Reader’s Query - What bait to use in France
On the 20th July Neil put this question to the bloggers:
Hi im going on my first france trip to les telliats at end of september what
bait would you recomend i take and what size?
Well Neil, this question has been asked before and Shaun answered the question the last time. Having been to France many times before myself, I would say take the bait that you feel most confident in using in this country.
The fish on virtually every venue in France receive far more pressure than the majority of venues in England. With a large proportion of the commercial fisheries in France having full or atleast constant bookings for around 30 consecutive weeks a year, then it stands to reason that these fish are atleast as wary as the fish we try to catch back home.
With all that said, I would personally take Rahja Spice as this is the bait I have most confidence in and it has accounted for a great amount of fish both in England and France for me. I would also take a back up bait or two, such as the Liver B8 and the Pineapple Crush in shelf life. The beauty of the Pineapple Crush for me is that I personally consider it an instant bait, that I use in small quantities for single fish tactics. I hope that bit makes sense.
With regards to size, if you can afford it then take the bait in as many sizes as possible and mix it up. I am a great believer in using different size boilies together as well as different flavours. I will regularly use 3 or 4 different boilies together in different shapes and sizes. This in my opinion keeps the Carp guessing and also if they have a preference for a particular bait then the results will show this. If you think about it, how many people will use mixed particle and mixed pellet, yet will frown at the thought of mixing the boilies up a bit.
Possibly the most difficult bit to get right is how much bait to use and where to place your baits. I generally try and gradually build my swim during a session, unless I have back ground knowledge of the venue I am fishing first. This is priceless as you can find out the most productive areas of a lake before you travel and have an understanding of the tactics that have worked best for others. That is the beauty of the Angling Lines website as there are articles on all their venues along with up to date feedback from their customers.
One more thing, I certainly would recommend using a snowman presentation, with a food bait and a high attract pop up or plastic boilie, I have lost count the amount of Carp I have caught both in England and France on this presentation.
I think I have gone on for long enough and probably drifted away from the question somewhat, so I hope some of this helps and wish you good luck in your quest.
Cheers
Jamie Simpson
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Tags: angling, bait, boilies, carp, fish, fishing, france, queries, tackle, techniques, tips
Hi Neil, I do a fair amount of fishing in France. My big problem is that I don’t know the lake you are going to. I agree with what Jamie said. However, the big problem is how much to take. When I go to France I normally work on:
2kg of boilies per day, say 15kg for a week.
15kg of trout pellets.
10kg of hemp.
This is for each angler.
I take quest shelf life boilies, if I don’t use them all I can then bring them home. Normally I take
10kg of special crap 20mm.
5kg of raja 20mm.
Some 10mm pineapple pop-ups for snowman presentation.
Pop-ups to go with the raja and special crab.
plastic corn.
HOWEVER, IF THERE ARE POISSON CHAT IN THE LAKE I WOULD TAKE 20KG OF 20MM PINEAPPLE CRUNCH AND 20KG OF TIGER NUTS (IF THEY ARE ALLOWED).
Hope this helps, if you want any more info get back in touch.
Jim Kelly
Hi neil,
Bait is always a bit of personal choice.
But what my choice would be are the smokey fish..and the rahja spice.
You will have things covered this way..fishmeal based and non-fishmeal.
For size…I would take the 15mm and 20mm version.
If baitboats or margin fishing is in order then take some 10mm..the fish love them, and allot of people don’t seem to use them.
Normally 15-20 kg should get you true the week…
Good luck!
And post the catches.
Greetz roy
Hi, Neil,
I would highly recommend the Rahja Spice Shelf Lifes has i have used them in many different weather conditions both in France and at home and have found them to be a great carp catcher no matter what the temperature is. (see previous blog entries).
Has Jamie says it pays to start off baiting lightly and see what happens. At the time of year you are going the weather may well be very mixed and so piling the bait in from the off could well kill your chances. I fished Little St Christophe at the start of October and the weather was terrible for catching carp. I ended up catching all my fish using a single bait fished snowman style with no free offerings.
I would also advise you to take different sized baits (20mm , 15mm & 10mm) and try various combinations until you find the one the carp like the best.
The best thing about taking the shelf lifes is that you can bring them back if you don’t use them (without any hassle).
Add a sack of pellet and / or hemp / pigeon conditioner and you should be sorted for the week.
Have a good trip,
Pat.
hi thanks everyone for the advice i will post report on return neil