I’ve been carp fishing now for over 34 years and have grown and learned with the pursuit, which started a good while before the hair-rig era, and when carping still had a mystique and mystery…
Since I’ve lived in France I have not really fished for any other species, other than a few trips to Spain for the big Catfish. I’m really lucky in that the Croix Blanche venue not only holds big carp and cats, but also a superb head of big coarse fish including tench, crucians, bream, perch, pike and rudd.
So it has been rather refreshing this year to try my hand at catching specimen fish of other species.
It all came about when I met a group of French, former carp anglers, who had reconverted to general coarse fishing and match style methods. When I met these guys I was on a bit of a roll having had 3 fish over 40lb in a couple of months, the best being a 46lb common, from several venues.
Their approach though, I found fun and refreshing. I must admit the bivvy up style had been boring me a bit for a while, and I found short day sessions fishing traditional boilie methods less than productive. Also I didn’t really have the time to fish several days a t a stretch, couple with the fact I had a hard job getting a swim on my own lakes. Read the rest of this entry »
A trip down memory lane this film. Originally made for the French fishing and hunting TV channel “Chasse et Pêche” in 2003, it has since been edited to DVD. (Naturally the commentary is in French).
The film shows some nice fish caught during the early days of the Croix Blanche Lakes. A lot has changed since, but the essence of the carp fishing venue I wanted to create is still there today. The site has seen numerous improvements to the facilities, the swims and the fish stocks.
Over the last three or four years I have filmed the lakes and some of the fish during all of the seasons of the year. I thouhgt is would be nice to put a clip together showing these changing seasons and some of the varied fish that populate the waters of these lakes.
Boilies aren’t just about carp fishing. Boilies also make excellent baits for cat fish. The following is an extract from a diary by Alan Batham of a recent fishing trip to Croix Blanche Lakes in northern France. Alan highly recommends the lakes as a fishing venue. You can check out Phil’s Mogger-don recipe on the recipes page.
Saturday
After a long ball-ache of a drive (3am start from Luton) we finally arrive at Croix Blanche at about 1pm. I’ve been buzzing about this trip ever since it was booked about 6 weeks previous and have talked about very little else to those that would listen…. and those that wouldn’t. Yes I’m a sad old fishing bore – I love it! Read the rest of this entry »
Belgian Carper Rudy Coussens sent me this video of his week spent fishing on peg 6 of the Croix Blanche lake. He totalled 51 runs with carp to over 37lb.
I’ve been carp fishing now for over 34 years and have grown and learned with the pursuit, which started a good while before the hair-rig era, and when carping still had a mystique and mystery…
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Croix Blanche Lakes Blog 