Trip to Les Quis – PreparationAfter promising the wife last year that I definitely wouldn’t be going to France this year, I’m writing this just three weeks from my next trip! Once again, Les Quis is the venue – mainly because there’s one lake left I want to fish. I also fancied having a go in the spring as I got bored during the 13-hour nights, and the bailiffs kept going on about the sights as the fish started moving after the winter lay-up – so a cancellation in May it is!
This article’s about fishing the typical “English” holiday lakes in France – having not fished public lakes or rivers it’s hard to give advice on those. Just remember to check the local departments rules on things like night fishing (ie, most places don’t have any legal night fishing, though this is changing), and make sure you have the right permits – the local tackle shop is the best place to start. I’m going to show a bit of the preparation in this article, an “in session” in the next, and hopefully you first timers to carp fishing in France might pick up a few tips. One thing I’d say is, even though it’s obvious, make sure your passport is up to date, and apply for an E111 health card – you can do it online. Metcheck Online Weather has a fairly decent European section so you can keep an eye on the weather – remember the sun is stronger the further south you go. One thing to remember is that continental thunderstorms are much more violent than ours, and tend to be a bit more frequent so make sure you take some wet weather gear whatever the forecasts say. And don’t forget the mossie repellent! Simple rigs Rigs are best kept simple – not necessarily because the fish are easy to catch – often they aren’t – more to stop the poisson chat and crays tying your perfectly presented braid rig into a ball! I prefer coated braids like Kryston’s Mantis and either mono or Fluorocarbon hooklengths like ESP’s Ghost. Due to the fish’s diet of crayfish and the gravely waters, the fish’s mouths tend to be very tough, so hooks need to be strong and sharp (don’t they all?) and I use Gardner’s Mugga hooks, or the incredibly sharp (and expensive) G-Hards – though only for open water.
End tackle is normally a back lead, a longish length of ESP Anchor rig tube (no leadcore allowed) to a simple running lead. The tubing is to help protect the mainline against snags/mussels. Line just has to be strong and abrasion resistant. Take spares of everything though, it might not be a case of popping to the local tackle shop. On that point, you don’t really need tackle much different than you use over here, unless you are fishing the massive reservoirs at huge distance, a lot of the holiday type venues are smaller, more “English” waters. That’s one thing I like about Les Quis – its just like English fishing with bigger fish – the lakes are typical gravel pits, so its not a case of having to use specialist tackle as the longest cast is about 100yds max. Remember to check the lakes rules regarding tackle – some ban leaders, leadcore, barbed hooks, etc, and the last thing you want to do is to be left at a train station in the middle of France to make your own way home….. Bait choices Bait choice is always a bit of a headache – luckily I’ve met a couple of guys who always do well on the lakes, and handily run the northern depot of Poacher baits which makes the choices easier. I chose to take three different baits in a couple of different sizes on this trip – the Nutty Crunch that I used there last year, Purple Haze, and the new Tigernut and Maple. One thing with Les Quis is that you can’t use pellets or particles on there, so the choice is a little more straightforward than it could be! Try to find out what the going bait is on the venue, but it’s always worth taking something a little different. If your venue allows them, maize and tigernuts would definitely be my first choices of bait. As regards to the amount of bait, I reckon that 2kg per rod per day is probably about right, depending on time of year and how much there is in the way of chats/crays, etc. Don’t forget, these are big fish, and there’s normally a few of them. I went mid March, and I took roughly 50kg of bait – you can always bring some back, but I do know a couple of people who have got through 100kg in a week……
In a mesh One thing people worry about is the Poisson Chat and Crayfish getting at the bait. Hookbaits aren’t so much of a problem – simply mesh them as per the video – but freebies are another thing altogether. Air-drying will make the bait rock hard, but I don’t actually worry about it – I would rather they get at the freebies and release all the attractors into the water. Also, the feeding frenzy will hopefully attract the carp as well. You just have to take more bait! Air-dry trays are quite expensive things to buy, but dead cheap to make, and you can pick up bags that hold 5kg or so fairly cheap on eBay.
I normally dry the bait for a couple of days, just so it keeps longer on the bank, and it will also soak up a bit more of the dip I put on the outside of the freebies – again, to try and keep the bait a bit fresher. Air dried boilies If you are going to air dry your baits it’s worth testing a handful first, as some baits just won’t air dry, they just start “turning”.
Adequate unhooking mat If the lake doesn’t supply them, take a decent sized unhooking mat with you – a lot of the cheaper “English” sized ones just aren’t up to the job with 50’s! And check your sling is in decent condition – again you don’t want to put a decent fish at risk. Up until this year I’ve been using the Solar sling/sack, but its showing its age so I’ve invested in one of the new Angling Intelligence jobs and managed to christen it properly! Right, we’ve arrived at the lake, we’ll get fishing in the next part! |
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