Bruno Garcia from the Charente-Maritime fishing federation explains to us today on France Bleu la Rochelle what “the opposite bank syndrome” is.
Bruno Garcia : It’s quite simply the bad reflex which consists in systematically stretching your line on the bank opposite to that where you are positioned and that is not always justified. Of course, when you’re a bit noisy, you have fishermen who have a bit of a heavy step, who slam car doors, who don’t hesitate to ram rod holders with a hammer, you don’t have the choice. You have to stretch your lines as far as possible from where you made these mistakes. This is also a behavior that regularly annoyed me when I was fishing nearby. When you are in a swimming pool you know how much the ball bouncing on the edge causes a resonance under water. Easy to understand that if it doesn’t scare the fish away, it still has the effect of making it more suspicious.
In the case of a rather discreet fisherman, the strategy may be different?
Well you have to admit that it’s not very pleasant to have your lines in your feet. The priority criterion to remember is that of the bank which is beaten by the wind. It happens that the wind takes the length of the watercourse along its length, so in this specific case there is no preference for one bank or the other. Otherwise, it will be imperative to choose the one that is exposed to the wind.
Tell us why?
It is very simple. This movement caused by the waves, it is called wake, has the effect of putting the sediments in suspension. And, when the sediment lifts off the bottom, there are all sorts of interesting little things for the fish. An easy food composed of larvae, worms and plant particles interesting for certain species.
Everyone is benefiting ?
Whether they are small or large, everyone comes to take their share of food and this is where it is interesting for the fisherman whether he is looking for small species, carp or predators. We verify once again the great theory of the food chain. The little ones come to feed and this concentration necessarily attracts the bigger ones.
We therefore remember that the opposite bank is not always the ideal place to stretch your line. Some information before leaving?
Yes first of all communicate on the countless fish rescues that took place last week throughout the department. Hats off to the volunteers of fishing associations who worked to extract puddles of roach, pike, carp, tench, minnows, eels and so on. Sunday, August 28 competition organized by Marennes fishing competition on the Lindron sector, the downstream end of the Charente-Seudre canal whose results count for the departmental criterion. And to finish a fishing contest in pairs which will take place on Saturday September 3rd in the Lindron sector on the Charente-Seudre canal. It is generally very spectacular and it is not uncommon to have keepnets with several tens of kg of fish. It is no coincidence that it is precisely here that the final stages of very high-level competitions take place.