Sunday 6th September – Off Season Activities – Fly Fishing
Another 2 weeks have passed and I’m afraid no blog last Sunday. If the old adage ‘if you want a job doing give it to a busy person’ is true then I’m not sure what my lack of a blog last week says about what we are doing now!
While looking back I may not be able to, hand on heart, say that we have been working at maximum capacity on the many tasks that we would like to progress however, equally, I can’t really think of too many times when we have been sat idle. The week before last had such wet and windy weather there was no chance of doing anything outside for most of the week which turned the focus onto more mundane administrative tasks inside which doesn’t make for great stories or photos! Last week was rather better but still no major tasks completed to make for engaging stories.
We did entertain in Kergudon a couple of times to assist with our integration into the village. First Dave cooked a lovely dinner for some new friends who we are likely to be working alongside in the coming years, and then, later in the week, afternoon tea for some of our close neighbours who have been very supportive and interested in the work we have been doing to the buildings. We also attended the inauguration of the village sculpture which was erected last year next to the church.
We weren’t able to understand what the sculpture represents, or why it is here in St. Cadou, but we did learn that the inauguration was delayed by a year because the sculptor, seen here next to the mayor of Sizun, 
had been very unwell. The sculpture is certainly very striking and the yellow is a bright contrast to the grey slate of the church – we just need to understand what it represents (aside from confirming that Saint Cadou is a cultural hot spot in Brittany!) 
The gîtes remained full for the first week with our guests ‘enjoying’ slightly damp conditions. Priory had a German family who had come for fly fishing tuition and guiding with a renowned local fishing instructor, Philippe Dolivet. The weather was so damp their programme was delayed by 24 hours as Lac du Drennec resembled a South Atlantic winter and fly casting on the back lawn was a non-starter in the teeth of what felt like a gale force wind. However, when they got on the water they obviously had the knack, and / or Philippe is an excellent instructor as each day they returned with an impressive catch. As they had ordered a 3 course supper on their last night from David they weren’t able to eat their last trout so we enjoyed them last weekend – yum!
Fishing is certainly one of the many reasons which mean Kergudon is an ideal destination out of the main season as well as the height of summer. We are surrounded by wonderful rivers including the Elorn and Aulne as well as beautiful lakes in Huelgoat and the large Saint Michael’s lake close to Botmeur. However the closest, only 1 km away from the gîtes, is the gin-clear 110 hectare Lac du Drennec, rated as category 1 ‘Grande Lac Intérieur’ which is stocked with wild brown and rainbow trout.
As the gîtes, the lakes are in the heart of the beautiful countryside of the Monts D’Arrée and as man-made reservoirs are carefully managed to ensure high water quality. The fishing season is open from mid-March to December 31st when fishing is possible from the shore or afloat either accompanied by a guide or, from next week, if sufficiently experienced, from a new 15ft Irish built Sheelin boat which will be available for hire. The hire boat was constructed in Ireland over the last few months and was collected by Philippe last week. I will be able to post pictures when it arrives with us, his guiding boat, ‘An Dourgi Kozh’, is below.
We are working closely with Philippe to put together bespoke packages depending on the experience and requirements of the fishers both for fishing instruction and guidance as well as accommodation and catering. If the experience of our German guests is anything to go by even as a novice you can take home a significant catch and you will have an extremely enjoyable time although we hope not as wet as they experienced. Please do see some examples on our offers page and do get in touch if you are interested in learning this wonderful sport.
I will cover another of the many out of season activities in next week’s blog.
À bientôt.