Travelling from Portsmouth to Cherbourg on Friday. Been told by a friend there are issues with bait being confiscated thru ports other than Dover. Is this true?

In reply to Post #1
Hi Andy,
I've been out of Portsmouth a couple of times this year and had no issues, I've heard anecdotal tales of people having trouble, personally I had none.
Cheers
Tel
👍👍

In reply to Post #2
Thanks Terry. When you going out? I'll give you a review of Malhere when I get back. Andy 5 rods next week!

In reply to Post #1
Been out of Portsmouth multiple times since these so called rules were brought in, took bait each time, even had the car chosen for a random search, and nothing has been said and definitely nothing confiscated

I think there is an element of luck of the draw. We got pulled going through the tunnel and they ignored the very obvious bait. Couple of mates went on the ferry and had 80kg taken off them.

Maybe depends if your customs guy goes fishing and needs bait.

In reply to Post #3
Hi Andy,
I'm back out again in October, look forward to hearing back from you upon returning to the UK.
Good luck
Tel
👍👍

I know directly of a couple of people that have had bait confiscated but I also know a few more not touched. My last trip over i had about 70kg of dry particles, pulled for the normal drug / explosives wipe and asked if I had any weapons and sent on my way.

Seems very much luck of the draw with most getting through ok it seems.

In reply to Post #1
Never heard of anybody ever have a problem taking bait.However seen a few fake posts from lake owners who want you to buy their bait

In reply to Post #8
Yes I've heard one story that someone not only had their bait taken they were given a £1000 fine.
First question that came to mind is why wasn't the fine in euros?

In reply to Post #9
maybe because it was English customs that fined them??

Just a thought, dressing in none fishing gear/making fishing gear less obvious might draw less attention. I haven't been for a while but a lot of anglers don't half draw attention to themselves wearing green/camo/named angling gear.

In reply to Post #10
They didn't say when I heard the story. If it were UK customs I'm sure that would've featured as a major part of the story.

In reply to Post #11
Also the frequency within a year you travel to France be it tunnel or ferries or a combination of both the more times you go obviously the higher the chance you have of being tugged for a customs check and a look in the motor, I've always had it all on show even post Brexit and never had an issue I think so long as your not taking the piss and nearly half the load space in your vehicle is not taken up with bait most custom offers can see it's not a commercial venture and will let you slide on through same with taking food that were not supposed to take last year I was pulled into the shed Van doors opened up customs officer said'
"off fishing"
"yep"
"got bait and food then"
"yep that freezer bag is our boilies and the cooler box is our food" (he took a look)
"ah OK just you and your mate and just to be used by you is it"
"yep"
"OK have a safe trip"

In reply to Post #11
fake story, had loads of anglers come here, not one has had bait confiscated

In reply to Post #10
Not possible, the UK cannot implement EU rules any longer, and hardly able to implement a fine, if ever they were actually organised enough to be able to do it when they were part of the EU.

Currently sitting on the ferry... no issues. Straight thru customs, they didn't blink an eyelid. Thanks for the replies fellas.

In reply to Post #16
Hi Andy,
Have a fantastic break, catch a few, relax and don't eat too much Spag Bol 😂😂
Tel
👍👍

In reply to Post #9
Yes I've heard one story that someone not only had their bait taken they were given a £1000 fine.
First question that came to mind is why wasn't the fine in euros?
UTTER BOLIX
just a fairy tale

In reply to Post #10
As far as i'm aware, UK Customs don't search outbound, only inbound. You could even get searched on both sides of the drink on the way home. They aren't looking for 50kg of ABS, they're looking for 80kg of Albanian Male.

My half educated opinion, is anyone who has been stopped and (in the very very rare instance) have had bait confiscated have been...

A) caught with too many fags etc previously
B) booking their tickets really sort notice.
C) a naughty boy home or abroad
D) targeted because they're on their own driving a twenty year old ****heap or a rental.

In reply to Post #19
UK customs do search outbound vehicles.
More so at Dover than Eurotunnel in my experience.
I have been doing this trip for Many years up to 12 times a year

In reply to Post #21
Ah OK! I've only ever been searched by customs coming inbound on both sides when coming back by Ferry. Apart from swabs by security, i've never been searched going outbound.

In reply to Post #22
And British customs at the tunnel once made the wife unwrap the xmass presents.
Five of them with a dog and guns.
Quite unpleasant to a female traveling on her own.

You just have to grin and beer it.

Both sets of customs like to stop vans from what we see.

Touch wood not had any issues with bait/food, as other have experienced; customs have only been interested in looking for people.

Joss might be able to back me up but an ex copper called Flatty said that although Heathrow was his main place of work he also occasionally worked at Dover.
His police job was more of a security job checking for bombs and illegal stuff, if they found something like a large haul of fags as an example he'd hand it over to customs.

Reason for mentioning this is when your van is pulled over it might be a specialist Police team or border force rather than customs. and neither of those will be interested in bait.

In reply to Post #1
Two mates got done at St Malo in July, took all their bait and got fined 150 Euros as well. They made them empty the van at 1 place then load back up and took them to another place and made them unload again. They went through everything even took their hook baits . We went through Caen got stopped on this side by English customs and they weren't interested.
St Malo is the only place I've heard of any problems.

In reply to Post #19
My mates were none of these.

In reply to Post #1
Went through Dover 3 weeks ago, had the French search van, loads of boilies in there. They weren't at all interested

In reply to Post #25
Yeah mate, Flatty was terrorist watch

they arent that fussed about a few fags and a pot of pop ups, they would however be interested in a 7.5 tonne load

In reply to Post #27
Neither was it any of my mates nowt like fisherman for making things up is there .Are lakes owners still trying this load of rowlocks on?

