I had the pleasure of spending the night from Saturday July 9 to Sunday July 10 with Matthieu Mailletas, one of the hunters from my big game hunting company and also an experienced carp angler, on the banks of the Isle River , in the canton of Montpon -Ménestérol, in the department of Dordogne, for a carp fishing trip with land lines. Matthieu has been fishing for carp with “no kill” since his youth and he has been practicing this activity for 15 years and has collaborated with several special press titles for several years.
We arrived at the place, a green bank decorated with trees and young branches of hazel and oak trees, around 6 pm. Matthieu then grabbed his equipment from his car and began setting up his station. After planting rod supports with electronic detectors that produce an audible alarm in case of a fish bite, Matthieu takes his electric motor boat and is accompanied by his dog Cyrius, a beautiful setter, went over the “pits” of the river, located. thanks to his sonar, to bait the fish there with Nutricarpe products, the only bait used by our fishermen.
When the proper fishing points are equipped with “red-crayfish” and “banana” bait boilies, delicious carp love, our fisherman came to the bank and began to put his three lines, all with a rig. attached to the fish and therefore remain at the level of the outer edges of the animal’s mouth so that it is not hurt and can be removed more easily once caught. Then, Matthieu launched his three lines with the precision of a sniper and it sank into the water in the exact places where he had just been baiting.
While the carp angler finished placing his rods on their supports and adjusting his bite detection unit, I modestly participated in our installation by unfolding the fishing equipment, folding chair and coffee table, and placing in this small grassy ravine. It was around 7pm and the wait had begun. While waiting, we opened a good bottle of white wine from Alsace, cooled it in a cooler, and started to fire up the barbecue to cook our meal, marinated wild boar chops, accompanied by moderate crisps but washed down with a delicious little red wine from Bergerac.
The wait was too long I believe and our angler was beginning to think that the scorching weather conditions we were experiencing might discourage the fish from coming to our lines, suddenly, around 3:10 p.m. dawn, the farthest line to the left of our post brings out the characteristic sound of a very straightforward touch. Jumping like a spring, Matthew immediately grabbed it and in an instant hooked the fish. Immediately, he warned me: this is a big buffalo we have there.
To avoid hurting his catch in the fierce fight to bring it back to the edge, Matthieu got back into his boat and came to the middle of the river to retrieve his fish. The fight only lasted about two minutes and after quickly placing him in his landing net, he brought him back to our bank. It is a beautiful mirror carp weighing no less than 17kg 500 on the scale. The animal, which was weighed and photographed, was returned to the water where it quickly dived to disappear into the darkness of the water.
We continued our wait while enjoying a good glass of local plum brandy which we toasted to celebrate this wonderful catch. Finally around 4 am the middle line took over and again Matthieu reacted to the second, took his cane in hand and walked with the assurance and calmness of the old troops. When the animal was caught, our fisherman got into his boat and got the overhang of the animal which was taken out of the water more easily than before. It is, this time, a common carp of very fine size.
Returning to the beach, our buffalo fisherman weighed and removed the 12kg 500 animal before releasing it into the river where it quickly recovered and quickly disappeared into the depths. Tired of us, we spread out our duvets and lay down on the grass for a few hours of well-deserved rest after his two great night shots. We woke up in the morning and after a good coffee, Mathieu dismantled his equipment and we parted, enjoying this beautiful night with carp, the first for me, and promising to renew soon the experience that gave me in the taste of this technical, sporty. and friendly fishing when it is practiced in good company.