Every Sunday, Bruno Garcia from the Charente-Maritime fishing federation answers questions from France Bleu la Rochelle listeners:
Frog fishing tips
Marc de Marsilly asks if there is a closed period for the frog and would like some advice on fishing for it.
Bruno Garcia: Yes, there is a closed period for green and red frogs provided for in article R 436-11 of the Environmental Code. This period extends from March 15 to June 14 inclusive. It’s a regulatory point that I should have addressed last weekend but I admit that I missed it. It gives me a human dimension to make a few oversights!
This is the only regulatory constraint
No since April 26, 2019, article R 466-18 of the Environmental Code imposes a regulatory size of 8 cm for the two aforementioned species, green and common frogs. The measurement should be taken from the tip of the muzzle to the end of the vent.
The cesspool?
Yes it’s not your best profile but the cesspool you’re currently sitting on.
Any tips for fishing?
The objective is, during windless days when the frogs are not taking refuge in the banks, to imitate an insect of the butterfly or dragonfly genus which this season is the most frequent prey for the frog. A small piece of stockings or pantyhose works just fine. You make it hop on the surface of the water and when the frog grabs it, you gently bring it into your bag, made by hand from a piece of hessian. A sort of landing net with a very short handle.
No hook?
No hook as for the eel with verme the frog holds by its own will on this lure. This allows you to extract it from its middle and hoist it above your receptacle.
Good frog spots?
There are a few left but unfortunately not many. Intensive agriculture has almost everywhere filled in the small ditches and made its habitat disappear. You still have a few rare ones in the north of Charente-Maritime on the edge of Vendée, in the Rochefort sector as well and in Marennes.
Philippe de Dompierre sur Mer would like to know the regulatory constraints for collecting snails.
We leave the aquatic environment. And yes, the little rains of the last few days have brought out the little grays, that’s the name we give to this snail that we know better under the name “cagouille”. If we think of the Burgundy snail, the Ministerial decree of April 24, 1979 provides for the obligation of a minimum size of 3 cm and a closure period of 3 months. It was just for general culture since we don’t have a Burgundy snail at home. To come back to our Charentaise cagouille, the only constraint is that it be edged, that it have a small bead at the base of the shell.
Some information
On the river la Boutonne today a fishing contest on the quay of BERNOUET in the commune of Saint Jean d’Angély. On the Marans-La Rochelle canal, the organization of the cycling tourism event “La Dompierroise”, between the Rompsay bridge and the Mouillepied bridge, also today.