Fly Punk - Issue 5

L
ast week my partner Antony
and I fished a large lake in
the middle southern part of
France. It was like many out there, a
‘big carp’ coarse fishing venue and
the third time of visiting. However,
we had it all to ourselves, set in the
middle of the countryside with small
stream tributaries to discover, this
pretty place is full of wildlife and
forestry with rolling hills, huge bulls
and cows, large hairs, toads, butterflies
and the odd wild dog. No one
fly fishes it and so I was super keen
to see what I could possibly catch
with dries and nymphs.
I already knew I was up against
hooking a carp on a fly. Restricted
swims and boilie fed fish who are
rarely seen on the top presented
a huge challenge. I can fish for
‘smallies’ all day long and relish
stalking and searching out their
hidey holes. It gives me the
opportunity to try out a range of
tactics with presentation, using
micro gear, casting and just
making the most of being in the
moment. For me, this can be just
watching the water and waiting,
observing the weather changes,
deciding precisely where my
next cast will
be or being
d i s t r a c t e d
by the giant
hairy dragon
flies and
insects that
whizz past.
Rudd, roach
and hybrids
c r u i s e d
around in
small groups
and fell for mini sedges and
little black size 18 beaded leach
patterns I had tied. I managed
to wade in one shallow part of
the lake to discover pockets of
nesting rainbow perch guarding
their round patch of cleared sand
beds. Perch of the stripy kind,
lurked in the shadows and the
‘poisson chat’ were apparently
multiplying out of control. I aimed
to catch a little French catfish on
a big yellow jig nymph and to my
absolute joy, I caught just the one!
After 3 days of catching small to
tiny fish I found a spot to at least
attempt to catch one of the 20 koi
in the lake. Armed with a weighted
orange blob and 2nd cast, Wham!
A bright orange fin and back
zoomed off into the depths
hooked on a size 16 hook. I kind
of just froze with a look of ‘what
do I do know?’ I just held the fly
rod in both hands for 20 seconds
before it probably just flicked that
super strong head and got off!! I
couldn’t help but enjoy the fact at
least I saw the koi and I hooked it!
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