Hello Benjamin, can you introduce yourself to Fishing.news readers?
Hello to all readers. I'm 33 years old and I'm from the Limousin, more precisely from the south of the Haute-Vienne (87) on the edge of the Dordogne. I'm a Pro Staff for the Delalande Pêche and Hearty Rise brands. I fish mainly on lakes and reservoirs by boat, in the 24 and 87, and sometimes on the lakes of the Orient Forest and the lakes of the Landes, but also in Extremadura. I fish for pike, perch, zander and black-bass.
Can you tell us about your early days in fishing?
Like many, I think, I started fishing with family members, beginning with lake fishing and soon moving on to rivers in search of brown trout and chub.
As the years went by, I started fishing for carp, but once I got a taste for lure fishing and caught my first pike, I fell in love with it. One thing led to another, and I became better and better equipped for stalking predators with the purchase of my first boat, and the first fishing trips to Sweden and Spain, the discovery of many parts of France in search of the biggest predator specimens and the desire to beat my records.
When, how and why did you agree to become a Pro-Staff?
Initially, I joined the Delalande Pêche team in 2019, after three years of applying to join the brand, I was accepted to join Team Delalande. It was an honor to represent the French lure brand and subsequently participate in the development of certain lures and to be contacted to do video shoots on pike fishing.
Then in 2021, I was contacted by Mr Didier Courtois to join the Hearty Rise brand. He spotted me thanks to my publications and my interest in the brand, and fishing with a Hearty Rise rod was something you couldn't live without. It was an honor to join the Hearty Rise team and to be called by Mr Courtois, whom I thank again for his confidence. Today, I'm in charge of social networks for the brand, and I've been lucky enough to take part in several video shoots for Hearty Rise.
What does being an ambassador mean to you?
Being an ambassador means representing a brand through respect, humility, seriousness, communication, sharing and hard work. As representatives of the brand on the water's edge and via the media and social networks, we have to be irreproachable, respectful of the brand and the work required. You have to know the brand's products inside out, and be able to recommend them to anyone for any kind of fishing.
What's your fondest memory or anecdote from your time as a Pro-Staff?
There are so many memories, it's hard to choose just one, but I'd say the day of video shooting with Cédrick Plasseau, also a member of the Delalande team, on the lakes of the Orient Forest.
A complicated morning, with a north/north-easterly wind, the bites were few and far between, but in the early afternoon the wind changed and it was bal trap, one cast one bite. In the middle of a video promoting the Neo Shallow, the bites and fish followed one after the other, even if the biggest ones were close to 90 cm, the average was around 80 cm. In just two hours, around fifteen pike were in the boat, and then suddenly nothing. We were in the right place at the right time with the right lure and the right color. It was incredible, this phase of activity in a small area the size of a soccer stadium.
What do you think of fishing in France?
As AAPPMA presidents, we're often criticized by anglers for not releasing the fish they want. We're here to protect the aquatic environment, so releasing fish that don't belong in our first-category rivers and against our perception of environmental protection remains a delicate point.
As an angler, there are too many differences between regions for catch sizes, especially for carnivores, and for trout, this is also the case, and depending on the sector being able to take six trout per day and per angler is too much for some environments, where now it's rare to catch nice specimens.
Having traveled and experienced different legislations, like on the lakes of the Orient Forest with the ring system for taking fish, it's a good thing, but we have the problem of guarding in France, we can't put a guard behind every fisherman. There's a lack of common sense on the part of some fishermen, yes of course we have the right to take fish, I'm not against that, but to take huge fish, which are old fish and very good spawners, I find that limiting.
Fortunately, there's the catch window on pike and perch, which preserves our record fish and gives the next angler a chance to make an exceptional catch.
Any advice for anglers who want to join a Pro-Staff team one day?
You have to be passionate, enjoy fishing with the brand's products and promote them through photos and/or videos. Above all, you have to have fun on the water and respect our beautiful natural environment. And go fishing as much as possible and insist on it. As we know, fishing doesn't bite every time, so you have to be persistent and observant. Finally, I'd say, keep fishing!
