It must be seven or eight years since I've been back to this river in the Bouches-du-Rhône and the corners I discovered back then.
I caught my first carp there on sight flies, but not without difficulty. Carp are tricky fish, and you need to have more than one trick up your sleeve to outwit them. Like all sight fishing, this is very interesting fishing, but with fish that are much more cunning than they appear. At the end of a fly rod, the carp is a real speedster that provides some great sensations!
So I'm packing a 9-foot 6-gauge rod, which will allow me to tempt some nice carp, as well as the numerous chub and even other species such as barbel if I come across any during the day.
Back to one of my favorite spots.
The day before, I consult Google maps to find my sectors and prepare my equipment. On the big day, I take the car to get there early enough to give priority to morning fishing, as in midsummer carp often feed before the heat.
I've got three areas in mind and go first to the one that was the best spot at the time. It's a wider, deeper part of the river where carp are plentiful and often in little water.
While the weather has been very warm with big blue skies for the past few days, this morning it's rather overcast. On arrival, the light is not to my advantage and I'm going to have a harder time spotting them, especially as the water is less clear than when I went at the end of May and beginning of June.
I'm using my Redington Crux 9-foot 6-gauge rod, on which I've fitted a floating Rio Single Handed Spey line that will allow me to make long rolls, casts often used there. I add a 2.5 m tapering leader extended by a 1.5 to 2 m tip in 27° fluorocarbon, as there are some very nice carp between 3 and over 10 kg.
Active fish, but not easy to seduce
As soon as I arrive, I spot clouds of suspended silt, proof that the carp are there, active and feeding on the bottom. It's the best fishing situation you'll ever encounter. In fact, in this situation, they are feeding and will be catchable if I try to find something to tempt them. For the occasion, I've included imitation worms, leeches and crayfish, as well as chiros and dragonfly larvae of various sizes and weights, and plenty of black, brown and olive streamers.
First I head up the long deep end to try and find one on the edge in shallow water so that I can sight-fish them and see them take hold of my fly.
After more than 20 minutes, still no carp in sight. At the head of the pool, a common carp is in little water, head down in the depths looking for its food. By the time I'm ready to cast, it's already on the move and off into the depths. Oh dear. Missed opportunity!
I head upstream again to a spot where I know carp like to roam. I see the first one, but my fly leaves it indifferent. I wait a moment before seeing her again, but after following my fly, she disdains it again. I'll play the heron for a while and never see it again.
I see a few beautiful chub on the prowl. I mount a small dragonfly larva to tempt them, as I had unfortunately forgotten the few surface flies I had planned. I'd brought along some cicada imitations I'd bought in New Zealand, an adult dragonfly imitation, and a couple of odd flies they might have liked. They stayed in my suitcases! I'm disappointed, because big chub on the surface are always a lot of fun.
I wait a while and spot a shoal of 4/5 nice fish and propel my fly close to them. As is often the case, on impact they pounce and I catch my first chub on sight. A nice fish in the 50 cm range. In this common area, the fight is nice even if the equipment is far too powerful to really enjoy it. But this kind of action is always great fun.
A successful day!
After waiting again on this spot, and another refusal on a carp that seemed to be a nice leather carp. I went back down to the first sector, knowing that this was where I'd have the best chance of seeing some nice specimens and finding them feeding on the edges.
Indeed, I come across three beautiful carp on a shoal, all weighing over 5 kg and coming up through the mud. I fail to interest them and decide to rig a black leech imitation, weighted enough to quickly bring it down in front of the fish.
Further downstream, two other carp are also active, revealing a cloud of silt. The first is not interested despite some fine casting and presentation. I go down to try the other one further downstream and in less water. On the first cast, she doesn't seem to see my fly. I try again and cast my imitation well upstream, pulling on the leader to adjust the direction and get it close to the bottom. I see it accelerate, descend and then suddenly my leader tightens. Instinctive and well supported. She's at the end!
