Kayak fishing near Pornichet
Like every year, I spent a few days with one of my sons near Pornichet. Of course, the kayak was on the gallery, and he was right to come - they know how to entertain in Pornichet. As on the tip of Brittany, the weather left much to be desired in the summer of 2024. We left Brest in the rain and arrived in Pornichet in the rain.
I let 3 days pass before I could put the kayak in the water. The tides are high, so I take the kids out on the foreshore for an impromptu science lesson. And the fine weather finally arrives. On a tide of 90, I take to the water with a beach start, it's the end of the rising tide and I have to count the period of the waves to launch myself without turning around. 7 waves follow each other before a calm of three, I count for 5 minutes to be sure of the trick. And off I go, putting the kayak far enough out into the water, jumping in without tipping over, grabbing the paddle, and quickly, quickly, moving forward before the next train of waves arrives.
Once I've crossed the few dozen metres that are causing problems, I can switch my pedals and go. Heading in the opposite direction, towards Bagueneau and Pierre percée. I'd spotted a nice plateau with 3 to 6 meters of water above where I'd hooked a few nice fish. During the first hour, the fish were modest in size and biting, some of them only just reaching the mesh, but here they were strong and their defense gave a good feeling. I register a nice echo on the sounder, cast behind me, a little across, just enough time to pass over the detection and that's the penalty, a big cartridge!
Sea bass and sea bream records for 2024
Given the bend in my 12/42 gram, it's a nice fish. The tusk is as good as the fish. After an initial surface run where I can finally see the size of the fish, it dives as soon as it sees the kayak. He's either a vicious or an experienced customer. Several times he'll do the trick of diving under the kayak, in the direction of the pedals. But he's caught on my most powerful rod and I can reasonably restrain him. I finally manage to tip him into the landing net and get him into the kayak. He measures 74 cm in length, my record for the 2024 session. I estimate the weight at a good 5 kgs, a perfect specimen of Pornichétain sea bass, full of power, the mouth of the Loire is not far away and the area is exposed to strong currents.
As the tide begins to ebb, I leave this area and head for Les Evens, where I'll have my snack break. Before taking my break, I circumnavigate the islet twice. On a 13-metre seafloor, there's another nice detection just below the kayak. I lowered an Astushad mounted on a 20-gram Talabreizh head. It doesn't even touch the bottom, it's gobbled up, violent start, but no headbutts, again, nice fight and several starts that make me think of a nice pike-perch. In fact, it was a big gilthead bream, a 50 cm fish that gobbled up the lure.
This is my second 2024 session record, and it's a bit of a surprise on this spot.
