French barbel fishing

With a family trip to south-west France planned I managed to pack the bare essentials to allow me the opportunity to fish a French river. The river Dordogne was in easy reach of our temporary home and it apparently had good stocks of barbel or barbeau as they are known across the channel.

Before my trip, I put out a few feelers and got some ideas as to where I might find some fish. Barbel are rarely targeted in France. Instead match fishing tactics and game fishing dominate although there is growing interest in carp, another species that inhabit the Dordogne. With a lack of interest in barbel, information was scarce but I had enough to to make a start.

My first view of the river came in Bordeaux, a huge expanse of water that flowed strongly towards

The Dordogne at Bordeaux

the ocean. A couple of days later a visit to a small town called Sainte Foy-La-Grande presented me with the middle reaches. Fast, shallow water with streamer weed that certainly looked ideal barbel habitat. It was almost a wider version of the Wye. I saw a carp close to the near bank almost immediately but much of the gravel bottom was devoid of all but small fish. A deeper channel under the bridge did give up the presence of barbel. Not huge fish with most a few pounds at most. The nearby eddy was also home to three carp, one of which looked to be approaching 20lb. Unfortunately, there was no access to this area so I would not be able to fish here. I also visited two further villages that had been recommended: Gardonne and Limonzie Saint Martin. I was able to stand on the bridge at Gardonne and again barbel were present. It was quite mesmerizing watching the barbel flash their golden flanks as they ventured away from their weedy sanctuary. The second venue had a railway bridge and although I couldn't look down into the river I had no doubt that this area would also contain my quarry. Deeper water was pushed into a rapid channel that shallowed as it rushed between the pillars of the stone bridge. It looked right and with this viewing I decided this would be my chosen venue.

The Dordogne at Sainte Foy-La-Grande

An early morning start saw me set up under the railway bridge. A barbel rolled which gave me great confidence. A simple running ledger rig baited with a pellet and small PVA bags would be my chosen tactic. Surely it was just a matter of time before the unpressured barbel succumb? Well, it didn't quite turn out like that. The barbel were not falling for my pellet bait. After an hour there had not even been a tap. I was convinced there were fish in the swim but they were certainly not switched on to modern day angling baits. I had decided that the fish were obviously feeding on natural food stocks and I had nothing that resembled these. I looked under the rocks for anything that might make a bait but drew a blank. A trip to the supermarket saw me return with two tins of ham, the first of which I managed to step on. It was going really well, not!!! The meat wasn't great quality, well not for

Finally a French barbel obliged

fishing at least. Keeping it on the hook was an issue but it eventually tempted a bite and a fish was finally on. It was a barbel too. As expected it wasn't huge but it certainly put a bend in rod in the fast water. Another fish followed soon after but the sport slowed and my ongoing bait issues severely hindered me

I decided to move to the swim at Gardonne but this saw me suffer the same issues with no interest in pellet baits and problems keeping a meat bait on long enough for it to be found. The barbel were there, I could see them from the bridge although there were in one very tight area that needed a very accurate cast. The slack water behind the stanchion also revealed some of the biggest perch I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the heaviest lure I had in my armoury fell just short to tempt one of them. It was pretty frustrating stuff.

It had certainly been a learning experience. It was never going to be a serious session on a family holiday but it certainly made me reflect on what might have been. Having found the fish I expected them to be easier to catch but the lack of angling in this area certainly had an impact. If I had managed to squeeze another session in then I would have gone down the maggot or worm route as I feel these baits would have been more readily accepted. It would have also been useful to have a bit more tackle with me as then I would have been able to make a few changes that might have made a difference. As it was I managed a peaceful morning, a couple of fish and taste of what the Dordogne has to offer.

N.B. Fishing French rivers is essentially free from day permits/club books. All you need is a permit that is essentially the equivalent of our EA licence. This can be bought in tabac and tackle shops as well as online. They can be bought in a variety of formats: day, holiday, annual, etc. Once you have this then you are able to fish any publicly accessible river bank. If the bank crosses private property then you will of course need the landowners permission.  Day permits in addition to the licence above are needed for private fisheries which generally are aimed at the carp angler.