Neil wrote;

I’m 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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