Fishing reports for early July

Some nice carp caught to 37 lbs but no activity from the catfish

For the first week this month, we welcomed Bill & Steve aka the catfish brothers who have been coming to Beausoleil for many years. On arrival, the air temperature was 30°C and was only going to get worse mid week hitting 36°C! The lake temperature shot up to 27°C (in the morning) and the air temperature didn’t drop below 20°C at night. It wasn’t until Thursday that things calmed down a bit but even then it was still 28°C. As a result the fishing was rock hard. To make it even harder, they are only fishing for 10 massive catfish using traditional catfishing tactics. Not that the rock hard fishing spoiled their holiday at all! They still had a wonderful time, cooking outside and relaxing. We hope for better conditions when they return next year.

The guys said: ‘Sadly fishing wasn’t great, but only to be expected given that temperatures were in the upper 90’s. Some signs of activity in the last two days with a couple of runs, with most being seen in the bay in front of the house, and catfish corner. I would expect the following week to be quite productive if the temperatures remain more reasonable.  Baits that provided the most interest were bottom fished pellets and popped up worms. As always, Matt and Ren were the perfect hosts. The house was as lovely as ever and, as always, spotless. Can’t think of much I’d improve although, with the heatwave, air conditioning would have been awesome. Looking forward to our next annual visit next year’. 

I think the fact that this is our 3rd visit speaks for itself. You both work so hard and it shows. We love our little haven and cannot wait for our 4th visit. Keep doing what you do ♥️

The following week we welcomed back Phil & Emma to the venue for their 3rd trip. Phil absolutely smashed it last time with 17 carp. This is a rare and special feat that hasn’t been achieved many times in the last 15 years so I did have to calm Phil down a bit when he expressed hopes of beating that score 🤣 

Because of the extremely high temperatures of late, oxygen was a little down from what it has been. It wasn’t bad at 5.2 mg/l but I decided to put the big pumps on anyway to move the water about and beat up the algae that’s starting to return. 

On the fishing front Phil caught steadily all week long with a couple of carp per day. He lost a couple but the action was steady so the next bite was never far away. On the size front, he had a nice mix of twenties and thirties. The highlight being the elusive Box Common at 37 lbs. This was extra special because he caught it while I was on site! What a star 👏

Bait & Rigs

On the bait front Phil used plenty of particles, boilies and a few tiger nuts. On the rig front he used my original shock and run rig and the bait loop rig. He also made up a mono version of this rig which is something I used to good effect in my public fishing last year. Most rigs were placed with a bait boat but he also made good use of a bushwhacker to accurately set traps along the island margin.

What was surprising was that 8 out of the 9 carp he caught came from one small spot inches from the island margin. As I always warn newcomers to the place, this place can be spotty! Phil kept his fishing simple and effective and the results speak for themselves. Excellent work sir.

Emma had a super relaxing time, sharing in the fishing fun but also enjoyed a nice trip out to Vitre and a good lunch. It was wonderful to see them again and we look forward to welcoming them back in a couple of years.