Tenkara Fest 2018, part 2

After a good night of sleep we went to the Lauzannier valley which is located in the Mercantour park.

As announced by the weather the sky was overcast and the temperature was really low but this cloudy veil takes nothing away from the beauty of the place. This fishing area benefiting from a patrimonial management there is only wild brown trout here and "catch and release" is the rule.

We realised a few minutes after our arrival that we were preceded by a couple of fishermen and unfortunately for us one who practiced the most untimely wading by which he put all the trout on alert. It was Guilhem and Jérôme who had the best success in this area; for my part I did miss two trout because of not fast enough hook settings and each time the same sanction: my tippet ended stuck under a rock. 

It was a little after noon when the storm strarted and we decided to go back down to the valley where we were going to be able to have lunch protected from the rain and then fish again.

The fishing on this part of the Ubayette was very different from the fact that the river is bordered on both banks by masses of fairly dense trees; we had to be more accurate in our casts.

Guilhem fished dry a little bit ahead of me, with his famous "Guilhem sedge", a fly very simple and very beautiful but especially very effective if it is used by an angler who knows how to use a  tenkara rod. For my part I was fishing posts that Guilhem had not tried with my faithful Zenmai-Dou and I also took trout. Moreover, on this section of the river we will all be successful.

We had a couple hours of intensely successful fishing on the Ubayette but the storm eventually descended from the mountain into the valley and we had to stop fishing and could not go further in the discovery of the Ubayette. The hour had arrived for us to say goodbye to each other and drive back home.

Once again we had a great weekend dedicated to tenkara and the discovery of beautiful rivers.

2018 Trout season opening

Like every year I did not miss the ritual of the trout season opening although this year I thought that for once I was going to miss it because the winter was particularly rainy and some days before the fateful date the state of many of the creeks in the area was really bad, all had high water level and a pretty disgusting dark stain. Fortunately we were like all the France affected by the cold wave which caused the stop of the rain and consequently a rather fast decrease of the level of the water as I noticed it a few days before the opening on the occasion of a walk on the banks of the stream on which I open the trout season every year.

I devoted a single evening to prepare the season opening because I had actually prepared everything several months ago ; it was more a kind of detailed review of my equipment. Knowing that I would fish only drowned in this period of opening I packed my box only a few kebari for this purpose.

The smallest is none other than a refined version of my faithful Yamato kebari that has been following me everywhere since my trip to Japan and I do not regret it, on the contrary because it made me catch trout everywhere. From Itoshiro to Vercors through Ardèche and Normandy. True to the job! The largest, only a little larger, is made of zenmai and a hen chicken feather.

I decided to skip the first mile of the stream to get close to the place where every year I have lunch on the season opening day, the area where the creek runs in the narrowest part of its valley where I hoped to be somewhat sheltered from the icy wind that had swept the region for several days.

As last year the fishing was not easy, I tried all the spots where I have already taken trout in the past without achieving the desired result and it is finally in a corner where I have never seen or caught a trout that I finally had success. 

This trout gone back in its element I did put my line back on a card and collapsed the rod, it was already noon, the hour of the traditional season opening lunch. The wind was still very present but the sky was clear, it was the good moment to enjoy some ramen and a tasty beer!

I went back down the stream without seeing anyone, or even hearing anything but the sound of the wind. Since this opening morning the weather has been constantly bad, the streams have returned to winter conditions and I did not go fishing.

A trout season ends

The canicular month of August was long to me as I did not go fishing any single time but hopefully September has started with rain and this was good news for the streams and their inhabitants. I did go back fishing last sunday which was the day of the trout season end in most of streams. The sky was overcast and the air mild. 

The few rains of the previous days have obviously not had much effect on the water level, but a supply of water makes a lower temperature and brings the fish back in feeding activity. So I prepared myself quietly. My gear was a Nissin Zero Sum Oni Honryu 395 rod, six meters of  line 2.5 号level line, a meter of  号0.8  fluorocarbon  to which was tied a Yamato kebari.

I did fish all the fish spots downstream. After casting I did give my rod an oscillating movement to make my kebari drift erratically up and down just like does a real nymph trying to swim to the surface but carried away by the current. I successfully tested this technique last summer with Masami "Tenkara Oni-no" Sakakibara and as I had already experienced the techniques developed in Japan by true tenkara experts are effective on any stream because they are based on rational observation of the salmonids behavior and on long experience of tenkara fishing.

All trout caught during this matinee took my kebari when ascending, when it was going  towards the surface. This technique gives very good results for the focused angler on its fishing because the constantly tension in the line helps very effective strike detection and hook setting.

