Paul what are the regulations like for the type of fishing you do? Licemces, permits hours you are allowed to fish etc? Does it differ between lakes and rivers?
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hi Richard ,
philip makes it sound quite simple , its not quite that simple , although he is correct , treat the french and there country with respect and it can indeed open door (if they like you )
regulations , the french love regulations , and give "red tape" a whole new meaning lol ,
france is made up of many departments , each having its own federation de peche , and here ,is where the similarities end .
some departments allow night fishing all year ,
some allow night fishing from April till October , or June till September , or April till mid July then closed until the start of September (for the holiday makers )
some allow nightfishing from Friday to Saturday, or Saturday to Sunday (no midweek night fishing )
some allow nightfishing Friday till monday morning only .
theres more
the last couple of years I have noticed a growing trend creeping into a few more federation rules ,
some federations are now saying , that you have to contact them either in writing or by phone to book a swim on some of there lakes , you don't have to pay anything , they just like the rules lol .......
some departments allow a normal bivie some say umbrella type only , one say you have to take the bivie down during the day .
ok that's most (not all ) of the common rules you will come across , most of these rules are for the lakes , but some departments include rivers in these rules as well , but rivers tend to be less strict .............for now !!
licenses ,
holiday licenses (carte de vacancies ) can be brought from june till mid september as a rule , they last for two weeks and cost on average 25/30 euros .
if like me , you want to go several times , then its best to buy a year licence (carte de peche )january till december . these cost between 50/70 euros this allows you to fish in the department that you brought it in , if you want to fish in another department , then you have to buy that departments stamp 25/30 euros , there are other types of stamp you can buy that allow you to fish several departments , but the above is enough info for most people .
turned into a rather long post lol , i might add that i am not trying to put anyone off of trying he wild side , far from it , my point is , do the research and then some more research , no where you want to go, and research it , then research back up waters , because lakes/rivers change from month to month , you may get to a lake and find it really low but with very steep banks and you just not prepared etc , or you may get to the river and find it in flood with trees floating past (i kid you not )
don't just pick a blue spot and go , check it out properly or you will end up having a great sightseeing tour of France and a heavy fuel bill .
there are many many more things i could say , enjoy and be careful , several french guys die each year because of silly mistakes and taking there environment for granted , for example , there are lakes in mountain areas that can rise after heavy rain , more than 3ft in a very short time , its quite something to see a lake of 2,000+ acres rise that much in a few hours obviously this is the extreme , but it happens in several areas .
now this is a long post ....sorry lol .