striker18 Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Sevenslayer m8 we might be on our own but thats the way I like it!(on my own on a big lac with the wind in my face carp crashing out in front of me!)lol joking aside I think you have summed it up nicely I agree with everything you say! (big respect!) Montereau! I think i know the lake you on about up by the old dream lake I heard some rumors myself! theres still some big fish in that area but so few and far between its not really worth it unless your prepared to sit it out for 1 fish! At the end of the day the the main reason why I fish the public waters is it gives me the same type of fishing i used to experience in england 15+years ago! fishing for unpressured fish in their natural environment! (unfortunately there a whole generation of carp anglers that has never experienced it!) and if someone was half the angler he makes himself out to be then he would be agreeing with me rather than making narrow minded comments! well slayer m8 hopefully we have provoked somebody into thinking outside the box! obviously I'm not going to name waters but its all there on the internet for people to find! All of the French environment agencies have stocking policies and most of the public waters are well stocked!(another thing the pay lake crew dont want you to know!) so if any of you get fed up of fishing the stock ponds for their boilie bloated mud pigs you know what to do! This is my last post bon chance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
severnslayer Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 exactly, well said!! Good fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobleyn Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcustackley Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Some good posts here, seems like some anglers are breaking boundaries which I love to see. I get 2 weeks a year to fish sanctioned by the missus - god lover her! And choose to spend that time on the Ebro, St Lawrence, Grand river etc. We have two nippers and I earn good money working in a pressured job, I love carp fishing and I read about it daily, but I don't get to practise. I'm so sick of the uk scene I much prefer to spend my time, money and intelligence working on a pioneering trip, rather than fishing pressured waters. Absolutely agree it's each to his or her own, and me and the wife still get the odd day session if we can find a baby and dog sitter, but at 3 and 5, it's not easy! Lots of love going out to those pioneers amongst you, it ain't easy but god loves a trier, TDP is my hero, would love to have the time and balls to spend filming and fishing but also have a family to provide for, keep it up guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boppercarp Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 I returned from a 6 week France trip 3 weeks ago fishing in the north east of France mainly on la moselle. My love for this river started the year before when me and a friend took out first trip to lac de st casein planning a six week trip anyway to cut a long story short we had had enough after nearly five weeks on casein don't get me wrong the place is awesome but at the time it was fishing very hard with only a few swims catching and to be honest I had had enough and we decided to fish the remaining 9 days else where. We decided to go and have a look at madine a long drive I know but it would make the last part of the journey back to England a lot easier as we didn't have to do it all in one drive. We arrived at lac de madine about 2 weeks after the world carp classic had just finished and the place looked very nice but the wind and more importantly the floating weed was horrendous and with only a very small amount of pegs on such a huge water mostly all taken we decided a third choice was needed. We spent the night on the bed chairs in the madine carp park frantically searching the Internet for a new venue. After much driving in the area we looked at la Meuse and la Moselle and decieded on a swim fishing on the Moselle. We found a local tabac shop to acquire the carte da peche ticket and we were away. This was the first time either of us had fished a French river before and the first thing that struck us was the size of some of the boats that ferried goods up and down the river, one was 200m long had a house 3 cars and a children's plays pen on the back lol. The spot we were fishing was approx 120 yds wide so we flicked a few rods out only to quickly reels them back in when a boat came past mmmm rods out then in again at this point we decided to relax during the day and fish at nighttime when the boats had stopped for the day. After watching the boats up and down all day it became apparent there was no point trying to do any accurate baiting as the boats would just wash the bait about anyway so just put out a big spread of bait with the boat and cast 4 rods out. The first night was a blank for me but my friend had a one toner that resulted in a straightened out hook not good as many people say that the first run is often the big resident carp anyway not too worry. The second night I was away at 12.30am and before long had my first carp in the net all 35lb 8 oz of perfect river common which was shortly followed by a 24 then a 23 what a result my friend also caught two mid 20s. Is is safe to say at this point I was hooked(exclude the pun) and spent the rest of the week catching a few most nights with the smallest being 19lb and the next biggest was a lovely dark mirror 34lb I think on the second to last night caught by my mate. In just a week we had had between 25 and 30 carp all commons apart from the old mirror and that was just fishing at night. When I returned home I could not get this river out of my head and just could not wait to get back for a bigger one so planned a trip for 2011 which I returned from a few weeks ago. First thing I will say about going in the summer is the catfish they are just rife this time of year and after catching one after 10 mins and many more after that we banned ourselves using the fishmeal boilies and stuck to maize and tigers which did help. One early catfish had no fewer than 50 full 22mm boilies in the back of it's throat the greedy ba/:;(-d. I did land a big catfish that took me six hour to get in was the craziest experience ever it was 1.91m and would just not come off the bottom its good to look back on now but I don't think I want another that size on carp tackle. We did five weeks on la Moselle fishing about 15 different swims some we would blank and move on others we had unto 50 fish in 2 days. Every swim is very different with mad currents and swells as locks were opened and shut some the river would drop 2 foot for half a day then rise back up again bringing many snags with it but it's all part of fishing the river. Research is essential and if you can take photos from goggle earth of the entire river where you intend to fish you will find this very helpful at finding pegs and access points to the river as well as local ordanance survey maps that can be bought from pacific peche just outside Metz. This year the best we managed was a 38lb common from the river but I did manage to catch a new pb mirror of 47lb7 from a public lake in the area on the last week of out trip. If there is one thing sure in life is that I will be back as soon as possible maybe this time trying some of the canal sections of the river which are suppose to hold some real big untamed beasts. The river is not easy fishing and can be a total nightmare at times but all the more enjoyable when the buzzer sounds the rod hoops over and you really don't know what could be on the end. