{"id":1850,"date":"2018-05-03T09:21:15","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T09:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2018-05-03T09:47:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T09:47:00","slug":"carp-and-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/carp-and-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Carp and Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of Carp & Cats<\/h2>\n
\"A<\/a>

A large Tortue Catfish<\/p><\/div>\n

Steinbeck wrote “Of mice and men”, well in a carp fishery our concern is rather “Of carp and cats”. Spring has finally arrived and with it, hugely variable weather. Temperature swings and rainfall have been incredible, and all this has a big impact on the fishing at the venue.  
\nGravel pits like Croix Blanche are very affected by weather, notably heavy rain and large swings in the thermometer.
\nAnd so it was that during the second week of April, a high-pressure system settled in and in largely bright sunshine the temperatures climbed to upper 20\u2019s, amazing for April.
\nThis saw the carp come on to feed big style for the first time of the year, and Mel McWatt and the lads all had a number of lovely fish. A good number of carp in the thirties were banked, with several specimens to upper forties..<\/p>\n

\"Mel<\/a>

Mel with an cracking upper 30 mirror<\/p><\/div>\n

Most carp and cats seemed to come either off the shallowest part of the lake.. Still fairly deep due to high water levels after this winter\u2019s floods, or from the margins. A particle approach with tigers tipped with fake corn was often the winning combination.<\/p>\n

\"Action<\/a>

Action at sunset<\/p><\/div>\n

Towards the following weekend though the weather broke again and the inevitably fickle April climate proved that we were not yet in summer, despite the shorts and T-shirts we\u2019d broken out the previous week.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a>

Another big moggie<\/p><\/div>\n

36 catfish to 95lb 8oz<\/h2>\n

Roger Tyler on the Tortue Lake set his stall for the big catfish, which had started to put in an appearance. One can usually guarantee that at the first sign of warmer weather, the cats will go on the maraud and a number of fish can be banked.
\nRoger used the standard halibut pellet approach to good effect. Coupled with robust tackle, 30lb mainline, 45lb Quicksilver hook links with 3.5lb rods. He finished his week with a very creditable 36 catfish to 95lb 8oz, which included other fish of 90lb plus and 80lb plus. He also had a bonus carp or two, the best going 31lb 8oz.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The largest of the week at over 95lb<\/p><\/div>\n

More variable weather has followed this last seven days with night time temperatures getting down to nearly freezing, and has rendered the last week or so complicated to say the least.
\nForecast for the coming days is good though with the thermometer rising back up into the mid-twenties next week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Carp like buses; two at once<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of Carp & Cats Steinbeck wrote “Of mice and men”, well in a carp fishery our concern is rather “Of carp and cats”. Spring has finally arrived and with it, hugely variable weather. Temperature swings and rainfall have been incredible, and all this has a big impact on the fishing\u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1860,"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":[70],"tags":[14,95,120,117,94,76,9,119,121,111,123,115,116,122,24,118],"yoast_head":"\nOf carp and cats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Steinbeck wrote Of mice and men, well in a carp fishery out concern is rather Of carp and cats.\" \/>\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\/carp-and-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of carp and cats\" \/>\n<meta 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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":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/new-complex-record-catfish-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1850,"position":1},"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":1834,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/springtime-at-croix-blanche-lakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1850,"position":2},"title":"And then it snowed \u2026.Springtime at Croix Blanche Lakes","date":"March 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Just when I thought we\u2019d got through, what has been, one of the worst winters since I\u2019ve run the Croix Blanche lakes..It snowed again! The temperature plummeted from a balmy 17\u00b0C last week to -4\u00b0C last night\u2026 It has to be said, this winter has been particularly strange by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/48lb.jpg?fit=540%2C394&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2377,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/new-mobile-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":1850,"position":3},"title":"New Mobile Home for 2019","date":"April 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"For several years now we have had a mobile home available of optional hire at the venue. This unit proved very popular for those who did not want to bivvy up or had a wife and family that needed the extra comfort of a static caravan.The old unit was however,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lakes"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/mob08-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":78,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/croix-blanche-lakes-magazine-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1850,"position":4},"title":"Croix Blanche Lakes Magazine 2015","date":"December 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is my combined Croix Blanche Lakes magazine & brochure for our carp fishing venue in northern France. 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":933,"url":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/holidays-france-france-carp\/","url_meta":{"origin":1850,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850"}],"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=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1863,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions\/1863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/croixblanchelakes.com\/WordPress3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}