When Chris and Liam visited us last August they could not have picked a worse week. With temperatures reaching 40°C and no rain for weeks our lakes were severely lacking in oxygen and the fish were struggling. Rebooking for the first week of the season seemed a great option and we were really looking forward to them coming back again and hopefully landing some real fish this week. And the fish did not disappoint with half of the lake population appearing on the bank over the 7 days. They were joined by one of the founding members of the Calendar boys, Paul A, as the rest of the tribe were on Kingfisher for the week.
Arriving mid afternoon on the Saturday Chris and Liam got set up on the main bank with Chris fishing to the left and Liam to the right. Paul A had driven down with the Kingfisher clan and was already set up on his own on the side swim. By the time we saw them on Sunday morning there had already been 5 carp in the nets and there was only Liam who had not caught. Paul kicked off with an 18lb mirror before darkness followed by Chris with a 32lb mirror before bedtime and his rod had only been in the water for 10 minutes. Paul had a further 3 during the night around the 20lb mark.
Chris landed a further couple on Sunday morning including a 42lb common, Paul had another two and then finally Liam was off the mark with this 16lb 8oz common.
Paul had at least one more before Monday morning including this lovely 37lb common
Monday was the Liam and Paul show with Liam landing an impressive 4 carp from exactly where Chris had seen them moving and Paul having another 37lb common. Liam had a fish on just when their tea was ready but unfortunately lost it at the net
Chris had a good fighting common on Tuesday and reckoned it felt a lot bigger than the 23lb 2oz common that he landed. Paul had another 2 including a 15lber and a 35lb common after dark.
Maisie and Nigel were down by the lake on Wednesday when Paul had a double take – two mirrors weighing 28lb and 32lb. As always Maisie managed to get in the photo – but does not look impressed that no one was throwing the ball for her.
We did not get any further photos on Wednesday but we are sure that Paul had had a few more. He was trying not to fish his spot too much, making the most of being away from his daily routine and giving the other two a chance to catch up with him. By Thursday tea time he reckoned he had had just under 40 fish out of the lake, and caught a couple of babies which would have been great for our stock pond if we had put the keep net down there for him.
Thursday saw at least another 5 carp on the bank, Chris with a 37lb common and a 38lb 2oz mirror, Liam with two mirrors weighing 24lb 10oz and 22lb 8oz and Paul with a 26lb 7oz common.
And Friday comes around again and the guys started to get their gear packed up. Chris and Liam were setting off early Saturday morning so were not planning on fishing the night but did manage to get 2 more to the net on Friday including a 27lb 8oz common for Liam and a 37lb 8oz mirror for Chris. Paul got the biggest of the week on Friday afternoon though with this 43lb common.
The weather was mostly dry all week with only a mm of rain. The nights started a bit chilly and we had some frost on the ground for the first few mornings but temperatures peaked at 16.8°C on Monday and the nights got warmer over the week. Jo’s Fishing Points App forecast very high fish activity for Tuesday to Thursday so we were expecting a good catch report this week and we certainly saw it from these three fine anglers.
To summarise their week, from what we have on record, we ended with 2 babies, 2 at 10lb+, 13 at 20lb+. 10 at 30lb+ and 2 at 40lb+. We do know that they had at least 15 more than this but are not aware of the weights. We have loved having these guys back with us and hope they had a safe journey home and will make another return trip one day. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt….