Just want to say I’ve read through these comments. I just would like to tip my hat to you sir. Knobs giving you grief and you batted back the answers respectfully and shut them up tactfully each time… Your a credit to us fisherman and glad you took the positives out of a frustrating session. We always learn and that’s part of the fun. Enjoyed watching. Well done buddy 👍🎣
Thanks for this. I want to create a community ultimately and I think part of that is setting a good example. Everyone will have an opinion and I do appreciate it.
Thanks for the video. It was a refreshing change to see a bit more of the reality of Gigantica. We took our son on his first carp fishing trip in the south of France which resulted in a 3 day blank, so I can only imagine how gutting this must have been. We've booked an exclusive week next year in the north of France so I hope we can get our lad to see how great carp angling can be. Fingers-crossed your birthday trip was more successful!
Thanks for getting in touch Charlotte. I think it helps to show the real side of fishing. The birthday trip was much more successful, video out (finally) this Saturday!!
I bet the long casters on that week were spewing they could not get in that swim and you guys were fishing it so short. Some lessons learned and experience gained. Enjoyded the video, would have loved to see you both have caught. Tight lines!
Never go under prepared, its all good going into these big nene swims but if you cant fish it at the ranges needed consistently when it is windy, pick a swim that you can fish well in. Biggest tip ever.
Nice job vlog’ing your experience on Gigantica Main Lake. It’s an amazing venue but it’s not easy by any stretch. I’ve been going for a good while and seen anglers broken by Tuesday and even the best of them blank. Don’t let it put you off though, everyday is a school day and that place gets under your skin. Maybe try the Road next time and don’t forget the zigs 😉.
Thanks for this comment! Yep every day is indeed a school day especially there. I would love to try Road lake one day but currently have 2024 sewn up in terms of French trips.
Have fished Gigantica loads of times and love the venue. The problem a lot of anglers who have never fished there before do is go for the named swims that they’ve seen the Korda anglers carve up instead of listerning to the bailiffs on the walk round about the distances you should be aiming for in each swim. I don’t think you have to fish extreme distances there but have to be able to fish 28 wraps, Be accurate with your fishing rods and spombing or baiting and stick to your spots. 👍🏻
It’s true. When I asked the bailiffs what swims they’d have picked that week, they said CO’s, Alamo, Traz, mainly to be able to get to the main body of the lake. The sticking to the spots was critical. The 15 wrap spot which was given to us by the bailiff on the left was the spot I was most confident in, just couldn’t make it happen, despite showing fish.
If you’re wanting to fish up to 35 wraps, you either 1- use a boat which I know you can’t, or 2- hire a bailiff with a decent spod reel and rod for an hour every time you ring that 🔔 or 3- use a tapered line as you touched on. Do NOT skimp on spod rods or reels - to be honest, they’re more important than your fishing rods. You could be sat with the best daiwa/FreeSpirit rods as I use … but, if you’re not hitting that clip every single time with your spomb you may as well throw your mix/bait in the margin (I’m not taking the pi**) it’s just very expensive to throw your bait in one area and struggle - especially if that wind had have swung around facing you. Also - was sad about your mates rod going on the first cast, but he needs a spod rod/marker setup too - especially all the way to Gigantica or save up for spares before a huge trip like that!! Unfortunately, you gave up by the way you spoke and it hurt to watch …
All very valid points Martin. I think after the utter fiasco that was the Wednesday I was ready to go home. Onwards and upwards mate, when I get the opportunity again, I’ll be fully armed and ready. Coming second in the draw was both a blessing and a curse I think.
@@fordgoesfishing good on ya mate, yeah it showed in the video that you’d lost your oomph … keep your spirits up and look forward to the next trip. It’s a shame about boats at Gigantica although it’d be too easy to catch I guess. Have a gander at abbey lakes mate … lovely setup and 5 lakes to move around on as long as there’s space. There’s one lake on the complex that’s strictly a lake booking so it’s 6 really but atilla is strictly exclusive bookings. Going back again at the end of April for a week … the bailiff there knows every possible spot and will always help where he can. Had my PB at 54 but they do 70+ so here’s hoping I smash it this time. I see you have CTX what TC are they mate?
