All experienced anglers know that the summer is not great for fishing. Like humans, when they are too hot, the fish do not feel like eating and just want to lie around a do as little as possible. High temperatures also bring other difficulties for fishery owners, with algae blooms, high oxygen levels and little or no fresh water coming through the lake.
When we moved here in 2023 we always said we would not lie to people about our lakes and so feel that this catch report needed to outline our situation as it was before these people arrived. We are aware that other lakes in the vicinity are also experiencing similar problems and the advice and support we have received in the last two weeks from others has been really appreciated.
We have had no significant rainfall since April and the stream that feeds our lakes has now been completely dry for a couple of weeks. Water levels are down by a good foot and the daytime temperatures have not dropped below 25°C since the 24th July.
We regularly check the water temperature and oxygen levels in the lakes as this gives us a good warning of any issues and prepares us to take any action. We were not expecting, however, such a sudden drop in the oxygen levels last Friday morning when we tested it and we had real cause for concern as several fish were frequently seen on the surface gasping for air, despite our usual aerator running 24/7 since mid June. We knew that the fish needed our help and managed to contact another fishery owner close by who had a spare aerator he could lend us. Within a couple of hours this was in the lake and mixing up the water, adding much needed oxygen.
Sadly 3 of our carp did not make it through this critical spell and they surfaced over the next few days, but it could have been a lot lot worse if we had not acted so quickly.
Our next concern was for our anglers who arrived on the Saturday. Chris had fished Kingfisher as one of the Calendar Boys last spring and this year he was bringing his 16 year old son, Liam and his wife, Vikki for a week on Lac Lucie. Liam has not fished in France before and his PB was in single figures and we had sent him a video for his birthday last year when his dad had booked the holiday. On Kingfisher this week was another one of the Calendar Boys, Paul who was out with his family and this also proved to be beneficial that they all knew each other.
Arriving on the Saturday lunchtime we had a good chat with them about the stress the fish had been under in the last few days. As an experienced carp angler Chris was fully understanding and did not want to add to the problems by heavily fishing the lake so they agreed to just fish out to the deeper areas at night. They had planned to have some days out anyway so this was not an issue.
Chris and Liam set up on the main bank side by side and put a small amount of bait in to start off with just to see if any of the fish were feeding. There was very little activity in the first few days but the oxygen levels were improving slowly and by Monday the fish were no longer hanging around the aerators as much. We hit a record 40.8°C on Monday here and so we were pleased that the aerator was having such a positive effect.
By Tuesday there were still no fish on the bank so it was agreed with the guests on Kingfisher that Liam would go and fish with them on swim 4 to improve his chances of catching this week. Chris decided to give the lake a rest for a couple of nights to reduce the stress on them. We had a storm rumbling all around us on Tuesday night and we were all really hoping that there would be torrential rain all night but sadly we seem to have missed it bar a few drops, despite flooding being reported 10 miles away!
Vikki was enjoying some peace and quiet, doing her cross stitch and going to sit by the lake in the evenings and early mornings with Chris and Liam. She was in charge of delivering their breakfasts, sausage sandwiches and generally running round after them if needed.
The family had a few trips out over the week, spending a lovely afternoon by the big public lake with paddleboarding and kayaking. Nigel was very jealous that they could all stand up and paddle board, for more than the 10 seconds he could! They also visited the village of Oradour-sur-Glane as Liam is very into his military history and aims to join the marines in a couple of years.
With Liam over on Kingfisher, Chris spread his rods out into the deeper areas but was still very wary about stressing the fish too much. As he was on his own the Kingfisher crew gave him a radio so that he could call on the others if he needed any help But his care and attention paid off and Thursday at half past midnight he landed a 24lb mirror on a house maple syrup wafter with a Jaffa pop up
Thursday is commonly called ‘Big fish Thursday’ as it seems that the most fish are caught then and finally Liam got what he came here for and had caught a new PB mirror weighing 36lb 6oz, caught on a bounty hunter pop up and wafter with garlic ground bait from swim 4 on Kingfisher.
It was great for us to see that the fish on both lakes were feeding and Chris ended up catching again at 11pm on Thursday evening, another mirror weighing 24lb 8oz
We would really like to thank Chris, Liam and Vikki for being so understanding this week. The oxygen levels in Lac Lucie are now back to safer levels and the fish are showing all their usual behaviours. Water temperatures are still very high and we have still not had any rain but we are hopeful that the rain forecast next week will bring some fresh water into the lake. We have two new aerators on order so that we can be better prepared in the future
Final tally for this lovely family were 3 carp, zero babies, zero at 10lb+, 2 at 20lb+ and 1 at 30lb+ (from Kingfisher)
We hope that they will return to give us another chance one day and until then bonne journée et à bientôt….
