Along the Pyrenees
After a jump-start that I gave to a local Frenchman in the lake parking lot, I headed east along the Pyrenees.
As always, there were a few bodies of water on the way, which I quickly reached through short detours in order to expand my “water database” and, depending on my gut feeling, possibly fish. I was already familiar with the “Midi Pyrenees” region - as were most of the bodies of water in this area. Nevertheless, in the past it has been worthwhile for me to take a second look at lakes or rivers that I already know. It was not uncommon for me to find an interesting spot or a better route to the lake on the second visit that I had overlooked the first time. That's exactly how it happened that day: After I fought my way through the bank thicket, bathed in sweat, I found an open spot in the middle of the wilderness of a body of water that I had already glanced at briefly in the spring. Simply fantastic!!
Lost in the wilderness
This time I didn't have to think long and I immediately felt the urge to try it there. The boat landed in the water quickly and was loaded just as quickly. After a short translation I was at the spot in the wilderness and motivatedly distributed my rods at different depths from 1 to 5 meters.
I sat under the starry sky for a long time on this mild evening and enjoyed the absolute peace of this place, until sometime after midnight I lay down on the lounger and was woken from my sleep early in the morning by a constant sound. A mirror landed in the landing net and I was satisfied that I was immediately successful on the new body of water despite the current heat period.
Curious observations
Early in the morning, loud splashing alerted me to a shallow area near my previously productive spot. The fish had started spawning at night - at the end of June! – probably the second time this year, with water temperatures around 24 degrees. What was strange was my observation that they actually only spawned at night; during the day it also seemed to be too warm for the fish and they recovered from the night's exertions in the knee-deep, weedy water. This game repeated itself on all three nights that I fished there. Nevertheless, I was able to catch fish every night and the activities even increased. On the third and final night, the fish became so active due to a slight drop in temperature of around 5 degrees that I was able to catch six fish spread across all rods by the time I left in the morning. This showed me once again that not all the fish were busy making love at the same time. After the many activities of the last few hours, it was difficult for me to pack my things and leave and I thought about whether I should stay another night, after all, nothing motivated me...?! As I have often done in such situations, I decided not to challenge my luck and to leave when it was at its best. Ultimately, I was more than happy with my result. So I continued towards the Mediterranean, along the route that the Frenchman at the lake parking lot at the last body of water recommended to me.
The outstanding bill
In the evening, after several stops in the beautiful Pyrenees landscape, I arrived at my planned destination. A lake where I met Alex this spring to spend a few days fishing together. After a good blank there, I still had unfinished business and the lake was on my route to the Mediterranean.
"Today here tomorrow there"
I'll keep it short: I simmered for 2 days in the blazing sun at 35 degrees, with no real shade and caught absolutely nothing. The weather was anything but promising and was not developing in that direction in any way, there was hardly a breeze and I could hardly see any fish action in the lake. After the second night I had enough and decided to continue driving to the sea. The plan changed so quickly and the outstanding bill was postponed to a possibly more suitable time. I would rather spend my time mobile and untethered, traveling around and visiting the beach - what could be better in this weather?! The Occitanie region is truly wonderful; it's worth a stay, especially just before the Spanish border at the foot of the Pyrenees, right on the Mediterranean. There I found beaches that weren't too overcrowded at the time, some opportunities to do sports there and parking spaces with a fantastic view of the sea.
Even without fishing, I passed my time without any problems, which is always necessary for me to recharge my batteries and simply be more flexible when traveling. According to the motto: “Here today, there tomorrow” I then decide very spontaneously where I’m going the next day.
After four days, most of which I spent here and there on the beach, this way of passing the time became a bit too boring and monotonous for me. Especially because I was hanging out alone on the beach all the time, I felt a little stupid every now and then.
Since I had a meeting with my friend Michael coming up next week, who had also been touring France for almost three months, I decided to drive to the meeting point in the “Red Land” a little earlier…
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