Blog

Grit Your Teeth & Hope For The Best

Posted: 3rd May 2015

Well Mother nature has thrown her weight around this week and give us the full force to what she is capable of and it can be quite scary. We had such a good week with 40 fish landed the week before too 51lb+ but as the lads rolled off the drive and the new chaps arrived the rain had already started and the temps dropped from 26oc, to coming close to zero for the first part of the week. The weather can be very localised in France depending on the geographical region, and as I type this blog we are on red alert, flood warning. We must have had 4" by mid week and water was running everywhere, but with the sluice gates open down stream the valley was still low and one side of the large lake that was now dry after a full month of dry weather, we only had a small stream running down the centre and out of the monk at the other end.

By the later part of the week it was noticeable to all that the massive temp drop had shut the lake down and the fish had stopped feeding all together. With just one fish out on the first night and a couple lost it was set to be a tough week. Wednesday saw the only break in the rain with the sun coming and giving us a dry day, and that evening Bod in Peg 3 had a pick-up on each rod and all the lads had picks-ups with some fish landed and a few good fish lost to hook-pulls giving us the answer we needed to the fishing conditions this week. From Thursday into Friday the rain started again and Friday saw some of the most intense rain we have seen since we first opened the doors in 2007. It kept coming and the land all around the valley was flowing like a river with the marsh reserve at the back of the lakes rising by the hour, I was bracing myself for the potenial of a complete wipeout of the fishery which is not easy to type after putting everything into this place for 10 years. With all gates open and clear, the water was rising so fast there was nothing more to do than grit your teeth. The only saving grace was the 15 acre lake being drained on one side, which acted like another water reserve, allowing the stream to run backwards up the outlet & into the open space, filling the whole 7-9 acres in less than 8 hours. The water came within an inch of breaking the back-bank dam wall, it completely burst over the spitt which is only a temporay measure to house the big lake stock for this year, if that had gone the fish would have been lost that is for sure so it's been tough going over the weekend. The gods must have spared us this time because the next 24 hrs the rain stopped allowing me to keep everything clear and getting rid of as much water as possible without washing our local village away down stream and crossing me out of the Mayors good books!!! We had another deluge today but the temp has increased massively again and its very warm but wet, but the main thing being we are under control at the moment despite hanging in there. The lads last week finished on only 8 fish with the best going 42lb+, 3 fish over 30lb+ and 4 x 20lb+ including a couple of grassies. I felt gutted for the regular lads who are such a great group and they kept their chins up and did not moan once, thanks Kev, Bod, Dave & John you are true Gents and we still managed a few laughs through the gloom.

To add insult to injury even though the rain has still been heavy, the massive temp increase has turned the fish on again with the new lads landing 8 fish in the first 24hrs. Steve in Peg 1 has landed a 46lb 2oz today, Guy in peg 3 has had a 32lb Mirror and his first grassie of 31lb+ so he is buzzing. Spence in Peg 4 has landed a 39lb & 32lb on the Saturday night so all is good and pressure is off already, lets hope it continues.

It just goes to show that the weather plays such a massive role in the fishes behaviour,  they are a wild creature at the end of the day which we have only a limited control over dispite our best intentions.

Well that's all for now folks, time for a strong beer I think!!!

Back soon

Team Sanctuary