French Dreams – Mark Hoye

With very little chance of getting out fishing after the news of a third lockdown, and Christmas being very different this year, I am starting to dream of big French carp. I’ve been lucky over the years to have enjoyed some great French adventures, with some awesome fish.

To me French fishing is not too dissimilar to fishing here in the UK. Sure the fish are slightly bigger, but the fishing is far from easy. Preparation is the key, so this means thinking about bait, tackle and how I am going to utilise those into my attack. For me the most important aspect is bait, and my first choice would normally be a Mainline Bait, probably Cell, and using the vast array of additives, stick mixes and liquids to give me options of baiting. I’m not usually a big baiter, relying on a more ‘match’ style of you can put it in, but can’t take it out philosophy. I suppose I will never leave my match fishing brain behind, but I would rather build a swim, than fill it in and wait for a response. Don’t get me wrong I don’t like moving swims on a French trip, more setting out my tactics, and waiting for the fish to arrive. At some point during the week some fish will move into the swim, a week is a long time in fishing.

Fishing in France normally revolves around using a bait boat. For me this gives me the advantage of getting my bait in a tight area, as I’m a crap caster, and not a long distance caster by any means. For me if you can feed them accurately, then you can normally nick a bite if your rigs in the right place. Wafters are my first choice hook baits, and I do like a small bait as opposed to the run of the mill 18mm standard bait.

I do like to mix the baiting up, with chops, small 10mm baits, and all using glugs or the new Smart liquids from Mainline, which are a real game changer. Mixed with response pellets in the same flavour is the basis of my bed of feed.

As far as rigs go, I would start with three rods, with a different rig on each. My first choice would be a fluorocarbon ‘D’ rig with a wafter. The second a ‘Ronnie’ rig with a pop up, and the third would be a braided bottom bait rig with a standard boilie. I would then gauge the response, and be led by bites as to what rigs I would end up using during the week. Hook wise I do like the Korda Kamakra range in a curve or a wide gape. I know they blunt more easy, but the sharpness in each hook is a must for me. By chopping and changing between wafters, dumbells and smaller boilies I can normally winkle out a few bites. Each rig would be used with a little stick, just to guarantee that the hook bait had a little bit of attraction around it.

So what do I consider the main things to think about when planning a French trip, here are a few of my ideas.

Venue, know your venue!!! Does the venue have the correct stock and size of fish you want to target. I have been to many venues that reports have suggested hold huge and many carp, only to struggle all week in a crap area after coming out last in the draw. Other times I have been sat open a flyer, and caught some colossal fish that have been true memory makers.
Bait, take the right amount and the right bait!!! My first choice of bait is Mainline, its tried and tested, easily available and a bloody good bait. The choice of other products I can use in conjunction with just boilies is endless. Smart liquid, pellets, stick mix, ground bait and an endless amount of hook baits make it the ideal base for my fishing. Cell or Link is my first choice, but over the years I have used Active 8, Assassin 8 and the Grange, but for me cell is on a different level. The Link acts as a different colour to the Cell, again in different sizes, just to mix it up a bit, and not just a standard attack that the fish have seen endless times.
Simple Rigs. Keep your rigs simple is my motto. I normally start off with three different types of rig, and whichever is working best will swap over to throughout the week. Dark matter sinking braid, Boom Ronnie rigs and a nice fluorocarbon hook link make up all of my standard rigs. By starting off on a pop up, wafter and bottom bait you can get an idea as to how the fish are feeding I think. For instance if a pop up is more successful the fish are identifying the bait after hovering over the feeding area. A bottom bait they are selecting the feedbag quickly, whilst a wafter tells me they might be a bit finicky in their feeding style.
Be prepared!!! Be comfortable. You are there for a week, so make yourself comfortable, and take the items that will make your fishing easy. Big beds, warm clothes, good boots and enough gas for tea making. Also portable chargers with a solar panel to make sure you have some battery life in your devices all week. A pillow will make you sleep better at night, sun cream and enough water for those hot days. Plan your trip, and if you have the room, take it all.
Don’t get despondent!!! Your there for a week, so build your swim as opposed to filling it in. You have no idea who was in your swim the week before, so don’t know how much bait they introduced into your swim. Its no good putting 10 kilo of quality bait into a swim as soon as you arrive, only to find that the previous occupant had disposed of 30 kilo of unwanted shelf life into your prime area 10 minutes before they left. Fish for a bite, and go from there, that’s the best advice I’ve been told, and advice that have stood me in good stead over the years.