This week saw Ashley, Ben, Arthur and Barnaby from Somerset join us on our Kingfisher lake. They drove down over a couple of days with all their gear in the back of the van ready for their first week carp fishing in France. Ben, Arthur and Barnaby do a fair bit of carp fishing on a syndicate in the UK and knew what they were doing but were optimistic they would beat their PBs here. They had also never had a catfish before so were looking forward to adding this to their list of species on the bank.
The forecast was for a hot week with daytime temperatures rarely dropping below 30°C and no rain but the night time temperatures were much lower than they had been, and the lake had been fishing very well over the last few weeks, so we were optimistic that they would do well. Arthur was certainly very keen to fish the nights and even if he was down by the lake on his own, the family had walkie-talkies with them so he could call for help if needed,
We go and see our guests most days but never expect to hear much news on Sundays when we go round as people take their time to get set up and get their rods out so we were thrilled to hear that Arthur had had a 28lb mirror carp on the bank as well as a small 9lb kitten – a good taster for what was to come. Barnaby and Ben had not fished overnight but Barnaby was out stalking with his float rod when we went round to see them.
There were loads more on the bank over the course of Sunday with Arthur having a 10lb kitten and then beating his PB with a 33lb mirror late in the morning. Barnaby and Ben were off the mark in the afternoon, Barnaby with a 13lb 9oz catfish and a new PB – 27lb 12oz common and Ben with a 20lb 11oz mirror. And when Ben’s rods went off again and he had popped up to the chalet, it was Ashley who landed her first ever carp, a mirror weighing 30lb 5oz. So they finished the day on 8 fish between the 3/4 of them. Not a bad start at all.
We timed our visit well on Monday morning as Barnaby had just hooked a fish when we arrived. It was safely bought to the net and put in the cradle, unhooked and photo was taken and then it was weighed – an amazing 45lb 5oz mirror – smashing his PB and beating his elder brother.
They recorded a 15lb 9oz common for Ben in the afternoon and then early in the evening Ashley messaged us to say that Arthur had increased his PB to 35lb 9oz common and then half an hour later had beaten it again catching a 37lb 13oz common. He was obviously going to improve his PB gradually.
After the excitement of this, Arthur went on to have another common at 35lb and Ben landed two commons weighing 17lb 2oz and 29lb 5oz on Monday evening. By the end of Monday they had landed 15 between them so it was all set to be a record week.
Tuesday morning also started off well with a double take for Barnaby and Ben, a 29lb 11oz mirror for Barnaby and a 34lb 1oz common for Ben just after 9am and a great photo to prove it
They told us that they had had a triple take the night before when one rod went off and took them round a tree and then the other two rods went off. It did not end well though with no fish on the bank. They had had to go out in the boat to rescue the one that got caught up and had just got it to the net when it slipped the hook and got away – Ben told us it was a big fish – the 50lber that got away! Ben also said that he had hooked into something really massive the evening before – he hooked into it and it pulled loads of line, and him, but then it just jumped off – possibly a big big catfish….we will never know. It is always the biggest fish in the lake that get away, isn’t it?
We had just got round there on Tuesday morning when Barnaby had landed another one, a lovely 21lb 15oz mirror
And Tuesday continued in the same vein as the previous two days with Ben landing a 31lb 11oz common, Arthur improving his catfish weight to 28lb 11oz catfish and having a 22lb 4oz mirror. Then Ben caught a 23lb 14oz common before Arthur finally managed to beat Barnaby’s PB at 15.37 with a 45lb 12oz mirror (it may have been the same fish as Barnaby caught, but a few oz heavier…?)
You would have thought that was Tuesday done and dusted but Arthur went on to have a 20lb 7oz common at 17.40 and then around 9pm they struck into a big catfish. Having never caught one before they took it in turns to play it for a good long while before it eventually managed to get to the bank. We all know that this is not an easy task and they took this one as a team effort and what a great photo of the three anglers with their 75lb 5oz catfish
That was it for the day and they reached 25 fish on the bank since they had arrived.
Having had a great first half of the week by the lake, the family decided to head out and explore the local area and visit the market. Ben had been going to the boulangerie in Massignac each morning to pick up baguettes and pastries but they wanted to enjoy some time together as a family away from the lake too.
The market in Piegut Pluviers is one of the best in the region and sells anything from live chickens to bed mattresses as well as lots of seasonal fruit and vegetables and some clothes and gift stalls. They all had a lovely morning and bought some nougat (if you know you know!)
When they got back it seemed like the deeper end of the lake had gone quiet and the only fish on the bank on Wednesday was a 27lb 5oz mirror for Arthur at lunchtime. Ashley and Ben had gone for a walk into the woods where they had seen a couple of deer.
We didn’t manage to catch up with them on Thursday as Nigel was playing golf in the morning with a neighbour and they went out to Le 16 Beach for lunch where Ben and Arthur managed the Géant Burger and then had a lovely swim in the lake. They did get a few fish out though, Ben had a 17lb catfish first thing in the morning and later in the evening Arthur had a 17lb 5oz common and Ben finished the day with a 31lb common.
The fish had definitely switched off in swims 1 and 2 though and there were only two that made it to the bank on Friday for Arthur, a 13lb 13oz catfish and a 34lb 6oz mirror and none for any of the others. But still it was a great week for these lovely people.
Final summary 31 fish on the bank in total with Arthur catching 15 (he was fishing nights as well as days), Ben on 10 and Barnaby having 5. The final one was counted as a team effort so they all got a new PB catfish! There were zero babies, 3 at 10lb+, 10 at 20lb+, 9 at 30lb+, 2 at 40lb+ and 7 catfish up to 75lb 5oz. A great result for these 3 anglers and new PBs for all. We shall hopefully see you again one day, until then bonne journée et à bientôt….