French Carp Fishing v Uk Carp Fishing

We are always being asked why is carp fishing in France more productive than fishing in the UK and why are the carp bigger?

Fishery owners in France will all have an opinion on this, our take on it is quite simple, the carp are not as pressured as they are in the UK.

Let me explain, take our lake E'tang de Campas www.fishing4carpinfrance.com we have a 4.5 acre spring fed lake in Northern France. The weather in the area is very similar to Southern UK and therefore this would have little bearing on productivity, so what is it? We run fishing holidays in France for 4 to 6 fisherman per week and our season runs from late April to Early October, basically for 6 months of the year. The average fisherman who visits our lake uses 3 rods, so on average 15 lines are going into the lake per week over a 26 week period. If we compare a similar size lake in the UK which would have around 25 anglers fishing on a Saturday and Sunday and maybe 30 anglers visiting between Monday and Friday, the average carp fisherman in the UK uses 2 rods, now we are talking 100 lines going in over the weekend and a further 60 during the week. We can now see that in the UK the lake would have 160 lines going in the lake in 1 week compared to 15 in France.

The carp in France are not being caught as often and therefore are maybe not as wise as their UK counterparts, which allows us to catch more. The fish are also not as wiery and will take different baits.

Many French carp lakes are opening longer to maximise income, however this is very shortsited and it will ultimately reduce income when guest become disapointed in catch numbers as the lake will become the same as over-fished UK lakes.

So when you are looking at booking a weeks fishing in France it may be worth asking the owner how many weeks per year they are open for and how many fisherman are allowed on the lake each week. It will help you decide if the carp in this lake are pressured and therefore harder to catch.

Merry Christmas & Happy new year to you all, looking forward to Spring and opening the lake for the new season