Perch Pro – Team Illex/Gunki Frédéric Jullian – fishing level: world champion – English Version

Perch pro var verkligen för oss, som absolut inte är några abborrfiskare, vi är ju gäddnördar, faktiskt förra årets mest spännande event på tv. Coolt format, snygg produktion och spännande innehåll med många sköna klipp. Det var spännande ända in i kaklet fram till ….. vann. Har du inte sett Perch pro med Illex Gunki ska vi inte förstöra upplevelsen för dig utan kan bara rekommendera dig att se säsong 1 på Kanalgratis.se. En direktlänk till första avsnittet har du här

Årets upplaga kan bli ännu mer spännande när Johan Ruhe och Kanalgratis-gänget tar ut svängarna och bjuder in både ett flugfiskande gäng och ett internationellt gäng med världsmästarstatus i predatorfiske. Galet häftigt om du frågar oss.

De team som ställer upp i denna säsong av Perch Pro är:

• Team Stockholms Fiske&Fritid med Tom Backlund & Linus Raners. Det inlägget kan du hitta här
• Team Gunki/Illex med Frédéric Jullian & Tomas Engerts
• Team Vision/Flydressing med Daniel Bergman & Steffan Jensen
• Team CWC med Stefan Trumstedt & Albin Sharghi

Vi ska nu prata med Team Gunki/Illex och Frédéric Jullian från Frankrike som tyckte denna tävlingen var så häftig att han och hans tyska kollega valda att traila upp sin egna båt från Frankrike för att kunna vara med. Riktigt coolt.

Kanske först en kort introduktion. Gunki/Illex är varumärken är varumärken och produkter för predatorfiske från Frankrike. De har generellt väldigt hög kvalitet och vi upplever dem som hela tiden ligga väldigt långt i utvecklingen både vad gäller fisketekniker och utrustning. Tyvärr är Gunki&Illex (ännu) inte så väl representerade i Sverige vilket vi tycker är otroligt synd. Har du inte ännu hållt i ett Gunki Shigeki – gör det! (eller inte – det kommer att kosta dig ett nytt spö:-) ). Det kommer hela tiden coola och innovativa nyheter och de har också varit en stark kraft bakom utvecklingen av street fishing.

Som ni har förstått i inledning så är teamet inte svenskspråkiga och med respekt för att de ska kunna läsa om sig själva så byter vi nu till engelska.

Now the time has come to visit the team Gunki/Illex and Frédéric Jullian. An angler we really get inspired by listening to all the time. Fantastic skills, fantastic knowledge and willing to share all of it to everyone. Our kind of guy in short :-). Enjoy!

Frédéric, Please tell us something about your team Illex Gunki and yourselves

The team is me – Frédéric Jullian and Tomas Engert and we are team Illex/Gunki. I am working for Pezon & Michel that carry among others the brand Gunki and Illex. My official title is ”field marketing manager”. Basically I am only responsible for what happens on the water. I work as the missing link between the brand manager and the fisherman. That mean I get to travel a lot and fish in many different bodies of water. I love my job. I get to try fishing types of conditions and species all the time. Last week I was in Spain fishing for black bass, and I was in Sweden fishing for perch. You learn a lot when doing what I do. It’s wonderful.

Previously I was also very involved in tournament fishing. I was competing for seven years. I was doing 10-12 tournaments per year. That type of fishing you do not really have in Sweden, fishing and competing with different species in one competition (Pike, perch and Zander). You go to new waters, you have to find fish and fish for different species. It’s really interstering. However in the end I got a bit bored after my time on the tour I was fishing the same waters each year and did not learn so much any more. Now I am back where I want to be – learning and fishing new waters.

Tomas Engert is also working for the same company as sales rep for Gunki Germany. Tomas has been arournd for a very long time and was the one who introduced Illex into Germany. He is a very well-known coarse angler (meaning non predatory fresh fish which is not salmonids like bream and chub). He has done a lot of match fishing including a lot of international competition. Tomas is a very very good angler, very versatile, not only a predator fishing. He is for example also a very good carp angler. He is also a world champion! A world champion in predator fishing from boat 2014.

During the interview I also realised that Sweden does not have a national team in predator fishing! And we are not competing the same way either – having multiple species in the competitions. Interesting…

So all in all we have a lot of competition experience. However we have never fished together in a competition. We fish together maybe 2-3 times per year but this is the first competition. We love competing and the format of Perch Pro is fantastic. We love it. We are here to have fun and catch a lot of fish. Winning is not important, having fun is.

What is it that makes perch fishing so interesting?

Perch should have been interesting much earlier in Scandinavia. Perch is the most common European predator. It’s found in all waters: Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland. Everywhere you go… and in big numbers. If you let them grow – the will become a great sport fish.

Perch is the kind of fish you grow up and grow with. You catch the small when you are a kid and then you still can enjoy catching the big ones when you grow up. Additionally you can catch 4-5 40 cm perch in one spot. You can also see the fish on the fish finder. Easy to find – fun to catch.

What made you particpate in Perch Pro?

Perch Pro is a fun competition. For us it is really avout being a part of the growing the audience for fishing in general is really fun. This type of live entertainment brings more fisherman. It is the same reason we do street fishing – we are visible and “create” more fisherman. We bring new fisherman to our wonderful sport. If a non-fisherman see you fishing on the street they will be interested and become anglers.

