Martin, Ronnie and Jamie joined us from Dover for a rematch on Lac Lucie last week, along with Wendy, Tracy and Charlie and Charlie’s girlfriend, Jess who had come again to enjoy the chalet, pool and hot tub and what a great week they all had with a lot of fun and laughter, even with temperatures up to 40 degrees during the day and mid 30s at night.
Last year Ronnie had won the trophy for the most fish, with Jamie a close second and Martin bringing up the rear with no carp and only a couple of catfish. They have been following all of the work we have been doing over the winter on social media and Jamie was hopeful that he would be able to get the trophy off of his dad. This year they were going for a total combined weight so as soon as they arrived they got their gear set up before tea ready for their first night. With the chalet only sleeping 6 they were prepared for fishing every night and had come in 2 cars with trailer and borrowed their bivvies from us.
Instead of all fishing off of the main bank as they had last year, Martin decided to leave Ronnie and Jamie there and go up to the far end on his own. Ronnie had got himself a bait boat this year and was confident that this would make life easier for him and be able to drop his rigs in a more accurate location each time. Jamie and Martin were both fishing properly and casted their rods each time.
We were not expecting much the first night as they had left home at midnight and after a long drive down from Calais where they had got caught up in Olympic traffic and an accident they were all shattered but just before we went to bed Ronnie messaged us a photo of the first fish out, a 36lb 8oz mirror. A pretty good start and the tone was set for the week.
Sunday saw the start of the ‘canicule’ (French for heatwave) and we thought that the extreme heat would put the fish off feeding but with the aerator on 24 hours a day there was obviously still enough oxygen in the water for the carp and Sunday afternoon Ronnie landed a new PB, a 43lb 9oz common.
Martin and Jamie were starting to wonder if it was going to be a repeat of last year but Martin had his first fish on Monday afternoon in 37 degrees. Another common weighing 30lb 9oz.
Charlie and Jess spent the first part of the week between the sunbeds and the swimming pool, cooling off the sun burn and generally just having fun. Wendy and Tracy were up and down the bank with provisions and had borrowed a jigsaw from us which they were determined to complete before the end of their week (even if it did mean staying up half the night some nights!).
Tuesday was the best fishing day of the week. Ronnie had a common weighing 30lb 8oz at 7am, Martin had a 21lb 8oz mirror around 2pm again after doing a bit of stalking with some dog biscuits and Ronnie had a 26lb common late afternoon.
And Jamie was still blanking, until around 5pm when Ronnie had just gone up to the chalet for a drink and Jamie’s rod went off at last. Imagine his delight when he managed to land this 43lb 6oz common, a new PB for him and so the inevitable drenching took place, although I think he was glad of it with the temperatures being what they were.
Wednesday, like last year, was a family day and the ladies were treated to the morning at the infamous market at Piegut Pluviers, where they bought a variety of different things and Jess bought a present for her mum. They avoided the nougat this year though! The afternoon was spent go karting at the Circuit du Perigord track where car fanatic Charlie won the first race but was spun off the track by his cousin, Jamie, in the second race so was not too happy when they got back. Everyone went for a dip in the pool when they got back as the temperatures had reached over 40 degrees in the afternoon and then the 3 anglers were back down by the lake for what was a very warm night.
But in the early hours of Thursday morning Ronnie landed a 30lb 12oz common and then at 7am Martin had a 33lb 12oz mirror.
There were no further fish caught on Thursday but the ladies did stay up half the night to finish their puzzle
Nigel had taken some left over boilies and bits of bait down to the three of them on Thursday evening and on Friday morning we received the below photos from Martin who had caught a 37lb common on a spicy fish boilie and a 27lb 6 oz mirror on a maple syrup boilie. And whilst that brought him level with Ronnie for the number of fish caught in the week, unfortunately it was not quite enough to win him the trophy so Ronnie wins for the second year running.
Final tally for a very enjoyable week (with extreme temperatures) was 0 babies, 0 at 10lb+, 3 at 20lb+. 6 at 30lb+ and 2 at 40lb+ and with Ronnie and Jamie getting new PBs. Thank you very much for beer, wine and Maisie’s new balls and we look forward to seeing you again. Until then, à bientôt…
