Sean and Mike have been fishing together in the UK at least weekly for a number of years but have never been to France fishing before and never seen a catfish. They had PBs in the high teens and were coming to France to have a go at catching some big carp. The lake that they had booked on for this week was cancelled and as they had already got their flights booked they did a bit of internet searching and took advantage of our availability.
Arriving from Manchester Airport at lunchtime, Nigel took them to the supermarket to stock up on their way here and they arrived on a very hot afternoon. With temperatures forecast to be in the 30s all week, we were all a bit concerned that the fish would not be feeding and therefore not interested in the Carp France boilies that the lads had ordered. But they did not give up all week, maybe because there were bets on, both daily and over the whole week for who had caught the most weight and who caught the biggest fish.
The pair were not planning on fishing throughout the night, as Sean’s disabilities mean that he takes a lot of pain medication and needs his sleep. We advised the pair to fish on the middle two swims on the main bank and early in the morning and late into the evening if they could when the sun is not beating down quite so much and there is a lot of shade.
We were not expecting great things on Saturday night as the pair did not fish for very long after tea, so were pleasantly surprised when we got a phone call just after 9pm to say that Sean had landed a 53lb catfish.
On Sunday we had a little rain in the morning, only 7.5mm but every little helps as they say and the temperatures were a little cooler than the day before. Three fish were on the bank before the day was over, a 45lb 8oz mirror for Mike, a 53lb catfish which they shared as they both played a part in playing it, and a 33lb common for Sean at about 9.30pm, who was determined to get on the ground to have his photo taken with it, despite the pain it caused him.
Monday and Tuesday were quieter days in the lake, with temperatures slowly climbing up to 30 degrees again but they were not without some bites. Sean was very proud of himself when he managed to bring a 73lb catfish to the bank on Monday morning, whilst remaining sat in his chair. And he had now seen his first three every catfish. Not bad for just over 24 hours by the lake. He also finished the day with a 23lb 3oz common.
Thinking that swim 2 had cooled off a bit they decided to move to swim 3 for a change of scenery on Tuesday but apart from a 9lb catfish caught by Mike there were no further bites there so they moved back again on Wednesday.
The lads were up and down by the lake with their rods in the water by 7ish every morning and fished for a couple of hours before Nigel picked them up for their breakfast. They then fished until the tea was ready and for a few hours afterwards so a good 13/14 hours every day.
On Wednesday they had landed two fish before 8am so were very happy when they came round. Mike had another 53lb catfish and Sean had a 29lb mirror, a lovely fish.
It was Mike’s turn to win the daily bet on Wednesday with a further two fish out, a 43lb 3oz mirror and a 39lb 8oz catfish.
Thursday was even hotter and temperatures rose to 35.3°C and the best they could do was stay in the shade and for Mike to cool off in the pool and have a few beers.
And so their final day arrived, and they both lost a carp each before breakfast but later in the day Mike caught another catfish weighing 65lb 8oz. This meant that Mike had won four days out of the six they had fished for and one the most weight overall for the weeks prize. Considering Mike was fishing with 2 rods and Sean only 1 and temperatures were over 25°C every day, they managed to get 13 fish on the bank so we don’t think that either of them did badly at all.
The final summary of the week was 0 babies, 0 at 10lb+, 2 at 20lb+, 1 at 30lb+, 2 at 40lb+ and 8 catfish to 73lb
Thanks for a great week guys, we hope you got home safely and we hope to see you again some day. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt…