Bruno Garcia of the Charente-Maritime fishing federation was interested this week in the technique of fishing with floating bait on France Bleu la Rochelle.
What is a floating bait?
Bruno Garcia : It is enough to make drift according to the current or the wind, an insect of the type fly or grasshopper. I admit that I have a clear preference for the grasshopper. You can follow it with your gaze a lot further and I think that bite much larger than a fly is more enticing for a pretty fish.
What fish are you targeting?
All fish are convinced by a fly or a grasshopper drifting on the surface. Of course, you are much more likely to come across a trout, a chub, a bleak or even a rudd which generally move off the bottom, near the surface.
It is necessary before to capture the small beasts
Easy, I do not know a house where at this season we do not complain about flies. For my part, I hate that, I know where they take their color. To capture them, you don’t have to transform them into pancakes with the palm of your hand. The small landing net for the aquarium is ideal. For grasshoppers, locate a pasture, unfortunately it is not in a cornfield that you will find insects. There are still pastures that contain grasshoppers. It’s something that isn’t always easy and we regularly magnify it two or three times before capturing it. And for the less courageous, there are very beautiful imitations of these insects on the market.
How do we present our assembly?
Choose your hook well at first, it must not drag our insect under water. A No. 18 works very well for a fly and a No. 12 or 14 for a grasshopper. No lead, of course, but a very small float positioned far enough from the bait that will allow you to propel your line. Your rod will be equipped with a small reserve of line, this in order to be able to practice and in particular in clear waters, far enough from the place where you are located. The nylon used will go from 10 to 16 hundredths.
Once the line is tight, a lot of vigilance?
It is from this moment that the emotion becomes strong, when at the level of your grasshopper a nice eddy forms which announces to you that the fish has just fallen into the trap. A single idea to shoe ample and emerge victorious from the fight which will oppose you to a serious adversary. Especially since you practice on a fairly thin nylon.
Where are we going to fish?
On the Boutonne river, thanks to the fish inventories, I can tell you with great certainty that if you want to capture a large chub with a grasshopper, the St Pierre de l’Isle sector is ideal and you have specimens that greatly exceed the KG. The Seugne also over its entire length contains very large fish, but also a large quantity of bleak. Ideally, you find a small bridge that spans the river, you make yourself as discreet as possible and let your assembly go with the current. If you respect all this I guarantee the result.
One last bit of advice
Your line should have a very natural drift and not loop on the surface of the water. More clearly it is your bait which must present itself first. It’s up to you to hold the line long enough for your grasshopper or your fly to arrive first on the post.