Why don't french carp surface feed?

[geoffmaynard]

I did get some spanish carp feeding off the top once in Lake Banyoles but that's the only time I ever saw it happen outside the UK.

Any of you ever catch one off the top on the continent?

 

[richiekelly]

ive managed to get a group of grass carp feeding on the surface in france a couple of times although i have never been able to persuade any to take the bait with the hook attatched,i have never been able to catch fish off the surface in holland either,perhaps its just down to me?

 

[ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)]

Why don't french carp surface feed?


Because just like the French people they're contrary buggers !!!

 

[matt]

I worked on a carp lake in france where initialy the carp completely ignored surface baits.
We started of heavy baiting with mixers and the rats were straight onto them followed closely by the poison chat (small catfish) eventualy after two weeks of floaters being constantly available to the carp they cottoned on and began to feed with gusto.
Two weeks after we started to fish for them with floaters They began to wise up to a floater attached to a line and hook!

 

[Philip]

I have had them off the top in France and in Italy and I think Matts comment sounds about right. I dont see many people fishing with floating baits so the Carp may not have not been conditioned to take them on many waters.

On some of the park lakes with alot of ducks you see the Carp in the evenings taking bread off the surface.

 

[cg74]

Why don't French carp feed on the surface?

Probably because of fact they're French and as a result instinctively buck against anything and everything their UK cousins may do, an inherent trait I'd suggest.

Seriously though, I'd say like others have, they feed naturally like our carp but here in England we love fishing for em off the top, so fire loads of floaters in and our carp respond forthwith.

 

[dezza]

Locals in South Africa used to tell me that floating baits for carp were a waste of time.

Certainly this was the case in the large stillwaters that in the main were very murky and silted up. However I found a small 5 acre lake where I trained the carp to surface feed on bread crusts, and the method became very successful indeed.

 

[the indifferent crucian]

I catapulted in some bread crust to a pond that had never been fished in living memory...the little wild carp where taking it off the top within minutes.

I caught 16 within 2 hours that day, but the takes died off as the weeks progressed

Within 5 sessions they wouldn't go near it, as they knew I'd put a hook in some!


Which just goes to show carp, even stunted little wild ones, are pretty quick to learn. English ones, anyway.


Clearly smarter than me, who kept trying other ways to catch them off the top instead of resting the pond and fishing elsewhere.


I can confirm that betaine toast worked VERY well indeed. Toast bread very lightly until it feels like toast but has no colour. Put the slices back in the bag to cool. This gives it a very tough skin, which allows you to dunk your hookbait for casting weight. Spread with green betaine paste from Dynamite Baits at the bankside....it's too runny for a hookbait but it does for this.



Blindingly good carp bait....until it isn't:wh

 

[issimmo]

I have the same problem here in Romania. No matter how much i've tried to get them feeding on the surface, they just won't take the mixers. All the small fish get on them , but not the carp. I've tried prebaiting, but with no succes. I've seen them in the upper layers, but they just cruise past the mixers ignoring them. Any ideas about what I can do to make them take the floaters?

 

[Lee Swords]

Maybe its stock density and available natural food?

Could it be the British fish are hungry?

 

[The Monk]

I`ve caught quite a few on the St Lawrence on floating baits, not sure how use to this these carp were, but they had no problems taking floating baits, while I`ve also watched carp taking floating baits in Bulgaria and Cyprus

 

[gentle]

With an abundance of frogs legs and escargo to tempt them away from the surface these michelin star chef rated waters require a more refined foodstuff than our beefeater carp.

I heard also that many of the french carp went on strike last summer when an influx of english anglers showed them a lump of crusty bread for dinner. Apparently all of the lights in france went out as all of the unions rebelled at the poor conditions being offered to the french carp.

In addition to this the french president revoked over a dozen carp anglers passports before farting in their general direction shouting 'mon petit poisson'

G.