Again the weather played a huge part in the fish activity this week with temperatures plummeting, frosts and a bitter wind affecting both the anglers and the fishing. They never gave up hope all the week and really appreciated Nigel’s advice about fishing in the silt.
Chris and his 3 brothers, Tom, Joe and Mike along with their friend, Jake arrived on the Saturday after a long journey from Liverpool, with everything bar the proverbial kitchen sink in their two vehicles. They had come primarily for the catfish but with the brothers having fished numerous lakes in France before they were prepared for anything.
After a quick walk round the lake it was time to get themselves unpacked and set up, with Chris and Tom on the first swim, then Joe, Mike and Jake along the main bank they had both carp and cat rods set up. They had a mixture of both our maple syrup and spicy fish boilies, alongside matching glugs as well as pellets and parti-blend.
We walked round the first morning and everyone was in high spirits and hopeful. They had found a supermarket and stocked up for the first week, as well as the Action (similar to B & M back in the UK) and bought a few things from there, including a saw to cut up some wood for their mega fire pit and BBQ.
The weather turned cold for the first few days, no rain but overnight temperatures at 3 degrees the carp had evidently gone back into winter mode. Chris did manage to land this 40lb cat though, assisted by Jake, who was on his first French fishing trip and loves the cats. Chris has been a wheelchair user for over 20 years due to paralysis but had very few limitations here which he overcame with the help of his fellow anglers.
Joe messaged us on Tuesday morning to say that he had had this lovely 37lb common out overnight. Caught just on the edge of the silt the carp were obviously looking for warmer spots for their feeding. And then he followed that up with another common at 33lb during the day on Tuesday and then a 39lb common on Tuesday night. Joe was up and running.
On Wednesday the focus was on the Liverpool derby and the hopes of Everton getting some points so they could stay in the Premier League. The lads wanted to go and watch it and have a pizza but those of you who have been here before will know that there is not much close and it is rare to find a bar or restaurant that is showing football in this part of France. So they ended up cooking on their firepit/BBQ again and watching the game on their phones – and were thrilled with the final 2-0 score, putting them clear of the relegation zone and a dent into Liverpool’s league title hopes.
Thursday bought some a few rain showers but also a couple of fish out for Tom/Chris who were sharing their swim and rods and the first 50lber of the season and Joe caught a 48lb mirror.
Mike did manage to land a couple of carp through the week and Jake also caught one of the babies which was transferred to our stock pond.
The final score (from a fishing perspective) for the week was 1 baby, 1 at 10lb+, 0 at 20lb+, 4 at 30lb+, 1 at 40lb+, 1 at 50lb+ and one catfish. Not a bad result considering how cold the weather was and it made good sense to fish a lot off the edge of the silt. We hope to see you all again next year (and some more success for Everton for you all).