pellethead Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 With the new season fast approaching for the european fishing. I was wondering who had trips planned and where are they off to. Maybe our more seasoned euro anglers could give some hints and tips on fishing abroard including equipment that may get overlooked and traveling tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pellethead Posted February 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 13 reads and no replys o well !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerjet Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Well over here in north holland where i fish the waters are not fished on alot so most of the carp have never seen a boilie so i look who fishes there and what they use and 9 times out of 10 sweetcorn does the trick with groundbait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pellethead Posted February 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 What size do the fish get to in the canals in Holland mate, heard stories of some real good fish but never seen the proof. I guess if the fish aint seen boillies then the maize and sweetcorn approach would work, but it may be interesting to introduce some boilies into one or two spots to see how they react to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerjet Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 What size do the fish get to in the canals in Holland mate, heard stories of some real good fish but never seen the proof.I guess if the fish aint seen boillies then the maize and sweetcorn approach would work, but it may be interesting to introduce some boilies into one or two spots to see how they react to them. I have tried the boilies and only ever had one and the canals i have heard of carp coming out over 40lb and seen pictures from a friend of carp in the upper 30's. They do stock the canals a lot with carp over here but i am a pond or lake fisherman myself i have no selfbelief when trying the canals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_s_young Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Hi Pellethead, If you want to save your money, and have a great trip with more big carp than you've ever seen before... you could do worse than try the US? I just checked the flights, and you should be able to get a ticket out of Heathrow to O'Hare, Chicago for around 300 quid... that's less than the petrol money to the south of France. I live just 3 hours North of O'Hare airport, and as the dollar is taking a beating from the pound, your cash will go further over here than anywhere in Europe. But the best bet is the fishing... you ever hooked a 30lb+ wild carp? Have you ever caught ten Twenties in a day? Have you ever caught a 20lb+ wildie from a fast-flowing river? Here in WI, we have the lot, enormous lakes, big rivers, small rivers, canals... and everywhere is stuffed with carp. Here's a couple of links, first is the '07 WI Carp Champs; fished at a local park that borders Lake Winnebago (400,000 acres!). The guys were able to park a couple of yards from their pegs, and they caught 20lb+ fish within feet of hundreds of spectators: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wi_carp_champs/?saved=1 Second link is from my blogsite; a poor pic, but a beautifully proportioned (44 inches long!) 30lb+ fish caught from an average peg on an average river running into Lake Michigan: http://newfishing.blogspot.com/2007/05/nasty-weather-nice-fish.html All the fish are wild, most have never even seen a hook, and there are genuine 50lb+ fish just waiting for the dedicated (WI Record is 57Lb+)... WI... Carp Anglers Paradise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybranno Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Fishing in France or anywhere else abroad has never really appealed to me that much to the extent where ive thought "i must go". I know all anglers are not the same, but the calibre of anglers fishing in France on videos from YouTube etc are nothing short of idiots TBH. Their tackle and experience of bigger fish and bigger, snaggier waters seems woefully inadequate. I bet some of these "fly by night instant carp anglers who want a 50" have not even caught a twenty yet in the UK. Its a disaster waiting to happen in you ask me Maybe one day i will venture over the sea to fish, but at the moment im happy where i am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Fishing in France or anywhere else abroad has never really appealed to me that much to the extent where ive thought "i must go". I know all anglers are not the same, but the calibre of anglers fishing in France on videos from YouTube etc are nothing short of idiots TBH. Their tackle and experience of bigger fish and bigger, snaggier waters seems woefully inadequate. I bet some of these "fly by night instant carp anglers who want a 50" have not even caught a twenty yet in the UK. Its a disaster waiting to happen in you ask me Maybe one day i will venture over the sea to fish, but at the moment im happy where i am. Tony, I agree in principle but it's a bit of a sweeping statement mate from someone who's not been out there... I've met many many greta anglers in France too... Best bet is to book the whole lake yourself and hand pick those you want to go with... failing that, go to a lake that isn't your typical French holiay water e.g. Le Horre (hard work though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pellethead Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Hi Pellethead, If you want to save your money, and have a great trip with more big carp than you've ever seen before... you could do worse than try the US? I just checked the flights, and you should be able to get a ticket out of Heathrow to O'Hare, Chicago for around 300 quid... that's less than the petrol money to the south of France. I live just 3 hours North of O'Hare airport, and as the dollar is taking a beating from the pound, your