important factor as well because if you look at peanuts they can be a great carp catcher but peanut meal is a very poor boilie ingredient.

The fish above has been caught by me on the same bait 8 times; it clearly likes it and eats it in preference to other items that are less dangerous.

I would hate to give the reader the idea that Fred’s HNV theory does not cut the mustard, he was a big angling hero to me and the concept was revolutionary and brilliant at the time and for a long time afterwards. The future of boilies for me now resides in the last 5% of the mix in trying to trigger a response within the water through a chemical change or finding substances that the carp show a very positive reaction to.

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Well, here’s some more.  These were taken by Ron Key & the camera used was SLR Canon EOS 40d with a Canon EF17-40mm f/4L.

Do you have any carpy photos you’re particularly proud of?  If so send ‘em in (david@anglinglines.com) & we may well use them.

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If you arrived at a lake and found that the previous anglers, for whatever reason, had either dumped lots of particle because they had it left over, or just used an enormous amount of pellet or particle as their tactics – what would you do?

Jim Kelly replies;

It is always difficult to know what to do unless you are at the lake and can observe what is happening e.g. fish activity.  My initial thoughts is that there is no point in just compounding the problem by adding more bait.

If I knew where they had fished I would initially try fishing a very bright fluro over the top of their bait, with no freebies introduced by me (an in your face bait to get the fishes attention).

The other alternative would be to employ a one fish at a time tactics and try small PVA bags in places that would naturally hold carp. If an area started to produce fish I would start to trickle some bait in and play it by ear. What I wouldn’t do is put a lot of bait in at the start.

Jim

Ron Key replies;

My first night tactics on a new lake are generally the same whether or not I know that the lake has been heavily baited.  I work on the adage that you can put bait it in but you can’t take it out.  If you bait too heavily too soon you can kill a swim and it could be days before the carp feed in that area again.  Working over someone else’s heavily baited swim from the week before, the start of your session could be slow.  As the week progresses their bait will start to work, the carp will become less cautious and you will have the opportunity to put some fish on the bank.

Rule number one is talk to the owner or bailiff. Try to establish how much bait has gone in, what it was and perhaps more importantly where it is.  I would then start my fishing close to those areas either with single hookbaits or hookbaits with a small 25mm diameter PVA bag of crumbed boilie, fast breakdown pellets or micro feed.  Ideally I want to attract the fish not feed them. When you start catching, you can then, based on your catch rate, assess how much and when to feed if required. If the bites are not forthcoming you can then start moving you hookbaits around your swim to locate the carp, safe in the knowledge that you are not leaving uneaten additional food on the lake bed.

I fish in France four or five times per year. Like everyone else I started by taking mountains of bait.  Now I usually take around 20 kilos of 10 and 15 mm boilies with me for a weeks fishing trip, but this is really just in case. In reality I rarely use more than 10kilos.

Cheers, Ron

Paul Cooper replies;

This is an all too often occurrence on commercial waters where anglers have too much bait and do not want to take it home with them, either because the bait has started to go off or they simply have taken far too much bait with them.

A lot of this is caused because too many anglers in magazines and on blogs are over stating how much bait would be required at a venue.  If they are the only ones on the lake a large amount of bait could be used but if there are say 6 to 8 anglers on a lake then the amount of bait should be drastically reduced.
Too answer your question; I have come across this problem on a number of occasions and IMO the only answer is;

• fish another area of the lake
• fish off the bed of bait that has been dumped
• use single fluoro hook baits that are popped up
• do not introduce any more bait until you think the previous anglers bait has been eaten.

This happens more often than not.  Often on some of the French lakes that I fish I do not start catching well until Wednesday or Thursday – and the reason is because of other anglers bait. It is simply a waiting game for the fish to finish off last weeks bait.

I hope this helps but really there is not much that you can do other than educate irresponsible anglers.

Paul

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Monk Lake is my local water, somewhere which is quite relaxing and easy to get to for a short over night stay. I prefer these sorts of trips this time of year due to the unsettled weather which can turn very uncomfortable within minutes. Exactly what it did on this night!

By about mid-day the wind had more than doubled to what it was when I first started fishing, and the waves started to crash right in front of my peg which faced right into the head of the wind. If there was ever a time to test the new fishing bivvy, this was it.

By the time it got dark the full force of the low pressure system was right upon me and the radio was reporting winds of up to sixty miles per hour! I secured the zip door firmly to the ground the entire time I sat there, otherwise the wind would have inflated the bivvy and ripped the pegs out in seconds.

The wind was at its very strongest at about six o’clock, after not sleeping a wink because of the howling wind the last thing I wanted to do was get out of the warm sleeping bag and tackle a carp. Ten minutes later the carp rod sprung into life and I actually groaned at the prospect of having to go outside. Striking into the fish, it was almost impossible to feel what was happening at the end of the line. The worst part was the netting, as I lifted the net from the ground it was picked up into the air like a sail and almost ripped out of my hand.

Between the waves and uncontrollable landing let, I managed to scoop the carp into the net through the driving rain and was pleasantly surprised by what was laying there. Twenty seven pounds, a fair reward for an endurance test as this.

With the fish all sorted and returned I unzipped the door and climbed back into the warmth and serenity of the bivvy only to find that my bed had been totally dog-napped and he was fast asleep with his head on the pillow!

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