fishery in france

LIKE MOST PEOPLE I WOULD LIKE TO UP STICKS AND MOVE TO FRANCE WITH A VIEW TO OPENING A CARP FISHERY.DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY POINTERS WITH REGARDS TO PURCHASING TOP QUALITY CARP FOR THIS VENTURE.ITS A LONG WAY OF YET BUT ANY OTHER OFFERS OF ADVICE WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

No need to shout !! caps lock off ;-).
I did some intensive research about 2 yrs ago and IMO it is a marginal business to get involved in at best.
You will need a USP Unique selling Proposition what would the lake you buy offer that isnt already widely available?? Getting quality stock for the fishery is and has been difficult in france for the last couple of years which has resulted in massive price increases and the increase of stolen fish being offered. Also some basic maths should tell you if your business plan will work,For example in a recent edition of carpworld there were 70+ fisheries in France being advertised most of which cater for between 4-10 anglers and they are generally open for 9months so at the moment there are available assuming ave of 8 anglers a week on all the lakes 70(lakes)x8(anglers)x 35(weeks)= 19600 angler weeks available this is a very conservative estimate the true figure for available weeks on british run lakes in france I believe is nearer 23000 Here are some of the questions you need to answer have you something no one else offers? will people want it? where is you breakeven point?How are you going to finance it?Can you afford to make no money for 3 years? Do you want groups of people you dont know in your back garden every week for 9months? It is a crowded market and there are already signs of fall out with a number of fisheries changimg hands this autumn and I know of at least 2 more quite high profile fisheries that will probable be sold over the winter as the owners have had enough. For me I decided that as a business it wasnt worth the hassle I fish in France regularly and I a have never fished a british run fishery and probably never will so I thought why would I want to own somewhere I wouldn't be prepared to fish. The frech have wised up to english anglers wanting to buy lakes as a business and that is reflected in the prices of lakes in certain areas. It is a veritable minefield my advise is if you want to live in france great find the house you want and if it has a lake fine if it doesnt so what do something else I think that 0nly 20-25% of the alkes available for brits to fish are actually making a decent return on capital invested most of the rest are at breakeven and quite a chunk are losing money ar are just covering running costs.
Recent research suggests that to live a millionaire lifestyle you need at least 10mill in the bank so living the dreamis possibly not all its cracked up to be and will almost certainly be exponentualy more expensive than you thought

that was pretty much my findings when I researched it too.
Channel 4 did an eye-opening documentary on this subject a year or so ago - the people who moved out there had loads of problems.

We opened a business offering, amongst other things, fishing holidays in France www.outdoorfrance.com. We use the local lakes that are spattered all around us as in view of the day fishing permit costs (3 to 5 euros) unless you can count on about 20 per day every day of the year you will struggle to get by never mind make a living with your own lake. As each of the other replies have said, unless the property you are buying already has a lake (which is a bonus) then buy a house and get to know what is available aroud it then go from there. Good Luck

thanks for the reply,i was looking into more of the week long breaks for foreign anglers offering top food and hospitality to go with it.also things like bike hire,car hire etc,,what do you think??

That's exactly the sort of thing that we offer including activities for the wife and kids to keep them happy and involved too. It'll take some hard work and a good while to break even. Have you thought about how you are going to advertise and like has been said previously, what are you about to bring to the market that no-one else is yet offering?

I would not say don't do it but I would say think long and hard about what your fallback is if it all goes belly up. What do you do for a living now? Have you got a trade? Where will the short term money come from?

Good Luck
Neil

my wife and i are both in the hospitality trade so with regards to looking after customers we would have no problem with that.funding would come from the sale of our house in the u.k so there would be no mortgage pressures.im not sure we would bring anything new to the market,we just want to offer the best service available.advertising would be done via a website and the angling press.

I had a dream the other night.............i was been chased by a huge nodding beetroot,with a meat cleever,scarey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i also had a dream,some knob chucked my bike in magor lock.but he got dragged in with it which made me smile.

Good one Bro-inlawless.Honest it was not me??????????????..I was a good child!!!!!!!!!!!!..See you all soon,xx.

Ive done a little research on a lake over here.

After much deliberation i would suggest...

"if youve got money to burn, buy one and enjoy it. If your buying it as an investment / business proposition....

Give up....."

My sentiments exactly.

so did any of you guys actually get around to trying it???or is it just your research thats put you off??

No, we do it. Check out our website www.outdoorfrance.com and look through the fishing pages. It took some bloody hard work and we don't make a living from it but we enjoy it and the trade that I have helps us to make ends meet. The satisfaction to be able to meet people on holiday who are having a good time partly because of what you have done is a great feeling but feelings do not put food on the table or pay bills. If you do it through rose tinted spectacles then remember the saying about fools and money. I know of a lot of english people out here that came with a dream which turned into a nightmare simply because they did not know what they were getting into. I ran a very sucessful business of my own (which I started from nothing) in the UK for 12 years before coming here and we are still finding it very difficult. Do you speak fluent French? Do you understand French company law? Do you know the regulations for accountancy norms and tax laws? Nothing is as simple as the UK. Conversely, there are a few brits out here that have done very well but they put a lot of time and effort (and money) into their ventures to make them pay. If you need to make contact directly for any advice you can contact me through the website and, yes, I do live in France full time and have done for the last 2 years. It's not just research, it's my everyday life and livelihood

hi neil,ill be in touch,with regards to the lingo.both myself and my wife are fluent as we used to live in the champagne region.we also understand a lot about the french legal /tax system.thanks for the advice

If anyone is struggling i can probably help by telling you where the library is or pointing you in the direction of the beach. just dont ask me to work out your net asset values and tax profile

We've looked into buying property in France and it can be a minefield, let alone attempting to run a fishery as well!

If anyone wants a good insight into the pitfalls (and eventual rewards) of 'living the dream', keep a lookout for the Channel 4 program 'No Going Back.' (I think it's been repeated on cable/satellite). It follows a couple who sold their house in Surrey and bought a house and lake in Brittany, converting it into a fishery.

The effort involved is huge, as is the financial commitment. Due to the media coverage of this sort of venture, it may be that prices have inflated beyond that covered by selling your house in the UK. Prices in France have risen sharply in the last few years.

But remember, as Captain Sensible said, "You've got to have a dream, If you don't have a dream, How you gonna make a dream come true..."

Also remember that captain sensible used to wear little round glasses a beret and has now turned to web design after his incredibly annoying (yet catchy) hit "happy talky talky"
So he might have been better warbling "if you dont have a dream, then i suggest wearing silly clothes in an 80`s post punk pre-new romantic having a one hit wonder disappearing without a trace and now desiginig web-sites......how you gonna make a dream come true"

eyyyyyyyyy thankyou!