Though UK waters tend to be full of numerous various kinds of carp, quite a few skilled "carpers" claim that the seriously giant as well as spirited ones are just found through carp sportfishing in France. The sharp rise in the amount of English that are willing to travel over the Chunnel for French carp fishing grows annually. France has the benefit of a normally milder weather in addition to a very large number of lakes that favour carp growth. France is becoming an exceptionally well-known place to go for a carp fisher, especially because of so many unique carp wetlands in France to choose from and several which have carp more than 40lb to 45lb and up.

I think I was more than a little lucky with my boilie making the first time round. My very first attempt produced a good few nibbles but no solid takes, so with this in mind i made the original mix a little stronger and then tried again. Success came with my first 20lb+ a beautifull Mirror Carp by the name of "Twin Bellies", which after being told by the balif that no-one was catching well that day came a great vindication of my perseverance.

Frustrating as it is, carp fishing is awesome. Carp are really good at sucking in and blowing out suspicious baits. It’s such an excitement to see the whole action in a fraction of a second as you hang on for dear life while the reel is trembling with a loud noise. Carp happily devour on the surface as long as you keep the pellets, biscuits, chic peas, bread and sweetcorn coming in, and these are inexpensive baits as well. Just attach them to the hooks, most preferably the bread. Have the biscuits softened by dipping it in the water for about 2 minutes, then, place them in a sealed sandwich bag for about an hour. Since different brands have different textures, just experiment to know which is firm enough to cast. Another way to hook baits is super gluing the pellet into the shank.

It only struck me whilst fishing a local day ticket water last week, what a competitive sport carp fishing has become. I have fished the venue concerned on and off for about 20 years seeing 2 owners, the lake being dug larger and now being backfilled to 2/3 of its size. Throughout the day I had the usual stream of anglers walking past and it surprised me how many asked the same question, "Had anything decent mate?". The way I have fished for as long as I can remember is that a bad days fishing is better than a good days work!, it really does not matter what size the fish are. In fact I don't even take scales or a camera for 90% of my UK fishing, I am more than happy to smile and return the fish from the net rather than put them through the ordeal of weighing etc.