Chris and Bill have been fishing in France for about 25 years and have been to Carp France several times with the previous owners. They have a combined age of 144 apparently and both have PBs over 50lb and these days, for them, it is about getting away and enjoying fishing rather than chasing the numbers. They are usually joined by a friend, who lives in Belgium, but he was unable to make it this year so they had the lake to themselves.
Following a very hot week here we were unsure how the lake would be this week, with spawning over and done with and temperatures due to be a lot lot cooler we were hopeful that there would be some decent fish on the bank.
They arrived around 3pm on Saturday, having left home late evening the day before and slowly driven south in the UK to cross on the shuttle. We sat and had a nice beer with them before going over to the lake and having a walk round with Nigel showing them where he had seen fish over the last few days and them admiring the changes that we had made in the last three years.
The lake was split in two with Bill fishing in the deeper water from swims 1 and 2 (he moved from his bivvy into the hut on the Monday) and Chris in the hut on swim 3 but mainly fishing from swim 4 during the day. Their rods got set up and they quickly settled in for the week with all their gear unpacked, including their Angling Technics bait boats, a Microcat and a Procat. Chris had prepared a few meals and brought them with them so they did not need to worry too much about cooking and shopping for a few days.
Temperatures dropped to 27.8° on the Sunday having been over 36°C the Wednesday before but the lake was still very quiet and there were no fish caught in the first 36 hours. On Monday morning when we went round to see them they had both finally got off the mark with Bill landing a 15lb+ common and Chris catching a 15lb+ mirror from in front of the round bush in the shallows. Whilst we were stood there we saw lots of bubbles in the middle of the lake and Chris had seen some signs of fish in the carp holes at the shallow end.
On Tuesday Bill reported that he had had a small common, weighing about 13lb, and slightly deformed. We had a couple of reports of a common like this last year but the weights were slightly more than that so we were not sure if this was another one or it had lost some weight. Chris had had no more out but he had been stalking at the shallow end having watched a shoal of fish make their way along the far bank into the shallows and the carp holes and then come around the end of the lake and up the other side. But his perseverance had not paid off. It was a lot cooler for the next few days with temperatures a more comfortable 20°C and we even managed some rain on Tuesday and Thursday.
There was nothing to report again on Wednesday morning and we were all wondering what had made the fish switch off the food but they were obviously waiting for darkness as on Thursday they reported that they had had 2 carp in the net each over night around 2 am so they were starting to feel a bit happier. Chris had two in the mid 20s and Bill a 23lb+ and a 37lb+ so we were hopeful that the last couple of days may see a few more.
Thursday evening they treated themselves to a meal out at Le Vieux Moulin in Chabanais and showed us some photos of the delicious dishes they had had. Bill had spent the night in the comfortable bed in the chalet but Chris had managed 3 runs in the night, landing a 25lb+ and a 42lb 7oz mirror and losing one in the tree at the shallow end at around 7am.
We called round to see them again late on Friday afternoon as they were heading off back to Calais late in the evening and we wanted to make sure we got to say goodbye to them. Bill had had a 25lb+ during the day so ended the week quite happy.
A quick recap of their catches there were zero babies. 3 at 10lb+, 5 at 20lb+, 1 at 30lb+ and 1 at 40lb+ as well as two small cats caught by Bill. Both anglers ended on 5 carp each. We have had a great week with these two anglers and enjoyed listening to their feedback about the changes we have made and their great fishing adventures. We hope they will return again one day and until then bonne journée et à bientôt…