At the start of the day, light levels are low due to the fog. Did this influence your strategy, particularly in terms of fishing depth?
Tony : No, we didn't change a thing. We stayed in the same zone as the first day. There's no more wind, so the fog has settled in. We can't really see anything, visibility must be 20 meters, and we're making good progress thanks to the GPS.
You can't see it on the picture, but it takes us a while to get going, we had a problem with the 4X4 and by the time we start fishing we've already lost a good 1h30, then it's hard to get going. Probably because we're a bit lost in this mess!
So Relax steals the show with a fish on the first cast! That's your trademark!
Tony : Yes, they're off to a great start! When I watched the episode, it's true that I was a little hot under the collar, because I thought they might have found something really good, but it's true that it ran out of steam a little over the course of the episode. It fishes close to the bank, so they must have found a pattern that works well.
Could you remind us of the difference in regulations between the 1 er and the 3rd ème day please?
Tony : On day 3, anything goes! Linear, but also sharpshooting and vertical. The latter two techniques are forbidden on the first day.
You fish vertically while Stéphane fishes linearly. Have you noticed any difference in yield?
Tony : We chose this strategy because we're allowed to do both. It allows us to see what works best. But there's little difference in results, especially over the first 2/3 hours of fishing.
Stéphane sweeps and catches the active fish around the boat and I try to trigger the others who are a little more passive. It's a complementary approach that allows us to multiply our catches. I really think it's a good tactical choice on our part!
On that day, I fished vertically because I'm the one with the remote control on the boat, but we could have done it the other way round. We both like these different techniques and are comfortable with them!
Have you tried sharpshooting in open water to find bigger pike-perch?
Tony : So for the time being, I'm actually sharpshooting. I fish between two waters in 13 meters. Stéphane fishes shallower, because he goes down the break in a straight line.
I've found fish that have taken off in 5-6 metres, but you can't really say they're any bigger!
Even in prefishing! The biggest ones do exist, but there aren't many of them!
Nay's can't find the peach, isn't that good for you?!
Tony : Not really. We're only seeing 2 hours of fishing here, they've still got 8 behind them, so it's not really worrying! They've rarely worked miracles during the day, so I think they'll perform well on the next episode!
And it's important to remember that the extra point will be awarded to the cumulative top five over 3 days, not to the biggest fish.
Shimano hasn't even started fishing yet!
Tony : The cut-off time is midnight, and they choose to fish only at night and not exploit their 10 hours of fishing time. That's why I'm not worried when I see Nay's in trouble during the day. Things will settle down after that!
So you end up with 24 fish on this half-day and Relax is at 13, normally you're safe?
Tony : We set ourselves a target of 30 fish for the day, with 6 to go and 3 hours of fishing ahead of us! We were really worried at first, because we had a really hard time getting started, but then we found a comfortable cruising pace!
See you next week for the conclusion!
Tony: Yes, last episode and we'll know who wins this 3 ème opus. We're in the game!
Abu's fishing from the shore has gone through the roof, and Shimano doesn't have a monstrous top five from the shore compared with ours, so the 3-day total may be in our favor. They can go out and catch a really big fish, but only 3 or 4.
LMAB is in the peach and can also go for points on this 3 ème day!
