Carp fishing at the Etang des Gaulois

Finally the time had come! After months of anticipation, Mario and I went to the famous Etang des Gaulois in mid-September.

My alarm clock woke me up at exactly 5:00 a.m. I quickly made a good morning coffee and got in the car. The anticipation was incredible!

Meeting point: French border. After about 3 hours of driving, I had reached the first destination. The French border. Mario was already waiting for me there with a car that was also loaded to the brim. We both had big grins on our faces, it's unbelievable how long we had been looking forward to this trip! After a quick Red Bull "booster" together, we continued on to our destination.

We arrived at the Etang des Gaulois just in time for check-in. When we arrived, we were given all the important news and catch reports from our spot over the last few weeks. Highly motivated, we packed all our tackle and bait into the boats and set off to our new home for the next 7 days. Thanks to two electric motors, we quickly reached our destination - spot 7.

What a great spot! Complete peace and quiet and a completely separate area from the otherwise very busy Etang des Gaulois. We were delighted! Nothing could hold us back now and the tents and our "comfortable camp" were set up in no time.

After the sweaty setup, we sat on the jetty for a good hour and watched the water. After just a short time, we saw the first carp jumping in our area. We used the RT4 to create a depth map of our area and were able to save the supposed hot spots directly and place bait precisely.

Mario and I had planned our feeding tactics down to the smallest detail in advance over the last few weeks. Mario used a mix of Natural Bloodworm Boilies, Liver Bomb Boilies and Classic Krilly Boilies. He also fed the appropriate stick mixes, pastes and Bloody Liver Pellets.

I decided on a mix of Natural Beauty Boilies, Natural Beast Boilies and the Classic Corny Boilies. Just like Mario, I also fed the appropriate stick mixes, pastes and Bloody Liver pellets. As an extra “booster” I also used some ready insects (bloodworms, mini shrimps and Arctic krill).

The start of a crazy week! After the camp was set up, the location was successfully finalized and the bait was ready to use, we could finally get started. We put bait in the spots we had chosen and placed the rods precisely on them.

It was already evening and the first highlight of our trip was about to begin. We had booked a dinner service for ourselves in advance. The food was sensational and we can only recommend the dinner service to everyone. We ended the first day of our vacation with a delicious meal on the jetty. And as is fitting, we philosophized about possible catches on the first night, typical carp anglers!

Disillusionment set in the next morning, the bite alarms remained silent and it was time to discuss the situation over a first coffee. While we were talking about possible tactics and plans, this happened...

Beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeep - full run!!! My bite indicator screamed and adrenaline shot through my veins. "Yeeees, that's it!" I shouted to Mario, and off we went with a fierce fight. After a few minutes, my opponent surfaced for the first time. "That's a good one!" said Mario, and jumped into the water armed with the landing net. The relief and joy were indescribable when the mirror carp was safely in the landing net. In glorious sunshine, I held my first Gaulois carp weighing 20kg+ in my hands. What a crazy start and successful beginning!

The rest of the morning was quiet. But there was a lot going on at our spots, the carp were jumping and so we decided to feed the spots a lot more. Then it got hectic! While we were firing one Spomb after another at our spots, Mario's rod suddenly ran off. After a short fight, we could hardly believe our eyes. "An absolute dream fish!!!" I shouted to Mario. There was a huge cheer when this dream fish was safely in the landing net. A Ghost Zeiler weighing just over 15kg, absolutely amazing! Mario said what we were both thinking: "The fish of my life!"

During the course of the day we were able to catch three small carp and so we laid down on our loungers in the evening, overjoyed.

The alarm clock in the morning was again a real stunner. I was jolted out of bed by a violent full run. The carp got stuck for a moment, but freed itself from the obstacle and we were able to land it safely. After a short photo shoot, the pretty mirror carp was able to swim again.

Over the course of the day we managed to outwit 5 more carp, our tactic seemed to be working perfectly. The following night Mario was able to catch two albino catfish. A great bycatch!

On days 3 and 4 we caught 12 carp together, with a solid average weight of 15kg.

Day 5 started brilliantly once again. After a tough fight that seemed to last forever, I managed to outwit a really long Schuppi. The scales showed 20kg+ once again! "What a crazy session!" I said to Mario.

The end of a unique session. In the last few hours we were able to catch a few more carp. In the end, Mario and I caught 36 carp and 2 albino catfish. The perfect session for both of us. Overjoyed and satisfied, we packed our things on Saturday morning and began the long journey home.

One thing is certain, Etang des Gaulois - we will be back!