cash will go further over here than anywhere in Europe. But the best bet is the fishing... you ever hooked a 30lb+ wild carp? Have you ever caught ten Twenties in a day? Have you ever caught a 20lb+ wildie from a fast-flowing river? Here in WI, we have the lot, enormous lakes, big rivers, small rivers, canals... and everywhere is stuffed with carp. Here's a couple of links, first is the '07 WI Carp Champs; fished at a local park that borders Lake Winnebago (400,000 acres!). The guys were able to park a couple of yards from their pegs, and they caught 20lb+ fish within feet of hundreds of spectators: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wi_carp_champs/?saved=1 Second link is from my blogsite; a poor pic, but a beautifully proportioned (44 inches long!) 30lb+ fish caught from an average peg on an average river running into Lake Michigan: http://newfishing.blogspot.com/2007/05/nasty-weather-nice-fish.html All the fish are wild, most have never even seen a hook, and there are genuine 50lb+ fish just waiting for the dedicated (WI Record is 57Lb+)... WI... Carp Anglers Paradise! sounds great lee, but what about your tackle, it must cost a fortune to take it all with you and if you rent it you just dont know what you are getting until you arrive. And by then its too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pellethead Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Fishing in France or anywhere else abroad has never really appealed to me that much to the extent where ive thought "i must go". I know all anglers are not the same, but the calibre of anglers fishing in France on videos from YouTube etc are nothing short of idiots TBH. Their tackle and experience of bigger fish and bigger, snaggier waters seems woefully inadequate. I bet some of these "fly by night instant carp anglers who want a 50" have not even caught a twenty yet in the UK. Its a disaster waiting to happen in you ask me Maybe one day i will venture over the sea to fish, but at the moment im happy where i am. Unfortunatly Tony you are right in some cases. But we both know the tackle dont make the angler. The experience does however. GAP hit the nail on the head when he said the best way to do it is to rent the entire lake and choose your mates to join you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybranno Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Tony, I agree in principle but it's a bit of a sweeping statement mate from someone who's not been out there... Thats why i said this..... I know all anglers are not the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoogi Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 I feel that i have more than enough experience to fish in France, but there are still so many waters over here, that excite me. I can see the attraction of fishing a lake full of 40's, but i'm not ready to give my money to a Frenchman, just yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Tony, I agree in principle but it's a bit of a sweeping statement mate from someone who's not been out there... Thats why i said this..... I know all anglers are not the same fair cop guv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybranno Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Tony, I agree in principle but it's a bit of a sweeping statement mate from someone who's not been out there... Thats why i said this..... I know all anglers are not the same fair cop guv Gap, one scenario that has always made me think which i would like your own point of view on is, just say a particular water in the UK that angler (A) fishes only holds fish to for arguments sake carp to mid twenties. Then do you think if he had a fishing holiday to France for a week and he was lucky to catch a 50, do you think that capture will take something away from his fishing in the UK? I mean UK waters that hold 50lb carp (not regarding Bluebells of course) can be a closed shop and very hard to get on. So really this guys UK fishing might never come close to it. Do you think that this would take his enjoyment away from it in some way because he would always be after bigger fish from then on? And catching doubles and mid twenties just wouldnt be enough for him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemaster Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 To put another slant on it, it depends what you want, are you going out to France, USA wherever to catch a 40, 50 or 60 or are you going to use it as a break from work and the wife with some fishing as a bonus? Then decide where you want to go, do you find a runs water or something a little bit harder? I went to France for the first time last year, chose a venue with a decent head of fish to around mid 40's, so I knew that I would catch fish, have a good break and a social with the lads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Tony, I agree in principle but it's a bit of a sweeping statement mate from someone who's not been out there... Thats why i said this..... I know all anglers are not the same fair cop guv Gap, one scenario that has always made me think which i would like your own point of view on is, just say a particular water in the UK that angler (A) fishes only holds fish to for arguments sake carp to mid twenties. Then do you think if he had a fishing holiday to France for a week and he was lucky to catch a 50, do you think that capture will take something away from his fishing in the UK? I mean UK waters that hold 50lb carp (not regarding Bluebells of course) can be a closed shop and very hard to get on. So really this guys UK fishing might never come close to it. Do you think that this would take his enjoyment away from it in some way because he would always be after bigger fish from then on? And catching doubles and mid twenties just wouldnt be enough for him! It can mate, I've seen it happen and I know of others that simply wont fish in the UK, they want the megga bend in the rod with