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I just enjoyed writing it and please chill out people, fishing is meant to be enjoyed and it means different things to different people so what ever type of venue or species you target just enjoy it and do it for yourself not for some trophy shot. Sorry if it's a bit long winded but one I started typing a could not stop Tight lines bopper. 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bigaldo Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Great Post This is what fishing France is about. The rivers are fantastic and the more time you put in the more you get out. I must have bumped into some of you guys, I fished the Seine, Soane etc since the late 80s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maffy Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 I'm also an addict of the public lakes and rivers. It's great to find more of you are still out there taking the chances, risking the blanks and experiencing the joy of catching fish you know you realy deserve. thre arn't many of us left and long may that continue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigaldo Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Maffy Totally agree with you. I've been fishing la Loire, the Mayenne and another little fished river that will remian nameless in the last 2 years and been getting some great sport for the price of the fishing licence. I still love the Soane and get there as often as I can. Ive also found on the Seine and Yonne in the last few years you never see another angler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyholman Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 There really is an awful lot of public water available over in France and some really spectacular places to fish. Even some of the smaller rivers, like my local river Célé hold quality fish in some quite unexpected places and I'm not talking about where it enters the Lot, for those that know the area! The privately run lakes, offer a very good deal (for the most part) and have obvious appeal...but as said above there are literally hundreds of public waters in France that hold very respectable fish and some real biggies too, that get rarely fished for. Even if its often a needle in the haystack and sometimes a very big haystack (I fish a few waters in the 500 to 1500 hectares range), there are often lots of 30's and 40's too be had too. Here is a site with all the night fishing zones listed by department for 2012. Any of these zones will have some decent potential for the public water carp fisherman. Night Fishing Zones in France 2012 You can also get your French Fishing Licence online these days. Although the site is only in French for the moment. If fishing public waters, a valid licence is required, this is not the case on the private waters. Public water fishing is often more of a challenge, especially for those looking for wi fi hook ups, fridges and the creature comforts, but can be a great adventure....each to his own I guess. The situation with fish pilfering for private lakes has come to a head of late. Mainly down to a Kevin Nash interview in one of the carp mags here, where he admits responsibility for 200 carp being transferred from the Lot area to a (once but no longer his) lake in the Aveyron......by members of his team but without his knowledge.................................... Laws have been strengthened in recent years, so now it is illegal to, remove or transport a carp of over 60cm and use carp sacks at night. You have to place a light to mark your presence at night in most areas too and stick to authorised night fishing zones....... Hopefully this will have some impact, but I ain't holding my breath....its easy to understand the point of view of the French "carpistes" though...public fish being taken to stock private ponds, be they English or French owned, deprives the licence holder of some of the best fish in THEIR waterways, so they feel well ripped off....to put it mildly! If you do decide to try a bit of public fishing in France, may you have a very successful and enjoyable time...I sure do...always the latter in any case...lol! All the best Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maffy Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thanks for the info Guy. I fished the lot at the cele mouth in sept. Caught no fish but was treated to an awesome vista! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyholman Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Hi Maffy Sorry to hear you didnt catch. Thats a pretty decent spot...did you fish from the point at the mouth on the Célé side of the Lot, (turn right after bridge just before the tunnel)?? There are a couple of lovely swims down that track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maffy Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yep Guy thats the spot I fished. Did three nights for one lost fish that I hooked doposite bank downstream towards the canal. Beautiful place though I did worry I wouldn't be able to get the car back up the steep slope down to the swim. As it happened I got out by putting my foot down and crossing my fingers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchboy Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 hi all, I live in france full time and do a lot of carp fishing and I tend to stay away from english owned lakes as they tend to be overpriced and overfished in my opinion. I can definitely say that you guys are missing out by not hitting the french rivers the fight you get from a river fish is a lot more enjoyable then any lake fish. I live and fish in the Vienne department and the river vienne has some cracking fish in it last year me and my mate had mainly common carp with the biggest being a cracking 37lb er and we know for a fact that we lost bigger fish!Its not just the rivers you are missing out on the public lakes have some cracking fish as well and are never over fished or you never have to get there early to get a swim. Short of it is you lot should start trying the public lakes and rivers at the end of the day a full licence is 86€ which means you can fish Anywhere in France so it will work out a lot cheaper than paying for a lake and you have a lot more choice. If anyone wants to come down my way I will be happy to take you to some of the best places always an excuse to fish lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangling Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Frenchboy, I respect your opinion about commercial lakes, but i still have to correct you ( a little). The waters on the Goncourt complex are property of the Briallart family. And Pascale is as French as they can possibly