Finally towards the end of the morning the sky cleared and I did take a break for lunch by the river as I like to do as soon as the weather allows. The place is usually much frequented but I did not see anyone which is pretty unusual for a season closing day.

I took during this last visit many trout revived by recent rains. I do not go through a long distance during  the morning but I did fish every potential fish spot within cast reach. 

After about three hours of fishing I collapsed my rod back and disconnected the line that I put up on a spool and turned back to my house. Autumn starts well for trout, rain so beneficial to the rivers after a very hot summer is back, and fishermen will have the next six months to prepare for next season.

This morning I was driving near that river, having some time I stopped my car on the side of the road to observe; trout rising to the surface in the fog disappearing under the sun.

Tenkara Moments

June has started like May has finished which means cold, temperatures hardly rise up to fifteen celsius but as the week was over I really wanted to visit one of my favorite local streams and check the conditions and perhaps, i.e. probably, fishing it to give the weekend a good start. The area has hopefully escaped the torrential rains of the week. 

The water is still very cold and greyish but once standing on the edge I did see that this cold weather did not interfere a lot with the insects, mainly mayflies and caddis, emerging and flying away regularly. Trout are very discreet, much more than usual at this time of the year but I rigged my Nissin Zerosum Oni rod and started fishing the spots most likely to shelter some trout that would bite on my Yamato kebari.

To fish these shallow spots, not more than a foot deep, I use the current to sink my kebari. Carried by the stream it easily takes a natural drift, different sasoi manipulations can help to make a recalcitrant trout bite. 

Like my previous tenkara outings I could not expect fishing until the evening rise because the temperatures were going to drop, we really are far from the typical June's fishing until complete darkness with high temperature. Fortunately accurate casts, controlled drifts and a little bit of concentration did give very good results. 

Trout adapt to the new spots created by the trees fallen across the stream. Downstream natural drift revealed to be the most effective technique today. 

Downstream fishing with a single fly is a very simple technique and that is why it is so effective. I already had experienced this technique when I was still (western) fly fishing but a tenkara rod drift control is even better. 

There were a good number of trout on the spot created by this submerged tree. 

I finished this nice tenkara outing downstream the pillars of a long disappeared ford oxen where I also did catch some brown trout thanks to the same downstream fishing technique.

It is a great pleasure to fish with finesse and improving your technique. Rod, line, kebari; it is not only a simple principle but a guarantee of effectiveness. 

After releasing the last trout of this brief tenkara outing I did turn back carefree and happy to have been at the place at the right time. 

FINAL STRETCH OF THE 2014 SEASON

It is not yet time to print the balance sheet of the 2014 season but the end is near and one must not miss an opportunity to go fishing and that is what I did yesterday.

The summer was rotten, it is a fact that no one can deny but since a few days the nice weather is back, it is even hot! It does not make fishing easier either. Trouts are not very active on food as they have had time enough to binge during the last two months that where, according to weather records, the wettest since 1959. Just that!

I went fishing a small stream which is very unusual for the area as it looks like a mountain stream: strongly cashed banks, little water, many rocks, waterfalls, etc.

The picture on the left depicts what I have seen when I left the town and started getting closer to the stream. I was sure to spend a good moment in this place.

I did not expect the fishing to be easy and it was not. I think that I am realistic about the status of the salmonids in the area, they are only a shadow of what they were. This situation has made me realize that it was more satisfying for me as a Tenkara angler to catch some wild trouts in these overlooked streams than catching bigger stocked specimens in C&R areas. Unlike most fly anglers I do not let the rods on the rack when fishing gets harder.

The morning was good with a few catches on well marked positions but when the trouts are not hungry it is useless to expect a catch behind each rock. Anyway I do not feel the need to highlight the score as if tenkara was a basketball game, it is much more important to me to learn something every time I go fishing.

I will definitely return to this beautiful stream. The surrounding woods are pretty dense and slow progress on the river allows true immersion. 

It is now 2 p.m, the sun is blazing overhead, the temperature is at its maximum and I decide to leave this heavenly place. 

BACK TO BERENCE CREEK

After several days without fishing I have been back this morning on a local stream: the Bérence creek.
I did the season opening there and I was sure to be the only angler there; I am not going to the Sienne stream yet because it is full of anglers who only want to catch all the trouts stocked there before the new season.

Despite a shiny sun and a clear sky temperature is still low in this early spring but  my motivation is unspoiled, I am not going to take back a reeled rod at the first difficulties! Fishing small streams or creeks is challenging, each trout has to be deserved and errors are immediately sanctioned.

It was pretty hard this morning and it ended as I had foreseen: under the rain. While the weather was still not too bad it was good...