Poisson-chats;
There have been a few posts on the web forums of late about the small fresh water predators called ‘Poisson-Chats- Ameiurus melas (Catfish in French). Many anglers who have been to France will have been confronted with them.
Now these fish are not Wels catfish (Siluris Glanis), they rarely grow to over a pound and are generally only a few ounces in weight. But they are indeed extremely troublesome creatures. They are omnivorous, hunting in shoals and feeding on much the same food as carp… and that includes your bait. There is nothing more frustrating than fishing all night with no bait on your hook.
But don’t despair just because a water holds these fish, there are numerous ways to avoid them and have some great sport with the carp!!
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1. Firstly you can use a bait the Poisson Chats don’t like. Quest Pineapple Crush Boilies are an excellent choice here.
They contain a special ingredient that they really don’t like. Ok! the larger ones may take your bait, but the hoards of small pests will almost certainly leave them alone and let the carp have a chance.
The other option, if the lake allows them, are Tiger Nut. These hard sweet nuts are an excellent carp catcher especially combined with hemp.
2. Secondly you can mesh or net you hook baits in order to prevent the small fish from whittling them down on the hair. This method works very well and has seen me catch a few excellent fish. Click Here to read and article on Netting Baits.
3. Another tip is to use a stiff hooklink material, amnesia or fluorocarbon, as they have a tendency to tangle your braided link and render less effective or useless.
4. Avoid baiting with anything fishy, like pellets or fish-meal boilies, as this is certain to attract them. Instead bait your swim with hemp, maize and tigers instead.
5.Finally try an artificial hook bait such as the Enterprise plastic boiles and fake corn… Fished over the top of proper bait these imitations have accounted for a lot of fish for me.
So there you are, tackled correctly these nuisance fish are absolutely nothing to be a worried about and won’t stop you catching carp.
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