Power fishing!
After a 50-minute drive, we launch my boat. A Carolina Skiff JV 15, very well suited to fly-fishing for bass and pike, with its dual thermal/electric motor and shallow draft. A very pleasant boat to steer, quiet and light. I use it a lot for sea bass fishing and guiding on the Brittany coast.
We've fitted rods for perch in 6-gauge silk and 9-gauge rods for pike, because on this corner of the canal where it widens to create a pond, all three species of carnivorous fish live together.
Lionel knows the area very well and comments that there are pikes everywhere from the boat launch to the dam. I've already fished this spot successfully a long time ago, but with lures and much later in the season. We're at the beginning of autumn and, as carnivores are usually very active at this time of year, we're eager to cast our flies.
We get started as soon as we're in the water, and it's not long before the first pike follows my fly for several meters. Encouraging! The water lilies are everywhere and you can imagine pike everywhere in this luxuriant vegetation, perfect for pike.
I'm on floating silk to start and try under the surface, and Lionel on intermediate. We cast to the sides, and even right into the water lilies, as at this time of year they are decomposing and breaking up. Pike love to wait here for their favorite prey, which includes rotengle, roach, bream and perch. We won't lose our flies here, despite numerous snags. I'm a firm believer in every cast, and it reminds me of a spot where I guided in Ireland, where the pike were very aggressive on this kind of spot.
Unfortunately for us, this is not the case at the start of this session. We let ourselves drift and I control the distance to the gently sloping bank using the remote control on my electric motor. The wind is moderate and it's a pleasant, sunny day. We fish quickly with power fishing to beat the ground and find the fish. A few small perch chases break out and I give it a go with a small popper that snaps well and caught a few perch two weeks ago. But no success so far.
We make our way from station to station, and a good hour after our arrival Lionel takes a swat as soon as his streamer lands on the water lilies. It's a small pike, but it's a pleasure and gets things started! It's on a rather clear natural pattern that this pike has set its sights. My big 20 cm roach imitation isn't as successful.
Recalcitrant pikes!
After this first catch, we concentrated on our fishing. As far as I'm concerned, apart from the follow-through, not a single touch despite numerous fly changes. Big (up to 30 cm), small, colored, natural, fine, plump... But so far, nothing!
Pike are fish that can become active all at once over a short period of time, and as we all know, bites often follow bites while they're biting and feeding. For the time being, they've got their beaks nailed down, and no more bites for Lionel either, who also changes flies frequently. The fishing zones are magnificent, with trees lining the edges, or aquatic plants. Pretty little coves sheltered from the wind that look promising.
However, there's still no activity and we can't see any more perch or pike hunting. We gradually drift towards the dam, where the deepest zone is to be found. This part of the canal is narrower and a good zone for pike-perch too. It's connected to another pond created by the dam's reservoir, providing a nice playground. We pass through the narrow passage, as in the deeper zone we didn't trigger any bites either. I take the pole for a change and see if they're more active.
Finally some activity
I pick up a small pole, but it unhooks quickly. Nothing big, but a touch at last. We make our way through the coves to the water lily area, which is magnificent. Despite the lack of activity, we're both believers, because we know how unpredictable pike can be, and that they can suddenly start biting!
Nothing in this beautiful pond and we return to the upstream section, not far from the boat launch, as the clock is ticking and we both have family commitments!
We've been fishing for over 5 hours now and our spirits are low, although we're still having a good day. I rarely have time to go fishing with my friend. I tell him we'll try for another 15 minutes before going home. There's no point in being late if the fishing doesn't take off. I put back one of my favorite flies, a pink/yellow bufford that grows out of the water and has already brought me a number of catches, and like Lionel just after landing low on the bank and water lilies on the first strip, I take a nice bite. It's a nice pike with a nice candle! He's in great shape and fighting. I couldn't believe it! I keep the rod low to prevent it from jumping too much, as they're used to coming off the hook in that situation! The fight is intense and I hurry to take him to the landing net to dry him off. He gets in and unhooks himself in the nets. That was a close one! It's a nice fish, nearly 70 cm long, which is very pleasing after so many casts and changes of position and flies. At last! We take his picture and put him back in the water.
We decide to insist a little in the same area, but no other holds to report. We quickly make a small edge with the pole and I take a small one, and land another. Lionel gets a few short touches!
Then it's back to the 9 silk rods to try the last pike spots. I keep my bufford and, as soon as I've landed, I start to animate a vague fly chase that Lionel announces to me. I think it's a joke, but no, it's a very nice pike of over 80 cm, very wide, which follows my fly with its fins, but it turns around just under the fly, 2 meters from the boat! Maybe he saw us! What a shame!
We'll leave it at that. We're at the launch and it's time to bend the rods!
A very complicated outing despite rather good conditions. The pikes were perhaps starting to come out for the evening's catch... Which we won't have time to do!