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Not in any hurry to cast in, so set up the bivvy and chilling with a coffee

Had plans to finish early from work and nip over the dock today the sun was up and I fancied Zigs in the warm weather, apparently they do like a zig 🙄 Then had a call from my mates wife telling me I got to go fishing with him, “he’s doing my head in” was her words. He had a heart op around 6wks ago and has had a flu like bug since the op been indoors most of that time so with the sun out off we went. Had a great time, good catch up and a laugh in the sun we both had 2 Carp and a Bream nothing big around 8lb for the carp but on light float gear we both had smiles on our faces… Then it dawned on me I’m just as happy fishing for carp no matter what the size be it on a small lake for a mixed bag of fish up to mid doubles to a chance of a mid 40 on the syndicate.

Well the phrase " it's my happy place " sums it all up for me . It's great that that you are managing to still get out despite your health issues , Nick , you tough old git, but perhaps you might have less dramas next time 😁 ? . 😃

Just renewed my Ecton ticket just about having to replace the motor put me back a bit should be out next week.

I've never had any issues with the 18lb Camo, snagged fished in locked up positions also with it.... Also use palomar knot tyingbrigs to line.

I have a strong arm with a weight scale. The line tested on two Palomar and Uni knots. Broke in the middle.

Anyone want a guest on hook lake just ask I get 10 a year but they start at September I think maybe august I can’t remember but I don’t go until September anyway so if anyone fancy’s it message me Danny

I suppose my capture of pawprint my target for 4 years deserves to be on this thread so here he is from a different angle. Next pic will be of my next target a pb common if I’m ever lucky enough to catch one that is 🤞

Great pics the Chub look fantastique 👍

The French are certainly better at opposing poor goverment decisions though, the goverment and their task force lobby groups here make us all just argue against each other to maintain the status quo. It seems to be working for them because they literally get away with murder. Corbyn got too close and rattled them though they still love to smear him and the left everyday, If I am ever in the position to seriously consider it I would do the research and find what needs to be done.it would be more a catalyst than a deterrent, But it also depends if I have any human rights left by then 🙄

I don’t think the average Frenchman could be woke if he tried. Don’t be put off by Brexit. It is just a huge and expensive PIA promoted by cretins for the benefit of the gullible (but there again I could be a tad biased). The advantages of retiring here far outweigh the hurdles of doing so.

Start planning your retirement in France now Elmo. No worries about Golliwog souvenirs here. Everything is very laid back including the fishing

You don’t say where you are planning to fish. Can we assume that, like 95% of UK anglers coming to France, you will be fishing “up North” in one of the many dedicated fisheries run by ex-pats. In this case your best source of information will be the fishery owner/manager. It is in his interests to see you have a good experience and return next year and tell your friends. I can’t help with that type of information because it is not my scene but I can offer some general advice that may come in useful. Generally, the fishing is exactly the same as UK but with a charming foreign accent. As Elmoputney said, French roads can be a joy to drive on but they are pretty hot on speed limits. The limit is 80 or 90 kph on normal country roads depending on which Department you are in so make sure you know. The app “Waze” is a great help in this respect. Other speed limits are normally posted on the roadside. NOTE that the rectangular village name signs (with a red border) are official 50 kph speed limit signs. The octagonal “STOP” sign means exactly that. You must stop (I count to four) even if nothing is coming. Gendarmes take great delight in pointing to tourists with UK reg plates that the sign is in English. Beware of the sign that looks like a cross X. This means give way at the next junction even if you are on what seems to be the main road. If you do not speak French, Hey Google is your friend. Just say “Hey Google What is French for …” and you will be able to read the answer and hear how it is pronounced. It works French to English as well if you cannot understand what someone is telling you. If you want to consult UK content on your digital devices you will need a VPN because officially stuff like BBC and ITV cannot be watched when you are in France. You may need to be aware of the latest roaming charges now as well. I understand there have been big changes since Brexit. If you are short of bait, here is a well-kept secret. Buy some Frolic dog biscuits available in many supermarkets. I have no idea why they work but I have had some stunning results with them. Above all, have a great holiday and take any “you should have been here last week” conversations with a pinch of salt. Bon chance.