relative ease and nothing else will do... that then begs the question of classifying 'relative ease'... if you think about it, most venues in France that I know of really only kick in with the big hauls of large fish towards the middle or end of the week once you've built the swim and the noise of deprting anglers and new die down... how many people in the UK regularly fish a venue for a whole week?.. what I'm saying is you cannot go to France expecting to catch but you have 3.5 weekends piled in to one to significantly increase your chaces of doing so.. my last trip to Franc result in 2 x 50's in the last 18 hours of the trip! Back to the question asked.. for me, I've found a balance and it's actually beneficial to my UK fishing, instead of going full on for the 30's and 40's, I now go after particular scale patterns in addition to size and would warrant such a fish at least as much as the big french carp... that then forces you to fish with targetted methods (stalking) and go to specific waters that hold double linears, fully scaled's etc etc Mind you, I still wouldn't mind beating my UK pb, especially my common which is a low 20. ....of all the 30's 40's, 50's and the 60 I've caught, my most memorable fish was my first 30 Mirror caught from under the ice on a cold February evening at RMC Pads lake.. sheer quality experience playing the fish with the rod tip under water, I'm smiling inwrdly as I type mate on the flip side, you still get the size buzz on the trips to France.. I said to myself all I wanted from the trip was to beat my 44lb Common French PB... it was a jaw dropping adrenalin filled experience to hit the 60+ mark.. nothing like a big common to make the arm ache, a huge common threatens to take the arm from the socket short answer is go for it.. choose the right venue and buddies to go with, set the frame of mind right and go have yourself a whale of a time for a week.. nothing like it mate I could go on................ ...and on ...and on .. and on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoogi Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 That made a lot of sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_s_young Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 Guys, these are all valid points, and well made. I'd guess that it's the circumstances (location, ambience, fishing with buddies, etc.) of catching a big carp that are what it's all about really... for me, I'd not want to catch a 50 pounder stock fish from a hole in the ground... but I've had many memorable days just stalking and sight-fishing for teens and twenties on the limestone flats of Lake Michigan... nothing between me and the horizon but a dorsal fin or three! That's probably the main reason I moved to the US; carping is a big challenge here, but a different challenge from the UK or Western Europe. Here, every fish is wild, every water is enormous, and it's easy to find a good place to fish away from any other angler... I fish a couple of spots within 15 miles from my house where I have never ever seen another human being, every time I've been there it's been like the rest of mankind just doesn't exist! And then there's the beauty of the waters... to make that first cast into some of these lakes is amazing... when you just know that you are the first person ever to fish for carp; it takes me back to the first carp I ever caught, to being a kid on my first trip to a new water, where everything is wonderful and 100% new... Then there's the amazing contradiction that Wisconsin carping offers... the smaller fish (up to 30 pounders!) aren't that shy, but they are clever... generally the biggest problem is keeping away from the singles and teens long enough for a bigger fish to make up it's mind! The final piece of the pie is the fish themselves... 90%+ have never even seen a hook before, and when you get connected they just panic and run, and run... and run! Because they are all wild stock (originally from Germany in the 1870's), they have a different body shape than farmed carp, much more streamlined, beautiful fish. And then you have the river carp, some of those guys look more like a Barbel on steriods... and they fight just like they look! Every time I go fishing, I get that weird feeling... that this can't be real, I don't deserve all these fish, how can I be so lucky? It's truly like visiting carp heaven, every trip. Oh, Pellethead, if you want to come over, you don't need to worry about the gear (although I fly my carp gear over every couple of years, normally costs an extra 50 pounds for the "long tube"!)... if you want to fish with me you are of course welcome to borrow some of my gear! It's still difficult on most days to fish with more than 1 rod, when the big girls start to feed... I've given up fishing 3 rods after playing 3 thirties at the same time... badly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninausuk Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 I found a great water in austria last year, whilst visiting my sister who lives there it holds commons , mirrors, koi, grass carp, silver carp, sturgeon, paddlefish, zander, and tench, all specimen too !!!! it really does have everything there , accomodation, bar, restaurant, bait, tackle, hire, and only 30 mins from graz airport, fished it for a day in may, then went back, in sept ,oct ,nov for 3-7 days trips, cost me £22 each way for my tackle (ryanair) and my biggest bill for the week i went including everything, chalet fishing food and drink and bait was about 330 euros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awilson1908 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 i have started a new thread but i will add onto this one with the same topic. i am going to the Costa Del Sol in teh summer. Is anyone aware of any spots around Benalmadena or any in the costa del sol area>? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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