I recently spent a pleasant week carping at a lake in central France. The venue is a 25 acre established gravel pit that operates as a commercial fishery for up to 10 anglers per week. There are set swims which are well spaced around the lake with plenty of room between each swim to accommodate the longest of casts.
My fishing time is limited so this type of venue provides an ample opportunity to chill-out and hopefully catch a carp or two. My days of pioneering carp trips, touring the length and breadth of France, are over. Safe and secure commercial fisheries suit me best, especially when there is a chance of banking a big lump or two!
Although I had been to the venue before I was rather taken aback by events that unfolded during my weeks stay. Of the ten anglers who made up the group, only two anglers did not bring or use a remote-controlled bait boat. Needless to say, the two anglers in question were me and my fishing partner for the week, Ken Martin.
Weather conditions
A high air-pressure weather pattern dominated our week, with misty mornings, bright sun and light variable winds. Conditions were not ideal for carp to really get their heads down and have a good feed. The difficult weather and slow sport was not improved by the indiscriminate use of remote-controlled bait boats. These fiendish devices could be observed edging further and further out into the lake. When a fish was caught, or even when one or two showed themselves on the surface, a boat would soon be sent out over the carp’s heads. Some of the distances covered by the boats were over 200 yards. This was an unacceptable and selfish example of catching carp at all costs and bears no resemblance to the true spirit of angling, especially on a water of 25 acres. The word “skill” just does not feature in the exercise, but the word “selfish” does! To a certain extent, I could agree with this type of tactic being used on very large waters such as Chantecoq or Cassien, but not a small commercial fishery or club lake.
During our stay we had to contend with tough conditions, now we had 8 anglers, each using 4 rods, sending 32 bow-string-tight lines across the water. Some bait boats even had satellite navigation aids. It was more like Henley Regatta than a carp lake! The fish were actually being cut off from entering bays and inlets and were bound be frightened by all these lines criss-crossing the lake. Each line terminated in a little pile of bait. This baiting pattern is used by many visiting anglers and is far more likely to be recognised by the carp as an area of danger than a safe free meal.
Our tactics
Ken and I employed different tactics. We reduced all general activity in our swims and kept water disturbance down to a minimum. We did not go through the usual evening ritual of heavy baiting, but kept a random pattern using two different sized boilies, of 20mm&24mm diameter and trickling them in on a regular basis using throwing sticks and catapults. I shall not be divulging the ingredients or recipe of the boilies we used. Suffice to say, our baits were carefully chosen so they did not contain fishmeal type ingredients or any fruity flavours. Furthermore the bait was made fresh and taken in cool boxes to be used as fresh as possible and the rest frozen in freezers provided at the fishery. Inmy opinion,shelf-life and preserved baits would be a definite no-no on any water that sees this sort of angling pressure. We considered these tactics were unlikely to be replicated by any others present during our stay. We did not bring any particle baits, pellets or nuts. Boilies were our only bait.
We hoped our stealthy tactics would keep fish moving through the areas we were fishing but were also hoping carp would not associate these areas with danger. We used marker floats to find depths and ‘leaded-around’ to check the lake bed terrain and locate weed beds. We knew this to be a fail safe tactic and would ensure perfect bait placement every time. All this preparation was kept to an absolute minimum in order to be as quiet as possible.
A week is a long time to be stuck in one swim and it was beneficial to form good relationships with the other anglers present. Jeff from Manchester was fishing a swim immediately to my right and was very considerate and patient with those around him. We quickly agreed between us who would fish where. Jeff used his boat versus our casting and there were no problems all week. This was made possible because we had communicated with each other and compromised in our target areas. One day we actually tested the depth-gauge on his very expensive bait boat. We accurately tested the lake depth readings against the dead-reckoning of my simple marker-float method. It proved interesting, my marker float was much more accurate than the boat’s depth finder, but I didn’t tell Jeff!
Fishing Pressure
As I mentioned earlier the lake in question is a commercial fishery and it is quite understandable that the owners of the water need to have it fully booked with anglers all season. This means that the lake is fished constantly, there is no closed season and fishing continues through the winter period too. Most anglers who attend the lake use bait-boats and carp are therefore completely used to seeing exactly the same bait presentation. Particle baits and pellets, which are far cheaper and more user-friendly than boilies, are the preferred choice of bait. It seems a pattern has started to emerge and in just a few seasons the carp are wising-up to these tactics.
Some anglers therefore fail to catch anything all week and seem incapable of working out why this is and end up continuing with the same tactics? Let’s face it, even well stocked lakes can have their difficult spells and going to France is not necessarily a guarantee for bagging-up!
For two days and nights, during part of our stay, Ken and I hardly put-in any fee offerings of bait. Rather that just letting the rods fish for themselves we occasionally cast to feeding fish or fished single hook baits ‘on-the-chuck’ in random areas. This proved to be a very successful ploy and helped put three big fish on the bank for us that week. By the end of the week we had banked seven fish. Interestingly, the other eight anglers had about eight fish between them – with 4 anglers who, unfortunately, blanked altogether!
Trophy Hunting or Fishing?
The events of the week seemed very strange to me. Although I am prepared to accept that this sort of activity goes on at many other venues all over Europe, but I can honestly say it is the first time I have witnessed anything quite like it. To me, the use of bait boats seems so very far removed from a style of fishing I am used to. The method just seems a bit too much like cheating to me and I suppose that makes me an old fashioned traditionalist. Perhaps we should ask the question: “Are those who regularly use bait boats, the type of angler who is trying to catch carp at all costs, perhaps just collecting trophies, or are they truly, going fishing?” These are questions that should be asked and I am certainly not afraid to do so. I have no doubt Carpology magazine would be happy to publish readers replies to my comments and I hope any replies will be well thought out… I just love a good argument.
Please bear in mind I have nothing against any of those who were present at the lake mentioned in this article. They had paid their money, and were all entitled to exploit the fishery within the rules - which we all did. However, it is fascinating that between ten anglers, all fishing for seven nights. Only two anglers’ caught fish by actually casting out!
I have not disclosed the location of this fishery and I have done this to protect the integrity of the owners as well as those anglers who continue to fish this exceptional water. By the way, that also includes me, because I am also going back to the same lake in three weeks, so I had better behave myself. However, on this next trip I can assure you, no one is going to be using a bait boat - by unanimous agreement!
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