Big carp and cat fish

Many years ago, when I was at school, I used to regularly go fishing with three mates, Graham, his brother Steve and Mark. We’ve kept in touch over the years but we hadn’t been fishing together for a very long time, nearly 35 years in fact. I met Mark last year for a few days lure fishing and we talked about organising a week fishing with all four of us. Steve lives in America, Mark lives in Basle on the Swiss border and Graham and I live in England, so it required a lot of organisation.

We decided to fish for catfish on the river Saone for the first two days and nights and then fish for carp for three days.


Me, Graham, Mark and Steve with two monster catfish

I organised the cat fishing with two young guides, Tony and Jerome of Sensation. This was a new experience for us and it was with lots of excitement and anticipation that we met on the banks of the river Saone near Macon. Tony and Jerome organised everything and it was a fantastic two days fishing. We had a guide and boat for two anglers and we started with vertical fishing using lob worms and squid. It was fascinating to watch the reaction of the cats to the sound of the Klonk and we could clearly see the fish coming up off the bottom towards the bait.

Me wih one of our guides Jerome with a nice fish caught vertical fishing with lobworms, a very exciting method

We caught plenty of cats to 40lbs on the first day and the, in the evening we returned to the camp and set up rods with big live baits – 4lb live baits! These were attached to a big buoy anchored out in the main river, using a short length of 15lb line which would break on the take. The line was really tightened to the buoy, the rod placed upright in a beach caster type of rod rest and a simple bell clipped to the rod tip. Tony explained that when a cat fish took the bait, the 15lb linewould snap and the rod would spring back registering the take.

Once all 6 rods had been baited and set up, Tony and Jerome prepared a tasty dinner and we opened a bottle of lovely red wine.
Later that evening one of the rods pulled down hard and graham was in. After a spirited fight, Graham landed a lovely cat fish of over 40lbs. Shortly after, another rod went and Mark was attached to a much bigger fish. This was a much harder fight and when we first saw the fish in the torch light we realised why, it was massive. This one measured 2.02m and Tony estimated it at 70kgs, a massive fish.

Just before light another rod went and Steve found himself attached to a very angry cat fish that was ripping line off a very tight clutch. This was clearly another very big fish and Tony, Steve and I got in the boat as the fish continued to take line. It was a fantastic fight. Even with the powerful rod and strong braided main line the fish just towed the boat around for 25 minutes. It was a real battle and we saw the fish several times before Tony was able to grab it with his gloved hands. Back on the bank, the huge cat fish was measured and was exactly the same length as the other big one at 2.02m. A brace of 70kg + cats, what a result.

A brace of 150lb+ catfish

The following day we fished again from the boats catching several more cats with the biggest at 30kgs. It was a fantastic two days fishing and we caught 21 cats in total, ranging from the smallest at about 2lbs to the two biggest at well over 150lbs. Tony and Jerome were fantastic guides and I would recommend them to anyone interested in fishing the Saone. They are also experienced carp anglers and it is possible to organise a trip with them combining cats and carp. Have a look at their website http://www.sensationpeche.com/ or contact me by email and I’ll give you some more information.

We then went to a lake I know in the mountains not far from Lyon. The lake is only open for day fishing, so we booked into a local campsite. The fishing was fabulous and between us we caught over 30 carp with plenty of 30s and the biggest a lovely 41lb common for Mark.

It was a fantastic weeks fishing and it’s definitely something we will be organising again next year.