Vantastic Lukas: Perfect time

Known areas

After a quick shop on Sunday lunchtime to stock up on the food I needed for the coming days, I arrived a short time later at the stretch of water I was already familiar with. I had been fishing here with Michael about 2 weeks ago and was able to catch my PB straight away. Apart from a nice French carp angler who was packing up to change spots, there was no one here and I was able to move to my favorite spot in peace.

This time I focused on the flat weedy areas with the exception of the fourth rod. An action-free first day and the following night at least gave me enough rest to spend some time in front of the laptop. I needed this time alone more and more and it felt good, often the fishing almost took a back seat and the rods often lay untouched in the water for many hours. A circumstance that has often turned out to be positive on my tour this year. This gave me more and more confidence to give things time underwater. Of course, this “tactic” depends on the water.

In this case it worked again and just as I had prepared a fresh strawberry and cream bowl, a rod that I placed in front of a herb field came off in the middle of the afternoon in bright sunshine. The fish's first escape was so brutal that I couldn't slow it down and I immediately suspected a large catfish at the other end. I got into the boat and drove towards the fish as it had swum into the thick weeds. After a short but vigorous fight I was able to net an extremely dark mirror fish - but not a catfish!! I was fascinated by this coloring and took a few pictures in the pleasantly warming sun.

What's going on there?!

As I brought my rod back towards the Krautfeld, I suddenly noticed lots of dark ridges pushing through the shallow water. I was stunned for a short time and just watched these creatures floating quietly. The fish gathered there in the large herb field due to the rapidly warming water of the last two days. There were carp everywhere and I kept seeing clouds of frightened fish next to my boat, trying to get away with a few flicks of their fins.

This sight made me change my entire tactics and I mounted conspicuous Choddys on 3 of 4 rods, which I placed in very shallow weed gaps. I was sure that the first bite wouldn't be long in coming. It was just the perfect time!!

It was already getting dark when one of my freshly laid choddy rods spoke up while I was still checking my fourth and only deep rod. Unfortunately it was a false alarm and I had no contact when I picked up the rod.

During the night I caught a nice mirror fish and a tench, which was probably my “tench PB”. In the morning, while I was still dozing around, another rod came off, another powerful mirror. All fish were full to the brim, indicating the spawning season was imminent. However, the water temperatures suggested something completely different... During the course of the day I was able to catch another nice sculpin that couldn't swim past the small fluorescent-colored trap. After the few warm days the weather cooled down a bit and due to a fishless night I suspected that the fish were leaving this shallow area of ​​water. When the French angler I met on the first day came by in the morning and he told me in conversation that the fish were spawning, I didn't want to believe his words at first, but I was completely shocked and convinced myself of the spectacle. In the herb field about 150 meters away, the water was bubbling and it was estimated that hundreds of backs were struggling through the shallow water. I was so engrossed in my work on the laptop that I didn't notice anything. Because of the cool and overcast weather, I wouldn't have dreamed of being able to see the fish spawning. The current water temperature was currently only 14.5 degrees!!! However, the few warm days before seemed to have put the fish in such a loving mood that they weren't bothered much by the cold water and the bad weather.

Instructive days

I knew that the actions were now certain - if at all, only sporadic. Nevertheless, I found it interesting to be on the water at exactly this time and to experience this short period of time and to observe how the fact of spawning affects the biting behavior and how the now cooler weather affects the spawning process. The fish were spawning for 2 days until a sharp drop in temperature of around 10 degrees caused the water temperature to cool down again to 12 degrees, which meant that the love game was broken off or the spawning business had already ended and the area had to be left. At the time of spawning, until I left two days later when the weather collapsed, I was able to catch a full mirror mother, which was probably not quite as developed as many of its peers.

If I hadn't witnessed this spawning spectacle with my own eyes, I would have thought anyone crazy who tried to tell me that fish reproduced in this water temperature. I was once again disabused and shown that nothing is set in stone. Each process is very individual and cannot be repeated exactly.

A day break

I wanted to use the very cool and rainy day to pick up the spare parts I had recently received from Sebastien and spend a relaxing day with him on his farm.

As is to be expected when the material is subjected to long-term use, things break or stop working every now and then. During the session with Michael two weeks ago, one of my paddles broke during a slightly stronger rowing action. The delivery of a replacement took place without any problems, quickly and without any problems. My petrol stove also stopped working during the session with my friend Starki about 3 weeks ago and after several attempts at repairs on the water, I finally requested a replacement delivery for the defective part I had diagnosed. This fuel hose also found its way to Sebastien some time later. The fact of having a French address is invaluable and would make such matters much more difficult.

And back again

When I spent a night in the van on Sebastien's farm and had ordered a parcel delivery to the nearest parcel shop the next day, I decided to drive again to the “spawning site” where I had been able to catch so well in the last few days. I wanted to see how the fish behaved now. Were they still in the area? Are they still eating or are they resting after the exertions of the last few days? I didn't know how the previous spawning process and the change in the weather affected the activity of the fish and I wanted to find out. Finally, there were still a few days to get by in which I expected two packages to be delivered to Sebastien.

