moorsey

Personally I wouldn't use boilies at all. If it has really not been fished before you only need maize in France. Every French fish farmer and angler has used maize for decades and the carp will immediately recognise it and feed on it. It has been my experience that large amounts of maize used for the first couple of time will catch virtually every fishy in the lake. Get on it quick because it won't work for very long.

Good pic's Dan. Hope to see you back out here sometime soon mate. Keith

I've found modern fluoros to be much stronger then monos. I also use it as main line and it easily lasts 2 seasons.

As a couple of the lads on here may confirm we have plenty of forties and now 10+ fifties to 57lb 14oz last year [2010] If I can help further please shout. Keith www.moorlandfisheries.co.uk

Carp see in a much wider colour spectrum than we do and it includes the infa-red and ultra-violet features so none of us can be absolutely sure just how much they can actually see in any conditions.

You need to make sure that you start the whipping of the knot away from the cut side of the eye and an out-turned eye [like the stiff rigger] will also help.

Have a look at our website as I'm sure we could help you achieve your dream. The swims are cut as pairs and you would be very unlucky not to land thirty pounders with a better than evens chance of forties or even fifties. Wherever you choose I hope you have agood trip. Keith www.moorlandfisheries.co.uk

It depends on how long you intend to stay for. If you plan to do a few days then prebaiting certainly pays off and the more you can put in the better.

Come on fellas. When I lived in the UK it used to take me 45 mins to get to the stretch of the Thames that I fished and it was worth the 2 hour plus round trip twice a week to bait up. If you want to catch river carp it all adds up to how much you want to catch them.

You'll both be welcome whenever you want mate. Hope the eye op went well and that the mankini is still in use. Happy new year Keith

I'm guessing that you could be using small hooks [10's or smaller]. Because the hooks are so light they tend to get sucked further back into the carp's mouth. 8's or bigger may be the solution.

Thanks for that HH. Can I just add that if anyone wants to receive our newsletters they only need to use the contact page and drop me a note asking to be included and it shall be done. Keith

If any of you have a family member who collects Tesco club points then by using them is the cheapest way to pay for some of the ferries and the best exchange value for the points. We had two anglers travel down to us and the return ferry trip [tunnel I believe] was said to have cost them £15.00 each plus their vouchers.

Hi Dave hope this might help. We have a 15 acre lake which is just under you preferred distance from Calais. The average size of our fish in 2010 was 33 lb and the stock for 2011 will include 120 thirties 35 forties and 12 fifties. We hope that a couple of the fish may break into the sixties but can't promise you that. If I can help any further please shout. Keith www.moorlandfisheries.co.uk

With surface fishing you tend to be striking at the visible take. With a bait on the lake bed you are relying on the rig doing some of the work for you.

Just plain lucky I guess

Yep.

Good post Nick but if you watch and study how carp feed you will find that the early assumptions about how the bait is blown out were somewhat flawed. The carp sucks in all sorts of rubbish while it is feeding and then uses "the curtain" to help it sort out the junk from the food. The food should get stuck behind the curtain and the heavier bits of rubbish get blown out below the curtain.[if you get a chance to watch tank fish they look as if they are chewing] In short the carp would be unlikely to be trying to blow out the boilie as this would be recognised as a food item but it would be trying to hold the boilie and blow out the hook. Keith

Indeed it was. I was lucky enough to be shown it before KM publicised it and if I hadn't seen it in use I would have considered it a practical joke.

I have used the same rig for several years and it has worked well for me in English gravel pits and the Thames as well as French lakes and the river Saone. The most important thing is to put that rig in the right spot.

My only comment would be that the shallow lake will mean that any fish passing over your bait will be closer to that bait than it may be on a deep lake. On top of that, if the fish are in the upper layers of a deep lake then a zig may be necessary in order to put a bait in amongst them whereas, in shallow water even the upper layers will be that much closer to the baited patch.

Lol. That's the first time I've ever been accused of being shy. Thank you for your wishes and I hope you also have a very good 2011. Keith

Just a quick update that the last 24 hours have seen another new forty common at 43.15 lb plus another mirror at 49.06 lb and a new lake record in the shape of Clover at 57.14 lb.That now gives us 13 fifties banked this year and 12 different carp of 48.00 lb or more. Keith

Not on my lake it's not.

couldnt agree more!! Same here, but it's difficult to educate people when you have Jim Shelley advocating using 30 feet of the stuff. Slowly but surely the angling world is realising the dangers of leadcore. Our best hope is that more fisheries ban it. Well said stoogi. The worst thing I ever did was inventing a knot for the stuff and the best thing I ever did was banning it on my lake. At least some of us are learning.