I think I went with the view it wasn't going to be too tricky and then didn't really take it seriously enough. I caught a few but probably should've taken my A game and worked a lot harder. Take the baits you are confident in and use what normally works for you but check venue rules as they can have some strange ones and they might not like you using certain baits. I did enjoy it though but it was also a family holiday so had to juggle a lot. French roads are great to drive on. The venue I fished was quite hard to find tbh. So make sure the sat nav will find the venue. I went back to disneyland this year and I have to say I love France now. The tunnel crossing is brilliant, Can't wait to go back. You need a car travel kit with beam deflectors, a high viz and warning triangle, and a UK sign. Supermarkets are pretty good tbh, nice food is available the breads cheese and pastries are amazing. We had that most lunchtimes lol, depending on when you are going Mozzie repellant, sun cream and a hat, Most of all enjoy it Hope this helps

@Danny Hearn, I love reading your posts, even if I do have to merge a few into one, 😂 I have been trying to think about my largest common, think it's 28lb, although I know I've had plenty between 20 and 25lb. I do prefer mirrors, although the 2 biggest commons in my syndicate are probably closer to 45 than 28... Talking of my syndicate, even after the result of last week and the trials and tribulations I want to get back there straight away, it's my 'happy place'. Last weeks trials: I got to the lake on Tuesday, 1st time in around 5 weeks after car problems, where the ECU failed, meaning I had to write it off. So Tuesday I took the car round to the track round the back and promptly sunk down to the axles in soft mud. I hadn't put my barrow in the new car, so it took me some 7trips walking my gear ¼ of a mile to the spot I fancied. It took a mate coming down in his Discovery to pull me out. On Wednesday another angler came down in his van, absolutely no problems over the mud and set up around 250metres to my left. He packed up Thursday and got straight out again with no problems. Thursday afternoon, another angler comes down in his van no problems and sets up nearby to my left. Friday morning I had that wake-up call, a 23.12 mirror, so I stayed put thinking a few more would come along. On Saturday morning, Jonathon packs up, drives past again no problem. So after packing up I went to get my car from the boathouse car park, went up the slope to the track and managed to get stuck again. Another 3 trips with my gear back to the car helped by a mate, and then with 2 more syndicate members, a quad bike and Ranger got my car out. Stood by the car, just about to load it up, I had either an oxygen or sugar crash and passed out, just went straight over face first. A mug of coke and a few biscuits, 15-20minutes sat down and I was OK. A very careful drive home Saturday. So this year's plans, keep fishing, be careful of my health, stop pushing it with my hip and back problems and enjoy what I can do. I'd like to get into the originals, the new stock are nice, beautiful fish, but the originals are proper quality.

Looked into going Embryo/Norton Disney (Lincoln) with a mate for his birthday in September (72hr) but he's decided to sell up, another mate has been issued his prince albert ticket and has hammered that since the weekend he got it. Would love a good decent long session, but life n work have now really taken over. Stupidly, myself n another parent have put our names down to coach lads football team from next week.... My lad now does ---- Monday- Football Training, Tuesday - Gym session, Wednesday- Karate, Thursday- Football Training, nothing Friday, Saturday - Karrate Gradings, Sunday Football Match.....aswell as myself and wife working and also wife trains twice a week and dances in a Sunday.....also from June I may have no car either.

You need to get down south a bit Norton Disney looks good for the once or twice a year run. I'm risking bluebells in a few weeks mid week of course once I finally get my poop sorted would be rude not to now I have a full size carp wagon.

Honestly Danny, with what you write, it looks/sounds like something you see on/in the Carp Magazines & Internet Sites. This is a pure inndepth write up into what you love and sure people will take notes of what you actually do. The PB common will come soon, I'm sure. Myself I can't gey passed 18lb, and I'm fishing lakes with upper 20lb fish, but at the moment I think I'm going for the sake of it and I'm looking at a new challenge with a Mate.

