First day
Sunday April 27, the first day with coefficients over 100, I'm accompanied by my usual foreshore colleague. The sudden arrival of fine weather also saw the return of the fog to this corner of Brittany's tip. It's in thick wadding that we make the transit to our spots. We've got our GPS, we're not lost and we stay close enough to the coastline to make out its shadow, which is enough for us to know where we are. We know these spots by heart. On the transit, we take the opportunity to do a little trolling, as the mackerel are out in force.
After an hour's sailing, we're on our spots, but it's not yet clear enough. A little casting will bring back only a few small bass and a Breton grouper (old) caught on one of Trèfle création's 2025 novelties, a Rafaléa 118, a sinking lure that can be swum in very little water.
We're finally on the foreshore, the fog still not lifting. We start picking clams, then prairies, as usual. There are still restrictions on picking, as at the last high tides. This time it's only the pectinids that are off-limits, still with the famous toxin I mentioned in a previous review. Never mind, there's still plenty to pick, and after clams and praires, it's now the turn of sleepers, curlers and abalone. Be careful with the curlers, at the moment there are quite a few grainy females, so leave them on the foreshore...
Once we've finished picking, it's time for the traditional snack on the foreshore, with the fog finally parting, as we head home in the sunshine.
Second day
Monday April 28 is the biggest day of the year, with a coefficient of 108. This time, I'm alone, and the sun shines brightly as soon as I get in the water. The same course as the day before, with small sea bass also out, but no pretty specimens. Still the same pattern, clams and prawns to start with and then I move on to the more distant pebbles. I'll find some large étrilles, dormeur and spider crabs. I'll also see a number of large shells that will remain on the foreshore.
The area is also invaded by sea hares (Aplysia), who have a real race on the sand between the pebbles. It's the first time I've seen so many of them, and there's also an increasing amount of green algae, which has proliferated in the space of a month, gradually covering the entire foreshore.
After a snack, this time in the sun, I set off on the return journey in a T-shirt and still a few small bass on my trolling lure, a 90 mm Deep diver from Yo Zuri.
Third day
Tuesday April 29 was a break for kayaking, but the weather was fine. The coefficient is still 105, so I take the opportunity to go down to the shore below my house, what we call the garden. It'll be a nice basket of shrimps for the evening aperitif/terrace with a few oysters. Please note that shrimp fishing regulations vary from region to region. In our region, it's open all year round, but that's not the case everywhere. Despite the ever-increasing restrictions, there are many and varied reasons for doing so, and you can still enjoy yourself while respecting them. Before this tidal episode, the map of zone restrictions changed 3 times in 3 days, not an easy task. The next outing will undoubtedly be in the open sea.
Here, too, it's the end of a restriction imposed this year: pollock fishing reopens on May 1, at the same time as the lily of the valley. Beware, this too is complicated for those unaccustomed to convoluted regulations. Only 2 specimens with a ridiculous 42 cm mesh size can be kept, no release allowed and the pollack fishery ends once these 2 fish have been kept. I wonder how they'll be able to control that...
