Angling Articles

Welcome to this bi-weekly edition of Angling Articles by Summit Tackle

In this issue, we’re taking you behind the scenes of Team Member Nick’s latest adventure—a week in France filled with slow starts, clever tactical changes, and the kind of hard-earned carp that make every session memorable. His return to Lake Mystique brought challenges, breakthroughs, and plenty of insight into adapting when the lake just isn’t giving anything away.

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Grab a brew, get comfortable, and dig into this fortnight’s Angling Articles.

A Week in France with Team Member Nick

Before I get into the fishing, I want to start with a huge thank you to Summit for trusting me with a full week-long takeover of their social channels—and an even bigger thank you to everyone who followed along, commented, and shared the journey. Your support genuinely added to the experience.

This trip marked my second visit to Lake Mystique this year. My first came back in March, and to put it bluntly, it was a tough one. I walked away with just a single carp to show for a week of graft. So as I rolled back through the gates this November, my main mission was simple: improve on that previous session.

But Mystique, true to its name, didn’t give anything away easily. The first couple of days were painfully slow. I didn’t slip the net under my first carp—one of five for the week—until Tuesday afternoon. By the end of the trip, I’d had six runs in total, losing one fish to a snag. With four or five anglers on the lake, each fishing three rods for seven straight days, the pressure beneath the surface was building long before any of us cast out.

By Tuesday morning it was clear my original approach just wasn’t clicking. Something had to change. The first adjustment came with the hookbait and how it was presented. I’d been fishing a slip-D rig with a single 15mm dumbbell wafter, but with the rods positioned under overhanging trees, I started doubting the presentation. So I switched things up—out went the wafter, and in came a 15mm hard hooker topped with two bits of fake pop-up corn. It gave me a more robust offering, one the crayfish couldn’t destroy, and a more confident presentation overall.

The second change was even more of a gamble. The lake owner mentioned that back leads had been producing better results, and every angler on the water seemed to be using them. So naturally, I did the opposite. I dropped the back leads entirely and fished with super-slack lines instead. It felt like a risk—going against the grain usually does—but paired with the rig tweaks, the results spoke for themselves.

My baiting strategy stayed mostly the same on two rods, but on the third I stripped it right back, fishing a single hookbait and simply catapulting a few pouches of boilies over the zone.

By the end of the week, the numbers told the story: six runs, five carp banked. After three days without so much as a knock, watching it all turn around felt incredibly rewarding. What started as a slow, stubborn session transformed into a brilliant week in France.

Catches:
39.12lb Mirror
33lb Mirror
36.8lb Mirror
31.8lb Linear
34lb Mirror

Don't forget to follow @summittackle across social media platforms, as well as, Nick @nick_urban_carper to keep up with all his angling adventures!

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