French rivers

[millhouse84]

Hi all, I seem to go in and out of my obsession for carp fishing and have done for about 13 years. Starting to get the bug again but cant be doing with rammed out lakes over here all the time fighting over swims. The french rivers appeal to me. Im sure they are challenging but can anyone give me any info on them. I know thats a bit vague but im not really fussed what one but would like to do nights and maybe go for a week.

Cheers, any info appreciated

[fatfish]

Were in France were you thinking of fishing ? its a big place

[millhouse84]

Been thinking about the moselle in maybe the metz area but only because ive heard a few people talk about this area and its not that far from calais. Does anyone know anything about this area? Night zones, camp sites, licences, parking etc

[striker18]

I dont think your get much help on here m8 unless your going to one of the pay lakes!

I asked a simple question about permits and no one could answer it!

[etangdebrigueuil]

Hi Striker, I think thats a little below the belt suggesting that you wont get any help on here. I read your post and if I could have answered it I would have but I honestly didnt know. There is no point anyone answering a post with ifs' buts and maybe's, that doesnt help anyone.

[jules007]

Hi Striker, I think thats a little below the belt suggesting that you wont get any help on here. I read your post and if I could have answered it I would have but I honestly didnt know. There is no point anyone answering a post with ifs' buts and maybe's, that doesnt help anyone.

 

well said sir, a while back we had a situation where a member posted a comment about a product that he knew nothing about

[striker18]

Hey Guys no need to go all defensive?

I'm just saying it as it is!

This website is heavily PayLake orientated you have only got to read all the posts to see that!and if you have lake owners/managers answering the questions and posts in this section! well its not in their best interest to be putting people on the fish! come on chaps lets not be naive!

[fatfish]

Been thinking about the moselle in maybe the metz area but only because ive heard a few people talk about this area and its not that far from calais. Does anyone know anything about this area? Night zones, camp sites, licences, parking etc

 

Sorry mate never fished up that way but as was said you MAY find it hard getting info on some waters as it takes time and effort to find some of these waters best spots information some folk dont want to give away.

Good luck

[alan50]

Hi Millhouse, maybe i can help. The river moselle is quite a good start but there are one or two good carp rivers nearer, what about the Marne ? All the French rivers hold carp and it is very exciting fishing. Best bet is to have a look on my website then get back to me if you have any specific questions as it is very much an open question as there are so many options available to you. Regards Alan. www.frenchcarpwaters.co.uk

[striker18]

Hello Alan I like your website you got a lot of very good information on there m8 well done!

 

mill house I have some maps of night zones for the seine yonne and marne pm me if you want them (its somewhere to start)

 

I know this is going to sound obvious but fishing the rivers is totally different to fishing lakes you have running water to deal with!

you got weed and snags floating past, barges and boat traffic, you need strong tackle,snag leaders and heavy leads,you may need large rock hard boilies to combat crayfish, possion chat and other nuisance fish!"

Its not everyones cup of tea!

but once you get its sussed it becomes quite enyoyable!

you probably wont see another carp angler and your be fishing for some uncaught fish!

Good luck!

[fiskekongen]

What about La Maxe at Metz? This is in Mozelle. There you can fish all day and night, nice swims and great fishing. It is alowed to fish with 4 rods.

 

La Maxe is a good place early and late in the year because of the hot water that comes from the factory. There are carp over 30kg and catfish over 100kg.

 

It is almost a must with baitboat.

 

It is some crayfish there, but not a big problem. No need for rock hard boilies. The current isnt a problem eather, and during 8 days of fishing I ony got one other fisk than catfish and carp. There is a popular fishingspot, but plenty of swims. Just don't get down there at the weekend, then it can be a problem getting a good swim.

 

Nice to talk to people from all over the world. This year we are 8 people from Norway driving down, on different weeks tho.

 

If you drive to the Pacific Pesh shop, they will help you with the payment and arange the fishing police guy to meet you with the key you need to get into the fishing area.

