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I love to spend my holidays in France. I often used to go there with my parents when I was small, and I also had my first real flyfishing experiences here. The wonderful food and drink is a reason for itself, accompanied by friendly people, good fishing and lots of things to do.
Especially the mountainous south is home to a lot of fine salmonid rivers. and what is better than spending a wonderful day in the sun, visiting sites and pretty market towns, then being on the river for the evening rise, and last but not least dining on local specialities and a good country wine...
Another fact is that fishing in France is surprisingly cheap. You can fish a lot of fine rivers with the "Carte de Peche" of your own departement which you can often get for a 20er for your whole holiday...
Catch & Release is not widespread in France because many french like to keep their trout for their evening meal. In some rivers average sizes might be rather smallish.
Département Lozère
This is still what I would describe as my favourite fishing departement, perhaps only because I know it best. But fact is that you can find superb rivers and trout which will greedely respond to your fly. The natural surroundings are magnificant, and you have the chance to fish in some of the most beautiful rivergorges of europe. At the bottom I have also listed some rivers which are not quite in Lozère anymore, put I have put them there because you can easily combine them with a stay on some other rivers.
Allier
One of the biggest rivers of France, the young Allier offers flyfishing not only for trout but also for grayling. I like to fish the stretch between Pont D`Alleyras and Monistrol d`Allier. The river is a little wider here, but it still has interesting features and the river flows through a pretty gorge. The trout have got a good average size, for french standards. The upper section around Luc is also very interesting, but a lot smaller. It can be fished with the Carte de Peche de Lozère (see above). For the Monistrol section you need an extra ticket which you get at the "Épicerie chez mme Morfin" in Pont d`Alleyras.
Chapeauroux
A small Allier tributary, I have not fished it yet. Is said to hold a lot of trout and grayling. It can be fished with the Lozère Carte de Peche.
Tarn
One of my absoloute favcourites, the Gorge du Tarn south of Mende and west of Millau is one of the big tourist attractions in southern France. Take your family on a canoe tour during the daytime (you can rent them in Ste Enimie, La Maléne or Les Vignes) and fish in the evening. The surrounding is absoloutely stunning and in my opinion one of the nicest places in France.
Above Florac the Tarn the Tarn resembles a small and lively trout stream in a wide, open valley. It is perfect for nymphing, but you might be slightly disappointed by the average size. 12 inches will be a good fish. At the pretty market town of Florac, the Tarn takes in the Mimente and the Tarnon and grows a lot bigger. Below Florac, the valley tightens to a narrow and beautiful gorge, with steep, wooded sides and big limestone cliffs above you. Along the gorge there are a lot of pretty villages like Castelbouc, St. Chely-du-Tarn, Ste-Enimie and La Malene. The gorge stops abruptly at Le Rozier. The salmonid stretch finally ends here.
 
I find the gorge stretch particularly interesting. The trout may be fewer, but they live in the rapids and streamy bits and they can be real monsters. They have also got a very nice colour, light brown with three or four zebra stripes in their flancs.
The sometimes very long and still pools are home to very large numbers of double-figure chub and barbel. Hours of fun guaranteed, when you decide to nymph and streamer for them. As with the trout, do not fish to light rods and leaders. Because of the chrystal clear waters a fluorocarbon solution might be perfect.
If you want to fish below Ste Enimie you should wait until the evening or fish in the early morning, because of the flotillas of canoeists which swim down the gorge. And in the heat of the day, the best thing for you to do is to put your rod aside and copy them!
The Tarn can be fished with the Lozère Cart de Peche on its whole course.
 
Tarnon
As one of the Tarn`s left tributaries, the Tarnon rises high up on Mt. Aigoual and flows through a gentle, wooded valley to join the Tarn at Florac. The banks of the river are very rocky, forming deep basins and pools. Best fishing for trout is to be had from the little hamlet of Rousses down to The pretty village of Vebron, which perches high up on a rock over the river. The river holds a rather good population of brown trout. Nymphing with small nymphs is promising, though you cannot beet a dryfly at certain times. There are quite a lot of possibilities of getting down to the river, so acces should not be a problem.