She sets off at full speed towards the open sea and the deep. I let her go for a while, because even at 27° these big carp can break you just by accelerating! Then, I quickly put pressure on her to prevent her from doing what she wants. I try my best...
I'm very happy, because these big carp have to be earned, and I must admit I'm rather pleasantly surprised to already have one on the end! After several trips back and forth, I finally see her in less water. It's a superb mirror that must weigh between 6 and 8 kg. Her back is wide and she's quite stocky. My little 6 silk rod is well bent! A 7 or 8 would have been better suited to this size of fish. I put as much pressure on her as my leader will allow me to get her into little water. I forgot to mention it, but I didn't take my landing net with me, as it wouldn't have fit in my suitcase. This outing was planned, but fishing, for once, was not the aim of this trip. So I'm in a bit of a bind, because taking out a big carp, alone and without a landing net, is no mean feat.
The only solution is to beach it. I bring her in several times in 30 cm of water, but I can never get her onto her side to stop her. Each time, she turns around and leaves, making the brake on my Spectrum C sing! On the last attempt, I put even more pressure on her. She comes and turns again, and then it's drama. She rips the fly right out of her mouth. My leech was well stuck in her thick lips. But the excessive pressure must have torn her lip or it simply fell off. I'm really disappointed not to have a photo, but it's the only thing missing from this superb action and epic battle! Carp are valiant fighters!
I'm positive and tell myself that I've only been here for an hour and a half and that I've still got plenty of time to make another one. I hope...
I'll stay on this spot, but the carp are passing less often in little water. I take a few more rejections, even with a change of fly, then the grayling arrives on the spot and I decide to move on to an area much further downstream, which is also full of fish.
A life-saving change of spotlight!
I drive ten minutes and park. My memory hasn't failed me and I find the corner straight away. In the first hole, I come across a common on the surface, which must be taking a siesta like several of those at the previous station. When it's too hot, the carp stop feeding and hunker down under branches on the surface to rest. I tell myself that the day is likely to be shortened as it must be a good 30° in the shade. I swallow my sandwich in a hurry and head for the second hole.
Downstream from this one, a nice-sized common is in less than 40 cm of water, its tail below the surface and its head on the bottom. Quickly, I have to offer her my fly before she moves. On the second cast, my little dragonfly larva passes under her nose. She moves forward and sucks it in. Timely tying and off she goes. She heads upstream, ripping off several metres of silk in one go, and takes refuge in the depths of the hole. I jump into the water and cross the river as best I can to get to the shallower side where I might be able to beach it. It's a smaller fish than this morning's, but super powerful.
Indeed, in this running river, the carp are very lively and fast, especially the common ones. I have to admit that I had to put up with a bit at first, and I did what I could to prevent it from going into the branches, rocks and other obstacles where it tried to keep me company. Finally, after several minutes, I manage to get the upper hand and force it to come towards me in a little water. These carp have a holy horror of it and leave in a hurry every time. It reminds me of this morning and I tell myself that without a landing net, it'll be double or nothing again. But as I'm not as big and heavy as the one I used this morning, I should be able to lay it on its side in 6 silks. This is the only way to immobilize them and then catch them by the tail. I've done this many times with Bolivian dorados, giant sea trout from Tierra del Fuego, and many other fish, it's not a carp that's going to win the fight again!
Finally, after several attempts that were as stressful as they were painful for me, I succeeded. I'm really pleased, because the frustration of this morning will have stuck in my craw! I admire her, take a few photos and put her back in her element. It's great!
I only saw one carp, but in too much water to sight-fish it properly and see it caught, but I had my revenge on the big chub in the area. Over the course of the day, I caught a good dozen, including several in the 45/50 cm range. Nice action, even if I'm sorry I wasn't able to dry-fish them.
It was quite a day, shortened by the heat, for this return to this pretty second-category river. I'm very happy that my plan went well and that I was able to fish for a day during this short inter-season vacation.