 

Im going down there next week and cant wait! This would be my second time at La Maxe

[briandki]

might be worth talking to keith moors as he runs river trips on the saone. well he used to when we visited his fishery ( moorland fisheries) a few years back. check out his web site.

[severnslayer]

Totally agree with most of what Striker has said.

 

This section should be called 'pay lakes in France' !!!

 

Nice to see someone wanting to river fish!!

 

It seems anglers have no pioneering spirit left anymore, they just act like sheep following each other to the lastest 'in fashion' fishery that has sprung up, with instant 60 plus fish ( that have appeared by magic!!! lol) Most of these lakes get more hammer the some English waters!

 

Mind you it suits me and others like me that never pay to fish an 'English' lake in France, keeps the masses off the River systems and untapped lakes (not that the average numpty would catch anything unless they went to a venue where they virtually wipe your bottom for you)

 

The Seine, yonne, mayenne, moselle, soane, loire, lot, tarn, garonne etc etc etc all have night fishing areas, pick an area, do your research, find a local tackle shop get hold of the local night fishing maps (they change every year) parlez a little 'francais', make friends locally, have a good boat/engine/sounder/life jacket and your away!

 

I have fished this way in France for 15 years, and on the big rivers in the last 10 yrs I have probably come across less than 10 other carp anglers and all but two of them were French!! Made several really good french friendships which opened up an incredible amount of information that I would have never found out about!!

 

The Rivers all across France and europe in general are fantastic places to fish!!

 

Perhaps some of you can Live a little and Discover the real France not an English fishery in France!!

[dangling]

http://www.nachtvisseninfrankrijk.nl/

 

This book delivers every kind of info you need to fish in france without having to discuss your fine with "the gare du peche"

 

One small problem: it's written in dutch...

 

Nothing what a little help from google translate can't fix.

[rossmc]

French river fishing is quite simply mind blowing, bearing in mind i live in the north east and coarse fishing isnt the best. My folks have a house in france and i spend a few weeks over there every year fishing for the roach, chub etc but i have since learned that there is some hefty carp in the river in one section and theres always a rod pod set up in someones garden when i go past and figured he was after pike or zander.

 

This year my moms having her 50th birthday party over there and told me im going to have to stay on the campsite down by the river as theres no space in the house, the camp site is the sweet spot which contains the carp, i could hardles say no could i? haha 2 weeks bivvied up by the river, its a hard life.

[severnslayer]

Sounds ideal!! Hope you have a few !!!

[striker18]

Hi forum,

I'm glad to see theres still some old schoolers out there still fishing the public waters!

last year i spent a total of six weeks carp fishing in France

i must have visited at least 10(public lakes) circuit waters from the 80's and 90's and all of them were receiving very little pressure all of these waters contained carp to 50lb+ and some 60lb+

I also stopped off at the saone for a couple of nights and it was full of carp!

it beats me how some people would want to sit shoulder to shoulder on some little puddle of a pay lake all trying to catch the same 60lber!

when they could be fishing some pictueque river of 2000 acre lake!

 

well at least pay lakes keeps the crowds off the proper waters!lol

[moorsey]

Hi forum,

I'm glad to see theres still some old schoolers out there still fishing the public waters!

last year i spent a total of six weeks carp fishing in France

i must have visited at least 10(public lakes) circuit waters from the 80's and 90's and all of them were receiving very little pressure all of these waters contained carp to 50lb+ and some 60lb+

I also stopped off at the saone for a couple of nights and it was full of carp!

it beats me how some people would want to sit shoulder to shoulder on some little puddle of a pay lake all trying to catch the same 60lber!

when they could be fishing some pictueque river of 2000 acre lake!

 

well at least pay lakes keeps the crowds off the proper waters!lol

 

And some "pay lakes" aren't puddles with anglers sitting shoulder to shoulder. I also note that you say the public lakes all hold 50+ and 60+ carp but don't tell us how many you caught. I live in France and have fished some of the public waters in the past and have met some proper muppets so you pay your money and take your choice but shouldn't start condeming others for wanting different things from their fishing.

