Steve Howard

SBS Consultant, Media Officer for Angling Spirit

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Bonjour à mes collègues pêcheurs et bienvenue sur mon blog - Vivre le rêve (hello to my fellow anglers and welcome to my blog - Living the dream)

It is with great pride and pleasure that I have been invited to cover my angling experiences here in this blog for SBS... 'The dream' - as mentioned within the title - has been harboured for as long as I can remember. To live in France has always been my ambition, aside from a slight deviation from plan when I became engrossed with fishing the huge embulses in Extremadura in Spain for 7 years!.

The long road that I trod to get here, at this very point in my life, took many twists and turns. For over 40-years I travelled across that thin strip of water dividing the UK from mainland Europe called the English channel, both for holidays and, of course, for my numerous fishing expeditions. However, one thing remained constant... where I wanted to end up!

So much did I frequent the banks of foreign lakes and rivers, that my dream quickly became an obsession, but to cut a very long story short, here I am, living in the beautiful South-West region of France surrounded by some of the most wonderful venues I could wish to cast a line into. The dream? Well, this is it, it's now my reality... I'm living the dream, in France!

As I continue to settle into my surroundings and before I have caught my breath (not to mention a carp!), it's reasonable enough that I have yet to get out on the banks in 2014.

That has been fine up until now, as I have only been here for 6 weeks and there have been lots of non-fishing related things to be done, but the yearning I have to cast a line is growing stronger and more intense by the hour!

It hasn't been all work up to this point, though, as I have been quietly sourcing information on some of the venues around me. I have visited a few rivers and lakes, but there are still plenty of places to check out. For that reason I have yet to decide exactly where to begin my adventures. You would be right to think that I'm more than a little spoiled for choice!

To list but a few of these venues - and in no particular order among the many - are the rivers Charante, Creuse, Dordogne, Vienne and the magical River Lot which is just 3 hours from me. You don't have to look far for somewhere to cast a line around here, that's for sure!

The deep and powerful river Charente, which lends the region its name and, incidentally, was pronounced 'the most beautiful stream in the kingdom' by Cognac-born François I, is well stocked as are the two dozen tributaries. The river Vienne, which is wide, shallow and abounds with lean, hard-fighting wild carp, is another of the region's gems as it sweeps through the east before joining the Loire. To the north there's the river Sèvre and, and to the south east there is Lac Bort Les Orgues, a 1100 hectare dammed section of the River Dordogne, and if these aren't enough to get my teeth into, there are virtually hundreds of lakes that hold big carp.

There are several great lakes within easy striking distance of my home, certainly, these provide some of the best fishing to be found in France, and possibly in the whole of Europe... The phenominal and reknowned Lac de Curton, aka 'Rainbow Lake', is just a short journey away, of which my SBS teammates are certainly no strangers to the banks of this challenging but rewarding venue. There are, as you would expect, many commercial venues that hold some huge fish, and these are not to be overlooked, of course. I can't and wont limit myself, though, to fishing certain types of venue and I hope that my angling journey will still further broaden my horizon. My ambition is to fish as many different venues as possible before I fall in love with one in particular... as we all do at some point. I don't want to become fixated on just one water, no matter where it is and how good it might be, because I feel that at my time on the bank is precious and there are just so many places to explore, such as are the intriguing Charante Lakes (Lac Lavaud and Mas Chaban), also, Lac Pardoux and Lac Vasvissiere, which are big public venues that surely need investigating further.

So, which venue to fish first?

I'm not ready to commit myself at this stage, but I do have some great information from one or two anglers who have fished the region extensively (thanks guys, you know who you are!) and, of course, that is an immense help towards putting myself on the right venues without the years of exploration otherwise required. If not for your help, guys, I guess that the task ahead of me would be a very much tougher proposition than it is even now!

If I was pressed for an answer regarding the venue for my first tentative session, I'd have to say that I will probably stay very local to my home, but, that decision is yet to be made. However, I'll certainly keep you posted on that and you, the readers of my blog will be the very first to know!

For now, I have to await the arrival of my bait order. I have a good amount of M1 and Ace Lobworm in my bait store, plus Flumino products etc, but given the situation, with so many wild fish to target, I have ordered a full ration of C1. The Tigernut & Toffee blend will, I'm certain, produce well for me. We will see!

Until next time, be lucky!