{"id":1086,"date":"2015-02-14T11:54:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T11:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2016-12-07T09:19:45","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T09:19:45","slug":"holidays-france-fishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/holidays-france-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Holidays in France: More than Fishing !"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holidays in France: More than Fishing !
\nby Steve Howard<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

Sunset over Croix Blanche Lake<\/p><\/div>\n

For me, fishing is much more than simply casting a line to catch a fish, it\u2019s much, much more than that. In fact, if that was all that angling had going for it, I\u2019d probably have given it a wide berth aeons ago!
\nMaybe I\u2019m just \u2018old skool\u2019 and I harbour a need for a tad of romanticism in my angling, I don\u2019t really know, but what I do know is that there is a side to me that craves fulfilment from the experience as a whole.
\nMy lifelong passion for angling (since 1957 at the age of 5) has taken me in search of fulfilment in several countries and for several species. Since the early 80\u2019s, that species has been almost exclusively carp, but perhaps that is explained by the very same token! You see, for me carp angling is the epitome of angling because it is the realm of dreamers; it\u2019s a passion for those who, like me, seek more than just the face value of angling!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A pristine Croix Blanche common<\/p><\/div>\n

It is now well over 20 years since I took my first steps on foreign soil (outside of the UK) in search of carp, and that has provided me with many very important and unimaginably satisfying experiences. Indeed, my love of vast inland \u2018oceans\u2019 and wild river systems and waterways could not have been realised within the UK as, in the main, they simply do not exist.
\nVariety, as they say, is the spice of life and I certainly won\u2019t argue against that. I have fished a very wide variety of venues, including many small commercially run operations here in France. It would be fair to say that very few of that ilk have served to inspire me but, to be fair to them, they are a bit like \u2018Butlins\u2019\u2026 you pay your money and accept them for what they are.<\/p>\n

Croix Blanche….is possibly the most surprisingly beautiful small venue I have fished at, ever!<\/h2>\n

Of the smaller, commercial type venues, I have fished just two in the past year since moving to France, but both have been quite different and yet delightfully inspiring for similar reasons. The first is the Etang de Brigueuil in the Charente, SW of France an attractive & comfortable fishery with some very nice carp..
\nThe second is the Lakes of Croix Blanche, a complex in Northern France (not far from Reims), which is possibly the most surprisingly beautiful small venue I have fished at, ever!
\nThat is a very big statement indeed, but I have to say that, personally, I found the complex to be totally enchanting.<\/p>\n

\"Playing<\/a>

Playing a fish at Croix Blanche<\/p><\/div>\n

With me, I look for – and therefore see – aspects that other anglers may not necessarily see or indeed, appreciate. I was in awe of Croix Blanche lakes after walking just a few yards along its wide and lush track between the two lakes. There, a very natural and diverse variety of wild flora, in all its blooming glory, treated my senses to a display that would grace the Chelsea flower show. I was truly impressed, and even more so when I entered my chosen swim to be greeted with the sight of wild strawberries growing on the slopes, in an abundance that I have never witnessed before.<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/a>

Wild strawberries<\/p><\/div>\n

Staring out across the gorgeous clear blue water, there were rabbits frolicking along the water\u2019s edge on the far margin that caught my eye, and as I watched, the unmistakable, \u2018tropical\u2019 call of a Golden Oriole drew my attention \u2013 I was undeniably soothed to my very soul with the amazing ambience of Croix.
\nWhat I experienced was a very similar emotion to when I fished at the legendary Redmire Pool back in the UK many years ago\u2026 On that occasion, just as I did again this time, I could not bring myself to actually fish on that first night. I needed time to suck it all in, time to \u2018smell the roses\u2019 and feel that strong connection with nature that I have always found so spiritual. For me, this was one of those extremely memorable and moving moments that I cherish and fishing had quite suddenly and unexpectedly become very much secondary.
\nOf course, I did settle in on the next day and I remembered the \u2018other\u2019 reason I was there, to catch carp. After setting up and catching one or two fish with bottom baits, I noticed an opportunity and a rare opportunity given that it was here, in France. There were a couple of carp interested in taking the odd bit of floating bits and pieces and my penchant for a bit of floater fishing soon had me firing out a few freebies to see if other carp would accept the invitation to this, freshly served veritable banquet.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My best surface caught Croix Blanche mirror of 39lb 12oz<\/p><\/div>\n

