Every Sunday on the France Bleu la Rochelle channel at 8:20 a.m., Bruno Garcia from the Charente-Maritime fishing federation answers questions from fishing listeners; This is the case today for Francis d’Aigrefeuille who asks if he can use a toothbrush to fish:
Bruno Garcia:
I think a clam can only be used to search for catfish. The bite is substantial and apart from a catfish or a big carp I do not see what fish can be interested in a toothfish.
You talk to us about anodonte but we would like to know what it is!
It is a mollusk, a bivalve, that is to say with two shells. To give you a more precise idea, it is a large freshwater mussel whose size can regularly reach 15 cm and whose life expectancy can extend over several decades. This mussel has a foot that allows it to move, it has no byssus to cling to a support like the marine mussel.
There is only one species of freshwater mussels?
Not to make it simple, I will name the three main ones in Charente-Maritime. The clam that is the subject of Francis’ question, the most widespread, is a mussel that is found in slow-moving environments such as bodies of water and canals. You also have the Unio, which is smaller in size and occupies more dynamic environments, and the Grande Mulette.
The big Mulette?
It is the largest of the freshwater mussels. It can be up to 20 cm. It is very threatened and today its range has been reduced by 95%. It is assumed that the clogging of the bottom of the streams and the disappearance of host fishes such as sea lamprey and sturgeon which carry the larvae of the mussel are the cause. The Charente river is one of the few rivers where it is still found.
If we answered Francis
So Francis you have understood that these freshwater mussels are in trouble. Even if some do not benefit from regulatory or legislative protection and this is the case of the anodonte that you want to use, nothing prevents you from putting it on the end of your hook but I strongly advise against it. And I dare you to distinguish between a clam and a large mussel. The latter being protected, in your place I will not take the risk. In any event, during this pike closing period, just like cuttlefish or squid strip, the flesh of the anodont is forbidden.
A quick word on competitive fishing?
Yes, we don’t often talk about competitors. Last weekend took place in Montendre on the lake of Baron Desqueyroux the championship of the 2 nd division of coarse fishing and the results deserved to be published. Already we can mention the podium, those who shone during these 2 days, Michel VANDERMEIREN, Anthony BALLESTRIERO and Arnaud SOYEZ but I especially wanted to open a small parenthesis on the captures. Quite simply because it is an average of 20 kg of roach, tench and carp for a majority of the 25 fishermen who competed during these two days.