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What is a Masterclass?
The idea is to pool the skills of an expert and those of the organizer, who is a recognized fishing guide in the profession, to provide highly technical content on various fly-fishing topics.
This first edition will focus on reservoir fishing techniques, i.e. fishing in lakes or enclosed waters.âeuros But other courses will also be offered, such as river fishing, bass fishing, trout and grayling fishing in the Dordogne...
Group welcome drink
The course kicks off on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. with the arrival of participants from the Grand-Ouest and our world champion from the Lyonnaise region.
We offer an aperitif-dinner to "break the ice" and spend a convivial moment so that each participant can get to know each other by introducing themselves individually. This helps to create a good atmosphere and group cohesion, as well as identifying each participant's level and expectations.
Theoretical part in the classroom
After a first night in the three lakeside gîtes reserved for the six participants and two supervisors, everyone had breakfast in their own gîtes. We had put two participants in each gîte, so that they could have single rooms.
We meet at 9.00 am on Friday morning, for the first theory session in a room overlooking the lake, on reservoir fishing, with lots of tips and information from Grégoire on this highly technical type of fishing, much more complex than river fishing.
After an introduction to this fishing technique, Grégoire will go into more detail on fly tying and flies, while answering participants' questions.
Throwing course
After a snack in the Etang Neuf fishing hall, we head to the water's edge to begin with a "casting" workshop and to take stock of each participant's situation, with a view to helping them progress individually.
Another throwing workshop will take place on grass at the local soccer clinic the following morning for 1 h 30, where Grégoire and I will provide further tips on throwing technique.
Casting is very important in reservoir fishing, as you often need to reach a certain distance to catch the fish, which may retreat and position themselves further from the bank.
Personalized advice and role-playing
After the individual casting course, we put the participants into practice so that they can try out different fishing techniques.
Everyone leaves on a pontoon equipped to practice one of the techniques: intermediate streamer line fishing, S3 or S5/S7 sinking line fishing, or other...
The tinted waters caused by the previous day's very heavy rainfall didn't help the fishing, but a few trout were caught, with Luc making the first trout of his life in the reservoir and experiencing some great thrills!
The aim is not to catch fish, but to learn or improve a technique with the expert advice of the organizers and supervisors.
Each evening, we'll have a meal in the fishing room, after a debriefing of the day, and to answer any questions participants may have.
The atmosphere is very convivial with a very friendly and dynamic group.
Second day and end of the course
After a second night in the gîtes, we return to the room, where we'll take a closer look at the set-ups for several techniques, with many more tricks up our sleeves.
Then an individual grass throwing course at the local soccer stadium to see how each participant had improved and to give them some advice, followed by a fine demonstration by Grégoire on distance throwing.
Then lunch, followed by a demonstration by Grégoire of his fishing strategies.
Then it was off to practice and fish all afternoon under better conditions and a beautiful Breton sun. The fish came in with some fine catches.
End of the day and everyone goes home (Normandy, Nantes, Brittany, and Lyon for Greg).
A successful first edition
The first edition was a great success, with delighted participants and supervisors thanks to an ideal location for this kind of event: rustic but comfortable waterside gîtes, a pleasant heated fishing room with a view over the lake, good organization and a group of very friendly enthusiasts.
All the participants gave us very positive feedback on this first edition, which will certainly not be the last!
Next Masterclass with our world fly-fishing champion in March on nymph fishing on river lines, to be held in Quimper. This time with two groups of 4 anglers for an even more exclusive and personalized course.
