Dear Spug

I am going to fish Fox Pool in France this summer and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction for approaching the baiting. Should I use the bait that they sell on site or should I approach it with my own, bearing in mind it is only 3 acres?

Kind regards, Glyn

Hi Glyn, and thanks for the question, which is a tricky one.

My initial gut feeling would be to tell you to go with the fishery’s bait; years ago when I started going out to France with my mates, we took our own bait and struggled because the lakes we fished were completely dominated by the bait being sold on site and the fish really did see it as their food source. We persevered with our own bait for a few trips and didn’t do all that well.

Then, after getting a good grilling from the fishery owner about how much of an advantage using his bait would be, we finally started getting loads of bites and I even managed to land my first-ever 40lb+ common! After 3-4 years that bait didn't seem quite as effective on the lake as it had been, so the fishery changed it for a new one. After a short while, sure enough it, too, was seen as a food source and the carp were gulping it down. So unless you can get all the background info on the catch reports for the last couple of years, my advice for your first trip is to split it down the middle. Take half of your own bait and buy half from the fishery. Simply fish your own bait on one or two rods and the fishery bait on one or two and then let the carp tell you which one is best!

Hope you have a good  ’un.

Spug