Vantastic Lukas: Late summer in southern France

Waiting time - fishing time

At the beginning of last week, my friend Sébastien and I went to see a doctor we trusted. The reason for my symptoms was then to be examined in a laboratory. So we had to wait because the results should take around 4 days. I thought about how I could spend the next few days and hesitated between fishing and a trip to the Pyrenees. But one look at the weather didn't make me hesitate for long and so I decided to go fishing. It should cool down and rain. I also wanted to stay in the region of the laboratory, so many bodies of water were not an option. There were two lakes to choose from, although the first one was rejected immediately after I arrived and saw that there was hardly a spot there that wasn't occupied by carp anglers.

Wrong weather report

Since I preferred to have some peace and quiet, I went to water number two, where the situation looked different. No carp anglers in sight, just a few predatory fishermen that shouldn't bother me. I moved to a spot that had lots of interesting fishing opportunities and was easily accessible by car. I sometimes set the rods over long distances because I thought I had found particularly good spots there... However, the first fish on the first morning on the rod closest to the bank made me question the theory again and I looked for new spots at a similar depth I had success in the morning. The weather forecast had really deceived me up to that point and instead of the forecast rain there was pure sunshine and apart from a tench there was no further action during the day.

The predicted rain came a little late on the second night. Although not with the intensity and duration announced, it still had the hoped-for effect on the fish. During the breaks in the rain I was able to catch two nice mirror fish, both of which bit on the low rods. The next day turned into a late summer bathing day again and so there was no further contact with fish until the next day.

German punctuality?!

It was the fourth day - the day I was supposed to get my lab results. So I drove again for 45 minutes. to the lab to be told they didn't have any results for me yet. Nothing to do with German punctuality - I should have thought so. In this corner the clocks just tick a little slower. My desire to spend any more time in the region over the upcoming weekend was limited, so I agreed with an employee to contact her by phone on Monday to discuss the findings with her.

Short stop at the canal

I had a meeting with my French friend Aurelien coming up. Who, like every year, goes on vacation for two weeks at the large Teufelssee here in the south to fish, meet friends and celebrate the still prevailing summer. So we headed towards the Mediterranean at the weekend!

On my way to the sea, on whose coast I wanted to stop somewhere, shortly before my destination I noticed a small canal that ran along the road I was driving on. After a quick Google check, I knew that I was allowed to go night fishing there and that there should be carp there. Even though the size and location (so close to the salt water) told me otherwise, I still wanted to give it a try and quickly threw out three rods with which I would block the path of passing carp. In fact, a short time later I was able to catch my first wild canal shad. Over the course of the night two more, even smaller sculpins followed and I caught the last one in the morning shortly before I continued my journey to the sea.

On the Mediterranean…

So on Saturday afternoon I was lying in the sun on the Mediterranean, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds. I didn't really know what to do with the day that had begun and somehow I felt a bit out of place in the middle of a crowded parking lot. After briefly contacting my friend Aurelien, who was on his way to “Lac du Diable”, my goal for the day was set and I got behind the wheel for another 1.5 hours. In the evening I greeted Aurelien and his buddy in a parking lot by the lake.

After a happy reunion, we checked out a few places nearby in the dark and discovered that even though the holiday season was over, there was a lot going on at the lake. Certainly also due to the summer weekend. The two boys moved into a place they had chosen that night. I wanted to take it a little more leisurely and first spent a night in the parking lot so that I could explore the conditions in the light and in peace the next day...