This week saw the annual return of Nigel’s mates from The Oliver Twist in Irthlingborough. They come for the beer and banter as much as for a fishing holiday, with three of them fishing for leisure and a bit of match fishing in the UK but they would not call themselves carp anglers. And Bob, who first held a fishing rod in 2024, when they first visited us and landed his first ever fish, a 46lb mirror.
Now more experienced they decided that they did not really need Nigel to babysit for them but for the most part would only fish days so once Nigel had picked them up from the airport and taken them to the supermarket for a couple of five cases of beer they embedded themselves at the outside table and got started…on the beers until teatime and then they decided they would have some more beer and start fishing on Sunday.
The swims were picked over a beer by selecting bottle tops with a number on. Bob was going in the house swim, Dave in swim 2 and John in swim 3 with the huts for shelter and Danny in swim 4.
On Sunday morning, after a leisurely breakfast, they got themselves set up and soon got to grips with how the new Ultracat bait boats worked – well Bob and Danny did. It was lunchtime before the first fish was landed, Danny with a 35lb 2oz mirror and we were all there to see it before Jo had to take Izzy and Frazer back to the airport after their 10 days break. This mirror was closely followed by Bob with a 15lb common at 2pm. Obviously there was a beer for everyone after every fish and the glass bottle box started to fill up.
Despite some rain on Sunday afternoon the guys carried on fishing and the first trip out in the rowing boat of the week was Nigel to help John unsnag a catfish which Danny helped him to land. Not that it was very heavy at 4lb 2oz but it was John’s first ever catfish so he certainly wasn’t complaining – a fish is a fish and another beer was called for.
Sunday teatime was followed by more beers and more catching up and the guys got their rods out again on Monday morning after breakfast. Nigel and Jo spent the morning at the vets as Maisie had ended up with a hook in her mouth, having tried to eat some bait from the guys fishing on Lac Lucie, and at the supermarket to restock the beer fridge and cool box. Whilst we were out the lads were entertained with a couple of fighter jets going over, as they often do, and we were told that they were very low over the lake and the noise was incredible.
Whilst they were out it was Danny’s turn to get in the rowing boat as a cat took to the tree roots and needed the line freeing so that was another rig they had to set up once we were back and Nigel had taken them round some more tubing, and had another beer with them. There was nothing else on the bank until just before 4pm on Monday when John had his first carp, a 10lb 8oz common, followed by Dave, 45 minutes later with a 22lb 8oz common.
Nigel obviously had to go round to help them to celebrate and whilst he was there Bob landed a 30lb mirror so another beer was called for.
Monday evening was spent at the house as an important relegation match was being shown for John who is a Spurs fan. He enjoyed the last 20 minutes of it anyway as he slept through the main part of the match but it was like old times in the Ollie and we had a bit of fun with a photo of him asleep and a bit of ChatGPT to create an image relating to a story he told us about a double booking in a hotel room….will leave that one there.
After a bit of a downpour on Monday the lads were pleased that Tuesday was set to be a dry day and quite nice for those of them who were in the sun with temperatures reaching just over 19°C.The morning was very quiet though and it was not until nearly 4pm when Danny caught the first fish of the day, a 38lb common. We had scared Danny a bit earlier with a plastic snake in his bivvy as he had told us last year how terrified he had been when a snake went near him in swim 1.
We had birthday cake for tea to celebrate John’s birthday and we had given him some French maggots which he put on the end of one of Nigel’s float rods but had no luck all week with that.
Bob decided that he might quite like to do a bit of night fishing and whilst the others were happy to fish a bit later after tea, no one else wanted to sleep out for the night and to be fair it was quite chilly with temperatures this week dropping as low as 6°C at night, so Nigel said he would stop out with him. Danny lasted a couple of hours though and was rewarded with a 29lb 4oz mirror. Nigel also landed one in Dave’s swim (he had a nice cosy hut to sleep in), a 33lb 4oz mirror at around 4am. Bob did get another kitten on the hook at 2am but it had got caught up and was still on the line when Nigel went out in the rowing boat (again) to free it.
It was just after beer o’clock when Bob had the first fish on Wednesday, a lovely 33lb 12oz mirror and this was closely followed by another kitten, caught by Dave weighing 3lb 9oz (don’t worry we have plans to remove all the small catfish this winter)
With temperatures over 19°C in the sun on Wednesday John decided it was warm enough to try out his new birthday present form Lisa at The Ollie. We are not sure it would make our calendar but do think that it is a great pose!
Another lovely evening was had with a few beers on Wednesday evening with the four of them and they were back up for breakfast on Thursday as usual, but had to put up with Nigel’s cooking as Jo had gone to the airport to collect some surprise guests – John G and Tina – more great friends from Irthlingborough, who had decided they would come and join the fun and laughter. Just before they walked round to the lake to surprise them, Bob landed this 36lb 4oz common. And then an hour later a 27lb mirror which John G was pleased to see.
Whilst we were back having some lunch the heavens opened and we had a massive hailstorm which kept setting the bite alarms off and the lads retreated into their bivvys/huts for shelter. With the air really cold and the water quite warm the steam rose from the lake, always a lovely sight.
The fish seemed to then retreat into the deeper water for protection and Bob, on swim 1 ended up with a further three fish in the afternoon, a 14lb 6oz common, a 36lb 8oz mirror, and the biggest carp of the week, a 44lb 5oz mirror. It was definitely Bob’s day on Thursday.
Dave did manage to get the biggest fish of the week though, in amongst Bob’s carp, a 56lb 9oz catfish – much more the size we like to see on the bank. And it certainly made Dave’s week
Nigel had been trying to persuade John, who had only landed a small catfish and 10lb+ carp up til then, to go and spend the day on the dam wall but John was not keen to leave this band of merry men, or the cool box with the beer in and decided he would stay where he was and hope for the best. The dam wall is great for the deep water and the fish do seem to like to hang out there and near to the over flow but if you want to be near your mates and enjoy the company as well as the scenery then sometimes you have to sacrifice the fish.
On Friday Jo and Nigel took John G and Tina to Oradour-sur-Glâne, where the German SS had captured and massacred 642 men, women and children on June 10th 1944. Not an exciting day out but a place that is worth visiting, if only to remember the atrocities that took place in the second world war and how the people in France were affected by the German occupation.
Whilst they were out the four anglers managed by themselves and made a good shot at finishing the beer supplies. Bob landed another mirror weighing 23lb at 12ish and then lost one a couple of hours later, along with his rig. John offered Bob his two rods instead as he had given up – he should have had a go on the dam wall!
So this was the final fish of the week as Friday evening we took them all to Le 16 Beach, a local pizza are next to the man made beach, and then back to our kitchen to enjoy the Aston Villa vs Liverpool match which was for a place in the Champions League. With a supporter for each team on site it was an interesting evening that ended up late into the night also watching the golf.
As always though it has been great to catch up with friends from home, with the added bonus of John G and Tina this year. It has been a very lovely week with them all, lots of beer, vodka and coffee drunk and lots of reminiscing. We apologise to John for all the ChatGPT photos – which we will not embarrass him with and also for his lack of fish. We hope they have all had a safe journey home and will look forward to next year when hopefully the weather will be a little warmer, but not as hot as last year!
The final summary is Bob with 10 fish, Danny with 3, Dave with 3 and John with 2 with Nigel also catching 1 on his night over with them. There were zero babies, 3 at 10lb+, 4 at 20lb+, 7 at 30lb+ and 1 at 40lb+ as well as 4 catfish up to 56lb 9oz. Until next year bonne journée et à bientôt…..