Nearly 300 fish counted
Perch was the most caught species, with over 200 catches, followed by pike (54 catches) and zander (38 catches). Michel Polydor points out: "Nearly 300 catches were made, with a lot of metered pike. I don't think we've ever seen anything like it in competition
in the end, 66 teams were ranked out of the 103 entered. The competition was tough for some competitors, and even merciless, with three red cards given on the first day and a fourth on the second, for avoidable mistakes.
The new champions, William Courte and Armand Michaud, started with a 76 cm pike before catching a 117 cm fish. However, the latter was not validated as it was photographed the wrong way round on the toise. Despite this difficult decision, the duo showed their mental strength by catching, a few hours later, two pikes measuring 115 cm and 107.5 cm, which enabled them to finish first in the first round. In the second heat, they caught two 116 cm pikes, also finishing first in this heat. Incredible!
Different strategies pay off
In an interview on the podium, the two young champions declare:
"We had three live probes on the boat, which may sound like a lot, but they were indispensable. We each used an LVS 62 for prospecting. We also had an LVS 34 to finalize, determine the species and choose the lure according to the water height. Up front, we had an Active Target 2 to fish in the structures, but that wasn't necessary today. The aim was to use the LVS 62 for long-range observation, with a range of 70 metres, i.e. 140 metres of periphery. It was a real team effort: we spotted them, I pointed them, and Armand chose the rod and fished. It may sound easy, but we only saw four pike today. We did this from start to finish, which was difficult. The fish were unstuck on the first day, so easier to spot and catch. On Sunday, with the fishing pressure, the fish were stuck to the bottom, harder to find but almost easier to catch. So we only used the LVS 34 with a 15-meter range, which was the only way to see them. We could make out the equivalent of a trunk, just the caudal fin and barely the head, among thousands of whitefish, perch and minnows. It was quite technical. We did it and we're happy. The two 116 cm pikes were caught in less than 4 meters of water."
France 2024 runners-up Maxime Lochon and Cédrik Djelassi adopted different tactics, concentrating on the poles. The Francilien duo cleared no fewer than 44 poles, including the biggest of the competition (43.5 cm).
On the third step of the podium, the duo David Saint-Léger and Lionel Vigier showed their versatility by validating pikes, including the largest of the competition (119 cm), as well as 50 and 60.5 cm pike-perch.
