Your last two spots were unsuccessful. Was fishing already difficult during the prefishing period?
Tony : It had been better. We knew we'd get fewer bites on these spots, but that we could catch bigger ones. We fished pelagic, but you can't see it on the screen. We fished the water layer in search of larger fish that might be active, 12 meters deep.
The fishing was done, so the objective was a big pelagic fish, and we were going for a touch. We could very well have stayed at the other station, rested a bit, had a barbecue and then gone back and maybe done the double again until the evening. Clearly we could have caught 80-90 fish without any problem, but there was no point, because the objective was to get 2 points from the shore.
But it's clear that, once again, there's always a team "out to get us"! This time, it was Shimano who fished very well and found the thing close to the edge very light. The other teams either didn't find it or weren't on the right water vein, but they clearly made the difference.
The analysis is intelligent, the others are fishing quite heavy and they are in light Texan on the edge. Freddy Harbort also caught a nice fish in the same conditions.
Shimano deprives us of this second point on the board, but the gaps in the top 5 are much smaller than in other years. We're at 329, like Nays, and Shimano is at 353. We've got a top 5 that's far from amazing, but that's the game!
20 cm on 5 fish, we're not ridiculous, but it's enough to deprive us of the second point that would have made us favourites for the final victory.
You can't see it on the picture, but we broke a very nice fish during the day. But as Dustin would say, you always miss the big one (Laughs). It's not a big deal in absolute terms, because it wouldn't have been enough to earn us another point.
Is it possible to fish 30 minutes after sunrise in Spain?
Tony : No, and we couldn't have postponed it until sunset for 2 reasons. We pushed on, but we were really very tired, really burnt out! You can see it in our faces! (Laughs) When you stop, you've still got a 3-hour drive behind you!
And then we also have our 10-hour statutory fishing time, so we couldn't fish any longer.
Opponents talk about the influence of changes in atmospheric pressure. What's your take on this for pike-perch?
Tony : Well, it has an influence, as it does on most species, but it also depends on location and environment. It's always the same, it can vary from one area to another.
In Spain, fish don't like change, they prefer stability, but that's just like everywhere else really! For me, change is always radical for fishing, because it takes time for the fish to adapt.
Shimano and Nay's fish with finess, do you also use this family of lures for linear fishing?
Tony : So yes, but only recently! I used to be a pro shad for linear fishing, but I'm now starting to use finesse lures with caudals that are flexible enough to react to the slightest twitch. More and more so, because it also sometimes allows me to have faster descents and vary the vibrations.
The animation is a little different, as you have to adapt to the pikeperch's desires and the lures chosen.
This episode shows that even at night, fishing for pike-perch is no simple matter!
Tony : Yes! We can see that even in areas where there are big fish and where they had succeeded in their prefishing, well, it's hard. Their analysis is good and Christophe Barrat says at one point that they don't feed all the time and that they don't necessarily come up to the edge! The night is long, they stopped fishing at midnight and maybe the activity started at 2 o'clock. It's still fishing! But it's true that it does break down the idea that night fishing is very easy!
This year, there aren't any 90 cm on board, but you have to put the church in the middle of the village, they still make very nice fish! An average of 350 cm is far from disgusting. What an exceptional spot!
Now the problem is that I think the spot is burnt out. Nay's was there the first season and now it must be very crowded. Even if it's an obvious spot from the outset for those who understand fishing, with its rocky spurs creating currents and counter-currents.
Do you agree with Freddy about the correlation between the presence of bream and pike-perch on the same spots?
Tony : Yes, I think it's a good indicator! When there are fish, roach or bream, if the spot is holding fish, it's interesting for all the fish. It means that the food or oxygen supply is good and that it's a profitable holding area for everyone. But as Freddy says, pike-perch don't necessarily eat it. Although I don't think the big pike-perch should be deprived of a plate from time to time.
Freddy knows what he's talking about, so you have to listen to him! When he says, for example, that big pike-perch prefer big lures, I'm convinced of that too! They're slower and need more protein, so you have to present them with something accordingly.
84 cm the biggest, it is a pretty fish but still nothing enormous on this day!
Tony : Not like the first day, in fact. We're no longer into the excesses and outsized fish of the first seasons (96 cm, 1m etc...), but I think that these fish are still there and that the fishing conditions mean that they don't catch them.
After all, these are areas where fishing pressure is high, so they may be more wary! But there's still some left, that's for sure, and in prefishing they're doing it a priori. They're just unlucky about the timing of the competition, and that's good for our business (Laughs!).
3 teams with 2 points, and if there's a tie at the end of the competition, the biggest fish determines the winner. In other words, it's going to be complicated for you!
Tony : Yes, we've known it all along, and that's the game! We all know we're not going to land a 95 cm fish in Spain, but we were hoping for a bonus point. Freddy knows it too and is going for a big fish and a 3rd point in these last episodes!
That's why we absolutely wanted this top 5 finish, because then we'd be forcing them to go for 2 points on the last day, and then it wouldn't be the same story for them! But Shimano and Abu Garcia know very well now that they've only got one point to make! Because they know that LMAB and Nay's won't score 3 points on the last day. They start with a psychological advantage, because they know they've only got that one point to go.
But Bon Nay's and LMAB aren't going to let them win, and for us the best thing is for one of these two teams to get 2 points or for them to share them. So get behind Nay's and LMAB next week!
Well, maybe we won't be doing the numbers thing either! There are also teams like Relax in Spain who could score big. We don't have the results any more, so nothing can be taken for granted.
But what makes us proud is that we've seen over the last 2 seasons that just because we're in Spain doesn't mean we're scoring like crazy! You really have to find them.
Relax makes 14 fish from the shore, it's great fishing and we mustn't forget it. Last year we didn't do that!
