We were fishing on swims 1 and 2. The session started well for me and my mate with a mirror of 42,3lbs on the Sunday morning followed by a beautiful linear carp! While my mate and I kept catching our fish, the other two duos were working hard to get their first fish. For the other anglers it was a tough week and the weather conditions did not play to their advantage. We fished with confidence with the Red Angels of Eddy Sterckx, which really turns out to be a big fish boilie!
The third day started well for the duo Boy and Berry on the other side. They got a full run and were able to capture their first fish. I decided to go look over there at swim 7. At that moment my rod also went off. My mate and I fished run to run and with an even number of fish. It was my turn on my rod, but I was on the other side. My mate has shouted once, but I did not hear him. It was only at the end of the fight that I realized that we were having a bite and I sprinted to our swim by bike. On arrival the fish was already in the net, and what a fish .... A stunning carp of 55,8lbs !! We were happy to see such a nice fish however I was left with the feeling that it was my fish and so did my mate.
Later that evening celebrating our big fish with a beer, we had two bleeps on the right rod of my mate. It was my turn, so started to play the fish and felt that this could also be a good one! After a fairly short fight, my mate landed the fish in the dark. Waaaauw !! Another massive amazing carp ... It is almost unbelievable, but this girl weighed exactly the same as the fish of that morning, also 55,8lbs. My luck had turned because this was a big PB and of course a kind of revenge on the fish of that morning. With a real PB shower and lots of shouts of joy we have celebrated this fish!
Unfortunately it was still difficult on the other swims and nothing was caught anymore. Because we were on this trip with 6 friends, you obviously want everyone to catch their fish. The morning after the day with the PB fish again a beautiful fish came on the mat. My mate held up a 49,4lbs fish in front of the camera. I caught a nice mirror of 36,6lbs in the afternoon. Not many fish came out, but what came out was huge! That feeling was underlined when I caught another 49,9lbs fish the next morning. Actually unbelievable, first 2 fifties on day 1 and 24 hours after that 2 forties on the mat and both the 50s and the 40s on the exact same weight. At Mid-night we got a few bleeps on my rod so we went to that rod. There was not much going on, but we did hear a run at our mates from swims 3 and 4. Nice! Finally from that bank, not much later we got the redeeming message by whatsapp. Also a PB for Marco with a round mirror of 47,4lbs. Well done mate!
Although already 4 anglers have broken their PB, Rick still got no fish on the last day. Everyone hoped that Rick could catch a fish. With all of us we came up with Marco’s and Rick's last battle plan and all their rods are reinserted with confidence. The weather is beautiful on the last day and all the camps are already being cleaned up. Suddenly the fish is feeding around 8 pm and two rods went off shortly after each other. It was 2 small fish of 26,4lbs (small for that week). With the release of the last fish, we get a few bleeps on a rod on the other swim. It is Jeroen's turn and he decides to take the rod. After a long heavy fight the fish came closer. This must be a big lady again. I decide to jump in the water and managed to land the fish. Wojoooo ... this one is even bigger than the fifties. Unbelievable what a lump! After weighing, this massive fish appears to touch the magical boundary of 60lbs. We clock him at exactly 66,6bls !! what a great unusual feeling that you get and how happy Jeroen was with this fish. For us this fish makes this session totally super, but on the other hand there is a friend that does not have fish yet. That is double again ...
With the owner Michel we drank and a bottle (or two) of his selfmade champagne and we close the session. The last night there is no fish caught. After a super session with mixed feelings. Four PBs were broken, five fourties, three fifties, and a sixties were caught with an average weight of 39,7lbs. For me a fifty is snatched away in front of me and to catch one the same weight the same evening again. The others had to work super hard and it was so tough that 1 angler went home without any carp.