Two mornings of competition
The two days of competition run from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on the morning of Friday October 4 and Saturday October 5 at Grand Pavois La Rochelle, with Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Friday and Saturday afternoons devoted to sea trials and onboard electronics training alongside pro-staffs and brands.
In the end, 90 sea bass will be counted in mesh size (editor's note: the legal mesh size for sea bass and speckled bass is 42 cm), representing a total of 4,572 points or centimetres, or 45.72 metres of sea bass caught and returned to the water as quickly as possible.
Weather-wise, the situation was relatively straightforward, with a prevailing south-easterly wind due to the presence of a high-pressure system over the Atlantic, placing La Rochelle on its southern edge. As a result, the organizers decided to move the race from Sunday to Saturday in order to take advantage of this weather, before the arrival of a rain front on Sunday.
A good idea, since the wind will remain predominantly south-easterly, strengthening slightly on Saturday and opening up the main zone for both legs of the Grand Pavois Fishing 2024. This is a godsend after so many years of prioritizing the fallback zone (i.e. downwind of the Ile de Ré, sheltered from the westerly swell and low-pressure south-westerly winds).
What is the main zone?
This area is located on the Pertuis d'Antioche, which stretches between the southern part of the Ile de Ré and the northern part of the Ile d'Oléron, encompassing the Chassiron lighthouse and its Antioche beacon, the Chanchardon light and the Chauveau plateau. A vast area offering a wide range of fishing possibilities and techniques, from powerfishing with hard lures, to fishing on the fly and scratching with soft lures in depths ranging from a few 50 centimetres on the banks and oyster beds to over 10 metres in the Pertuis. Needless to say, everything was possible and there was something for every technique.
First round
Round 1 of the Grand Pavois Fishing 2024 will be launched from the Port des Minimes in La Rochelle at 8:05 am on Friday, October 4. A number of options are rapidly taking shape between those who favor the south and those who favor the north. In concrete terms, two fleets stand out: those wishing to fish the area around the Antioche beacon and the Chassiron lighthouse, and those opting for the north side of the Ile de Ré along the coast, in the Martray cove or towards the Chanchardon light. Clearly, the fishing techniques are different, with the former fishing on the fly and scratching with heavy heads, and the latter powerfishing with hard lures and light soft lures on cast and drag.
Bird hunting was observed on both zones, but very often in very little water, making access to them dangerous, especially as a small swell breaking over Antioche was still present on Friday. The Suzuki Fishing Team 1 crew, led by Sébastien Mongruel, Jérôme Taboulet and Sébastien Gaillard, finished first in the round, fishing the South zone with a quota of five fish, for a total of 293 points, an average of 58.6 cm per bass. Pochon Fishing led by Mathieu Deschamps, Michaël Bazière and Arnaud Rizzi Anderson also made quota with 257 points, while Shimano with Thibault Petit, Quentin Rothe and Goulven Crehan came 3rd with 234 points. Two crews having favored the North zone. 21 crews were ranked out of the 34 entered. The biggest bass of the round went to Suzuki Fishing Team 2, with a 81 cm fish. 53 bass were caught and released this morning.
Fishing conditions Round 1: Main area, SE wind between 8 and 12 knots weakening at the end of the round, choppy seas, ebbing tide of 86 tidal coefficient.
Second round
Round 2 of the Grand Pavois Fishing 2024 will also be launched from the Port des Minimes in La Rochelle at 8:02 am. The steady, well-established south-easterly wind throughout the morning is blowing between 10 and 15 knots over the main area, reaching 18 knots around 12 noon.
Once again, the fleet quickly split in two, with two thirds of the fleet on the south side and one third on the north, the latter once again targeting the Feu de Chanchardon area and the Anse du Martray. While many of the boats found themselves on the Ile d'Oléron, on the Antioche drift, the fishing on this second day was more technical and more difficult. To say that the fish have seen the lures and felt the many disturbances caused by passing boats is an understatement, and the active fish are on the spot, hiding in the rocky crevices and behind the piles of rocks, on the lookout for what the current is bringing them...
