Angling

BEAT THE CLOSE SEASON

UNLIKE IN THE UK FRANCE DOES NOT HAVE A CLOSE SEASON FOR COARSE FISH IN RIVERS OR LAKES

By Clive Kenyon

There are a few restrictions regards temporarily prohibiting angling in areas where fish spawn, but on the whole it is a free for all for coarse fishing. Over the years I have been here I realise that whilst you can fish for carp, chub and barbel in the spring and early summer, quite often they have other things on their minds and don’t want to participate in our angling pleasure. April is the last month when fishing for cyprinids can be guaranteed before the majority of them begin the reproduction cycle. Roach are an exception, being early spring spawners, but most of the rest will usually commence some time in May once the water reaches its optimum temperature. This is a good month to get out, regulations allowing, and find some bream, chub, carp or barbel before they begin the reproduction cycle. By the end of the month results will become more patchy and that is the signal to turn to predator or trout fishing until normality returns in June. Time Flies For The Toothy Creatures April 24th marks the opening of the predator season according to the Fédération Départementale de Pêche of the Charente, Vienne and Haute-Vienne Departments. However these days it isn’t quite that simple. Whilst in the Category 2 water of the Charente department pike, zander and perch come into season in most of the rivers and some lakes on the 24th April, in the lakes St. Yriex, Lavaud, Mas Chaban and Serail and in the Category 1 section of the River Issoire the close season for zander extends to the 12th June meaning that any zander caught in those waters must be returned immediately. In the Vienne and Haute-Vienne departments the opening for pike, perch and zander is the 24th April, but black bass do not come into season until 3rd July. For some reason the Charente department does not have a close season for black bass, however all the above is subject to local amendments posted on notice boards alongside the water. You can check out local regulations, fishing seasons and the authorised hours of fishing by typing “peche” followed by the departmental number into your search engine. Fishing for pike and zander using fly tackle is increasingly popular in the UK and has also gained a foothold over here. The techniques vary tremendously as many zander anglers troll deep lures from boats on ‘put and take’ trout reservoirs whilst most fly-fishing for pike involves casting large lures from the bank or boat and luring the pike during the retrieve. Pike flies, often called budgies due to their bulk, are best cast on a rod of at least a # 8 weight reservoir rod, preferably a #10 or #11 weight salmon rod. If using heavy lures for fishing deep where many pike are to be found, it is often useful to utilise a line one or two sizes less than the optimum weight for the rod, but it is important to use a weight-forward or special pike line and a strong mono’ leader to enable the fly to turn over during the cast. My own favourite general purpose fly-line for pike fishing is a sink tip line, and for summer use a conventional floater for fishing on the surface or just under. In spring and summer pike can be found cruising the margins of lakes looking for frogs and small fish. They also swim into bays hoping to ambush prey in the dead end as they flee the pike’s presence. In rivers many pike are caught at the tail of weir pools especially in the slack water just to the side of the main current. Perch too can be caught on fly tackle and in this case conventional trout rods and lines are suitable. Perch act like black bass especially towards dusk and will hunt down shoals of small fish, surrounding them then driving through the shoal causing it to scatter. Solitary perch, usually the larger specimens, also hunt down small fish like a harrier after a hare. When you see a little fish skipping across the surface of the water the cause will be a perch chasing after it. Fry type lures will catch perch from rivers and lakes and also bloodworm or shrimp imitations cast and allowed to sink very near to weeds will lure fish that are using the weed as a cover. If you see a large shoal of perch, the tell-tale sign are lots of tiny spikes protruding through the surface film - you will stand a good chance of catching lots of them using a long shank pheasant tail nymph, ideally with some red or green in the thorax. That type of fly has caught me hundreds of small perch. Silure Awakening It used to be thought that silure, or wels catfish, were dormant in the winter months. All that changed when photos of huge catfish caught in the ice lined River Po in Italy were published. This is reminiscent of the belief of anglers in the 1970s and 80s that carp could not be caught in winter. There is also a belief that carp and catfish are more active at night. Maybe this is true, but there are many of both species caught in daylight hours. Almost all of our rivers and lakes will hold silure, some to an enormous size. They are quite secretive and rarely seen spending the day time hours in the shade of trees, undercut banks or in deep water. I have been fortunate to see silure swimming from one side of a river to the other as the movement of the sun shrunk the shadows they had been sheltering under. Some of you may have experienced seeing a patch of tiny bubbles suddenly and momentarily appear in your swim. That is the sign of a catfish crushing its prey in its bony mouth causing the victim’s swim bladder to burst and release the oxygen through the catfish’s gills. Last summer whilst margin fishing for carp this happened just as my rod jumped violently from its rest. The aggressor had crashed into my line during the ambush. Many people are put off from fishing for silure because of the large size that they can run to and the tackle required to catch them. In practice the average size of a catfish that you would expect to catch would be 20lb – 60lb, no bigger than a specimen carp and if you can safely get into the water you don’t need a huge net to land them. Simply grabbing hold of the upper jaw and hauling the fish out onto a tarp’ or large mat will result in no more than a few grazes on your fingers. You can wear a gardening glove to avoid any grazes. They will take most things, but fresh dead fish or Frolicks dog biscuits are good baits to use for the occasional silure angler. French anglers fishing the Seine in Paris catch many large silure using half a dozen Frolicks fished in deep water near to or under bridges. Incredibly they catch the fish on carp poles with beefed up elastic. For silure you do need a large, very sharp and strong hook and a hook link suitable for the rough pads of its mouth. You can buy special Kevlar line to use as a hook link, but strong, hard mono’ shock leaders of around 40lb – 60lb works just as well. You don’t need to cast far. In daylight many will be right up to the bank, under shade. It is a good idea to have a second rod with a spinner that you can use to create splashes as these attract the silure to investigate the cause of the noise and hopefully come across your bait.

The aggressor had crashed into my line during the ambush