The event, called the Mercury Fishing Cup (MFC), was set up by the FFPS/Carnassier in association with Mercury Marine, under the aegis of the Fédération des pêches sportives, with the support of the Fédération Départementale Pêche 27 on the Seine at Poses, on November 11 and 12, 2023. Part of the FFPS/Carnassier calendar, the event attracted 53 crews and was held in difficult weather conditions. Over ?25,000 was up for grabs.
40 volunteers, including organizers, referees and stewards, supported the event. Several Mercury Marine team members and brand ambassadors were on hand to support the organization.
A competition in difficult conditions
Rain, wind and flooding Seine (600 m3/s) with dark water were the conditions in which the first edition of the MFC took place. The French champion's title was contested over a single leg divided into two heats of 7 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday on the Seine, over a 27 km course between Poses and Les Andelys.
Starts were given in waves of 11 boats. High-powered bass boats were the first to reach the best positions. That's why it's so important to know the area well, in addition to the technique and strategy adopted. The maximum speed on the reach was 20 km/h, with two speed zones in which boats could go up to 60 km/h.
The fish species counted were pike (over 60 cm), zander (over 50 cm) and perch (over 30 cm).
Because of the difficult conditions, most of the competitors were in sheltered areas such as dock entrances or not far from the edges. They fished slightly off-center and in the current, between 4 and 5 meters, where the biggest fish were active.
Jean-Baptiste Morel and Nicolas Noël fished vertically for pike-perch with large, fine white or yellow lures, clearly visible in the heavily tinted water.
Jean-Baptiste Morel declares: "With a good draw, we set off in the first wave, an advantage we didn't really use since for the first 30 minutes we adopted a reverse strategy, but we soon got back to our initial plan! We'll keep this strategy of big lures in the juice both days for a total number of 40 fish."
The ranking
The awards ceremony was held at the Manoir de Portejoie, a few kilometers from the event venue on Sunday evening. Among the first teams to win prizes were Alain Marragou and Nicolas Delabarre, who received the Fair Play Award and a ?1,000 gift voucher from Mercury. Aurélie Teyssier and Cédric Vermandé, representing Lowrance, Major Partner of the MFC 2023, presented an HDS Pro handset with Active Imaging HD 3-in-1 probe to each team that scored the biggest perch, zander and pike of the competition. Thierry Lemonnier and Sylvain Catteau were rewarded with a 51 cm perch; Nolan Roux and Stéphane Hermann with an 81 cm zander; Michael Bazière and Vincent Rollet with a 93 cm pike.
In the top 10, we find :
10th - David Fasquel and Lenny Fasquel, father and son,
9th - Anthony Abadie and Christophe Larrey,
8th - Thierry Noël and Tanguy Demule, Champions de France 2022,
7th - Florian Duchesne and Kévin Dumontier,
6th - Vincent Lopez and Julien Himbert,
5th - Léo Ridel and Achille Wibault,
Brice Brothier and Gwenael Mary, the real surprises of the competition, climbed to third place after starting in sixth place on the first day. They were rewarded with a ?1,000 FishXplorer gift voucher for their outstanding performance.
In second place - and second on both legs - were Michael Bazière and Vincent Rollet, who won a ?2,000 gift voucher donated by Pecheur.com and presented by Stéphane Durand-Robin.
Finally, in first place, Jean-Baptiste Morel and Nicolas Noël were crowned French carnivore fishing champions in 2023 boats. The duo won both legs hands down, with a total of 40 fish, most of them large pike-perch. They pocketed a cheque for ?10,000, presented by Michel Polydor, President of the FFPS/Carnassiers and Yann Diquerreau, as well as the Mercury Fishing Cup Trophy, in the shape of the famous V8 Pro XS motor that is the pride of the brand in the world of sport fishing. A model used during the competition by the new champions.
First review
"By investing in the French Carnivorous Boat Fishing Championship, we also wanted to encourage brands to invest in real competition open to all," says Yann Diquerreau.
"We had announced this competition as the freshwater fishing event of the year, and I think we were right, given the success of the MFC and the very positive feedback from competitors, brands and institutions. This success is the fruit of several months' work with Michel Polydor and Geoffray Juillard to bring maximum visibility to a sporting event that awards the national title. We've also increased the media profile of the event, thanks to our unprecedented communications and marketing strategy. Last but not least, we're very proud to have been the first to broadcast 6 hours of sport fishing competition live."
The Mercury Fishing Cup in figures
- 6 hours live
- 12 cameras in total
- 2 studio animators
- 53 teams/boats at the start
- 106 competitors
- 40 volunteers from the FFPS
- 27 km course
- 13 hours of fishing on both legs
- 25,000 in prizes, including a cheque for ?10,000 for the champions
- 6 teams rewarded
- 340 fish counted
- 204 120 mm total fish length
- 930 mm for the largest fish (a pike)
- 510 mm for the largest pole
- 810 mm for the largest pikeperch
- 600.4 mm for medium grip
- 6.7 takes per team
