When we got a call at the end of September from Ray saying that his lake had unfortunately had to cancel their trip we were only too happy to help him and his family. Ray, his wife, Jenny and lads Louis and Benny have been coming to France for about 10 years carp fishing and are very passionate anglers with Benny starting when he was only 8 years old.
With their other lake taking bookings from Friday to Friday they stayed in the airport hotel on the Friday night and Nigel was there to meet them at lunchtime and bring them back to the lake via the supermarket. We had had a lot of rain overnight and that morning and so everything was very damp when they arrived but after a quick walk round the lake they got themselves set up with Ray on swim 2, Louis on 3 and Benny down in the shallows on swim 4. We sensed that there was a lot of healthy competition between the three of them so were interested to see who was going to be top rod at the end of the week.
By Sunday teatime both Benny and Ray were off the mark, Benny with a 25lb 8oz mirror at 11.30am on Sunday
Followed at 4pm on Sunday afternoon by this lovely long common weighing 16lb from the dam wall by Ray
And then Ray’s rod went off again at about 5.30pm with another common weighing 28lb
On Monday morning jo took them to the supermarket again as there had not been much space in the car on Saturday. Normally the whole family go as the lads love picking their own snacks and seeing the different things that French supermarkets have to offer but as Louis had not caught anything he decided to stop by the lake and let the others choose for him. But Monday was quiet across the lake and even when the others got back and put their rods out again there was still nothing on the bank all day on Monday.
Most of the week the three anglers slept out all night enjoying the stars and listening to the fish crashing, particularly at the dam wall end where it is deeper. Ray slept in the chalet a couple of nights and we can’t really blame him as the temperatures dropped steeply overnight to lows of about 5°C but for most of the week, during the day we saw clear blue skies and temperatures over 20°C which for the beginning of October is lovely.
The early hours of Tuesday morning saw two more carp on the bank. Just after midnight Louis caught his first fish of the session, and a new PB 34lb 8oz mirror and Benny had a 13lb common at about 3.30am.
Jenny enjoys coming to France with everyone every year and loves just chilling with a book and a glass of wine in between cooking for them all. On Wednesday she fancied a go at a bit of float fishing so Nigel found her a rod and a bit of sweetcorn and she sat in swim 1 for a while in the sunshine.
Ray was the next to land one on Wednesday night just before midnight, another common weighing 34lb
And then Thursday afternoon he got a new PB too, a 41lb 8oz common. Always good to see both sides of the fish and this is a stunner
Louis managed one more, and beat his PB again with this 35lb common at 9.30pm on Thursday night
And Friday arrived and it was going home day. Benny finished their session with his first ever catfish, only weighing 15lb but, as he had never felt the fight of a cat, he was pleased it wasn’t much bigger and made up that he had caught the only one of the week.
As is often the case when it is time to pack up, they all left their rods in as late as possible, there is always that chance of a final bite. Benny and Louis had had 2 carp each over the week and with Ray on 4 in the net we were still hopeful that there would be another out. But it was not to be. From what we have seen from other catch reports in the region the fish have not been on the feed much this week. Who knows why but that’s fishing for you.
The final summary of Team Hornby’s week was zero babies, 2 at 10lb+, 2 at 20lb+, 3 at 30lb+, 1 at 40lb+ and 1 catfish at 15lb. We were thrilled we could rescue your holiday and hope to see you all again someday. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt……..