carpquarry

Well that is the age old question does size matter, Being a bloke I am going to say its not size that matters but what you do with it !!! In my lake in France I have caught many large fish in 15mm/18mm boilies you can catch a 40lb plus carp on a single grain of corn I think presentation is more important as regards flavour well everyone will say something different whats important is that you are confident in the bait, and you use the best quality that you can afford, The one thing I will say is that if you go to a lake that sells there own boilies give them a go as that is what the fish are use too.Hope that helps a bit

Well here we are looking forward to the 2010 season, 2009 was a busy time at Carpquarry, The lake itself was very little fished mainly because we were still finishing off works to it and the house, we had a few groups over mainly friends and overall they did quite well with the average fish at just over 32.5lb and the largest caught at 44lb. The fish are putting on weight at an incredible rate this is mainly due to the feeding programme, perfect water quality together with no real angling pressure this is why we are expecting our first 50lb plus fish to be landed in 2010 and the first person to do it I will buy them a bottle of bubbly. With this in mind there is still plenty of dates to have your holiday with us. Once our first guests come I will keep you up to date with latest catches,pictures,locations,baits etc. Hope you all have a great season. Regards Gordon Carpquarry.

Your trip to buryhill will be good and they do a great breakfast in the cafe looking over the main lake.

I know the build up is great, I know before I came to France when I did fishing holidays with the lads it was great fun, all the phone calls claiming that we had secret baits and rigs that was going to catch us the monster buying tons of gear of the net. We were all like a bunch of big kids Great

Dont you think fishing is great, it must be one of the only things that can make you feel like a little kid waiting for christmas

It is unlikely that they will spawn before you go, just enjoy I dont think anyone can know 100% on spawning triggers I am sure water temp has alot to do with it but also other factors like Mrsrusheslake said.

You have hit the nail right on the head, its not just about the fish, just chill and enjoy whats around you, if you get a few good fish aswell what more can you ask for.

I think you will be OK as you say the carp will be packing on weight and also be in top condition, if the lake had a large shallow/spawning area area 1 to 2 ft deep then this area may hit 18 deg early and trigger spawning but I think with the lake being 5-7ft you will hit it just right. Good luck and I hope you get a few big fish.

Carp switch into spawning mode when the water temp hits 18deg This can vary from lake to lake on location and depth, my gut feeling would be that it is a bit early but saying that if we have a warm march who knows.

Just trying to help no one else was coming up with to mainy ideas for them, Point taken

Never seem to hear about anyone using freeline any more, Am I the only person who uses freeline with a cube of meat or bread. I still think it is a very overlooked way of fishing close in and around the margins. It catches me a lot of fish. Why dont more people try it on one of there rods when fishing they may be suprized just how good it is, a cube of meat on a size 8 hook on a bed of soaked mushed up bread.

How about the small lake at Clearwater it has cottage and going by the website the stock levels in the mill pond are very high. Have not been there myself but have not seen any bad reports.

Looks like I have started something on this tread, May I first say that I know the poster said Calais but maybe they did not think about other ports and by letting them know this it opens up alot of other lakes for them to pick from, If you look at my first post you will also see that I have pointed the poster to look at all the other lake that advertise and support carp.com . At the end of the day a website like this one costs money to keep it going, whether you like it or not most of that money comes from advertisers on the site and there is nothing to stop others that have lakes getting in touch with carp.com and supporting this forum by paying for an advert.

Hi Go to the top of the page and click on the tab fishing holidays there are plenty of lakes on there to pick from and they all support carp.com a few of them will be runs waters

Hi Have a look at my lake if you want exclusive lake ave fish over 32lb and only 90 mins from st malo or roscoft. Have put the link at the bottom or click on the tab at the top of the page fishing holidays and there are plenty of lakes on there who advitise on carp.com and one will fill your requirements. www.carpquarry.co.uk

Hi Have a look at my venue Carpquarry, Exclusive use could fit the bill. www.carpquarry.co.uk Plymouth-Roscoff - just over 60 mins Portsmouth- St Malo - 90 mins Portsmouth - Caen - 3hours

Alot depends on what you are after if you dont want to see your wife book a big lake if you want to have a bit of chat book a smaller lake, for me and I am going to say this with a smaller lake the fish cant get to far away unlike a large water where it is possable not to have a fish in your swim all week.

This post may run and run, it was not posted to slag down France after all I live and work here there are also alot of good things fantastic fishing, roads, countryside, heathcare, schools, cheap houses. I could go on and on.It was just posted to let fishermen from the UK what they may need to bring with them or the prices they may have to pay for what ever reason from exchange rate to the fact the french pay 60-65% in tax/social charges. So all of you who live in France please let everyone know what you think are a must to do or try when in France. For me you have to get yourself down to the local cake shop they are fantastic.

I have to say the baked beans are 1.60euro not 1.30 and if the exchange rate was £1 to 1.5e that is still over a £1 for a tin !!!

I dont know the lake but just had a look at there website and it looks very nice if the sun comes out it may be worth trying to find some shallow areas as the water there will warm up quickly.

Make sure you take some warm clothes it can still get very cold at night aswell as hot in the day,I know most lakes are different but depending on how the temps have been proir to going dont go too heavy on the loose feed to start with and increase from there, If the lake you are going to does a winter feeding programme it may be worth going to a farm shop and getting some lamb pellet as this will be very close to what the fish have been feed on in winter and this bait may pay off big time if used with pva bags etc or even turned into a paste and put around your hookbait. Other than that just have a good time and enjoy and I hope you get a couple of nice french lumps.

They are now starting to have English sections in the supermarkets where you can get a lot of things but you have to be prepared to pay through the nose for it ie. tin of baked beans 1.30euros. A Couple of things that you will not get out here or are very hard to find are brown sauce and luncheon meat. You can get bacon and sausages from the frozen English section but again they are very expensive i.e 6euros for a packet of bacon. Will keep you up to date with info and stupid prices.

I am not saying you should pay £200 this is what I think would be top wack but anything less than that is a fair deal as for exchange rate I have always got a better deal on brittany ferries all i am saying it may be worth a phone call, Lunn poly also do a good deal it pays to look around rather than just going to the first place that is easy like the post office.

Hi all Just wanted to let you all know about the cost of things in France if you are coming over on holiday, a must read if you are self catering. The rate you get at the moment is about 1.05euro to the £1 and this is based in the Brittany area of France. Most of the food out here is at least double the price of the UK so make sure that you bring food with you. You cant get hold of english sausages and bacon. Wine is still very cheap you can get a good bottle of red for 1.5euro and bottled water is cheap,eggs and bread are about the same as the UK. Fuel costs ( from a supermarket petrol station ) are petrol about 1.25euro and deisel is cheap at 1euro Fags are about 5 to 5.50 euro per pack so get them on the ferry from DFree about £4.40 you can buy single packs from the bar (brittany ferries) at £3.30 but you are only ment to buy 1 pack. You also tend to get the best exchange rates on the boat. If the lake you are going to offers a food package at less than £200 for the week go for it as it is a good deal if no food package is offered bring your own grub all the french now are going to the UK to buy food and most other items. I hope this artical saves you all a few quid

Talking about breakfast if you do come over to France dont forget to bring with you some sausages and bacon if you are not going to a place that does food also teabags these items are hard to get hold of nice ones anyway.All the food in my part of France ( Brittany ) is very expencive so bring it with you from the UK. Wine is still cheap but thats about it.