angling
L’Ouverture Truite! By Clive Kenyon
IF YOU ARE OUT AND ABOUT ON SATURDAY MARCH 13TH AND SPOT A LOT OF NEOPRENE CLAD MEN AND WOMEN CONGREGATED AROUND RIVER BRIDGES DON’T WORRY. THEY ARE NOT LOOKING FOR DEAD BODIES OR INVOLVED IN SOME WEIRD FETISH
T
hey are trout anglers eager to commence the new season. The Charente and Haute Vienne departments have many trout rivers, typically the smaller ones in the higher reaches that are designated Category 1 on the maps listed by the departmental Association of Pêcheurs. These waters are only open from the second Saturday in March through to the third Sunday in September, and that applies to all species, not just trout. Some of the rivers have restrictions on how many trout you can take and the sizes of fish that must be returned. Also, in a few places maggots as bait are banned. In the absence of specific regulations those specified on the departmental fisheries website will apply. There are some places where fly fishing is the predominant method of fishing; the Touvre in the Charente and the area on the Vienne in the Haute Vienne around Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat along with the Taurion in the same department, but on many of the smaller rivers bait fishing is the most common method of trout fishing. There are also communal lakes that are stocked with trout including the 7 hectare Etang des Brégères just outside St. Barbant. You can check on regulations and which waters are designated trout waters by typing 'pêche' followed by the departmental number into a search engine then following the links to the designated Réglementation or Parcours pages. For those anglers who prefer to fly fish in larger rivers then probably the best bet is to head south to the River Dordogne where there is some of the best trout fishing in France. You will find plenty of information online about this superb river. There are specific parcours at Argentat-sur-Dordogne, Saint Bazile de la Roche, Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne and Saint Céré where single hooks and ‘no kill’ are mandatory. As well as these defined fisheries you can find less well known stretches of river near to or between some of the pretty villages that line the river. The Golden Maggot Trophy Back in the mid 1970s there was a fishing program on TV called The Fishing Race that featured teams of two anglers including Dennis Darkin and John Darling, Brian Harris with Clive Gammon, and Ian Gillespie with Jim Gibbinson. A
second series featured Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards. The teams of anglers were tasked with catching as many species as possible and vied for the world’s smallest prize; The Golden Maggot Trophy.
tactics over and over again. All that is needed is a shortish rod such as a trout spinning rod or float rod of between six and nine feet, a small fixed spool reel loaded with 3lb line and no more tackle than will fit in a small trout bag or waistcoat pockets. Tackling up involves a When you consider that a river such as the float such as a Loafer or Chub Trotter, a Charente will hold upwards of thirty few split shot and a variety of hook lengths species including the sea fish in its tidal to include 18s for the smaller species up to reaches, the lesser known oddities such as size 14 or 12 for the chub and carp. A lampreys and loach and the nonCatherine lead can be used to quickly indigenous ones including poisson-chat adapt your float rig into a float / ledger rig and perche soleil, it is strange that there is and the other essentials include a pair of so little interest in probably twenty-five of polarised glasses to be able to spot fish. these. The days of specialist anglers Spotting fish is an art in itself and targeting species other than the usual reminiscent of doing a jigsaw puzzle. suspects seems long ago. Those white lips and black tail, One of the tasks that I set they are part of a myself from time to time Like those participants of chub. Those is to catch as many The Fishing Race this orange patches species as I can in a involves adapting are a barbel’s session typically on a techniques to suit the pectoral fins. small river near to home. Sometimes you capture of each species Like those participants of see a cloud of silt The Fishing Race this indicating that a involves adapting carp is grubbing techniques to suit the capture of each around the river bed. At other times it is species and of course, knowing where and about casting to features that may hold a how to find them. That last part is the fish or two. most satisfying; but only when I get it right. One of the beauties in this sort of fishing, other than bringing the boy out of the Counting all the species that I am likely to man, is that you don’t need much time, find in the river, I reckon that it will equipment or bait. Three euro’s worth of include; silure, pike, zander, perch, ruffe, maggots, a few worms from the garden carp, common bream, barbel, roach, chub, and a small ball of cheese paste will see gudgeon, brown trout and the invasive you right for all but the three larger poisson-chat and perche soleil, fourteen in predators, and you can catch your bait for total. Of those I have had at one time or those if you have a spare rod and reel another ten species including the two more suited to the job, handy as a standby. invaders, and seven different species in any one session. The ones that I am missing include the three larger predators and the trout. I can explain the three predators in that these require specialist baits, hooks and traces that are not interchangeable with the others. The trout however is a mystery. Brown trout are regularly stocked in the river and I have seen pêcheurs spinning for them in some reaches, but I can honestly say that I have never seen one in that river, dead or alive. This sort of fishing, which I have described before as Fishing in Lilliput after the short story published by Arthur Ransome, is a refreshing change from concentrating on a single species and repeating the same
As I said in the January article, this year I intend to fish more for the lesser species including roach, perch and tench instead of concentrating mainly on the larger ones and this sort of session will feature more in my fishing trips. I have sacrificed an old redundant built cane fly rod and turned it into a lightweight nine foot Avon type rod specifically for this kind of fishing. If you can find a suitable location there is no reason why you cannot become reacquainted with your childhood friends, the gudgeon and the ruffe along with dace, bleak and rudd. They are all out there just waiting for a bit of your attention. Think of them as specimens – only smaller!
etcetera 35