[severnslayer]

Of course Keith its in your interest to say that, isn't it!!(Obviously I appreciate business is business etc etc) However you are quite right people must make up their own minds on what type of fishing they want. I'm glad many choose to go to lakes like yours because it makes the type of fishing i like even better!! I have no doubt you provide them with a very good all round experience, and good luck to you and your clients!!

Although on a purely personal level, I find it a little sad that most anglers seem to have so little pioneering spirit in them, but hey each to there own!!

[striker18]

thats the sort of response I'd expect from day ticket specialist!

it just all lb's and oz's to some people irrespective of the venue they come from!

[moorsey]

thats the sort of response I'd expect from day ticket specialist!

it just all lb's and oz's to some people irrespective of the venue they come from!

 

Hit a nerve have I?

I have my own lake but after carp angling for over 43 years [coarse angling for even longer than that] and fishing some of the English circuit waters during the 70's to 90's I wouldn't consider myself a day ticket specialist.

I was merely asking how many of these 50's and 60's that you suggest are everywhere, you managed to catch. I fished the Saone for a few years and my best out of that river is 40.02 lb so no monster and took a lot of hard work. There lies the rub. Most anglers have one week's holiday per year and want to use that to give themselves the best chance of catching some big fish. The river Saone, Seine or Chanty/Orient don't offer that kind of fishing.

[severnslayer]

That's absolutely true Moorsey, when we first fished on the Seine (about 1995) we had to put in a considerable amount of effort to catch, and then it took about 3 years (about six x 1 week trips ) to get our first 40 plus!!! I completely understand, one of my mates works in a factory, he has a family and only one week to use for fishing....so he goes to a paylake not the Seine ...its a no brainer really for most people.

When I started carping in the mid Eighties (i'm sure you will relate to this Moorsey) you had to fish your socks off to catch a twenty, if you could get on a water that held them!! A twenty was massive then, decent tackle was much thinner on the ground, good information about carp fishing was like gold dust and foreign fishing was only just starting to be reported about (i.e Maddocks/Hutchy at St Cassein)...Now you can start carping 1 minute and be holding up a 40, 50 or even bigger the next!!! Something wrong there somewhere!!!

 

Everything is on a plate now for the carp angler, ready made bait, rigs, books, tackle, and waters to fish!! etc etc I know to many this is progress and things move on....true...

 

But...this is why no one has a sense of adventure/experimentation these days, our ability to think for ourselves is being eroded, carp angling has produced vast quantities of robotic anglers that all do exactly the same things without ever questioning what they are doing, like sheep following the shepherd (i.e the press/top flight anglers trying to sell/promote products for their company!!!)

 

I know this is a ramble and I sound like 'a miserable old git' which i'm not (by the way) but sometimes progress isn't necessarily all good!

 

I' ve depressed myself now.......How much for a week at yours Moorsey ??? lol

 

[coops_northants]

Hi forum,

I'm glad to see theres still some old schoolers out there still fishing the public waters!

last year i spent a total of six weeks carp fishing in France

i must have visited at least 10(public lakes) circuit waters from the 80's and 90's and all of them were receiving very little pressure all of these waters contained carp to 50lb+ and some 60lb+

I also stopped off at the saone for a couple of nights and it was full of carp!

it beats me how some people would want to sit shoulder to shoulder on some little puddle of a pay lake all trying to catch the same 60lber!

when they could be fishing some pictueque river of 2000 acre lake!

 

well at least pay lakes keeps the crowds off the proper waters!lol

 

Striker,

 

In that post you managed to show everyone exactly the difference. Im sure if people had the oppertunity to fish 6 weeks in france over a year they would have a mixed plan of different fishing. Finding themselves fishing rivers, inland sea's and the pay lakes.