The more fisherman we are – the more likely we are to keep the rivers open for fishing and catch and release. We need to keep the image of the fisherman high – fishing is caring, fishing is cool. It may sound strange to a Swede – you are so close to nature but in France, Netherlands et c the opinion against sport fishing is growing. They want to protect the fish 100% ie ban all activity catching fish no matter what. If we are many, visible and in general nice people it will be more difficult to ban waters. From this angle I really think as well that fishermen should really stick together not the ”why do you hold the fish that way etc”. Help, support and and have fun.

Fishing should be accessible for everyone – you do not need 10000€ sounder on a 30000€ boat and enormous amount of gear – keep it simple. That’s the reason I like Perch Pro and perch as a fish. You get fun – perch is numbers and numbers is fun

How do you prepare yourselves for the competition?

In general we are prepared because we are international tournament anglers. This is what we do: we go to new waters, compete and try to find fish. We are used to fishing in new places. I fish in Sweden a couple of times each year but of course I do not know the waters that well. I of course want to know where to go in Sweden, in what season. For that reason we cannot have that many back-up plans. We do not have time to investigate. So simply put – we cannot beat the other teams on location  – but we can win with being very good with a variety of techniques.

The internet has really helped preparing for competitions. You can find maps, sea charts, results all sorts of stuff. It makes you feel like you know it all even if you really do not know anything :-). The other really good thing is that you can connect with local fishermen: chat, get insights, hook-up and maybe go fishing in their spots. Then I need to know what place to go to.

Then you talk on key anglers – is this a key spot? All year round, only winter? Then you end up with a list of spot you need to check. The good things is that everybody wants to fish with us. Then when we can go fishing and get to know the spots to get our own feeling about then and the people who fish there. I have been doing three trips for preparing but still you rely a lot on the people on the spots. The good thing is that you can find seamaps in fx archipelago and plan at home. A fish is a fish and they behave in the same ways all across Europe. If you know you need to find rocky tops in the middle of a lake then you can see where to go.

When the competition is on – how does it feel?

Well, inspite of what many think, pressure of filming is not a really pressure. Filming is kind of easy – the only pressure is to catch fish. We are more tournament anglers so one of things we could bring is that we are used to fish fast and rapidly change technique – we have up to 15 rods rigged. We do not change lures – we change pre-rigged rods. We fish more than the average in time. Our baits are more in the water. One way to catch more fish is to fish faster. If you fish 10% more (bait in the water) then most likely you will end up with 10% more fish.

The check-ins is really fun. The fact is you only know the numbers. You don’t know where they fish – you basically know nothing. Based on the report you only know how they fish ie what are the numbers and sizes needed to get points but you do not now where they are, conditions, weather, temperature et c so you you need to focus on your own fishing.

Last year meant the breakthrough for texas/carolina rigs and also the introduction of dropshotting the ”stickelback” where Tom caught over 2000 perch. What kind of interesting new things will we see this year?

I really hope there will be a lot inspiration and new techniques. There is no all-ruling technique. That’s why we keep 10-15 pre-rigged rods on the boat. To change technique and not needing to re-tie when changing. Fishing is very much about numbers. If you can 10% because you can keep fishing, switching technique by changing rod, at the end of the day I am very convinced you will catch on average 10% more fish.

Coming to techniques as such, you need to know what you are doing all the time. I know that Texas and Carolina rigs are really trendy but they are not the only thing that catches fish. It is really fun – I think we caught 1 fish on Carolina and 2-3 fish on Texas. When fishing – do not forget why you are doing what you are doing. 80% of the time you are going to use an off-set hook because the hook-set is so much better. But there is not only one dominating technique – all techniques have their place. Everyone is talking about finesse. We are a bit more rough :-).

Still of course we pay attention to details. The fish are talking to you – listen. Don’t stay on one technique – learn one technique and then go for another. I hope we can inspire. Plomb palet is also trendy. But actually it comes from the old fishing ice in Sweden – refined a bit and then sent back under “plomb palet”.

Finally. What kind of tips would you give to the perch noob

1. Don’t estimate that you need to fish fast. They are in groups and they move around. Searching tools is import, spinnerbaiting, crankbaiting, softbaits with heavy jigheads, metallic lures like blades. Go fast – cover a lot water. When you find them slow down and fish more thoroughly.
2. Adjust a bit from the type of fishing you are doing. Stop and go does not work as well for perch. Just keep going. They are uses to small fish trying to escaping – the are not ambushers. Don’t stop too much, keep you bait moving.
3. Use finesse technique only when you need it. Catch the easy fish first with other techniques with power techniques – then go down to finesse

Thank you very much Frédéric. We are already on fire and the show is not even on yet. We will for sure be sitting in front of Youtube and Kanalgratis.se 1st Jan at 20.00. Looking forward to meeting you at Hard Rock Café 5th Feb. We will be honored to have a toast with you guys. Should you, dear reader, like to meet us, chat and maybe have a drink you can find tickets for the event.

//Magnus

You find more english articles here:

https://www.fiskefuralle.se/?s=english

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