The Loire in second category
As it approaches Le Puy-en-Velay, the Loire has calmed down. It is now classified as a second category fish river. Its châteaux are no longer ancient defensive bastions. As the landscape calms, they are gradually being transformed into comfortable second homes for city dwellers in search of the countryside. They're not Amboise, Blois or Langeais. They don't yet claim the title of Châteaux de la Loire. Yet, as a young river, it is already there, flowing at their feet. And soon, a little further downstream, trout and grayling will desert its bed to make way for other, less noble species.
My favourite route
It was my friend Marc who introduced me to the course I'm going to tell you about today. I remember it was a beautiful spring morning, the fish were playful and the bites abundant. Since then, it's become my favorite course. Please don't mind if I don't tell you exactly where it is.
Between the grayling and barbel zones, the Loire, modest as usual, comes around a bend in a slope to offer us a formidable playground over a hundred meters or so, and I regularly come here to fish. I meticulously prospect each return. If, by any chance, I don't find the fish exactly where I expect them to be, they'll surprise me a few meters upstream or downstream. Sometimes, the fish are also on the move!
You'll tell me there's nothing really extraordinary here. Of course, the fish rarely exceed the standard size. Sure, there are plenty of chub and bleak. But I feel at home here. It's my secret garden. I've never come across any other fishermen here.
Beautiful surprises
On warm summer afternoons, bites from bleak or roach sometimes become so numerous that habituation sets in and fishing becomes routine. Sometimes, a beautiful grayling will delicately come out of nowhere, almost from the tip of its lips, and gobble up my emerging fish like a curious spirlin. Adrenalin guaranteed! That's the magic of fishing, and that's why I love it.
Sometimes I think: "Fishing isn't what it used to be, tonight I'm hanging up the rods for good!"
And as you can imagine, on the evening of one of these beautiful days, as soon as I get back home, all I want to do is get back to my secret garden as quickly as possible!
