Last year we welcomed Lenny and Michelle to Lac Lucie for their first French carp fishing trip https://carpfrance.com/14-09-2024-lac-lucie-taring-downt-river/ and they had a fantastic week with 23 carp on the bank between them and new PBs all round. They booked to come back this year and decided to give Kingfisher a try, knowing that it contained some large catfish and was more of a challenge.
Coming from Yorkshire they flew from Leeds/Bradford airport on the Friday, choosing to spend the night at a hotel in Limoges ready for us to collect them on Saturday morning. Their flight out did not go to plan though as we had storms all around us and heavy rain all day (much needed by us) and it was decided that the plane would be diverted to Toulouse, over 4 hours from us. After a long coach journey they arrived at their hotel at 11pm with nothing else to do but get some sleep ready for Nigel to collect them Saturday morning and take them to the supermarket.
Arriving at the lake we spent some time catching up. Lenny had had a serious incident at work involving his hand and a drill and his use of his fingers on one hand were limited and he had had some concerns about how he would manage, but with Michelle by his side and us just a phone call away we were confident that they would have a good week. Lenny set himself up on swim 2 and Michelle on the first swim nearest the chalet. Lenny planned on having his rods in the lake as much as he could, whilst also helping Michelle with hers and he was going to fish every night, whereas Michelle preferred to have some nights up in the chalet, but would be on hand if Lenny needed her in the night.
By Sunday breakfast they were both off the mark, Lenny with his first ever catfish, only 7lb 4oz but still a cat, and a 20lb common and Michelle with a 25lb 8oz mirror.
The couple go fishing a lot in the UK, for a variety of species and Lenny is a firm believer in the moon and the weather playing a big part, preferring to fish on a full moon and when the weather is wet and cooler. He was pleased on Sunday when it rained all afternoon doubling our August rainfall here in just a few hours, which also made Nigel very happy and hopeful that the stream would soon be full again and we were all hoping that it would get all of the fish on the feed again.
Sunday afternoon only saw a small kitten out for Michelle, her first ever and she loved it. In our experience catfish are a bit like Marmite – you either love them or hate them, and Michelle loved them. Cute is not a word often used for the cats but according to Michelle they are cute…we will leave that thought there. Lenny also lost a big cat on Sunday afternoon, not having caught a whopper before he was keen to tell us the story of how the big one got away, his rod had gone screaming off and the cat tore down to the shallow end of the lake and he said he just was not able to turn it, describing it as a monster. Those of you who have had big cats in the past will know what a fight they can put up and we know how hard it can be to hook them in the right place so that they can make it onto the bank.
Lenny had 3 carp out before breakfast on Monday morning, a 19lb 4oz common, a 25lb 4oz mirror and a 21lb 8oz common. All lovely looking fish. And he lost another large catfish which got itself under a tree after a very quick run and unhooked itself.
There were 3 further carp out on Monday afternoon and evening for the pair and this was definitely the most productive day for them both, even if there were bigger fish to come. Michelle had a 30lb mirror and a 13lb 8oz common, which she did manage to hold and Lenny had a 28lb 9oz mirror.
Tuesday saw more rain on and off all day and they stayed under cover, with Michelle reading and Lenny watching the water and sorting his rigs out, but also landing his biggest carp of the session, a 38lb 7oz common.
They had decided to hire one of our bait boats from us this year, knowing it was easier to get in under the trees on the far bank with them. Despite being serviced since we took over the fishery, and necessary repairs done, they have never been the best and can be temperamental at times, particularly the battery connectors and we have tried many different ones. But Lenny did not have much luck with them at all and Nigel made several trips over to the lake to help him out, but give him his due, Lenny always made sure that Michelle’s rods were put out before his, doing this for her each time.
On Wednesday Nigel took Michelle out to the supermarket to top up supplies and Jo was out with some neighbours. Michelle had just been dropped off again when she called Jo, asking for Nigel’s help as Lenny had another big cat on and he really did not want to lose another. Many of you will know that Nigel is not great at having his phone with him and it took a few goes, and ringing the neighbour’s husband to get hold of him, but luckily he made it round to the lake before the catfish got too close to the bank. With a bit of help Lenny managed to get the cat on the bank, and it managed to graze his leg on the way, and he was so excited to have caught such a monster and a new PB, at 68lb, although this photo makes it look way bigger than that! Michelle also had another kitten on Wednesday but she was just as happy with the babies. To celebrate we went out to Le 16 Beach for our tea and a few beers.
Whilst we are on the subject of cats, our black and white feline visitor decided that Kingfisher was the place to be last week, especially as Lenny kept putting out tins of tuna for it! Michell and Lenny have cats of their own and were quite surprised at how tame it was, although it never went inside the chalet. We are still not sure who, if anyone, it belongs to, and starting to wonder how it is going to survive in the winter if it is relying on our anglers for food.
Thursday saw Michelle with yet another PB kitten at 8lb 12oz and a 16lb 12oz common for her, which is destined to be a great 50lber one day. Lenny decided he was going to move swims down to the last swim on the main bank and managed a 9lb 10oz common, maybe the prettiest fish of the week.
Friday always comes round too quickly when you only have a week on the lake and the couple were already thinking about packing their bags ready to go on Saturday. It had been a real mix of weather with temperatures up to 27°C some days but wet and windy on others. Friday was dry though and they made the most of the day. Lenny took some time to get his rods out as just as he was putting Michelle’s 3rd rod out her first one went off and she landed this 42lb 5oz mirror – a new PB carp as well as catfish this week.
Michelle had managed a couple of nights out all night in the bivvy but mostly she went in at about midnight, leaving Lenny to brave the wildlife. On Friday night Lenny decided to fish off the dam wall, knowing that Michelle would not be in the deeper water and finished the week with a smashing 20lb mirror.
Final summary 13 carp with 1 baby, 3 at 10lb+, 6 at 20lb+, 2 at 30lb+, 1 at 40lb+ and 6 catfish to 68lb. What a great week for this lovely couple and we have really enjoyed their company again. We will look forward to seeing them again in a couple of years and wish them a fantastic trip to India next year. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt….