This week, we had the pleasure of welcoming our first French guests, who came from the northwest of France. Cédric and his son Léo joined us, accompanied by Cédric’s brother, Anthony, who spent a few days with them to reconnect and go fishing.
They arrived Saturday afternoon and spent the first night at the cabin before setting everything up on the main bank of the pond Sunday morning. Leo had already fished in the river near his home and loved catching large catfish and many predatory fish, but he was eager to catch carp. And they didn’t have to wait long to catch their first: a 27lb 8oz mirror carp for Leo. His very first carp, and he was thrilled.
We went to the lake on Sunday afternoon to see them, and Cédric had caught a 24lb 4oz carp. Léo was fishing with a pole to try and catch smaller fish, like roach.
On Monday morning, when we went to see them, they told us they had caught four carp at 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., then two more in half an hour at 10 a.m. Their weights were 12 kg, 5 kg, 9 kg, and 15 kg. Cédric’s brother, Anthony, arrived at 6 p.m. He’s a baker, so Nigel understands the difficulties of working early mornings.
The three of them made the most of the space, having lunch at the picnic table at the top of the steps and enjoying playing football and other games on the grass while waiting for a fish to bite. The brothers don’t see each other very often, so it was nice for them to spend some time together and catch up on their lives.
On Tuesday morning, they told us that Leo had caught three more carp weighing 16 kg, 17 kg and 37lb 15oz respectively, and that Cédric had caught one at 3 a.m.
During our visit Wednesday morning, they told us they had made a double catch the day before: Cédric and Léo had both landed one at the same time.
Anthony had caught two, one weighing 9 kg and the other over 17 kg. And Léo beat his personal record with a 19 kg catch at 4:40 a.m. With more than 20 fish already in their nets, their week was shaping up to be excellent.
On Thursday morning, they had caught two more carp. They said goodbye to Jo, who was leaving for the UK for a week to meet her new granddaughter. Everyone had beaten their personal bests. Anthony left on Thursday afternoon to return to work, and Cedric and Leo left on Friday morning after a good night’s sleep at the cabin.
They finished the week with a total of 26 carp. Although we don’t have the exact weight of each one, we know the largest weighed over 19 kg (41lb 14oz), almost 20 kg, which is still an excellent catch for the week. We were delighted to host them and thank them all for their patience with Jo’s limited French. We hope to see them again someday. Until then, bonne journée et à bientôt…..
Other photos from their week here