In reply to Post #30
Not making it up mate, I don't own a lake in France .Just giving people honest information.

From what I can gather, not having been through St Malo this year, been going through there for 13 years. In previous years this seems to be the only port interested in anglers carrying bait. I know that last year a group had their bait confiscated and for one reason or another never made it to the venue. Not sure of they were turned back or just decided to go home on the next ferry. I would hazard a guess and say there is a French fisherman on guard at times and being very selective on who he stops. Went this year via chunnel and no-one interested in anything fish-like.

In reply to Post #32
12 of us Just back from france, no one gave a hoot about what we had in the back of the vans and they clearly knew we were going fishing

I always go on tunnel and never had any issues. I went on ferry for 1st time in 10 years from Dover in august. I was stopped by French customs about 300m outside of ferry port which I wasn't expecting. They asked me to open the boot which is perfectly normal and they found 25kg of shrink wrapped dry tigers under my sleeping bag. They asked me what it was for, which I said it was bait and they let me get on my way. St malo is thr only example I have heard.

We got stopped at St Malo 14/10 and asked about what bait we had. First time I have ever been asked.

All sounding good apart from St Malo.

Out of interest has anyone tried the likes of DNA Europe/BAF to get delivered to a lake over there?

In reply to Post #35
What was the outcome?

In reply to Post #37
He asked to look in the back and saw fishing gear and asked "You have baits?". At that moment I feared the worst. We quickly just said "no meats" and "no animal products" and "no milk" and things of this nature several times.

We were quite fortunate in a couple of ways. There was a language barrier and whilst this was happening a colleague of his came over and started talking to him in French and indicating at a vehicle behind us. He then just sort of dismissed us and shook his hand and shooed us away.

If things has gone differently we could have lost a lot of bait/money.

Edited the previous post, it was Fri eve sailing but the incident was Sat 14th morning.

In reply to Post #38
I heard from reliable source last night that 3 lads in a van were stopped and asked to unload every piece of luggage last week. The French then went through the bags until they found a single pot of pop-ups which had the ingredients listed which said 'eggs' included. They then confiscated the bait and fined them 500 Euros. I said 'I bet this was at St Malo', which my mate said 'yes'. We went through the tunnel this year (2 cars) no problem. It seems St Malo is the only port interested in people going fishing, I wonder why? Is there a French Fisherman monitoring the port?

2 trips through Calais this year and wasnt stopped or searched either time.

In reply to Post #39
Fhat would be my guess, somebody with connections to industry, happened to many times now...

In reply to Post #39
Are you saying they were fined 500 euros for a pot of pop ups?

I would think there is a standard fine for trying to take illegal food stuffs into the Eu, it must be written down somewhere.
Yet when we hear about these fines they are nearly always different amounts,
I'm not saying that there's not a problem at St Malo, only there's no consistency to the reports we hear.

In reply to Post #42
We came back Saturday and all they were interested in was guns and explosives 🧨, that was on the Choo choo train 🚂

In reply to Post #42
Nothing standard in Eu, neved was...

In reply to Post #39
Find that very hard to believe to be honest, 1 pot of hookbaits in 3 anglers gear?
And bearing in mind hookbaits never have listed their ingredients, plus they are effectively exempt from the so called ruling on feedstuffs as they are not ingested, I'd be taking that with a big pinch of salt from your source..

In reply to Post #45
I've read on a number of websites that you are ok to take pop ups as they are regarded as lures.

In reply to Post #45
Hi, The guy that told my mate was one of the anglers caught. I asked I thought you could take up to 2 kg of bait through customs, why didn't they argue. Apparently, they thought better of it as the guard was being a complete a***hole. I also know previously some guys were refused entry having found 150 kg of bait in the van and they lost their week at a venue I have being going to for 13 years and it was the owner (mate) who told the groups already booked on that year. it seems only St Malo is the problem. I have been through St Malo in car and not had a problem. I also marked my hookers as 'Ne conceit pas de products laities ni de viand' and 'Leurre de perche'. Might be worth a try if pulled over.

In reply to Post #47
You are calling someone a ******** for doing there job. His job is to search and find goods not allowed into the EU. If it had been drugs or guns then hes a hero. He doesn't make the rules just follows them when doing his job. Simple if you go to another country and break the law ok if you get away with it but if you get caught then that's the risk you take.

In reply to Post #48
What's worse is all the Facebook posts from people who already know the law , already know the rules and keep posting " is there a problem" . They are idiots , even worse those being big and clever by answering with "I took 50kg" etc , in the end rubbing the french noses into the fact we are basically talking the piss will tighten up doing nobody any good .

In reply to Post #48
Oh dear, I seem to have struck a nerve here. To clarify I was just reporting what the guys opinion was of what they considered to be an over the top inspection. I am sure if most of us had an experience like that we wouldn't be very happy. It didn't seem to be an issue before Brexit. Do you recall the lorry driver who had his cheese and ham sandwich confiscated in the early days of Brexit. Says it all really.

In reply to Post #49
I totally agree with you, I don't think carp anglers are or have been persecuted because we left the EU, I wonder what percentage of anglers have had their bait confiscated or been fined, I would suggest less than 0.02%, maybe less? Maybe attitudes towards the foreign Border staff might play a part in contributing towards some anglers being not given the same flexibility as most of us receive. Sorry to say some "Brits abroad" bring on their own problems and have done so for years even if they are not carp anglers!

What do people think about getting to Croatia with 600+kg of boilies and tackle. Is the risk at the French port and once in eu all home and free? Or is it a risk at each border crossing? I'm

In reply to Post #52
There are no border crosings... I would be more woried about max weight of the car than boilies... Lately they are going crazy about that.