For the first night I stuck with my last chosen tactic and again placed 3 rods in the same places as the previous days with prominent Choddy's. However, some fed boilies that I found in the knee-deep water of the once well-running spot led me to the conclusion that the fish were no longer feeding in the area. The water temperature, which was now 12 degrees, was an additional factor that made me suspect the fish were in deeper areas.

Spot change

After I had a quiet night, as I had already guessed, I walked along the bank on a sunny Monday afternoon to maybe spot a few fish and lo and behold, after a closer look, I was able to find a few fish that were inconspicuously seeking shelter under a large tree lying in the water . My hunting instinct was immediately awakened and a short time later I reeled in the rods to make a quick move “around the corner”. In this area of ​​water the water was three degrees warmer due to its location and this time apparently encouraged the bream to prepare for their spawning. Somehow a twisted world, but in a large herbaceous area that I inspected closely with my polar glasses, I found tons of these conspecifics, which apparently reached an impressive size. Unfortunately, I couldn't spot any carp among these almost confusingly large fish. Nevertheless, I wanted to try my luck with 2 rods in this “bream area”. It is known that carp always stay close to spawning relatives in order to eat their spawn. So I wanted to use my time and verify this fact to be correct. In my previous fishing, for example in the large waters of Mecklenburg, I was never able to confirm this theory.

After a second unsuccessful night, I was a bit disillusioned that I had no action near the holding area that I had identified the day before. I watched the fish relaxing there two more times during the day - but I noticed that they were resting under the tree without doing anything and didn't exactly appear to be looking for food. My hope lay in the night because I then suspected that I would leave the “safe zone” and go to my nearby feeding place.

Interruption at work

In the afternoon, when I was repairing my bike rack on the car, which was a few meters behind my fishing spot, my radio box suddenly interrupted me with a continuous tone. With a quick sprint I jumped into the water and drove towards the fish that had taken my bait at the “bream weed field”. A mirror with a completely different body shape than the fish I've caught here so far found its way into my landing net. It had the shape of a typical river fish, a huge mouth that its counterparts twice as heavy didn't even have. Each individual fin was of a completely individual size and shape, a rustic fish - it was probably already in the process of being dismantled. I was very happy about this, in my opinion, very old creature and I finished my interrupted work on the bike rack with satisfaction.

The fish once again bit on a rod that had been lying untouched for more than 24 hours. This "tactic", which is being used more and more frequently, actually came about because I've been spending a lot of time on my laptop lately and I therefore keep my rods untouched for at least 24 hours It was often 48 hours or more. Of course, this doesn't always work and you should take many other factors into account, but in the waters I've fished so far in the spring it's been more and more successful and larger fish in particular have noticeably often gotten lost on my unhooking mat. Whether this is just a coincidence or it is actually due to the long “lay time” can only be guessed at. However, as long as you have confidence in the durability of your hook baits and the good placement of your rig, there is not necessarily much to say against it. Only the inner restlessness and the usually insufficient composure often make you have to “take a look” and check the rods. Most of the time I noticed that everything was still in order.

He tensed up

In the middle of my deep sleep, my bite alarm suddenly woke me up again. The bite was untypical for carp and after a short contact I thought it was a bycatch. Since the fish was biting on its own bank and there was a lot of wood in the water, I jumped into the boat to pull the fish a little into the open water. A short time later, after a somewhat strange, catfish-like fight, I once again saw a bulging - not spawned - mirrorfish in the light of the headlamp.

After landing the net, I prepared the mat and the camera to take a few photos. As soon as I touched the fish it convulsed so badly that I became worried about its condition. I just took a quick photo of the fish in the mat so I could have a quick try in the water. After a few more “relaxed” photos, I let the boy swim again. Maybe the stress of the spawning season or the wildly fluctuating temperatures had something to do with this behavior... or carp can also have diseases such as epilepsy... I don't know. In any case, the well-being of the fish was my priority here and I made even more haste to go ashore.

Time to move on

I spent two more days with changeable weather, moderate winds and mild temperatures just under 20 degrees at this point without any further action when, after a total of 5 nights on the water, I set off back to Sebastien to receive two packages that I was already eagerly awaiting.

After a short stay with Sebastien, I didn't have an exact plan where I wanted to spend the night that evening. I just knew that I wanted to go to a new body of water in the Pre-Pyrenees the next day to check out the situation there, as I would be there with him the following week Christoph, a nice young man who I met last year at Salagou, to fish together.

Sebastien gave me a tip for where to stay which I drove straight to and reached about 20 minutes later. A small lake very close by where I actually just wanted to eat dinner and then go to sleep at night. But since I found a place where I could fish straight from the car, three rods with the freshly spooled new reels ended up in the water. If you can already find such parking spaces, I can't park without action directly on the bank of a body of water where night fishing is allowed. After a quick preparation of the rods and a proper supper in the van, I wrote a little more on this text and then went to bed... it was finally approaching midnight. Good night….

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Best regards,
Daniel & Alex