Gold Rush Zebra Trout in France! We’re back!

By Jérémy on 29.11.2017 in Fishing reports

As you may have noticed over the last couple of years, we have a special bond with sightfishing the nymph in France, targetting difficult fish at the end of the season. In these conditions, fishing requires lots of precision and discretion if you want to have a chance to catch some trout.

We started our ‘Gold Rush Zebra Trout’ off with our friend Toni Ieropoli on the Albarine River. This year the fishing was even more complicated than the last few years, because of the lack of water. The levels were even lower than last year. Despite these conditions, we were still lucky enough to find some feeding trout.

The evening of our arrival, Tony showed off his talents catching several trout on sight, topping it off with a superb 50 cm trout. To help us digest the fishing lessons he just gave us, he invited us to have dinner the next day.

The next day, we remembered Tony that Belgian people adore a good meal and especially a good drink. The next day Tony quietly asked us how the evening had ended… No need to say we spent a wonderfull evening full of fishing stories. Thank you dear friend for this magnificent evening !

The road to the Loue River the next day was rather hard, especially for Mathias… We woke up early but rather zombie style… After several emergency stops on the road, we arrive in good shape at Ornans around 10h30 in the morning.

At the major Ornans bridge, a well-known hotspot for the local fishermen, our friend Jean-Marc Somaré is waiting for us ! It didn’t take us long before we ended up knee-deep in the Loue River, in search of some nice Ornans fish.

Last year, we agreed that Jean-Marc would guide us a day on the Loue, and it was a great honour to accept that invitation from a very very good fisherman.

Time flies, and we succeed to catch some nice fish. Unfortunately a thunderstorm forces us to stop fishing in the early evening. Nevertheless, we managed to catch some nice trout and nice graylings. We said goodbye to Jean-Marc and thanked him for this interesting day and his good companionship.

We ended the day hungry, and we enjoyed the evening along the Loue River, but this time with a nice meal and a good beer in a nice restaurant.

The next day we tried out the no-kill section of the Loue, but didn’t succed to have some success. After some long hours of observation and refusals and missed takes, we decide to return to Ornans city centre.

We quickly managed some fish, but soon it was time to head back home (which was quite frustrating when you have some nice fish feeding in front of you).

This was another Rodtrip which learned us a lot about technique, but also how important the human contact with our friends was. We sincerely thank Tony and Jean-Marc for their sharing and friendship !

Next year, there will be a new ‘Gold Rush Zebra Trout’.

 

 

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  • Tony Vegh

    Very much enjoyed your article. Also very impressed with the website. I’m from Cleveland, OH and a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited. In NE Ohio, we fish for steelhead that run up the Lake Erie tribs. There are no steams in Ohio that can sustain wild trout. For wild trout I head to central Pennsylvania and fish Spring Creek, Penns Creek and the Youghiogheny River. I’ve also fished some Michigan steams; Manistee, Pere Marquette, and the Au Sable.

    I’m heading to France this summer. My plan is to travel to the Jura area and hopefully fish the Loue. i’m having a hard time finding a guide. Do the gentlemen you mentioned in the article guide? Any info is very much appreciated. Tight Lines.

    • Hi Tony,

      Really sorry for the late reply…
      Excellent idea to fish the Loue, it’s a really nice river (but tricky ;)). The Doubs is also a good option for you I think.

      No he doesn’t guide sorry, but I’m sure you can easily find a good guide in France… May be you did already ?

      Have fun,

      • Tony Vegh

        Thanks for your reply. Did you stay in Ornans fir your entire trip? Tony

    • powelstock

      Try contacting Nick at gourmetfly.com. He can set you up with a guide on the Loue (and many other locations in France and Spain).
      Cheers,
      David