We were delighted to welcome back this lovely family from Wiltshire this week who had a cracking week last year on Kingfisher. With 27 fish on the bank (20 by Billy) last July we thought it might be hard to beat, particularly as we were already in our 3rd heatwave of the season and the water temperatures were in the high 20°C. But the anglers last week had had an amazing week so we were sure that there would be some fish on the bank. This is their catch report from last year.
They arrived Saturday afternoon having driven via a campsite in Normandy, as last year and had done a bit of fishing there and had a couple of 40s on the bank. Again, like last year they had been to see Stuart at The Tackle Company (www.thetacklecompany.co.uk) a few days before they came and also had a visit to Pacific Pêche on their way to pick up a few last minute things.
We sat and had a beer and caught up with them. They have had a good year and been fishing a few times. Billy has started his mechanics apprenticeship, passed his driving test and is enjoying his new car and Keith and Paulette are well and looking forward to a week off in the peace and quiet.
They were soon set up by the lake. Similar to last year it was Billy who would have his rods in as much as possible and he chose to fish from swim 2, or the ‘Hut Swim’ as Nigel likes to call it. Keith started the week on swim 1 and he was planning on fishing most days but he and Paulette were also planning on going out a few times, to the supermarket to ensure the stocks of ‘dancing juice’ did not become too depleted and just enjoying some time together. Paulette started the week on swim 3 but was only going to throw a rod in occasionally. The results reflected the time spent on the bank but the holiday was as much about enjoying each others company and enjoying the peace and quiet, as it was fishing.
They had picked 5kg of boilies in both flavours and also had some of our hookers and glug in both flavours on a bed of maize and pellets. All of their fishing was done by casting and the proof of effectiveness is in the results – all 3 of them great anglers.
Although Billy lost a catfish shortly after he put his rods in, Keith was first off the mark on Saturday evening with a 26lb 12oz mirror and then a 21lb mirror on Sunday morning before breakfast. Two great looking fish. Billy did land a small catfish but it didn’t make the list!
After breakfast Keith and Paulette went to the supermarket before it closed at lunchtime. Billy managed to get three on the bank before breakfast on Monday, a 42lb 12oz mirror, a 31lb 8oz common and a 41lb catfish. Keith had moved to swim 3 due to the heat and managed to land his 3rd carp, a 25lb common. All during the daylight hours which, with temperatures in the early 30s, was good going.
On day 3 Billy had a 33lb mirror and a 35lb 8oz common, followed by two mirrors overnight weighing 41lb 6oz and 21lb mirror which he did not manage to get photographs of.
Billy was the only one of them fishing nights so he had the the comfort of the hut to sleep in. Over the week he heard lots of sounds during the night, as you do when you stay here as there is very little noise or light pollution. He was absolutely certain that he could hear a wild boar some nights and we were fairly sure that what he was hearing was a hedgehog but he would not be convinced otherwise. We do not hear many boar here, cows giving birth can make a loud noise but hedgehogs make a lot more noise than you think and he is not the first, and we are sure that he will not be the last, person to think that it definitely could not be a hedgehog!
We had reports of more carp for Billy on Wednesday am when we took the breakfast baguettes round a 26lb 10oz common at 4.30pm and Paulette off the mark with a 34lb 2oz mirror from swim 3 on Tuesday afternoon.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning Billy landed a 41lb 14oz mirror and got a great photo of it with the use of Nigel’s backlight.
They all had a break away from the lake on Wednesday, with a visit to Piegut Pluviers market which is one of the biggest in the region. You do have to get their early though as it is all done by midday, when French people like to have their lunch. It is a great place to visit and you see stalls selling anything from mattresses, live chickens as well as snails, oysters and seasonal fruit and vegetables. Paulette and Keith were very tempted to buy a new rug before realising that it probably wouldn’t fit in the car with all of their fishing gear. Even Billy reported that he had enjoyed it and was glad that he had gone.
On Wednesday night Billy had a 29lb mirror
At breakfast on Friday morning Billy had two fish to report from overnight, a 31lb 6oz common and 27lb common overnight from the far side and then he lost one just as he was pulling his rods in to come up for breakfast.
They went out for a few hours on Friday, back to Oradour-sur-Glâne, where 643 people were killed during the second world war. It has been kept as a memorial village. Keith and Paulette visited last year and Keith went home and read a book about it so was desperate to go back. This time Billy went with them to have a break away from the lake. You cannot really say that you enjoy a visit there as it is horrible to think of what happened there but it is worth a visit.
There were no further fish on the bank when they got back on Friday afternoon, even though Billy had his rods in until the very last minute before they left on Saturday but considering the temperatures rose up to 39.7°C during their week here they did not have too many blank sessions.
Final summary was zero babies, zero at 10lb+, 7 at 20lb+, 5 at 30lb+, 3 at 40lb+ and two catfish up to 41lb. This lovely family have already booked again for next year so we will all look forward to seeing them again. Until then bonne journée et à bientôt….