The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

We’ve had an epic trip across the Netherlands, through the Flemish heartland of my ancestors, then northern France (Ypres made me weep) and south to Bordeaux.

Yesterday we came off the peage and I drove from Orleans to Blois and then to Tours, following the Loire. I expected the Loire to be like the Wye, and it was in many ways. Like the beats at Moccas it changed from wide sweeping shallows to narrower and deeper waters, then fast powerful runs and majestic bridges. But on a scale of three, maybe four times the size of the Wye, and perhaps more like the Ebro, almost.

The first part of the drive was disappointing, the river hidden behind woods and walls but after Blois it opened up and we followed every twist and turn. I could not contain myself, bobbing up and down in the driver’s seat.

Has anyone fished it? Or perhaps the other rivers like La Vienne? I feel I must go back.

It's a pity you didn't visit the aquarium east of Tores Phil as it has all the fish of the Loire on display - mouth watering is an understatement. Not sure what it was like this year but when I last saw it the Loire was but a trickle through dries mud in most places. I've not fished it but I did spot a few deeps that screamed carp and catfish plus there are lots of chub, barbel, perch, roach and stacks of mullet too.

The Loire was full of water Dave and looked magnificent, quite clear. The Dordogne also was full but that was running hard and brown, like a full-on Wye, and a result of the storms of course.

Yes - fished the Loire near Gien when on holiday fishing a nearby stillwater for cats. What a magnificent river it is! Not a winter water as it rises about 20 - 30 feet where I was with dead trees from 100 miles upstream resting in the top of other bankside trees. The canal aqueduct at Briare, some 600m long, shows how high you need to be to avoid the floods!

Anyway as said above some huge cats and carp - plus barbel to double figures and the mullet. Saw 70+ river cat landed whilst there dwarfed my stillwater 30! Some carpers stay on islands to avoid the Fishery Police in order to night fish.

As I went to fish a relatively small commercial cat/carp stillwater I was totally unprepared for fishing the river which ranged from 200m to 400m across! I did fish a backwater for on a couple of days whilst there but mainly plumbed for a couple of small stillwaters and canals when not fishing the commercial. Poisson-chat! My step-daughter caught about 50 in an afternoon!

A video of licenced professional fisherman which shows the species to be caught. Not really what we would do except at sea but they do eat coarse fish - esp brochet et sandre - pike and zander.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GvlLduXafM

A brochure of part of the Loire:-
http://federationpeche45.fr/wp-content/ ... 7-2018.pdf

My sister in law and her husband used to live in The Charente and on one visit I borrowed a rod and dug a few worms and fished in the Charente river. I did not catch anything but my wife and I were able to watch a bitch otter and her three kits playing in front of us for 10 minutes. Wonderful! Am I the only fisherman that loves otters?

If you think we have problems with crays ---------:-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y5d_wwBDNA

I have fished the vienne at a place called lisle jourdain as I had a house in a village called millac the river in this area is interesting as there are three dams which make two lakes I used to fish the upper lake as my punt was there the fish you could catch were roach,bream,ide,poisson chat,zander,pike,large mouth bass, catfish up to about fifty kilos and some huge carp. if any one is in that area its worth a look.

A French fishing forum I belonged to held a meet/fish-in there one weekend - a bit of a long way for me for 3 days!

The Vienne has a healthy barbel population near Confolens as does the Cher and Loire especially near Bourges where a friend catches them on lures!

I think I am correct in saying that the Loire has no dams and it is referred to as a "France's Wild River". It used to have a run of huge salmon!
https://www.internationalrivers.org/res ... almon-1632

I have only seen the river vienne at confolens and I could well believe that there are barbel there plus it is a beautiful looking river and I regret not exploring further the dams I was talking about were on the river vienne

I've spent holidays in France from the extremes of Dunkirk and the Pyrenees, but not fishing ! what strikes you is the amount of different types of waters mostly available to fish. When you fly over France you become aware of just how much 'blue' you see, and from a smaller perspective the waters shown during the helicopter coverage of the tour de France . When you fly in over the UK particularly the south of England you realise just what a crowded island we are.