Preselections: Day 1, the set-up
And here we are, after the reminder of the rules and the numerical draw, we could join our fishing posts for this first round (on 4) Tuesday from 3 pm till 7 pm.
Marseillan is a beach where the water level is low over a long distance but the presence of sandbanks on the first 200 meters offers very interesting variations of relief! When I arrived at my location of the day, this Tuesday June 8th, I was doubtful. I have in front of me only one very long sand bank! A typology on which I had not fished during the trainings...
I decide to take a little height on the dunes to better observe the nuances of relief. With the help of my polarizing glasses, I can see a hole between 1m and 1,30 m high (which I will confirm thanks to the bathers) in the first forty meters, then a sand bank starts and disappears only at more than 150 meters after the shore!
The trainings had announced us the strong presence of mullets and it is this species that I was going to target. The mullet likes the heat, that's why it is usually found near the shore. But swimming on the sandbanks is also usual for him. The hole in front of me will be interesting to prospect but I decide to skim the sandbar first.
Prospecting
While I vary the fishing distances, the lengths of the leaders, two things do not change: the baits and the floating beads. Indeed, mullets are surface fish and particularly appreciate the worms called "half-hard". Some sparidae wandering around, I present a nice sand worm on my trainard from time to time because the first objective is not to finish empty-handed so everything is good to take! And it pays because after 1h30 of fishing, I put in the dry a small royal sea bream of 19cm. That's done, let's move on! I know that in my area, small mullets have already been caught and my neighbor Cindy Bonvoisin, a friend and an excellent fisherwoman, has just caught two of them.
So I cast far enough away trying to have a smooth motion so that my fragile baits don't rip off in the air. And I prospect every 2 to 3 minutes by turning the crank of my reel once or twice. I stretch and relax my nylon to challenge their suspicion and check if I get a hit. And then the tip comes alive! I reel in a 36cm mullet, one of the biggest in my area at the time. It puts me back in the race because a big mullet equals two smaller ones.
The calm before the storm
Then the emptiness, nothing more. Nothing from the neighbors either. I know I'm in the middle of the ranking at this point in the race. It's not bad but I don't take it for granted and I tell myself that a second big mullet would allow me to get into the Top 3 of the sector and every point is precious! So, I decide to change my rod, nylon diameter, rig and sinker and I send as far as possible! I arrive at the limit of the sandbank, I like it rather well. There is one hour left before the end, it must work! And there, my line relaxes: it is typical of a mullet catch, it means that it swims towards the edge. I hold my line and I see it jump away! Yes, it's hanging! I go up carefully because my nylon is thin and once my lead is a few meters from the edge, I see that I have doubled some nice mullets! Verdict: 35 and 36cm. I take back the lead of my sector but I know that Cindy, my neighbor, can reach the same casting distance so I stay focused and now that I found the bank, I track down others. And so two mullets of 35 and 36cm will follow in the next two strokes of the rod. As I expected, Cindy also finds the solution and takes out some mullets. The rush will have lasted 30 minutes, it was not necessary to miss this passage. Verdict: Cindy has 6 mullets and I have 5 but they are all bigger. The last 30 minutes will take place in the greatest calm, no more a single fish is taken out and 19h sounds, it is the end of the round. It is quickly confirmed by the stewards: I win my sector and the round (since the first one of the other sector has less weight than me). I'm going to greet my friend Cindy with whom I led this little healthy and stimulating fight. Because winning is good but fighting with the best is even better. Thanks to her for this nice sport moment!
I am delighted to start the competition in the lead but there are still 3 rounds to go and nothing is won yet, we will have to be consistent. We have to stay focused and determined.
Here are the rankings:
On the men's side
The men fish in Marseillan Est, on the other side of the channel, but mullet are also omnipresent. For most of them, the fishing was done in the first 100 meters, prospecting around the sandbanks. We note that all the competitors have caught at least one fish, proof of perseverance and that everything has been tried to save the empty-handed.
Here are the rankings:
The second round takes place this Wednesday from 5pm-9pm. Nothing is lost or won yet for anyone so give it your all!
Details of the competitors' fishing can be found HERE: https://ffpsborddemer.asso-web.com/
