Re: La Loire - has anyone fished this amazing river?
Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 8:27 pm
The Vienne and Charente are my local rivers. They are both roughly the same length as the Severn, but the Vienne has a catchment area four times the size. There are barbel and carp all along the river. The barbel though do not seem to run very large. Many ex-pat anglers report that they struggle to find fish over 6lb. I have had a few larger than that, but they are hard to find. Carp however are ubiquitous and run to mid forties in the middle reaches and possibly larger further downstream. It is quite common to catch carp to 20lb in the same swim as the larger barbel of 7lb to 9lb. Catfish are also everywhere and will trash your barbel tackle.
The Charente enters limestone country around Charroux, about a third of its way downstream and quickly becomes very verdant. From Angouleme downstream the river is excellent for carp, barbel, catfish and other predators. It isn't an easy river to fish though being mainly very clear, deep and the weeds are a yard thick and stretch bank to bank in some places. Night fishing venues are few and far between. Again, barbel of any size are difficult to locate. The middle reaches are amazing with the river splitting into multiple channels and offering a variety of different types of swim. there are good chub, perch and roach in these sections from around Charroux down to Chateauneuf-sur-Charente.
Fishing is free as long as you have a Carte de Peche or rod licence.
The Charente enters limestone country around Charroux, about a third of its way downstream and quickly becomes very verdant. From Angouleme downstream the river is excellent for carp, barbel, catfish and other predators. It isn't an easy river to fish though being mainly very clear, deep and the weeds are a yard thick and stretch bank to bank in some places. Night fishing venues are few and far between. Again, barbel of any size are difficult to locate. The middle reaches are amazing with the river splitting into multiple channels and offering a variety of different types of swim. there are good chub, perch and roach in these sections from around Charroux down to Chateauneuf-sur-Charente.
Fishing is free as long as you have a Carte de Peche or rod licence.