New in France, From South Africa

Hello,

I am relatively new in France. We moved to France in July 2018 from South Africa as my wife was relocated with her work.

Back in South Africa I was an avid bass fisherman. But here in France.

I look forward to being part of the community and hopefully finding all of the information on the subject.

I have been struggling to find fish, but we have only been fishing so far. We will endeavour to fish a lot more than summer is on its way.

I'm busy working on my French and taking french lessons twice a week, so please bare with me as I communicate in English for the time being

Merci,
Webster

Hello Webster,

Welcome here  
There are a lot of places where you can fish for bass in France, but not in every region if you want to catch good ones /enough.
Where do you live in France ?
The most common species that you can fish in most of regions are Nothern Pike (beware to their tooth they will cut your line ), Pearch, Sandre (it's look like a walleye), and giants Catfish called Silure, for the predators.
In my knowledge there are only largemouth bass in France. And bass fishing is not so much developed as in South Africa (leagues like FLW or BASS are not really represented in our country)... We've got an association called Black Bass France (BBF) where you can find more about bass fishing in France.
Take care with regulation that can be different between France and South Africa (only 2 hooks on lures, period of the year for predators fishing, ..... )
Best regards.

Ok I understand sea bass, for the black-bass it's better in the south of France.
Sorry.

Thank you very much for the warm welcome  I am based in Gif Sur Yvette in the 91 district.

There is much to learn from French fishing regulations I can see. Back in South Africa everything is a mess and I don't think anyone even bothers with fishing permits these days. But I am happy to pay for something that adds value to the economy and to an entity that looks after the various fishing venues.

I am eager though to target the various varieties of fish in French waters, but for now I am purely equipped with Bass Fishing equipment for the time being.

I am very interested in hooking into some Pike and Catfish at some point soon.

@Anto88, I will definitely checkout BFF for the bass fishing information. I look forward to being part of the community.

It will be difficult to find bass in this district, but maybe few fish have been added in some ponds by AAPPMA (in each district called "départements" you've got a fishermen's association called "AAPPMA"witch oversee fishing in the district).
As it was sayed by Flacyj, districts from the middle to the south of France are more fitted to get bass than others.
It's a good idea to contact BBF, their members may be more knowledgeable about fishing bass near Essonne.
Lot of stuff in your bass fishing equipment will be good for fishing some Pikes   Of course it's better to use the biggest lures of your box, and MH or H rods to get enough power (a 20 pounds fish can not only beeing a dream, it can happends ). Because of their teeth, a steel/titanium/very strong fluoro leader is more that strongly recommended.
Perch are very interested by the smallest bass lures, but the major problem is that small Pikes are too    and again...the teeth do not forgive...
Sandre (walleye) may be interested by basslures, but maybe not all of them. I'm not really sure about that . But i think there are some of these fish too in Essonne (Seine river).
Catfish fishing is an other outlook... biggest here are near 200 pounds, 7" long, our bass baits are just plankton for them.
I hope you have good fishing moments in this parts of the world. Seeya

Hi Webster!

If you want, I know some good places for bass fishing around your place. But I'd definitely recommend to prospect your area for some other species, such as pike, wells catfish, perch or sander.

I fished in the region with a friend who spent a few months in South Africa, and told me there was probably nothing like South-Africa for bass fishing... but like I said, there are a few places. Almost never fished there and not for that specific species, but I have friends who did pretty good (for the northern half of France). :p 

Anyway, if you're interested, send me a private message, and I'll give you a few tips about the region. I've lived there for a few years, and had my way in a few spots...

@Héras,

Yes African waters do hold some tremedously size bass. My South African PB is a 3.2kg, my African PB (Botswana) was a 4,46kg. My Non artificial bait PB is 5,4kg. A friend of mine caught his PB in Botswana of 7,03kg which I have attached for your viewing pleasure.

I have attached some images of my fishing escapades back in South Africa 

I have also attached a photo of a "Yellow Fish" which is great to catch Czech nymphing or on dry flies. They are native to South Africa and a protected species. They are great fun to catch and are very powerful. It is entertaining catching them while nymphing in the rapids of the Vaal River.

Nice ones dude! Must have had a great time.

Je ne pas encour attrape des poisson... Peut etre tot. Mais maintenant je sercher pour quel'un pour aider moi avec une place et aussi des technique.

J'asseyer mon francais, mais c'est terrible 

i am also looking for someone who is working in the fishing industry and would like to assist or work together with a business in the fishing industry?