 

Lets also look it from another perspective, (My persepective) I work 6 day weeks, 12 hour days most days if not more. During my year i consentrate on my uk fishing and take it, in the main very seriously. Now when i have a holiday, 2 a year i dont want to struggle on mis information, and have to put in loads of effort in my fishing during my holiday as i have to make the effort all year just to go fishing anyway. For a holiday i want to relax, socialise, chill out and the best run package waters like Moorlands offers me that. I can book up and know what i am going to get, which is well looked after, great facilities, some cracking banter, the chance of some monster carp in pretty well perfect condition but best of all the chance to relax and just enjoy being there.

 

If i had the chance to fish for 6 holidays a year, explore i would diffinatly do, but only after i have had the rest and relaxation that these well run fisheries offer.

[striker18]

thats the sort of response I'd expect from day ticket specialist!

it just all lb's and oz's to some people irrespective of the venue they come from!

 

Hit a nerve have I?

I have my own lake but after carp angling for over 43 years [coarse angling for even longer than that] and fishing some of the English circuit waters during the 70's to 90's I wouldn't consider myself a day ticket specialist.

I was merely asking how many of these 50's and 60's that you suggest are everywhere, you managed to catch. I fished the Saone for a few years and my best out of that river is 40.02 lb so no monster and took a lot of hard work. There lies the rub. Most anglers have one week's holiday per year and want to use that to give themselves the best chance of catching some big fish. The river Saone, Seine or Chanty/Orient don't offer that kind of fishing.

 

No you haven't hit a nerve Keith I just live 15 Miles from bicester so I know you and know where you fished! I have been carp fishing for 25years, I know some of the biggest and oldest names in the sport and before you started fishing at linear no one had ever heard of you!

 

coops M8,

I can appreciate what your saying, I have friends that fish them and indeed been temped myself! but personally I couldn't give a carp from a pay lake the same credibility as a carp from a big lac or French river and thats one of the reasons i don't fish them!

Also just because i spent 6 weeks in France last year don't mean i do it every year! when i used to fish the seine in the 90's we only went for a week or maybe two a year!

 

sevenslayer i must know you?

I too fished the seine in the 90's

we found this very special swim near montereau and had some very good catches!

we normally had at least 20 fish a week (between 2 anglers)

20's 30s 40's and i personally caught a 55lber which was and absolute monster in them days!

then a pay lake crew got on the stretch and within a few short years all the fish were gone!(and thats one of the other reasons i dont fish pay lakes)

 

This thread has gone off topic a bit

originally it was about French rivers!

but it now seems to have been hijacked by some self appointed carp guru and his m8s trying to get publicity for his lake!!!

bookings must be down!

 

SAD!

[severnslayer]

Well Striker we must have nearly crossed paths alot and always just missed one another, I know the Montereau area well, I think the 80lb plus mirror caught in the 80's by that French guy was caught there just up into the River Yonne!! Mark Law and John Baker used to fish around the area at that time as well!! A lot of fish went walkies into various lakes, not just on that stretch either!! I always raise a smile reading on the various forum's when fishery owners start harping on about the rules on their lakes that protect 'their' fish, when quite probably many of these fish have dubious origins in the first place, its all double standards!! Some of the blokes running some of the pay lakes have a lot to answer for, no wonder the locals view the English in some areas with extreme caution!! One of my pals lives near Montereau, but doesn't fish locally because that stretch was destroyed by people taking the fish as you say! Only last week he emailed me to say another English run fishery had fish in it that he has personally caught out of the Seine in the past!!

Its all pounds, shillings and pence to them,(sorry...euros) they don't care or give a monkies about what they are doing. They spoil it for the guys who are trying to run a respectable business.

As for us Striker, we r out on our own on this forum mate!! No adventure, no experimentation, no free thought here, just a copy of total cr*p under one arm ,( sorry I mean total carp) a packet of ready tied chod rigs, three foot of leadcore (ready spliced of course) a can of stella and a lake full of well caught fish waiting for their turn to pose in front of the camera for the tenth time that year!! If that floats your boat fair enough...it would sink mine... I'll stick to a bit of the unknown thanks!! p.s I actually like Stella!