Angling experience;
I have been involved in the carp scene since the early seventies, continuing to the present day. I have tried to keep away from the circuit waters during my fishing experience, however I did spend around 8 years fishing the Mangrove and 4 years on Grenville. I presently have the pleasure of running my own carp fishery which contains some beautiful fish. My main object on this fishery is carp welfare and keeping a natural stocking balance in the lakes. I have also been field testing for Angling Lines for at least 8 years visiting numerous French venues on my travels.
Favourite UK water;
My own syndicate water (not named) with fish to over 40lb.
Most memorable capture;
Amongst a 27 fish capture, I had 4 carp on the trot from Etang de Boux – 49lb 15oz, 49lb 3oz, 50lb 4oz and a 51lb 11oz.
41lb 2oz off my own lake
45lb Common off Boux
Favourite tactics/methods;
Old fashioned casting with my Free Spirit rods coupled with Shimano 10000 Techniums reels. When fishing abroad I like to prepare a tight bed of bait at a reasonable casting distance in the lake and fish all rods either on or just off this area. When fishing in England I like to fish light with a couple of rods, so that I can move with the fish around the lake, as I seem to get my best results fishing this way.
Best Tips;
When in France, once I have found an area that I am happy with I stick to it through out the fishing session, drawing carp from around the lake to feed.
If there was one piece of advice you could offer to a first time French carp angler what would it be?
If it was my 1st time in France I would be looking at a water that is well stocked so that I could experience plenty of runs. Reading all the information and watch all the videos possible on your chosen venue and always be prepared for nuisance species.
49lb 14oz from Boux
Hi Paul,
I’m off to Margot in October with a friend. I have fished the lake a few years ago, before AL had it on their books and did well from fishing what is now swim 6 or 7 and boating baits out to the deeper middle channel. Ideally we would like swim 1 but if not, what would be your recommendation and would you feel we would need a bait boat or would we be able to draw the fish in from the middle into the shallower parts by casting. The only swim that doesn’t really appeal is swim 5 as it’s tucked away a little and could be tricky if the fish aren’t there. Any comments would be useful.
regards,
Terry Cheesman
Hello Terry
Margot still lives up to its reputation as a top big fish venue. October is my favourite time of year for visiting French Lakes as the carp are at their best natural weights and any nuisance species such as poison chat are usually in-active, even so I would be prepared for them.
Most anglers that approach waters such as Margot do use baitboats as a means of presenting their bait and loose feed, and I am sure the middle of the lake is their target.
I personally would prefer to draw the carp from the middle of the lake to within a reasonable casting distance of say 60 to 80 meters. On the 2 occasions that I have visited Margot I have seen lots of carp showing themselves at around this distance and even closer. I do not understand why anglers want to push themselves to their limits by casting or boating to the horizon. If the boat breaks or a head wind hits, all of a sudden you cannot reach your target.
Swims 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all ideal for short range fishing and comfortably building up a bed bait to cast too or boat out too. I personally would build by bed of bait with either a throwing stick or by spomb.
Swim 5 has a lot of water in front of it, however some of the better water is at least a 100 yards cast, so maybe boating out the bait is the answer in this swim.
Swim 6 has the island to the left and its margins are easily in casting range, but accurate presentation to the margins could be made better with a baitboat. This swim also has a lot of open water to get out too and again I don’t think that you need to be at extreme distances.
I have not fished Swims 7 or 8 but from what I can remember they have silty margins, and it might mean that you would want to be out a bit further than the other swims, however there is a lot of really interesting marginal water to the right of swim 8.
If I had a choice of swims I would aim for swims 3 and 4, then 1 and 2.
If possible I would try a boilie only approach as this does seem to keep away the attention of the huge grassies that Margot holds. Even so, take some armo mesh and say a kilo of tigers, just in case the weather warms up and the chat go on the feed, very unlikely but be prepared.
Paul Cooper