Tenkara in French rivers

Trip Reports & Planning
1

I would like to show you the two types of rivers that I fish in France near my home:
First the rivers of the Massif Central which flow towards the Atlantic Ocean:
These rivers have a low gradient : 1200m / 1100 km .

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The trout that we fish there are brown trouts of the Atlantic species.

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They are often dark, with small ruby spots, and golden belly.

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A few kilometres away we can fish the Alpine streams.

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These have a high gradient: 1000m/ 20km.

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These rivers flow towards the Mediterranean Sea, the trout are of the Mediterranean species: they are shorter and more powerful.

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They have bigger fins to fight against the current and they have small red and black spots.
They often have 3 dark stripes,:

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With age they sometimes have spots on the belly.

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I like to fish both species of brown trout , I have just spent several days in the Ardèche and on the streams of the Alps , I show you these two videos where you will see the rivers of the Massif Central and their Atlantic trout
https://youtu.be/RsNX3-R45GM

And the Alpine torrent with Mediterranean trout:
https://youtu.be/KwtGbTDNmdc

15 Likes
2

I’ve been lucky enough to fish Tenkara in both Spain and Portugal, it looks like I’ll have to add France to my bucket list. thanks for the report and pictures.

3

Thank you for sharing this. For me, tenkara is more than just pictures of fish, it’s also about the places we get to fish. Your YouTube video of the high gradient stream looks remarkably similar my favorite areas, and it’s just beautiful!

4

Great photos and videos, thanks for sharing Jean. Is the fishing on these streams available for the visiting angler?

5

Hi David, you’ll be welcome. There is a lot of nice rivers suittable for tenkara purposes in the Alps area.

6

Hi James thank you. Like you I attach great importance to the quality and beauty of the rivers I want to fish…at least as much as to the quantity and size of the fish. :grinning:

Hi Brian, thank you for your kind words.
Fishing these rivers is quite easy for visiting anglers.
You just need a daily permit (about 12€/day or 30€/week) which is valid for all the rivers of the department.
The permit can be purchased on the website of the French fishing federation.

7

Thanks for the information Jean. Maybe Dave Noll and I could visit next Spring. I’m so ready for a trip to France and Tenkara would certainly make my holiday.

8

Hi Brian,
The best month for fishing here is june, before the snow is melting and the water is high.

If you are coming here, don’t hesitate to send me a mail . I can certainly help you , and why not, guide you in the best tenkara streams .

9

Thanks for the offer Jean I would certainly love to take you up on it but I will be back in the USA from the middle of May, we spend the winters in the UK and Summers in Wisconsin. I have to balance home life with fishing life :wink: