Cote D'azur / French Riveria???

[FlyBri]

Does anyone have any pointers or contacts for organising some fishing if in the Cote D'azur (SE France) or as it's sometimes called, the French riveria?

Booked a holiday and getting desperate to find some fishing!

Any help appreciated...

Bri

[chiro]

I never fished over there but maybe you could find out informations here (in french) :

www.parcoursdepeche.com/index.htm

Best spot seems to be the river "Sorgue" (in Vaucluse) well known in France for its graylings in ultra clear waters.

[FlyBri]

Thanks for the tip - will have a look.

Cheers

Brian

[altnaharra]

not exactly cote d'azur but not (too) far is the Gorges du Verdon..very beautiful place and some decent trout fishing, about 2 hours drive though if my memory serves ...but plenty of spectacular sightseeing for the non fisherpeople, and windsurfing etc on the Lac.

[FlyBri]

Thanks altnaharra - do you have any links or tips on how to get a permit etc?

Cheers
Bri

[altnaharra]

I have to confess I don't remember where i got a permit - it wasn't difficult though. think i probably picked it up in Castellane, or possibly Comps sur Artuby. The scenery around there is absolutely stunning . i do remember extremely hard scrambling to access the fishing b ut it being well worth the effort.

this site has some info here:

www.provencebeyond.com/sites/verdon.html

www.provencebeyond.com/sites/stecroix.html

www.provencebeyond.com/sports/fishing.html

[FlyBri]

Excellent - thanks for the links - this is what I've been looking for...

Bri

[murrayhillbilly]

FlyBri, you'll have a fantastic time. I used to fish down there a lot, and there's some decent fishing an hour or two from Nice, no need to hoof as far as the Verdon. There are some beautiful rivers, La Tinee, Vesubie, Roya, and Loup are all worth a shot. Incredibly scenic, but some of the rivers are spoilt by the mini hydroelectric power stations, and these rely on stocking .

An 8 foot #3 rod is all you'll need. Take some weighted nymphs for the deeper pools, otherwise its mostly shallow and fast runs.

There's a beautiful little lake (Lac Boreon) at St Martin Vesubie which has fish, and a day ticket beat on the river just north of that for about 20 euros. The lakes of the Mercantour national park are worth a trip, if you don't mind hiking. Bear in mind that some of the lakes are all but dead unless they're been stocked that season. Catch and release is not a French tradition.

You'll need to get a licence with a Club Halieutique stamp, to enable you to fish "category one", ie salmonid, waters. This signs you up to the local fishing club (AAPPMA). They're pretty cheap and you can fish just about any water with public access to it, as most of the clubs have reciproal arrangements. You can get the licence from any fishing store, there's a decent one on the promenade in Cagnes sur Mer, and another by the port in Nice, though neither have any fly fishing gear so bring everything you'll need.

Check out the links below, all in French unfortunately:

www.peche-cote-azur.com/presentationdudepartement.htm

perso.wanadoo.fr/boreonpeche/index2.html

Oh yeah, and remember its a lot cooler up as you head north into the mountains. When its 30 deg C and sunny on the coast, it can be 15 C and cloudy 60kms inland.

[FlyBri]

Many thanks again for the excellent links and pointers - I'll ask my wife to translate...


Cheers

Bri