@@SPS_survivor heard nothing but good things about Abbey. I already have a full programme of events in France for this year into next, well as much as my budget allows anyway, but Abbey is on my list maybe for ‘25. Got the 3.5lb SU’s. They came highly recommended by Mr Edmonds and to be fair, he wasn’t wrong. I never feel like I will come up short, but equally it’s got a lovely action and it feels just as nice playing low doubles as it does larger chunks.
I felt for you watching that. One question I have is why did you share a swim ? The lake I fish in France you can see the fish move off any angling pressure so having 6 lines in one swim couldn't have helped. Looks like you learnt a lot for the next trip.
A couple of reasons to be fair. The primary reason was it was Jon’s first time in France, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t feel lonely and isolated. But also because Alamo was the only place to do fish the previous week. But yes I agree I think for the next trips will be much better. Thanks for watching though, it is sincerely appreciated.
@@fordgoesfishing Fair enough, i really enjoyed the video as it showed how hard it can be. I think the only i would have tried would have been blasting singles as far as i could.
@@craigmaughan5633 yeah I was thinking only this week actually I didn’t blast a small pva bag and I didn’t stick a single to the moon. But you live and learn.
There is still some availability for this year albeit winter months again. Out of peak season it’s a bit cheaper and all told we probably paid about £1200 including travel. If you want the better dates you have to be on it ringing them the morning the dates are released.
Thanks for that. Content isn’t thick and fast as I don’t get to go out as often as I’d like, and also I’m a one man band so there are things I need to get better at doing, but to be fair, I still want to enjoy the fishing first and RUclips second
Yep this is a good point. I think because of the gear failures we lost our heads and doubted ourselves and our spots. It’s definitely one thing I would do differently next time. Spend more time getting the spot dialled in and stick to it.
@@diorangus1323 would love to go back. 2025 maybe, got a couple of good French trips lined up in the mean time. Thanks for stopping by and watching though, really appreciated.
@@diorangus1323 honestly so long ago I can’t remember. Think the dates get released sometime in Jan for following year. There are still some dates for next year I think. I want to say it was about 9 months ago we booked but think that was because a cancellation came up.
Yeah thats gigantica for ya I see it each and everytime I go unexperienced anglers even half way trough this vlog it was very hard to watch as use boys were so deflated iv fished the alamo a few times and fished no less than 34 or 35 wraps any advice I could give to anyone going gigantica this lake will turn the best of anglers into mince meat if you don't fish it right but all the best guys 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks mate. That was one of the takeaways for me, at this time of the year especially you have to be able to fish 34/35 wraps. Out of interest, what line do you use? I feel my 23lb fox exocet hampered me, and would consider using tapered if i get the chance again.
@@fordgoesfishing yeah 23lb line is way to much fella I use korda sub line tapered 12lb mainline to a 40lb leader pal 4 and a half oz leads 13ft harrison aviators coupled with shimano mags casting and spombing accurately mate is your biggest asset on there pal bait will become your feature in summer I will spomb 15kg every day winter I will access the situation and maybe put 3kg .4kg or .5kg crumb with loads of sweetcorn a day pal 👍🏻👍🏻 any questions please feel free
I’d say a 3lb test curve rod generally you should be casting 3-3.5oz weights for optimal compression of the blank. My 3.5lb SU’s have a stepped up butt section so it handles 4-4.5ozs really well. In reality, it’s about what you are comfortable casting, and what suits the rod. You may find a 2.5oz weight works great.
To be honest @MrFelipefelop, I have to disagree with you there. I was well prepared, and had the equipment, but I definitely made mistakes compared to my other French trips. I think the occasion and where it was affected my decision making, but I won't make that mistake again. At the end of the day, the content I put out is warts and all, real, and I don't edit out my failures.
Desperation. Head had gone a little, and to be honest had a game plan that the end of the week would be warmer and wanted to get a big bed down thinking they would start to mooch l.
Nope you are right. I would say anything in excess of 30 wraps is. But when you have five layers on to keep warm, having to use .40 diameter line as per the rules 20 wraps suddenly becomes that much harder. Appreciate the watch, thanks for stopping in.