If you are a fanatic of very small streams, and wild, stought and colourful little trout you should give the Fraissinet, a little tributary coming down from Fraissinet-de-Fourques, a try. Be very careful when fishing, duck low and fish tiny nymphs and emergers because the water is chrystal clear.
Both streams can be fished with the Carte de Peche de Lozère.
 The Fraissinet
Mimente
This is really a tributary of the Tarnon. The two rather good sized rivers meet shortly before Florac, only about a mile before the Tarnon`s confluence with the Tarn. Compared to the Tarnon, the Mimente is probably the better river.
The Mimente flows through a beautiful valley. The quite wild river winds itself past rocks and cliffs of dark greyish stone. Its chrystalline waters hold lots of trout, and you are not as likely to be pestered by chubs here as in the calm Tarnon. The fish have got beautiful large red and blue spots on their flancs.
The best place to fish is the lowest section, from St. Juan d`Arpaon to Florac.
Watch out, because you are not in Lozère anymore you need the Carte de Peche for the Département Gard.
 
Jonte
Many of my childhood memories are linked to this beautiful Tarn tributary. As a kid, me and my parents would often go to that campsite near Meyrueis. It would be right in the gorge, with a wonderful little wobbly rope bridge spanning over the translucid waters of the river. And there would be trout, lovely, medium-sized wild brown trout. This is also the river where I had my first flyfishing experiences.
But sadly, my so much loved upper stretch around the beautiful village of Meyrueis has been suffering. Some very hot summers have made the river go extremely low, and I have the impression that some sort of sewage is being put into the stream at the western end of Meyrueis, which takes out the oxygen and lets algae grow. Where the river (and its little tributary Béthuzon) flows through the village one can still always spot a lot of trout, small and also quite big for such a tiny stream. Fishing is not allowed in the village, but I am sure that you can fish the young Jonte above Meyrueis.
But thanks to the remarkable self-cleaning effect of the river, it still offers some superb flyfishing. About 3 miles below Meyrueis the river disappears in the ground. Here it filters through layers of limestone, and it reappears about 15 miles before its confluence with the Tarn at le Rozier! The water is now perfectly pure, and the river is just about teeming with beautiful wild brown trout. The gorge (which I find even more beautiful than the Tarn gorge) with the river is somewhat inacessible, you sometimes need to scramble. Acces to the river can be found at the little hamlets Les Douzes or Le Maynial, or at a little path leading to a bridge 1mile upstream from Le Rozier. Again, you only need the Carte de Peche de Lozère to fish here.
 
Dourbie
The is quite a wellknown river in the Département Aveyron, but still very near to Meyrueis. It is a large trout river, calm, with nice big pools. Very good nymph fishing. The best stretches are between Nant and Cantobre. Fishable with the Carte de Peche for Aveyron.
Trévezel
An other idyllic little Dourbie tributary near just south of Meyrueis, this beautiful little stream is noted for the very good average size of the trout. The river flows through the beautiful Gorges du Trévezel. The best method is to park in Trèves and fish downstream into the gorge. Dont`t fish from the bottom of the gorge, the Trévezel (like the Jonte) is a disappearing river! Nymphs and dryflies work equally well.
The Trévezel is still in Lozère, so you need the Lozère Carte de Peche.
Pyrenees
Not a single Département but rather a wider region, the Pyranees mountain chain forms like a barrier to Spain. There are lots and lots of mountain streams to choose from, I will only list a few here.
"Toc" is a very widespread fishing method here. A long rod and a spinning reel is used, along with a tiny float and a natural bait such as caddis larvae or maggots are used. The locals use it with great efficiency and I have the feeling that a lot of rivers have been a bit "tocked out", so again please do not be surprised about a lot of undersized fish.
Nive
This is quite a large river in the western Pyrenees near Bayonne. It is a beautiful bit of water which , unlike most Pyrenees rivers does hold large trout. Fish between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Martin d`Arossa. Acces easy, as the main road runs along the valley bottom. Tickets at Maya Sport in Saint-Jean-pied-de-Port.