He wanted to catch his first pike recently, he only had one…

My plans for the year still catch a 30lber but also a few of the A team I wouldn't mind catching (the sheriff, the mole, the scar common, and the box common) main target is to be secret squirrel, quick work overnighters with some regularity and stealth, under your hat know what I mean, with some heavy pre baiting in the dark when the time is right 🙄🙄

There's a spot on the social. Some lovely fish to go at????

The same as Nick . I'm waiting to have some work done on my toe , which hopefully will have me fit by the end of the month ? .

My plans for this year (Hopefully) beat the 20lb barrier, Fish some more different places, More fishing with my Lad, start to find out the ins & outs of my local Park Lake. My name is down for the Prince Albert ticket, but in January got told is was put back on the list until November, as some lads after me have got there tickets, so mine may have been misplaced.

Not too many catfish, fortunately! Yesterday I took my inflatable canoe upriver of Carjac. Lovely afternoon on the river..... The boat has not been used this last couple of years, still looks good.... and had one silure, taken on a big yellow/black shad lure fished under a shear cliff amongst fallen trees. I was lucky to land it!

Hi gagnaccarp, no idea how the restocking went but I did see a video where it was mentioned. This is a video showing an angler who really knows what he is doing, fishing my local stretch of river...... My fishing has been very much a "mixed-bag" this year. Spring started well but lockdowns have allowed some of my best swims to be vastly overgrown by japanese knotweed, much now over 4 metres high and 30 metres+ depth. my health hiccups this year have not allowed me to do major cut-backs into that..... Away back in March I had a brilliant short 4 hr session on the Lot about a 14 minute drive from my home. Three wonderful carp of 26lb, 29lb and 44lb in the first three hours and then , after the carp had moved through, finished off with a nice barbel. So, if I counted the ounces, about 100 lb of wild river fish during a morning sat in the Spring sun. If I did not have photos I would now think it a dream! The summer was a hard shift with variable weather and river flow generally poor. As I mostly fish for the barbel (carp are my by-catch) I had little to talk about. I did catch a 13 lb after losing two to the rocks in my nearest weir, I have been using barbless hooks due to the carp! Even when fishing for barbel you never know if a carp will snaffle your bait. As this stretch has many in the 50lb-70lb range you can guess how that ends on a 1.5lb tc barbel outfit! Having said that I have had the 29 lb carp and 13 lb carp on the barbel rod! Now it is autumn the river has a little more flow, nightime temperatures have dropped and the barbel are feeding again. Many are under 2lbs and the only way to avoid them is bigger baits. Unfortunately, although that keeps the average barbel caught at around 4 lbs, the carp like a 20 mm boilie just fine! I hooked on a couple of weeks ago that took about 60 metres of line across the river, then the same downriver - all in seconds! I pumped it back slowly hoping it would head back mid-stream....but it decided to go into fallen trees to my right! So many snags, if you want the carp here you really must have an inflatable boat to follow the fish! Follow all the best advice on building rigs that allow the weight to be lost first and the line to fail at the hook-length. No harm in using barbless hooks, these river carp fight so hard these hooks will not fall out during the fight! I am planning a longer than usual daytime session soon - with the heaviest tackle I have. Best I take my inflatable canoe as well!

Sadly Mate, pretty much not being able to work life is nearly all fishing for me at the moment. I know it sounds strange, but I hate not working. Boogered back, hip and shoulder put that to bed. I hope my body can straighten up after the new hip! My car is only until its MOT in August, hopefully I can get PIP approved and all back pay since September last year before then.

Niiiiice..... Think May is written off for me now, and first 2 weeks of June😭😭 (Family Holiday to Turkey). Also, will be scrapping the car before holiday.....literally dieing a slow death.

Until Saturday. Was a horrible experience pushing 2 barrow loads of gear again, but until the track is dry, I'd much rather not get the car stuck. Should have dried out by Saturday so I can load up into the car