Sure enough, it wasn\u2019t long before there was enough interest shown in the freebies for me to set up a floater rod to \u2018have a go\u2019. Over the next few spellbinding days I enjoyed my best ever floater fishing session with 12 carp over 30lb gracing my net, all bar 3 of those being over 35lb, and four being between 38lb-39.12.<\/p>\n

….the whole Croix Blanche experience had been one of, if not the best ever, no question!<\/h2>\n

When the time came to leave, I did so with that very same bittersweet feeling that I\u2019d experienced when I finally had to depart from Redmire\u2026 Indeed, I compared those two experiences at that precise time because the whole Croix Blanche experience had been one of, if not the best ever, no question!<\/p>\n

\"Carp<\/a>

Carp at Croix Blanche in the margins<\/p><\/div>\n

As a footnote, I never did return to Redmire after that very first experience, as I didn\u2019t wish to alter my perspective of the venue. I didn\u2019t want to risk spoiling the memory of that very special moment of my angling journey where I was fortunate enough to have caught a common of 19lb.12.
\nI deeply regret that decision now, of course, as I now realise that it would have been impossible to \u2018ruin\u2019 that first experience of Redmire, and I could have only added another, different, but perhaps even more memorable experience. Roll on Croix Blanche Lakes!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holidays in France: More than Fishing ! by Steve Howard For me, fishing is much more than simply casting a line to catch a fish, it\u2019s much, much more than that. In fact, if that was all that angling had going for it, I\u2019d probably have given it a wide\u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[36,14,94,91,6,89,9,90],"yoast_head":"\nHolidays in France: More than Fishing !<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Holidays in France: Croix Blanche lakes, a complex in Northern France is possibly the most surprisingly beautiful small venue I have fished at, ever\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/holidays-france-fishing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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It has info on the venue, plus a few articles you may find useful by myself and guest writers. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Magazine"","img":{"alt_text":"Croix Blanche 2015 brochure","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2015-brochure01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3799,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/video-tour\/","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":1},"title":"Video Tour of Lakes","date":"March 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago, on one of the few sunny days we have had this year, I grabbed my video camera and I did a brief walk-around of the venue,to show people the lay out of the venue, what teh swims look like, and to give a brief description of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lakes"","img":{"alt_text":"Tour_video","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Thumbnail.jpg?fit=1000%2C558&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":922,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/carp-fishing-france-boilies-beyond\/","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":2},"title":"Carp Fishing in France : Boilies and Beyond","date":"December 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I\u2019ve been carp fishing in France the boilie has indeed played a very large part in my angling, not only for carp but a host of other species, that all find them attractive and palatable. It is fair to say too that the quality of baits available in recent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lakes"","img":{"alt_text":"ESP Method Feeder set up","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/ESP-Method-Feeder-set-up-.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":933,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/holidays-france-france-carp\/","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":3},"title":"Holidays in France : Why France for Carp?","date":"December 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Holidays in France : Why France for Carp? Carp fishing as we all know is\u00a0 immensely popular now, with more and more people coming into the sport every year and more people seeking holidays in France. With more pressure on the ticket lakes, club lakes and syndicates across the UK,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lakes"","img":{"alt_text":"Croix Blanche Lakes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Croix-Blanche-Lakes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/new-complex-record-catfish-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":4},"title":"New Complex Record Catfish","date":"December 3, 2014","format":"image","excerpt":"The complex record catfish was smashed this week when Maidstone angler Clive Holbrook banked a giant 131lb (59kg) moggie from peg 11 on the Tortue Lake of the Croix Blanche Complex. Clive from Maidstone in Kent, UK tempted the giant fish on double halibut pellet, but using specific catfish tackle.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lakes"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/131cat02.jpg?fit=1200%2C926&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":377,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/tackling-croix-blanche-lakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":5},"title":"Tackling up for Croix Blanche Lakes","date":"December 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Tackling up for Croix Blanche Lakes I thought I\u2019d do a blog piece to give some advice to first time anglers to our Carp fishing in France venue or to those who found their tackle wanting last time out. It is worth bearing in mind that there are some very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Catfish"","img":{"alt_text":"Landing a carp on Croix Blanche Lake","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Landing-a-fish-on-Croix-Blanche.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1086"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1705,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086\/revisions\/1705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}