Bastan
This is an absoloutely beautiful small Nive trib. It is one of my favourite french rivers. It is only a little stream with chrystal clear water, so take care when fishing and fish very fine. The trout can be very tricky. The best way of getting acces is by staring in Biddaray (where the Bastan flows into the Nive) and fish upwards.
Licences at Maya Sport in Saint-Jean or right at fotel-restaurant Noblia in Bidarray. Very cheap for the quality of fishing you get.
Salat
A medium-sized trout river in the Département Ariège right in the heart of the Pyrenees. Pretty river with a splendid panorama surroundid by high mountains. That is up at Soueix, where I fished it.
Sadly, there are a lot of Toc-fishermen on the river, and the trout are surprisingly few and very small.
Further downstream, between Lacourt and St-Girons the fishing seems to be better. I have seen some very big trout in the town of Saint-Girons.
For all stretches you only need the Carte de Peche d´Ariège.
Arac
A little and sometimes extremely low tributary of the Salat. Very clear, tricky trout. Fish fine and use tiny nymphs and emergers.
Same licence as Salat.
Ariège
This is a larger river in the same county (which has the same name). Better than the Salat. Good nymphing in large and deep pools, some larger trout, too. All in all slightly overfished. If you like small rivers and tricky trout there are some interesting tribs like the Oriège, Aston and Vicdessos(particularly good).
To be fished with the Carte de Peche d`Ariège.
Provence and Alpes Maritimes
Very wellknown as holiday area, the provence and especially the Alpes Maritimes provide probably some of the best trout fishing in France. In fact, you can find excellent flyfishing right in the hinterland of Nice and Cannes!
Provence:
Sorgue
This is a very wellknown typical chalk river in the Vaucluse region near Avignon. In a very dry area you suddenly stumble over a great river with the possibilities of catching trout and even grayling!
Fishing this river is quite difficult and something for specialists. You could compare it with the hampshire Test. The river comes out in a surprisingly strong source. Right when it comes out of the earth the river is already 15-20 metres wide. The rivers waters are chrystal clear and there is a lot of weed in the current, between which trout lie. You may start fishing right in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse where are there are trout in good sizes. If you want to fish grayling, go to L`Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, where you can see double-figure specimens under the bridges in the town centre! Don`t lose your nerves...
Small nymphs on superfine flourocarbon leaders work better than dryflies.
Day tickets (quite expensive for french standards, 20€)at the fishing shop in L`Isle -sur-la-Sorgue
Alpes Maritimes:
Cians
Absoloutely beautiful!!! Wherelse in Europe have you got the possibility to fish a red gurge with turquoise water for beautiful small brown trout?
The gorges du Cians are about 40km north of Nice.
Acces is difficult and you will be scrambling and climbing on your fishing tour. Fish small nymphs. On summer evenings ther might also be sedges hatching.
You only need the local Carte de Peche!
Best fishing to be had at the bottom of the gorge-fish your way up.
Loup and Cagne
This two little rivers are just a few minutes drive from Nice, in the hinterland of the Cote d`Azure. Especially the Loup is extremely beatiful, flowing through large basins and thundering down cascades in its gorge. In both rivers, fish little emergers or sedge petterns at the evening rise. Fish the Loup around The beautiful village of Gourdon and the Cagne around St-Jeannet.
Only a carte de peche is required. The fish in the Loup are generally a bit larger than those in the Cagne.
Estéron and Vésubie
Two beautiful, nearly alpine rivers are the Vésubie and the Estéron. The Estéron is usually fished around Roquestéron. The river flows through quite an inacessible canyon, so you need to be physically quite fit. The canyon can be dangerous, so the best is to tell someone in Roquestèron that you have gone. Or you go with a guide.
The Vésubie is said to be an excellent river arond Roquebillière. I have no information about any tickets.
Roya
This is a truly alpine river. It has its spring and its upper course in France, before flowing off into Italy. It is truly beautiful. There are a lot of big brown and also rainbow trouts. The whole stretch is a so-called parcours no-kill. It is fly-only and you have to put your fish back.
You can get your ticket in Breil-sur-Roya, where you can fish the river, too.
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