French Fishing in March

[ernie1982]

Hi guys,

 

I am planning my first trip to france for next year and am looking to go to Angel Lakes near Limoges for a nice easy all inclusive holiday.

 

My only concern is the weather, I can only have time off in March and after speaking to the owner, I have been told it could be very cold below freezing down to minus 5, 10 or 15 degrees on a nighttime and that my chances of catching were slim.

Whilst I appreciate you cannot predict the weather or the fish for that matter, I just dont want to waste my time if you know what I mean.

 

Anyone that has travelled over at this time of year or anyone who think they can help, I would be grateful for any information you can provide as Im unsure on what to do...

 

Many thanks

 

Ernie

[david1951]

At least the owner was being honest, the temperatures anywhere in Northern or Central France can be very cold in March, if you can only do March you would be best advised to look at Western France which is probably the warmest part at that time of year. A lot of the fisheries I know, no longer open at the start of March as in some of the past seasons the lakes have been frozen which means you have no chance of catching and at the temperatures you have been quoted at the Limoges lake, you might be better advised to try and fish another month or find a warmer area at that time of year.

[danm1]

Probably not going to be a huge amount of help as I don't know that time of year.

 

I fished end-Apr before about 90 mins form Calais. We had 4-seasons in the week, but it wasn't cold - just wet, windy, then dry, sunny. Maybe 18/20 degs in the day - not much below 10 at night.

 

I then went another 2 hours "down" - into the Champagne region - for the next week - and it was 25+ in the day - with ice on my mat (I'd caught!) at night! Quite a big "swing".

 

It all depends on the venue though - the first wasn't a prolific water and I caught "not a lot" - the second, despite the low overnight temps - was a well stocked venue and yielded a good stack of fish!

[etangdebrigueuil]

Hi Ernie,

 

well I'm afraid he is being honest with you. We own a lake in the Limoges area and although its hard to believe one year we had temperatures of 30 degrees in the sun during February and the following week beginning of march they were minus 10. As fisheries owners we always say there are certain things we cant do anything about thats the fishing and the weather if they dont want to play ball then thats its. You would be better off to try and push your week forward to perhaps mid April, at least you would be a bit more certain of the weather. Whenever you decide to go I'm sure they will look after you and hope you have a great trip.

[brutalbaz]

dont bother mate i fished a lake in limoges area early march owner quite happy to take our money when we booked when we arrived he made it quite clear that we would be lucky to catch anything at this time of year which proved right with one run to 4 guys fishing in a week got very cold during day never mind night if you cant make another date at least try to find a water with a lot of fish in whatever you decide good luck

[david1951]

The number of fish in the lake is not really a factor, I am sure you know that in extreme weather conditions fishing just switches off whether there are 100 or 1,000 fish in a lake, the odds for catching something are slim! Think the concensus of opinion is that the guy should either find a warmer part of France i.e Western France or pick another month. Perhaps looking at some of the fisheries (located in Brittany or Normandy) that are open during the Winter months might help.

[carpquarry]

I agree with all the post it is going to be hard fishing in March unless you are very lucky on weather. It will be better fishing and more plesent for you it you could leave your trip till end of April onwards and good on that lake owner to be honest with you. Good luck on your trip.

[bluebirdjones]

I've fished in the Limoges area at the end of March beginning of April. We were the second group of the year to fish the lake. Between 5 of us we had 49 fish through the week. I think the group who fished the week before us had a similar amount. The nights were cold with temperatures going below freezing and the days were warm.

[carpquarry]

That is one point the fish in march at any lake in France will be at there biggest and in the best condition pre spawning if March is the only time you can go then go for it just take the right gear to keep warm there is still alot of fish to be caught just dont overbait when you put the food in the lake you cant take it out

[ralphj]

Hello tony1971,

 

with all due respect mate are you the owner of crete lakes, as the guy is asking for info about going to a lake in March and you come on here posting a link to another lake. He is looking to go in March to a lake he has chosen and asked about the weather conditions. Even the other lake owners on this thread have not tried to promote their own lakes. Stinks a bit to me mate!!!!!

[david1951]

Hello tony1971,

 

with all due respect mate are you the owner of crete lakes, as the guy is asking for info about going to a lake in March and you come on here posting a link to another lake. He is looking to go in March to a lake he has chosen and asked about the weather conditions. Even the other lake owners on this thread have not tried to promote their own lakes. Stinks a bit to me mate!!!!!

 

Well there are lake owners and lake owners!! Why supposedly would he put that number of big fish in this Winter if it produces the sort of catch rates reported in the posting?

 

Carpquarry, I hate to disagree with you about fish weights but in my experience carp weights are at their highest at the start/mid May (pre spawning) and at the end of October!! How on earth can the fish be at their top weights when they have spent approx 4 months eating very little food? I would say that in March the fish are maybe at their lowest weights.

[ralphj]

Well said David, I'm sure if you put that many more fish in the Bio Mass would go through the roof and the fish already in the lake would suffer. If like you say the catch reports are to be believed then they must be very hungry fish with little or no natural food, putting another couple of hundred 30's and 40's will be catastropic. But hey each to their own I suppose.

[david1951]

Thanks Ralph and well said to you also about the effects to existing stocks, totally true!

[mrs_rusheslake]

The offending post has been deleted as entirely inappropriate.

Now back on track!

The experiences of lake owners will vary because of the areas they are in.

We, being in northwest France rarely freeze over during the winter and we do feed our fish heavily over winter hence our fish are at their heaviest late March and April.

I think that the lake owner has been very honest with you after all he will not want you to go to his lake freeze your wotsits off, blank then come back and post what a nightmare you had!

[david1951]

Evening Kim, nice to see you have the hatchet sharpened, I was about to give an opinion about a group of lakes (partially favourable believe it or not) but no need to bother now! If I was going to fish in France in March (again), I definately would choose your part of the country!! I should have added that feeding carp up in the Winter in the warmer parts of France will increase weights, but in the colder areas e.g. North East and Central France I am not convinced it works, almost the same as in England and I have had carp in garden ponds for years. I think anybody with a pond in England will agree that the carp just don't feed the same in the Winter!

[tony1971]

1st im not the owner of crete lakes and secondly if you was to read the thread properly he was a bit concerned about the weather and not catching and sombody else wrote about looking for a diff area to fish all i have done is give advice and just for your oponion i never said at any time the fish wouuld be at there heaviest in march what i said was that as a rule the bigger fish fish tend to feed in the early months this is fact so before you start giving me any obuse may i sugest you read the topic and all the threads leading up to mine all inm trying to do is help and try to put a felow angler on some fish .in the owners own words of the lake he is looking at it will be very cold i.e -5-10 or lower well as you may or maynot be aware that is well below the freezing point of water so pls could you explain to me how he might catch fish on tthe ice ...and the owner is jamie as i said in my post so pls read before you reply in such a mannor many thanks ....TONY....not jamie ....

[tony1971]

sorry at the same time pls acept my apolagies to any other members i may of ofended on this post i am a new member to this forum and i am still learning the ropes and not 100% on all the rules and regs yet for this im sorry but at the same time some of my opinions on my previos post still carry some credit once again my appolagoes to those i ofended P.S i am not a lake owner