Andy, Steve, Paul, Rick and Ben joined us for a week’s fishing on Kingfisher lake this week to celebrate Andy’s birthday (we won’t mention which one). They had previously fished in France 10 years previously for exactly the same occasion so it must’ve been a ‘big’ birthday tradition. Although it was only their second trip to France carp fishing they had all fished together from a very young age, and had in fact been mates since school, so a good number of years.
Paul’s dad used to have the fishing rights to a lake near them as they were growing up and apparently they used to get dropped there whenever they could when they were little, until eventually they were old enough to drive and took themselves. So there is a lot of history between these guys and it was certainly evident they had all grown up together. And each had their role to play over the week…
Andy booked the holiday and was in charge of sorting the money out, Steve took responsibility for photography and video production, Ben was the chef, Paul the daddy and Rick was brought along to make up the numbers (his words!), but did take over the cooking after Ben left us on Wednesday due to other commitments.
We collected the five of them from Limoges airport Saturday lunchtime and took them all to the supermarket on the way home. With a long list carefully made before they came they gathered 3 trolleys and filled one with beer and wine before Ben started sending each of them off to find certain items from his list. Before too long they were done and were surprised at how little they had to pay for everything, but we know that beer and wine are a lot cheaper here.
On arrival at the lake they got the fridge stuff stored away and had a quick beer before Nigel gave them a tour of the lake, explaining the depths in each swim and where he would fish if he was there. With their bait and tackle all sorted we left them to get themselves set up and have the usual debate of who was fishing where. Rick decided he didn’t want to be particularly close to any of them so selected swim 4 originally but then moved to swim 3 once Andy and Paul decided to go on the dam wall and Ben and Steve shared swim 2. This meant that only Andy and Paul had to get bivvies set up. Once Ben had left on Wednesday lunchtime Andy moved into the ‘hut’ swim with Steve and Paul moved round to swim 1 to make it a little bit more sociable for them all.
We had a job keeping track of who had caught what all week but they were all excited to tell us their stories and so we will list their catches by individual this week rather than by day.
Andy – swim 6 on the dam wall and then into the ‘hut’ swim 2
Andy was first off the mark on Saturday evening with one of the biggest catfish we have seen this season, at 74lb 2oz, followed during the night by a 26lb common and then a small kitten on Sunday morning. He then had a 14lb 8oz common and a 19lb 8oz common before moving to swim 2 on Wednesday. He was fishing to the left hand side of the swim here, where Ben had been but for whatever reason it was a lot quieter at that end of the lake and he just had the one fish from there, a 41lb 6oz common. So just the 4 carp and 2 cats for Andy but still a new PB and he was a happy man.
Rick – swim 3 or the ‘Nightingales’ hut swim
Rick started so well, catching the second fish of the week, but unfortunately it was a one and only. A new PB none the less at 46lb 3oz, so not to be sniffed at. He did have the pleasure of seeing a deer, who came to have a drink from the lake next to his swim. We are not sure if Rick was joining in with rutting season which is in full swing at the moment and that’s why the deer came to visit and we will never know. He decided quite early on in the week that he was not going to be braving the autumnal nights out by the lake and instead chose to make the most of the comfy beds in the chalet and he took over the helm in the kitchen after Ben left on Wednesday so did not spend as much time with his rods in the water. Rick kept us entertained all week with different stories whenever we went round to see them and we thank him for that. But guess the fish were not interested in being caught from the shallower water that week or were they all down there at night when Rick was catching up on his beauty sleep?
Ben – in the ‘hut’ swim 3 until Wednesday
Ben knew he was only here until Wednesday and with his cooking duties had less time by the lake than the others but AI gave the impression he was sat by his rods with a few cans of Stella all the time. He did manage to land 3 fish and a cracking mirror weighing 45lb 4oz giving himself a new PB. He also had a small catfish weighing 14lb 5oz and a roach which was used as bait for Steve’s catfish landing.
Paul – swim 5 on the dam wall and swim 1
Paul was 4th off the mark as it started to get light on Sunday morning with a gorgeous little 10lb common and then had a 46lb catfish later in the day. He then had nothing else until just before he moved into swim 1 on Wednesday, a pretty 27lb 2oz mirror. Swim 1 somehow proved to be the best swim in the second half of the week and Paul landed 6 carp from here. On Wednesday night he was just putting a 45lb 7oz mirror back in the water and another rod screamed off, netting a 27lb 3oz common. He also had commons weighing 21lb 9oz and 35lb 7oz and a 22lb 9oz mirror before Friday when early evening he landed the biggest fish of the week and one of the biggest out this year, a 48lb 4oz mirror. One happy man, and not just because he had beaten Rick.
Steve – the ‘hut’ swim 2
When we walked round to see the guys on Sunday morning Steve was the only person who had not managed to catch a fish and he was feeling a bit dejected. But that did not last long and Steve went on to net the most fish of the week with 11 on the bank including two catfish over 70lb and four 30lb+ mirrors to 38lb 2oz and a new PB. Interestingly when Ben left and Paul and Andy moved away from the dam wall, Steve’s swim went very quiet with only 2 of his fish being netted after the change round. It was role reversal for Paul.
The weather was generally good for the week with temperatures up to 35°C on some days although we did have about 5mm of rain on the Friday morning which coincided with a power cut all morning. The five of them made the most of the facilities, even enjoying a dip in the pool, which is now getting cooler as the nights are colder. All fish were caught on house baits, with the maple wafters being the favourites.
The final summary was 30 fish on the bank in total, with Steve catching 11, Paul 9, Andy 6, Ben 3 and Rick 1. There were zero babies, 4 at 10lb+, 6 at 20lb+, 5 at 30lb+, 5 at 40lb+, 9 catfish up to 76lb 5oz and a roach. Pretty good going and we hope to see some or all of these guys again in the future. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt….