Start of the 2026 Season“Light Weight Baby”

This start of the season will definitely stay burned into my memory. In just a few sessions, I went through the kind of emotional rollercoaster that leaves a mark on you forever.

We all know it: the “comeback” after winter always feels special, no matter the results. Like a fallow period in farming, winter somehow resets everything and gives back the power of feeling things intensely again.

Maybe “rebirth” is a bit dramatic, but honestly… everything feels bigger, brighter, stronger in spring. Every single day reminds you that nature is waking back up.

That was exactly the mood I was in when I headed back to the water after a sunny early-March weekend.

And that weekend had been absolute chaos.

First, we gathered with the Brakass crew for a proper “Brakass-drinking-weekend”: the

association’s annual meeting, two days at the carp fishing show organized by Pecheur.com, and to make things even worse for our remaining life expectancy, the “S” celebrated his 40th birthday the night before the show.

Basically… the kind of weekend that removes a few HP from your life bar.

Huge thanks again to Adrien for welcoming us into his chalet. Without him, we probably would’ve shown up even later to the booth on Saturday.

Spending a few days surrounded by the boys talking about fish, fish, and more fish completely reignited the fire.

On top of that, I came home with a few new goodies from Wild Product, including a sample of the brand-new “Wild” bait everyone in the team kept hyping up.

So here we are in early March. Still a few weeks away from actual holidays, but lucky enough to squeeze in a couple of quick overnight sessions between workdays, close to my construction sites.

Perfect excuse to sleep under the stars and test those new stinky bait balls Big D keeps talking about.

I blanked a couple of times before finally hitting the jackpot.

Two bites during the night. One decent fish… and another one that was, let’s say:

“Very much extremely proper, boss.”

Fifteen minutes before my alarm went off, a savage take launched me into my tiny 180 cm inflatable boat for a brutal arm-wrestling match with a massive mirror carp that basically turned me into a useless floating pike float for several minutes.

Seeing that old fish again was pure joy. She clearly made good use of winter.

I didn’t have a scale with me, but there was no doubt she had packed on some serious weight since the last time we met.

“Hey boss, I’m gonna have to postpone my appointments this morning… some dances simply can’t be delayed.”

Despite water temperatures still feeling close to freezing, the season was officially underway.

Days and weeks passed, and I kept maintaining the area whenever my schedule allowed it.

The banks were almost empty at that time of year, which meant I could quietly work on my laptop by the water instead of being stuck in an office.

Even with regular effort, results stayed fairly discreet until one final overnight session

shared with my buddy Arthur right before the holidays.

That night gave us a beautiful common carp and wrapped up this first warm-up phase close to home perfectly.

The Turning Point

Vacation finally arrived — and with it, a real opportunity: several full days dedicated entirely to fishing.

After multiple conversations with Dylan “Small D”, whose answer to every destination idea I suggested was basically: “Nope. Trash. Absolute trash.” …I decided to leave my comfort zone and challenge myself properly.

New destination. New challenge. No plan. Everything to build from scratch.

Honestly?

I was scared.

The moment I arrived, the tone was set: massive water, uncertainty everywhere, zero strategy.

Right or left? No clue.

I started moving from spot to spot without even scouting properly.

Nothing worked.

Even the areas that felt fishy stayed silent.

Then the bailiffs kicked me off the last area that actually looked promising.

Perfect.

“Your plan sucks, D.”

But I kept going. Searching. Watching. Trying to understand the place.

Until finally… activity.

First night: nothing.

Second night: still nothing.

Doubt started creeping in, but I stayed because earlier I had spotted something much bigger than the others cruising over the plateau in front of me.

The day before my birthday, I finally got a daytime run that brought my confidence back.

Then, around 3 AM, the same rod absolutely melted off again.

I fought the fish from the bank since the area allowed it.

Heavy.

Powerful.

Different.

Very quickly, I realized this fish wasn’t ordinary.

After several minutes trying to control the adrenaline pumping through my body, I finally saw the shape appear in my headlamp beam.

Absolute dolphin of a carp.

“Don’t screw this one up…”

A few more nerve-racking minutes later, I finally slipped a ridiculously long, thick common carp into the net.

A true XXL wild carp.

Simply exceptional.

A few hours later, Arthur showed up armed with an old-school disposable Kodak camera and an actual man-sized scale.

When I pulled the fish from the sling, his first words were:

“BROOOOO WHAT A FISH!! You absolutely smashed it!”

We even shared the moment over video call with our mate Guigui, who sealed the moment with his legendary: “Chachéfait.”

Technology can actually be beautiful sometimes.

What followed was one of those unforgettable photo sessions that will probably keep bringing those emotions back for the rest of my life.

This adventure into unknown territory could’ve ended there already, but as a young Brakass member still learning the ropes, life obviously had to throw in one more disaster.

My brand-new Mercury engine — won during an endurance competition — decided to ascend to another dimension after barely ten hours of use.

The boys warned me.

But hey… it was shiny, spotless, and looked absolutely gorgeous in the sunlight.

Round Two

After a quick stop back home, I went straight back out.

New area. New objective.

The start was painfully difficult.

No signs of fish.

Hours of scouting for nothing.

But eventually, persistence paid off and I located an interesting zone.

This time, I completely changed my approach.

No more ultra-precise spot fishing.

I went all-in on heavy spread baiting, regardless of the risk.

The next morning, I trusted my gut and returned to the area.

Hours passed.

Nothing happened.

Once again, doubt settled in…

Until the take finally came.

And this time, we entered another dimension of violence entirely.

Especially because I was fishing from the boat.

The impact was brutal. The fight savage.

Definitely not family-friendly entertainment.

The fish gave me absolutely no break. My legs were shaking uncontrollably and my heart felt dangerously close to exploding.

The fight seemed endless.

But little by little, I finally saw my leader knot emerge — the first sign of deliverance.

A few final head shakes later, another giant carp slid into my net.

Another memory instantly burned into the hard drive.

I immediately shared the news with the Brakass crew.

Their reactions came fast… especially considering how skeptical they had been the day before when I sent them a video of a fish clearly spotting me on the zone.

They literally told me to pack up and leave because “that fish reaction smelled like pure disaster.”

Luckily, I ignored those idiots.

Otherwise, I might never have met that absolute monster mirror carp.

Conditions remained complicated though. The fish stayed cautious and difficult to hold in the area.

Still, one final capture came to close the trip. Smaller, sure… but just as satisfying.

In the end, I came back from vacation more exhausted than before I left.

But also genuinely happy.

Happy because I felt like I had progressed, learned, and grown through completely new

experiences.

And if there’s one thing this start of the season reminded me, it’s this:

Nothing is ever guaranteed. Especially in fishing.

You constantly have to search, doubt, adapt… and keep believing until the very end.

Every single session teaches you something.

It’s up to you to make the most of it.

Mamat

YouTube Goblin Mode: ON

If you made it all the way down here, it means you actually read the whole article.Or you violently scrolled to the bottom like a caffeine-fueled raccoon and this weird little note caught your eye.

Either way, if you enjoyed this page, feel free to drop a like, leave a comment, or share it around on your socials.Apparently that stuff makes the SEO gods happy or something.

And if you really want to support us in our noble mission of producing questionable fishing-related internet literature, you can also toss us a few digital coins. Because writing, editing, formatting, and making these articles readable for both humans and Google takes a stupid amount of time.

https://www.brakass.com/donate

And if you couldn’t care less about any of this, you can also go cook yourself some pasta.That works too.

Cheers

#GoblinMode