Natty and Gordon have been carp fishing together in the UK on many occasion and were thoroughly looking forward to their week in France together. In Gordon’s words ‘Natty has taught me everything I know about carp fishing’ and they both had fairly decent PBs considering they had not fished abroad before.
They began their journey early on the Saturday morning along with Natty’s partner, Mason who was coming for a break from daily life, travelling to London by train, getting across London and then another train to Stansted airport. Not an easy journey and made more difficult for Gordon who is a little more senior than his companions and dependent on crutches but they were bright and breezy when Nigel collected them from the airport and enjoyed their trip round the supermarket before they got here around 5pm.
They took some time to get themselves unpacked and set up and then finally managed to get their rods in the water and sorted for the night.
The weather forecast for the beginning of the week was not ideal for Mason who was hoping to come and catch some autumn sunshine but probably better for the fishing. In fact it rained nearly all day on Sunday and Monday and the guys were bunkered down in their bivvies for most of the time. By Monday morning however both Natty and Gordon had had their first fish of the trip, Gordon a 30lb 5oz mirror and Natty a 17lb 10oz common.
Natty then followed this up on Monday afternoon with a small common of around 8lb which Nigel transferred into our nursery pond. Nigel then took the guys to the local bar to get something to eat that evening.
On Tuesday morning they pulled their rods in and went off to the supermarket with Jo to stock up on supplies they needed for the rest of their week. That afternoon Gordon, who has several health problems, was not feeling great. He unfortunately had a fall down by the lake and decided that he was going to get a good nights sleep in the chalet that evening.
Natty however, fished all afternoon and night and the hard work paid off with a new PB 45lb 6oz mirror early on Tuesday evening.
He then followed this up with 3 catfish overnight weighing 10lb, 23lb and 78lb 10oz – the biggest catfish we have seen so far this year and a new PB for him. Natty has caught catfish before and, even though he was not a big fan, he enjoyed the fight and managed to drag Mason out of his bed in the chalet to come and help him take some photos.
The temperatures climbed back up to 27°C on Wednesday so Mason was happy enjoying the sunbed and just chilling listening to the nature all around him. Gordon was feeling much better after a good night’s sleep and we were hoping that he would have a good end to the week and we would see some more fish on the bank.
On Thursday morning Natty reported to us that he had had a 32lb 7oz mirror on Wednesday evening and a 54lb 8oz catfish overnight and Gordon had managed another fish on the bank, a 34lb 4oz mirror, which unfortunately was too heavy for him to handle but they were both really happy.
Unfortunately the week did not end well. Gordon suffered another fall in the chalet on Thursday evening and on Friday morning we had to call the pompiers (paramedics), who took him to hospital to be checked over and monitored overnight. Although Natty did manage to get his rods back in the lake on Friday there were no more fish on the bank although he did lose a big one early on Saturday morning.
Jo collected Gordon from the hospital on Saturday morning on their way to the airport and ensured that they were all safe before saying goodbye. We know that they all got back to the UK safely and we wish Gordon a very speedy recovery and all our best wishes. Hopefully Natty and Mason will come back to see us one day and have another fishing trip in the peace and quiet here.
Final summary for the week 1 baby, 1 at 10lb+, 0 at 20lb+, 3 at 30lb+, 1 at 40lb+ and 4 catfish to 78lb 10oz. Until the next time bonne journée et à bientôt…..