Yeah trust me, it hurt the wallet for sure. But I took away a lot from the lake and although the result wasn't great, I will refine, practise and return better armed to catch. I think if you do want the experience with a better chance of catching, then Road lake would be a very viable option.
@fordgoesfishing thanks for the heads up! I'm not exactly a rich man, so if I go abroad to fish, it'll be a 1 time thing till I'm somehow rich 😆 Great you got to go tho! Enjoyed ya video mate.
Thanks mate much appreciated. One thing I would say, is there are definite deals to be had in France and if you can get a few of you together, lake exclusives are very cost effective.
I get it mate, ultimately those videos were my subjective views at the time. It is deeply commercialised, but didn’t feel pressured into buying anything. They could draw on a couple of things from Napoleon that would elevate it. Firstly power in the swim, a sheltered gazebo type area with a fridge per swim would be great, so you aren’t confined to your bivvy in the height of summer or poor weather. Also I feel again like Napoleon some sort of transport should be provided such as bikes, so you can quickly access the lodge. These are nitpicks but ultimately I had a great time there and I stand by my comments. But I can appreciate it is not for everyone. Thank you for jumping into the comments though and I’m sorry for the upset caused.
Sorry but you spend all that money in a bivvy and the trip but you have cheap rods and reels and your snapping off at 30 wraps your doing something very wrong not checking your line and knots
Just to be clear we didn’t snap off once. I was pointing out that others in the lake were snapping off, they had rented the equipment from Gigantica which were 3.75 longbows with emblems. For reference my rods and reels as follows: Free Spirit 12ft 3.5lb SU Shimano Speedmasters Trakker propel spod rod Greys Marker rod Reels used for these were a Penn Affinity and some sort of Okuma.
The penn affinity and okuma reels have now been replaced with shimano aerlex spod reels. The tip ring issue on Jon’s rods could have happened to anyone. Looked specifically like the welds of the legs on the tip ring itself were defective
@@fordgoesfishing ignore this guys comment. Nothing wrong with the gear your using. People seem to think on big waters you always have to chuck to the horizon. Its rubbish. Find the fish and chuck to them weather 30 wraps or 3 wraps.
Just want to say I’ve read through these comments.
I just would like to tip my hat to you sir.
Knobs giving you grief and you batted back the answers respectfully and shut them up tactfully each time…
Your a credit to us fisherman and glad you took the positives out of a frustrating session.
We always learn and that’s part of the fun.
Enjoyed watching.
Well done buddy 👍🎣
Thanks for this. I want to create a community ultimately and I think part of that is setting a good example. Everyone will have an opinion and I do appreciate it.
Thanks for the video. It was a refreshing change to see a bit more of the reality of Gigantica. We took our son on his first carp fishing trip in the south of France which resulted in a 3 day blank, so I can only imagine how gutting this must have been. We've booked an exclusive week next year in the north of France so I hope we can get our lad to see how great carp angling can be. Fingers-crossed your birthday trip was more successful!
Thanks for getting in touch Charlotte. I think it helps to show the real side of fishing. The birthday trip was much more successful, video out (finally) this Saturday!!
Hope your son enjoys the week exclusive!
I bet the long casters on that week were spewing they could not get in that swim and you guys were fishing it so short. Some lessons learned and experience gained. Enjoyded the video, would have loved to see you both have caught. Tight lines!
Not as much as they were spewing at the guy in CO’s. The long caster pulled Alcatraz though and had the most fish so I think he was okay all told
I would ignore every bad comment, you went, you tried and it was what it was. Fair play to you mate.
Its all good, even bad comments help the channel, so I only see it as a positive.
Quality video. Tough conditions on a tough lake. Lots to take away and apply to future sessions.
Lol, cheers Jon. Not that your views are biased at all...
i wanna go gigantica one day :D nicwe vlog mate
Thanks for that!
Never go under prepared, its all good going into these big nene swims but if you cant fish it at the ranges needed consistently when it is windy, pick a swim that you can fish well in. Biggest tip ever.
Yep. Live and learn.
Nice job vlog’ing your experience on Gigantica Main Lake. It’s an amazing venue but it’s not easy by any stretch. I’ve been going for a good while and seen anglers broken by Tuesday and even the best of them blank. Don’t let it put you off though, everyday is a school day and that place gets under your skin.
Maybe try the Road next time and don’t forget the zigs 😉.
Thanks for this comment! Yep every day is indeed a school day especially there. I would love to try Road lake one day but currently have 2024 sewn up in terms of French trips.
Brilliant Dan ❤
Thanks Chelle, some more calming content for you!
Unlucky gents,tough water and tough conditions, every session is more experience.
Keep up the vlogs I know how much work goes into them 👍
Thanks for this, it’s really difficult without a dedicated cameraman and editing team that’s for sure lol!
@Ford Goes Fishing yeh mate I do fishing vlogs too on my own. Its alot of editing etc but worth it. Keep doing what you are doing 👌
@@aquaticcolledgefishing will drop you a sub!
he needs a chad like you bri
@spoony 43 ha ha 😂
Have fished Gigantica loads of times and love the venue. The problem a lot of anglers who have never fished there before do is go for the named swims that they’ve seen the Korda anglers carve up instead of listerning to the bailiffs on the walk round about the distances you should be aiming for in each swim. I don’t think you have to fish extreme distances there but have to be able to fish 28 wraps, Be accurate with your fishing rods and spombing or baiting and stick to your spots. 👍🏻
It’s true. When I asked the bailiffs what swims they’d have picked that week, they said CO’s, Alamo, Traz, mainly to be able to get to the main body of the lake. The sticking to the spots was critical. The 15 wrap spot which was given to us by the bailiff on the left was the spot I was most confident in, just couldn’t make it happen, despite showing fish.
If you’re wanting to fish up to 35 wraps, you either 1- use a boat which I know you can’t, or 2- hire a bailiff with a decent spod reel and rod for an hour every time you ring that 🔔 or 3- use a tapered line as you touched on.
Do NOT skimp on spod rods or reels - to be honest, they’re more important than your fishing rods. You could be sat with the best daiwa/FreeSpirit rods as I use … but, if you’re not hitting that clip every single time with your spomb you may as well throw your mix/bait in the margin (I’m not taking the pi**) it’s just very expensive to throw your bait in one area and struggle - especially if that wind had have swung around facing you. Also - was sad about your mates rod going on the first cast, but he needs a spod rod/marker setup too - especially all the way to Gigantica or save up for spares before a huge trip like that!!
Unfortunately, you gave up by the way you spoke and it hurt to watch …
All very valid points Martin. I think after the utter fiasco that was the Wednesday I was ready to go home. Onwards and upwards mate, when I get the opportunity again, I’ll be fully armed and ready. Coming second in the draw was both a blessing and a curse I think.
@@fordgoesfishing good on ya mate, yeah it showed in the video that you’d lost your oomph … keep your spirits up and look forward to the next trip. It’s a shame about boats at Gigantica although it’d be too easy to catch I guess. Have a gander at abbey lakes mate … lovely setup and 5 lakes to move around on as long as there’s space. There’s one lake on the complex that’s strictly a lake booking so it’s 6 really but atilla is strictly exclusive bookings. Going back again at the end of April for a week … the bailiff there knows every possible spot and will always help where he can. Had my PB at 54 but they do 70+ so here’s hoping I smash it this time.
I see you have CTX what TC are they mate?
@@SPS_survivor heard nothing but good things about Abbey. I already have a full programme of events in France for this year into next, well as much as my budget allows anyway, but Abbey is on my list maybe for ‘25. Got the 3.5lb SU’s. They came highly recommended by Mr Edmonds and to be fair, he wasn’t wrong. I never feel like I will come up short, but equally it’s got a lovely action and it feels just as nice playing low doubles as it does larger chunks.
@@fordgoesfishing same rods as me mate paired with shimano Ci14+ xtc’s - I’m well happy with mine
You live and learn mate and as long as you come back a better angler then it wasn’t a wasted trip in my opinion.
That's fishing fellas better luck next session or trip got to be in it to win it .we'll done great blog good luck
Thanks for the comment mate.
Great video, thanks for sharing. I have sub'ed, cheers Mike
Thanks Mike, much appreciated!
