Loaded up the camper van and set off early Friday morning for the Marans area. The town is an inland port dating back over a thousand years and is situated in a vast area of fenland that was created by draining a shallow bay. I had been there a couple of years ago in summer and seen some good sized mullet and roach in the canal that runs through the main town streets. The mullet was my target, but I was aware that it is still early for them and hoped that the warmer winter we had might have worked in my favour. Little Wife is on a short break in England so it was just the dog, the cat and myself aboard the camper.
I had researched nearby places using Google Earth and had a list of places to look at around Marans. The first was a small village where one of the main rivers ran through and that river is one of the best spots for eels for which the area is famous. That was 'Plan B' if the mullet weren't in residence. The river looked in fine form and I noted that I could park in the village square, right next to the river, picnic table, refuse bin and restaurant. We all had lunch and I explored the river on foot with the dog. That ticked off I set off to reccy the other places. One of them is called The Port of Five Abbeys where in medieval times the landlocked abbeys were only able to trade via barges. Unfortunately the subsequent road that now accesses the inland saltwater lake was not constructed for a two and a quarter metre wide, three tonne camper so I had to make do with another area where the sea gates hold back a narrow canal and trap the mullet inland at low tide. Plenty of small fish, but none of the quality ones I was after. I found two more areas that weren't as promising then headed back to spend the late afternoon at the first place I visited.
Once I had set the van up for the night I fished the river using red worm on the bottom hoping for one of the large eels that the area is known for. Night fishing is not allowed in France on public waters, except for carp fishing in designated areas. That meant I had to stop fishing just as the eels would have been thinking about feeding. One of the realities of life in France. I did catch a few Poisson Chat, an ugly looking invasive species that appears to be a love child of a bullhead and catfish or maybe a mermaid and Wayne Rooney. They have to be killed as they are taking over the world - allegedly.
Those boats are left on the slipway, not chained or locked all year round.
Next morning we were up at 7am and off to Marans an hour later. I went to buy some bread on my way to the canal and left my tackle outside the shop. Imagine doing that in Barnsley. It would be on display at Cash Convertors before I left the bread shop. When I got out I found two old French guys drooling over my cane rod and old Trudex reel that was propped up against the wall. We had a conversation, me in French and they in English and it seems that one of them had some cane rods, but none of the quality of the Chapmans. The canal system in Marans takes some working out. They are all connected to the sea, but some are more saline than others.
I walked the banks in vain looking for signs of mullet. Eventually I found several pods of small mullet clinging to the shoreline near to the industrial zone. None were worth fishing for so I crossed a bridge and followed the shoreline of the opposite bank where eventually I saw shoals of small fish being harried by larger predators, probably bass. I had no spinning tackle with me so it was worm on the hook to try and tempt them. The wind was strong and gusty and right in my face. This made casting a float using a centrepin quite difficult. It was cold too. And I discovered that the only place to get a bite was right at the edge of my casting ability and that was only when pausing until the wind dropped a bit. Lesser men would have gone back to the camper for a carbon rod and fixed spool reel. But I am made of sterner stuff! (And the dog was knackered to be fair. She's not as young or fit as she one was). So I persevered with my 10 foot cane rod and old centrepin reel and caught some fish. Not bass or mullet though. First fish was a roach and then a succession of bream. Saltwater skimmer bream.............
And that was about it. No mullet of any size, just a few alien catfish, a small roach, groundhog day with the bream and a handful of young 'mules' as the French call them to show for my efforts. If the weather had been as forecast I would have stayed another night. But it was a lot colder, more blustery and a bit wetter than forecast, so after tea I put everything away and headed for home, stopping at this 16th century pigeon post building for a cuppa and to stretch all our legs.....
