Michael wrote:
This is going to be my 1st adventure of France. I have been carp fishing a few years and know the basics that get me by in the UK. I was looking for advice mainly on essential fishing in France obviously a lot of the fish are much bigger than what i catch. Do I need braid if so where can i find info on braid never used it before and don’t know much about it? What’s the average rig everyone is using there and what size hooks etc etc, any advice you can give me for my 1st trip would be great.
Hi Michael,
I don’t actually know the water you are going to so can only give you a few general pointers on fishing in France.
If you check out this blog “Carp Fishing Tips”, I have already written a number of articles on what you need for France. But I shall try here to answer your questions more directly.
Personally I do not like braided main lines, which I assume you are meaning. In fact you’ll more than likely find that they are not allowed on your water. They need a certain time to get used to also, as they have no stretch. You have to be ultra careful when you have a fish under the rod tip not to pull the hook. This in turn causes unnecessary mouth damage and is the principal reason for lakes banning them.
I use a good tried and trusted nylon. I would recommend either Nash Bullet 12lb, which breaks at around 18lb or if you have weed and snags in the water Berkeley Big Game or Daiwa Sensor 15lb would be my choice. All these are excellent lines and won’t let you down.
As for rigs, well just because you are in France doesn’t change anything, use a good tried and tested rig. A holiday venue is not the time to start experimenting with new rigs. I like the combi-braids for hook links, such as the Korda Hybrid or the Kryston Snakebite in 20lb or 25lb.
You’ll need to probably go up a hook size or two if the lake holds good sized carp over 30lb. I recommend either the Drennan Series such as the T6 models in a size 6 or 4, or the Korda widegape. These are available in both barbed and barbless depending on what you are required to fish with.
I usually tie a regular knotless knot and strip a small amount of the coating, a couple of inches say, just above the knot to give you a combi-rig effect. I have literally caught hundreds of carp on this rig.
Hope this helps a little.
Regards, Gareth
I agree with what Gareth says about lines and rigs – my first choice of line is also Nash Bullet 12 lb it is virtually indestructible and unbreakable, I have used it for continual long range method feeder fishing, and it doesn’t get any tougher on a line than that ! Daiwa Sensor is also an excellent line and cheap as well. I also use coated hookilnk materials, and although I think the Korda Hybrid is an exceelent material, the inner braid is incredibly thin, which is great for bait presentation, but not so good for the carp as it tends to cut into the mouth of the fish. Repeated captures on a material like this can cause damage to the carps mouth which will not heal, and for this reason I have decided to ban the use of it on my lake. My preference is for Kryston Super Mantis in 25lb, this comes in three different colurs to match the bed of the lake you are fishing. I often fish with the mantis in its original form, i.e. not stripped back as this is slightly different to what everyone else does, and I think it gives your rig somewhat different anti-eject properties.
Hooks – I would go for the new Nash fangs, they are incredibly sharp, or something like the Korda wide gape.
As the carp here in France have big mouths you will need a hook size 6 minimum, and probably some 4’s as well, a size 4 hook with three 18mm bolies looks nothing in the mouth of a big French Carp !