fishing RECENTLY, WHILST DISCUSSING ALL THINGS FISHING WITH AN ANGLER WITH OVER 60 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE, I MENTIONED THAT I WAS GOING RIVER FISHING THE FOLLOWING DAY (BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN WE COULD LEAVE THE HOUSE).
By Clive Kenyon
“H
ow do you know where the fish are in a river?” He asked. “In a lake they are captive, but in a river you never know where they are.” I had never considered that. It turned out that my friend tended to fish small lakes that were club waters so he knew where the fish were from talk on the grapevine and even if they weren’t there, he was sure that that they wouldn’t be far away. Now, if you took that logic to one of our large lacs; Mas Chaban, Pardoux or Vassivière, for example, there will be fish happily swimming around several kilometres from your swim and no amount of ground baiting will bring them into range. And, unless you have a boat, there will be areas of water that you cannot reach by casting. So, finding where the fish are in such vast lakes and in our rivers is often key to success or failure.
Wind plays its part, also sunshine. As the water is warming up after winter on still, sunny days you will probably find fish located at the northern end of the lake; starting in the north-west in a morning and following the sun towards the northeast as the sun arcs across the shy. If these banks are also shallow then the water will warm up more quickly. Warm winds will drive warmer water downwind and create a fishy hot-spot on the lee shore. Insect eating fish such as roach and rudd intercept insects that are in the process of hatching and can be found just off the downwind side of the lake in midwater or towards the surface. The ideal morning scenario would be sunny with a warming wind blowing towards a shallow north-west bank or on the north-east bank in an evening.
The same sort of logic applies to rivers. In For the first part, many lakes that have our region there are few rivers where a fish been formed by damming a river follow a could if it wanted to, swim from source to certain profile in that the end where the sea. Weirs and barrages create separate river enters the lake is often shallow and pounds that can restrict the movement of can be the narrowest part fish up and of the lake whilst the dam down river. end is generally deeper These pounds Wind plays its part, also and wider. Fish are cold are similar to sunshine. As the water is blooded and sometimes the move from one place to warming up after winter on still, topography of another to where the the dammed sunny days you will probably temperature is most lakes but also find fish located at the comfortable for them. have the northern end of the lake Surface water is more aspect of flow prone to change from the to consider. effects of wind, sun and Mostly the ambient temperature and we all know that river runs fast and shallow after a weir and warm water rises above cold water so the the depth gradually increases the further layers or stratification of the water level away from the weir that it goes. As the can mean that certain depths are most depth increases the flow slows until at the suitable to the fish’s well-being. Fish also dam or barrage the water can be almost need to feed so a perfect scenario for any stationary other than the surface layer if it fish is where the water is of the optimum spills over the top of the weir, or the temperature at a depth where they can channel where water is directed through a find food. With typically bottom feeding sluice or mill race. It is said that barbel species this could mean that in winter favour water that flows at walking pace where the warmest water temperature can over a hard sand or gravel bottom, and be found at a depth that coincides with the that also follows for dace and roach too. bed of the lake, then it is likely that fish Somewhere along the length of river will be found there. You can check the between the weir upstream and the temperature of surface water using a barrage or dam downstream there may be thermometer dangled from your rod or an a place where the flow suits those species infra-red thermometer aimed at the water and if that speed of flow is over a hard bed surface. In practice it is sometimes just a of a depth of a metre or more your luck case of walking along the bank until you may be in. Dace show on the surface taking hatching insects and if barbel are see signs of fish activity.
feeding on drifting insects or rooting around the gravel they can give their location away as light reflects off their flanks showing a brief golden flash. Roach also flash, in their case silver as they twist to pull caddis and snails from stones and weed. Down at the dam end of a stretch of river you may see carp bubbling as they sift through the layer of detritus that has been laid there by the winter floods. I also find a lot of carp on shelves between the bank and the deepest part or where there are significant changes in depth and / or where flow is restricted but close to the full flow which is called a seam. Gutter swims where food being carried down the river gets blocked by weed beds or other obstructions collects are also good bets. You read about anglers fishing the far bank and around islands for carp and I am sure that they are good locations. But, I am pretty sure that carp do not know what an island is, or whether the bank is far or near. So, I prefer wherever possible to fish the near bank where good presentation of the bait is easier to achieve. Bream can also be found in the slower stretches of river and in lakes prefer mud rather than gravel bottoms. Sometimes you will find areas of soft mud on the edge of the main current where floodwater has deposited it. They also lurk about at the tail of weirs and some of the largest bream can be found there. In lakes they show themselves by porpoising or rolling as the shoal travels along its regular route. Bream don’t get much of a mention on here but this is a good time to fish for this popular species. In the Massignac arm of Lac Mas Chaban, towards the end of and just beyond the Carpe de Nuit area is a good place to fish for them as is between the Embarcadie and dam in the main basin. I have found bream in the River Charente in the Charroux to Savigné area. April can be a funny time for coarse fishing as the perch and roach will largely have finished their spawning whilst bream, chub, carp and barbel will not be ready for another month or two. If you do come across spawning fish of any species it is advisable to leave them be and look to catch other species elsewhere.
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