I felt for you watching that. One question I have is why did you share a swim ? The lake I fish in France you can see the fish move off any angling pressure so having 6 lines in one swim couldn't have helped. Looks like you learnt a lot for the next trip.
A couple of reasons to be fair. The primary reason was it was Jon’s first time in France, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t feel lonely and isolated. But also because Alamo was the only place to do fish the previous week. But yes I agree I think for the next trips will be much better. Thanks for watching though, it is sincerely appreciated.
When fishing at 33 raps I don't think 6 rods would of made a difference lol
@@fordgoesfishing Fair enough, i really enjoyed the video as it showed how hard it can be. I think the only i would have tried would have been blasting singles as far as i could.
@@craigmaughan5633 yeah I was thinking only this week actually I didn’t blast a small pva bag and I didn’t stick a single to the moon. But you live and learn.
Great video. I'd love to go to Gigantica
There is still some availability for this year albeit winter months again. Out of peak season it’s a bit cheaper and all told we probably paid about £1200 including travel. If you want the better dates you have to be on it ringing them the morning the dates are released.
Just subscribed. Looking forward to catching up with your channel
Thanks for that. Content isn’t thick and fast as I don’t get to go out as often as I’d like, and also I’m a one man band so there are things I need to get better at doing, but to be fair, I still want to enjoy the fishing first and RUclips second
@Ford Goes Fishing that's ok, I understand on pretty much all your points above. Rome wasn't built in a day as they say. Thanks for replying 🙂
I know , let's spend a year preparing get there an take no notice of what the bailiffs said !!!! Silly boys lol better going Oxford lads 😊
Tough going for you boys with all the gear malfunctions.. stick to those spots tho lads and don’t doubt what you’re doing 👍🏽
Yep this is a good point. I think because of the gear failures we lost our heads and doubted ourselves and our spots. It’s definitely one thing I would do differently next time. Spend more time getting the spot dialled in and stick to it.
@@fordgoesfishing amen mate 4/5 with the leading up rod will save the doubts in the future.. let’s hope you get another crack at it mate
@@diorangus1323 would love to go back. 2025 maybe, got a couple of good French trips lined up in the mean time. Thanks for stopping by and watching though, really appreciated.
@@fordgoesfishing nice mate I’ve done crete lakes for the last 10 years but would love to go to gigantica.. when did you book this trip mate?
@@diorangus1323 honestly so long ago I can’t remember. Think the dates get released sometime in Jan for following year. There are still some dates for next year I think. I want to say it was about 9 months ago we booked but think that was because a cancellation came up.
Yeah thats gigantica for ya I see it each and everytime I go unexperienced anglers even half way trough this vlog it was very hard to watch as use boys were so deflated iv fished the alamo a few times and fished no less than 34 or 35 wraps any advice I could give to anyone going gigantica this lake will turn the best of anglers into mince meat if you don't fish it right but all the best guys 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks mate. That was one of the takeaways for me, at this time of the year especially you have to be able to fish 34/35 wraps. Out of interest, what line do you use? I feel my 23lb fox exocet hampered me, and would consider using tapered if i get the chance again.
@@fordgoesfishing yeah 23lb line is way to much fella I use korda sub line tapered 12lb mainline to a 40lb leader pal 4 and a half oz leads 13ft harrison aviators coupled with shimano mags casting and spombing accurately mate is your biggest asset on there pal bait will become your feature in summer I will spomb 15kg every day winter I will access the situation and maybe put 3kg .4kg or .5kg crumb with loads of sweetcorn a day pal 👍🏻👍🏻 any questions please feel free
This is great info Darren thanks. I know what I need to do for next time for sure!
@@darrenwatkins1830 what bait do you use mate, fishing over the same or particle? Hookbait? Cheers …
@@SPS_survivor depending on the time of year mate slow sinking maize 85% of the time👍🏻👍🏻
If a rod's tc is 3lb then what’s the casting weight of it?
I’d say a 3lb test curve rod generally you should be casting 3-3.5oz weights for optimal compression of the blank. My 3.5lb SU’s have a stepped up butt section so it handles 4-4.5ozs really well. In reality, it’s about what you are comfortable casting, and what suits the rod. You may find a 2.5oz weight works great.