If the detections are there, the fish are more wary, especially as the boats drift along the rocky plateau and "sand" the spot. The fish are less active, but they are posted, so you'll inevitably have to lighten your rigs and lure sizes. Finesse techniques should be favoured to lure fish during feeding periods. Inevitably, fewer fish will be caught in this zone. On the northern side of the zone, i.e. the Ile de Ré, fishing is also more complicated and the fish less active, especially as the increasing wind does not help matters with this coefficient falling in shallow areas, knowing that chases can save the day at any moment.
There was no quota on this second day, and it was once again Suzuki Fishing Team 1, led by Sébastien Mongruel, Jérôme Taboulet and Sébastien Gaillard, who came out on top in this second round, with four sea bass netted, for a total of 228 points and an average of 57 cm per fish. A remarkable double performance that confirmed their undisputed overall victory! There was then a shake-up in the standings for this round, with Quentin Guillon, Pierrick Malsacré and Alexandre Segade's Nowe III taking second place with three bars (156 points) and Xavier Gauthier, Romain Rozier and Marc Lepeigneul's Lowrance 1 coming third with 147 points. a total of 37 sea bass were caught and released this morning.
Round 2 fishing conditions: Main area, 10-15 knot SE wind increasing to 18 knots late morning, choppy seas, ebb tide with a tidal coefficient of 84.
Suzuki Fishing Team 1, winner 2024
After Suzuki Fishing Team 2's victory in 2023, Suzuki Fishing Team 1 is the big winner of this 2024 edition with 521 points. Sébastien Mongruel, Jérôme Taboulet and Sébastien Gaillard finished first twice in both heats, giving them an indisputable and implacable victory, setting a 177-point gap with the second-placed Shimano team of Thibault Petit, Quentin Rothe and Goulven Crehan (344 points).
Pochon Fishing with Mathieu Deschamps, Michaël Bazière and Arnaud Rizzi Anderson came 3rd with 312 points. Second and third place clearly salvage the podium thanks to an excellent first run with their respective quotas. Nowe 1 by Pascal Faivre, Pascal Dardenne and Mathias Camy-Perret finished 4th with 293 points, followed by Nowe III by Quentin Guillon, Pierrick Malsacré and Alexandre Segade with 257 points.
Results Grand Pavois Fishing 2024
- Suzuki Fishing Team 1: 293 + 228 = 521 points
- Shimano: 234 + 110 = 344 points
- Fishing Pochon: 257 + 55 = 312 points
- Nowe I: 155 + 138 = 293 points
- Nowe III: 101 + 156 = 257 points
26 boats classified.
34 crews registered with ADM Boat Fishing âeuros Kerfil ; April Marine ; Atlanticraft âeuros Decathlon 1 ; Decathlon âeuros Atlanticraft ; Difama âeuros Gemini âeuros Flashmer ; Eole Performance âeuros Atlanticraft âeuros Power by Mercury ; Evok Marine powered by Mercury 1 ; Evok Marine powered by Mercury 2 ; Furuno ; Garmin ; Hidea Motor âeuros Tiger Marine ; Honda Marine âeuros Grand Boat France âeuros Seaco Lure ; Honda Marine âeuros Jaeger ; Honda Marine âeuros Seudre Marine ; Humber Power ; Lowrance 1 ; Lowrance 2 ; Mer M'Aide powered by Mercury âeuros Navicom âeuros Captain Fisher ; Mercury Pro Team ; MMG Bateaux 1 ; MMG Bateaux 2 ; Nautique Services âeuros Fiiish ; Navicom ; Nowe I ; Nowe II ; Nowe III ; Pochon Fishing ; Sailtica Fishing ; Seagame âeuros Seakeeper ; Shimano ; SMGPF ; Suzuki Fishing Team 1 ; Suzuki Fishing Team 2 ; Yamaha âeuros Navicom.
See you in 2025
The dates of the Grand Pavois La Rochelle are Tuesday September 23 to Sunday September 28. The Grand Pavois Fishing will take place on Friday September 26 and Sunday September 28, 2025.