come. gr. Henk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchboy Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 I only commented about english owned lakes I haven't got a problem with french owned but the point still being you are missing out by not fishing the rivers or public lakes. But also beware that some french owned lakes are still over priced and some don't allow english people on and I say this due to experiences I have encountered.I just don't see the point in paying to fish private lakes be english or french owned when I can pay 86€ a year and fish where ever and for how long I want and I do quite a few week long sessions but I work on the fact that even if I fish only a couple of times a year I still save a fortune and get the chance to see some beautiful countryside and catch some lovely fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangling Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Like i said, i respect your opinion but that's a whole other discussion. In this thread someone just wants some info on a lake. gr. Henk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchboy Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 dangling I'm afraid to say you are wrong the Op wanted info about french river fishing,read the Op's first post!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maffy Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 In the context of this thread frenchboy your preaching to the converted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchboy Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Good I hoped people would try the rivers you just don't know what size carp your going to get and to me that makes fishing exciting again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangling Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 You're correct. Thought i was posting in another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyholman Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hey Frenchboy I have never paid (other than the license fee) to fish anywhere in France..I personally don't see any need to, with the wealth of public waters available. I have no problem tough with the idea that people may prefer the British owned private waters, their convenience and the sort of angling experience they can offer. The rivers usually hold some very good fish and some provide stunning locations that are normally a lot more peaceful than a commercial lake, with far less heavily pressured fish too! I don't think that many will have missed the fact that there is so much underexploited potential in the public waters though...especially readers of Carpworld! Just looking at the latest issue, there are several references to just these kind of waters and I can't remember the last issue where there wasn't something about French public waters! Take the latest article by Tony Davis-Patrick in the series European Adventures. He fishes a couple of spots, whilst leaving much to the imagination as to the actual areas he fished, but mentioning in the process other areas of potential interest that can be easily sussed by reading between the lines and with a bit of research or local knowledge....there are lots of French carp forums with decent information on waters...enough to bring the detective out of the carp angler! I am sure more will do so in the future. Good luck to them those that choose to visit the private lakes! Hopefully everybody gets what they are looking for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abu55 Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 On 16/03/2011 at 08:49, severnslayer said: That's absolutely true Moorsey, when we first fished on the Seine (about 1995) we had to put in a considerable amount of effort to catch, and then it took about 3 years (about six x 1 week trips ) to get our first 40 plus!!! I completely understand, one of my mates works in a factory, he has a family and only one week to use for fishing....so he goes to a paylake not the Seine ...its a no brainer really for most people. When I started carping in the mid Eighties (i'm sure you will relate to this Moorsey) you had to fish your socks off to catch a twenty, if you could get on a water that held them!! A twenty was massive then, decent tackle was much thinner on the ground, good information about carp fishing was like gold dust and foreign fishing was only just starting to be reported about (i.e Maddocks/Hutchy at St Cassein)...Now you can start carping 1 minute and be holding up a 40, 50 or even bigger the next!!! Something wrong there somewhere!!! Everything is on a plate now for the carp angler, ready made bait, rigs, books, tackle, and waters to fish!! etc etc I know to many this is progress and things move on....true... But...this is why no one has a sense of adventure/experimentation these days, our ability to think for ourselves is being eroded, carp angling has produced vast quantities of robotic anglers that all do exactly the same things without ever questioning what they are doing, like sheep following the shepherd (i.e the press/top flight anglers trying to sell/promote products for their company!!!) I know this is a ramble and I sound like 'a miserable old git' which i'm not (by the way) but sometimes progress isn't necessarily all good! I' ve depressed myself now.......How much for a week at yours Moorsey ??? lol On 16/03/2011 at 08:49, severnslayer said: That's absolutely true Moorsey, when we first fished on the Seine (about 1995) we had to put in a considerable amount of effort to catch, and then it took about 3 years (about six x 1 week trips ) to get our first 40 plus!!! I completely understand, one of my mates works in a factory, he has a family and only one week to use for fishing....so he goes to a paylake not the Seine ...its a no brainer really for most people. When I started carping in the mid Eighties (i'm sure you will relate to this Moorsey) you had to fish your socks off to catch a twenty, if you could get on a water that held them!! A twenty was massive then, decent tackle was much thinner on the ground, good information about carp fishing was like gold dust and foreign fishing was only just starting to be reported about (i.e Maddocks/Hutchy at St Cassein)...Now you can start carping 1 minute and be holding up a 40, 50 or even bigger the next!!! Something wrong there somewhere!!! Everything is on a plate now for the carp angler, ready made bait, rigs, books, tackle, and waters to fish!! etc etc I know to many this is progress and things move on....true... But...this is why no one has a sense of adventure/experimentation these days, our ability to think for ourselves is being eroded, carp angling has produced vast quantities of robotic anglers that all do exactly the same things without ever questioning what they are doing, like sheep following the shepherd (i.e the press/top flight anglers trying to sell/promote products for their company!!!) I know this is a ramble and I sound like 'a miserable old git' which i'm not (by the way) but sometimes progress isn't necessarily all good! I' ve depressed myself now.......How much for a week at yours Moorsey ??? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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