@@fordgoesfishing could i cast a 100grm lure with a 3lb tc rod?
You could but I think 3.25 test curve might be better
@@fordgoesfishing thanks for the advice and information. Been a pleasure talking with u.
Oh dear
Indeed
Would be better if you told us what make your reels and rods are so we know not to buy them our self's
Under prepared,under gunned and out thought,don't waste your time and money fella if your not sorted,better luck next time
To be honest @MrFelipefelop, I have to disagree with you there. I was well prepared, and had the equipment, but I definitely made mistakes compared to my other French trips. I think the occasion and where it was affected my decision making, but I won't make that mistake again. At the end of the day, the content I put out is warts and all, real, and I don't edit out my failures.
@@fordgoesfishing you have answered yourself then,atb on your next trip fella
If they are balled up in the middle of the lake not feeding why keep piling kilos of bait in 🤦♂️🤣
Desperation. Head had gone a little, and to be honest had a game plan that the end of the week would be warmer and wanted to get a big bed down thinking they would start to mooch l.
80 yards isn't distance casting!
Nope you are right. I would say anything in excess of 30 wraps is. But when you have five layers on to keep warm, having to use .40 diameter line as per the rules 20 wraps suddenly becomes that much harder. Appreciate the watch, thanks for stopping in.
Not my kinda lake , the only thing i can get out to 30 wraps is a boat😂
Ha ha love it!
Buzzing you got to go.
For me tho, I don't think I can justify going there, paying, and blanking. I'd wanna shoot myself in the head lol
Yeah trust me, it hurt the wallet for sure. But I took away a lot from the lake and although the result wasn't great, I will refine, practise and return better armed to catch. I think if you do want the experience with a better chance of catching, then Road lake would be a very viable option.
@fordgoesfishing thanks for the heads up!
I'm not exactly a rich man, so if I go abroad to fish, it'll be a 1 time thing till I'm somehow rich 😆
Great you got to go tho! Enjoyed ya video mate.
Thanks mate much appreciated. One thing I would say, is there are definite deals to be had in France and if you can get a few of you together, lake exclusives are very cost effective.
Where fish
I was asking myself that question the whole trip lol.
Gigantica is not an iconic water. While it may be well stocked and well run blah blah, it is not the real France 🇫🇷 .
That one is coming in august for my 40th ;-)
I wouldnt go back there for free
I get it mate, ultimately those videos were my subjective views at the time. It is deeply commercialised, but didn’t feel pressured into buying anything. They could draw on a couple of things from Napoleon that would elevate it. Firstly power in the swim, a sheltered gazebo type area with a fridge per swim would be great, so you aren’t confined to your bivvy in the height of summer or poor weather. Also I feel again like Napoleon some sort of transport should be provided such as bikes, so you can quickly access the lodge. These are nitpicks but ultimately I had a great time there and I stand by my comments. But I can appreciate it is not for everyone. Thank you for jumping into the comments though and I’m sorry for the upset caused.
Sorry but you spend all that money in a bivvy and the trip but you have cheap rods and reels and your snapping off at 30 wraps your doing something very wrong not checking your line and knots
Just to be clear we didn’t snap off once. I was pointing out that others in the lake were snapping off, they had rented the equipment from Gigantica which were 3.75 longbows with emblems.
For reference my rods and reels as follows:
Free Spirit 12ft 3.5lb SU
Shimano Speedmasters
Trakker propel spod rod
Greys Marker rod
Reels used for these were a Penn Affinity and some sort of Okuma.
The penn affinity and okuma reels have now been replaced with shimano aerlex spod reels. The tip ring issue on Jon’s rods could have happened to anyone. Looked specifically like the welds of the legs on the tip ring itself were defective
@@fordgoesfishing ignore this guys comment. Nothing wrong with the gear your using. People seem to think on big waters you always have to chuck to the horizon. Its rubbish. Find the fish and chuck to them weather 30 wraps or 3 wraps.
All good mate. I don’t mind a bit of healthy debate.
But you are right. Unfortunately the fish were in the middle over the tyres which is out of bounds, so realistically you had to fish long.