Frank, Tony and Matt fished Kingfisher in our first summer here https://carpfrance.com/19-08-2023-kingfisher-from-disaster-to-pbs/ and managed to catch 5 fish between them mainly due to the very high temperatures. They rebooked for this year and included their mates Dave and Wilbur and Wilbur’s son, George. What we didn’t know when they booked was that George is the keen carp angler and Wilbur was coming as the ‘responsible adult’.
There were no issues on their flight from Manchester and we picked them up at lunchtime and took some to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for the week, whilst the others went back to the lake to get the bivvies up and the tackle ready…..well with Nigel driving that was never going to happen and when Jo arrived back with the others everyone was enjoying a beer or two on the decking. And that was pretty much the theme of the week.
They did their own draw for the swims which led to Frank and Dave set up on swim 1, George on swim 2, Tony on the 3rd swim and Matt at the shallow end on swim 4. The plan was to have a change around during the week depending on how the lake was fishing.
The first couple of days saw all the action in the deep end with 8 catfish and carp coming out at a fairly regular rate, particularly at night time or early in the morning. Tony did manage a couple of cats but nothing to write home about. They drank several beers during the few days.
On Tuesday they all changed swims apart from George who had chosen to stay where he was and Frank took swim 3 and Dave swim 4 with Tony and Matt sharing the house swim nearest the chalet. George was the only person who caught on Tuesday but they did have several beers that day.
Wednesday saw another 6 on the bank and Thursday a further 3, although in the afternoon on Thursday we took them down to the local public lake and left them to have a few beers, whilst George chased the lizards. Obviously we had a quick drink with them when we picked them up! And overnight on Friday they had a further 4 carp out. In addition to the trip to the beach they did have several beers at the end of the week.
These are the catches person by person.
From swim 1 Frank caught a 56lb catfish in the early hours of Sunday morning, a new PB 43lb 4oz common overnight on Sunday, a 36lb 6oz common and a 44lb 6oz mirror on Monday evening. When he moved down to swim 3 he only managed to land a 37lb 8oz common overnight on Thursday. So 5 on the bank for Frank and he did manage to drink a few beers.
Dave had 4 catfish and a carp over the week as well as a little roach (the smallest catch of the week). He was first to catch from swim 1 with a 62lb catfish on Saturday evening closely followed by a 26lb 2oz catfish on Sunday morning and a new PB 34lb 8oz mirror on Monday morning. He lost a big one when he was on swim 4 but did manage to catch a little roach from there and he drank a few beers.
On swim 2 young George caught 3 carp and no catfish. He arrived with a PB in single figures and had caught nothing before Tuesday. When the others decided to change swims he stayed where he was determined to carry on fishing in his baited spots. On Tuesday he had a new PB 31lb 1oz mirror, followed by a 26lb 8oz common at 4.30am on Wednesday morning and then another new PB 45lb 10oz mirror at 9am on Thursday morning. What he thought would be the biggest fish of the week. He may or may not have had a few beers but what happens in France stays in France.
Tony started on swim 3 and only caught a couple of catfish there, despite also doing a bit of stalking in the trees during the day. The shallow end was definitely not the place where the fish were feeding this week. He also lost one on Wednesday morning when he moved to swim 1 but then had 3 overnight on Wednesday and early morning on Thursday. A new PB 29lb 8oz mirror, a 27lb 8oz mirror and a 24lb 6oz mirror. He drank a few beers over the week too.
Last but not least, Matt ended the session with the most fish on the bank and with 5 carp and a cat he also made a complete pack of new PBs for the group. Starting off on swim 4 he saw no action at all there and not for the first 24 hours on swim 1. He thought he would end up blanking and letting the side down and he wasn’t sulking much, but eventually, thanks to Tony, he caught his first mirror weighing 36lb 1oz at 10pm on Wednesday night, closely followed by a small catfish. The photo they sent us said it was 75lb but unless Matt is a lot bigger than he looks it was more like 7.5lbs! He then followed this up with a 21lb 6oz mirror overnight. On Thursday night he caught 2 more carp, a 26lb 13oz common and a 25lb 14oz mirror and then just as they thought it was all over he landed a new PB 46lb 12oz mirror, so not only the most caught but also just overtook George with the biggest carp of the trip. Oh and he had a few beers too.
We nearly forgot to mention Wilbur, who had never fished before he came over here and who still has never fished before. As George’s dad he was sent to make sure that George behaved himself and had everything he needed. He was in charge of making sure everyone had a beer when they needed one, generally kept the chalet clean and tidy and made sure that George was safe and happy. Apart from forgetting to pack any joggers or sleeping bag for George he did well at his other tasks and generally kept the group entertained. And being the provider of the beers he made sure he had a few too.
We have had another great week with these guys and will reminisce when we are at the tip next week emptying the bottle boxes.
Final summary was 23 carp and cats in total comprising of zero babies, zero at 10lb+, 7 at 20lb+, 5 at 30lb+ 4 at 40lb+ and 7 catfish up to 62lb. We hope we will see some of them again next year and we will get the supplies in ready. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt…