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The Somme has always had a strong tradition of fishing and
hunting.
The fishing is particularly good since the environment lends
itself to a whole range of fishing techniques. Numerous species
of fish, carniverous or cyprinidae (carp family), swim in
peaceful, wild and fertile grounds.
Come and discover the magic of the fishing grounds of the
Somme; they are there waiting for you, only a few oar strokes
away...
Fishing
and the Somme
The river system
The Somme department has an exceptional and very diversified
river system, which makes it a high quality destination for
fishing at any level. Here are some of the impressive statistics:
750 km of rivers, of which 470 km are classified 1st category
and around 290 km 2nd category. Not forgetting the 6,000 hectares
of man-made lakes, including gravel pits, peat bogs and the
famous man-made lakes of the Haute Somme.
Regulations
There are several ways of organising your fishing in the Somme.
There are 59 authorised angling associations called AAPPMA,
each one managing its own fishing area in the department.
You can access these fishing grounds by acquiring an all-inclusive
card from the angling association for the area in which you
are interested. There are various all-inclusive charges:
An annual permit
You can choose between the reduced tariff for four-rod fishing
in the second category (excluding carniverous), and the full
tariff for fishing carnivores and night carp. These permits
are valid for one calendar year and cost a minimum of 40.80
€ and 52.80 € respectively; their price may vary according
to the angling association.
Holiday permit
This is the equivalent of the annual full tariff permit, but
it is only valid for 15 consecutive days. It is only available
between June and September. It costs about 23 €, but this
may be increased by the angling association.
Angling associations that issue
holiday permits : Abbeville, Ailly/Noye, Amiens, Bray/Somme,
Cappy, Gamaches, Ham, Hamelet, Long, Moreuil, Péronne, Rosières,
Vitz/Authie, Voyennes.
Day permit
Controlled by the National Angling Federation, it gives the
same rights as the full permit (excluding 1st category rivers)
for one day. (37 out of the 59 angling associations issue
it); it costs about 8 €. All of the second category angling
associations issue daily cards.
Please note:
The availability of day permits is the
responsibility of individual associations. We cannot guarantee
their constant availability.
Private
fishing areas
There are also private areas where you can fish
by paying a single fishing fee, which can vary from area to
area. Take care, since the areas are unsupervised. You will
be required, however, to pay the fish farming tax (included
in the fishing permit from any angling association) to comply
with legislation.
The Somme department also has an area that does not come
under the current legislation. Between Bray-sur-Somme and
Béthencourt, an old privilege gives the ponds and the area
along the valley a very special status. They are not subject
to current legislation and are restricted fishing areas. Their
owners have the rights to the pools, banks, and the fish,
and can thus restrict access whenever they wish. With the
owner's permission you have all the normal rights, including
fishing for carnivores at any time of the year, and for carp
at night.
Types
of fishing in the Somme
Baited
pitch fishing
Baited pitch fishing means all the techniques that are used
to catch coarse fish such as bleak, gudgeon, roach, bream,
rudd, tench, and small carp.
Amongst the the most common techniques there are rod fishing,
float fishing, quiver-tip fishing and pole fishing. You can
do all of these in the Somme department.
The season extends from April to September-October, but note
the spawning period, which generally takes place in May. When
the cyprinidae are breeding, they do not bite!
Rod fishing
This is the most basic technique, the one your Granddad taught
you. It is multipurpose and effective everywhere in the Somme.
To be used first and foremost in waters with a current, such
as the ponds, the Somme canal and, of course, the river Somme.
This method puts you in a better position to control the drift
of the line and thus perfectly present the bait to the fish.
Float fishing
This method of fishing comes to us, as it's name suggests,
from across the Channel, and requires lots of practice. Float
fishing is done preferably in areas where there is no current,
well-stocked with beautiful fish, namely large, closed, man-made
ponds, stocked with bream, tench and large roach. Only the
man-made ponds in the Haute Somme, away from the currents
in the Somme, can be used.
Quiver-tip fishing
The major difference from float fishing is that you do not
use a float (waggler). It is the very fine tips which indicate
the bite. It is particularly useful for fishing for bottom-feeders,
namely bream, tench, large roach, and carp (small carp otherwise
it can break!). It should be kept for areas rich in cyprinidae.
Quiver-tip fishing is a good option in moving water, because
you can present the bait on the bottom and it will remain
in position. Ideal in the currents of the Haute Somme ponds.
Pole fishing
This is actually a variation of the long casting method that
everybody knows, the difference being that you are not in
the water but on the bank. With this type of fishing also,
you mainly fish for large cyprinidae, but exclusively in currents.
The ideal area is the river Somme where there is a sustained
and steady current.
Carp
fishing
Everyone has heard of this as it is very fashionable at the
moment. It has become more popular over the last few years
thanks especially to the arrival of more sporting techniques.
Be aware however, that since carp
often feed at night, you sometimes have to spend the night
at the edge of the water to get a bite.
A technique to be used in high season
between April and September.
There are large numbers of carp in
the Somme department, and are not very intensively fished.
There are limited numbers in the river Somme, but most are
to be found in the ponds of the valley between Abbeville and
Ham. We invite you to come and experience the magical world
that is night carp fishing. Not to be missed!
Fishing for carnivores
Pikeperch, perch and pike
Carnivores, by definition, feed on other
fish and hunt in their own way. Included in this category
are pike, pikeperch, perch and eel. There are several ways
of tracking them, notably feeder fishing and trolling.
By feeder fishing, we mean fishing with
raw fish or even fishing with dead fish (weight).
Fishing techniques, tried and tested on
many of the man-made lakes are clearly an attractive option.
For example, fishing with moulded dead fish, a method perfected
and promoted by Albert Drachkovitch, and fishing with artificial
decoys (flexible decoys, fish-swimmers, cups).
As the fish bites it is nearly always hooked
at the corner of the mouth, which means:
• that you can release caught fish if you want to (if it is
small for example),
• the fish can put up a fight, which give the fisherman a
challenge.
Carnivores are fairly numerous in the Somme
department. For pike, you need to go to the ponds in the valley,
whilst pikeperch are more abundant in the Somme Canal and
the North Canal. As for perch, they are just about everywhere.
The freshwater eel
Eels are ideally suited to the region. They reach sexual maturity
in calm water, rushing into estuaries, going up rivers and
colonising man-made lakes in the valley where they grow large.
This is why we find them in the valley
of the Somme where their size varies from 25 cm to over a
metre.
The eel is a very powerful fish which
is not fussy when it bites. Once it bites, it puts up a formidable
fight, looking for the slightest obstacle with which to free
itself.
There are two main techniques used
in eel fishing:
Fishing with weights
The hook, dragged along the bottom by a weight of several
dozen grammes, is baited with a worm or a dead fish.
"Ball"
fishing.
This has the particular feature of not using a hook. The
eels are pulled up the bank when they fix their teeth into
a ball of cotton and earth worm.
Eel fishing can be done just about
everywhere in the Somme, since eels form colonies in all of
the man-made lakes while waiting to return to breed in the
Sargasso Sea.
The ideal fishing season is from
April to September.
Please note that this type of fishing
in permitted at night on all of the man-made lakes.
Salmonidae fishing: Bresle and Authie
Valleys
These
two coastal rivers which form the north and west boundaries
of the department, are classified as 1st category fisheries.
They are sites favoured by anglers fishing for of migratory
fish such as salmon and sea trout.
Here you
will find certain areas reserved for fly fishing. If you have
the necessary permit, these areas are open to you during the
extended fishing period for migratory fish. Find out more
about the reciprocal arrangements between angling associations,
which give you access to many riverbanks in these 2 valleys.
A magnificent
setting and superb fish await you ...
Fish: Farios
Trout, Rainbow trout, Sea Trout, Salmon .
The tributaries of
the Somme
The tributaries of the Somme are classified as 1st category
fisheries except for the Avre, which is 2nd category. These
rivers are intended for trout fishing. Bordering the valley
of the Somme, they allow you to combine the pleasures of fishing
and walking in the Somme valley.
Fishing grounds
Given the number and diversity of fishing grounds in the Somme,
we have had to select just a few. Those that we have chosen
satisfy all the required quality criteria, especially regarding
location and access.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive and there are,
undoubtedly, some very attractive fishing grounds in the Somme
department that we do not know about yet.
This list will be updated every year.
For fishing grounds managed by a local, authorised angling
association (AAPPMA), permits can usually be obtained in local
shops (newsagents, fishing tackle shops etc.) which usually
act as agents for them.
Fishing
accommodation
The Somme has a range of accommodation suitable for anglers.
Hotels, gîtes, and guest houses which have been given the
"angler-friendly" stamp of approval, offer a variety of services
to anglers. The Leisure and Tourism Department offers high
standard "ready-made" holidays, which give access to exceptional
fishing grounds.
The following brochures are available on request:
- "Weekends and short holidays 2003"
- "Fishing in the Somme" (fishing grounds)
Comité du Tourisme de la Somme - 21, rue Ernest Cauvin -
80000 AMIENS
Tel : +33 (0)3 22 71 22 71 - Fax : +33 (0)3 22 71 22 69.
E-mail : accueil@somme-tourisme.com
Practical info
DESTINATION PECHE
For experienced and specialist anglers who do not wish, or
have not got the time, to organise their own stay in the Somme,
the Leisure and Tourism Department offers ready-made fishing
holidays, as shown in the brochure "Destination pêche".
They give you access to some magical places, some of which
are otherwise inaccessible.
The holidays listed offer a range of different fishing options.
Comité du Tourisme de la Somme
21 rue Ernest Cauvin
80000 AMIENS
Tél : +33 (0)3 22 71 22 71 - Fax : +33 (0)3 22 71 22 69
E-mail : accueil@somme-tourisme.com
Useful Contact :
Fédération de la
Somme pour la Pêche et la Protection du milieu aquatique
6 rue René Gambier
80450 CAMON
Tel : +33 (0)3 22 70 28 10 Fax : +33 (0)3 22 70 28 11
E-mail : somme.FedePeche@wanadoo.fr
Website : www.unpf.fr/80
Fishing
chalets
In the heart of the private estate at St Christ Briost,
fully-equipped chalets for between 3 and 5 people (two bedrooms
and a double sofa-bed): one main room with kitchen area (hotplates,
refrigerator and cupboards with crockery, coffee maker), shower
room with WC, television, electric heating, blankets. Outside,
you have the benefit of a terrace with garden furniture and
barbecue; car park, games area.
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