Fishing in Lozère and Margeride

Essential steps before actually going fishing

Purchase a fishing licence for the Lozere county

You can get your fishing card for Lozère in our Tourist Information Offices in Saint-Chély-d’Apcher and Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole. See our opening hours here. You can also buy it online, on the website: http://www.cartedepeche.fr/.

A fishing licence is of course compulsory! Several types of cards are available: for children, youngsters, women, for a week, a day or the whole year.

Know the local fishing techniques

All trout fishing can be practised on the Truyère river. Fishing with natural bait, whip flies and artificial nymphs are practised as well as, to a lesser extent, fishing with lures. Traditionally, the elders used to fish with “barre” and drowned flies. It is also worth noting that natural fly fishing is one of the local specialities, still used today.

The seasons of fishing in Lozère

Fishing is possible from the second week-end of march to the third week-end of september.

• From mid-March to mid-April. At the opening of the season, the waters are often cold and only slow fishing close to the bottom brings back a few fish.
• From mid-April to mid-June. It is from Easter and during spring that the fisherman will encounter the greatest activity on the river. Trouts are everywhere and aquatic insects hatch more regularly. “Bad” weather, even windy or rainy, is always more favourable. The Truyère river is home to large hatchings of the famous May fly (Ephéméra danica). Here, however, it appears late (sometimes even after june 15th).
• From mid-June to mid-August. In the summer, fishermen will have to get up early to go to the river at the coolest time of the day or to devote himself to the evening sessions during sedge (trichoptera) hatching. At the beginning of the afternoon, it is better to stay do some lazing around… But if it is windy, then it is possible to have a nice game of grasshopper fishing.
• And from mid-August to the end of September. With the storms at the end of the summer, the fish get back to work and fill up with energy for the reproduction period. Unfortunately, due to climate change, the storms are less systematic during this period and sometimes arrive after the fishing season is over. But if you’re lucky, then you’ll be spoilt for choice between a fabulous fishing trip and a miraculous mushroom picking!

Zoom on… The Truyère river!

The Truyère is a beautiful 1st category river typical of the high granite plateaus of the Massif Central. It cascades down from the Margeride Mountains where it emerges in the Croix de Bor forest at an altitude of 1450m.

Little brook will become river

Initially a small river that meanders through the middle of the pastures, it offers trout fishing with relatively easy access. The fario are certainly of modest size, but their blond coat with well marked pigmentation is remarkable. It is also the ideal place to take children to learn how to fish with a minnow and a gudgeon. And, why not, for older children, discover trout fishing! But it is by arriving upstream of the Malzieu from its confluence with its little sister coming from the Aubrac plateau, the Rimeize, that the Truyère takes all its gorgeous dimension.

From there, the accesses are less easy to find. They sometimes require an walk to approach the water at the end of which you will have the pleasure of discovering superb fishing trails in a wild environment.

The river then becomes calmer, wider and gives off a feeling of power. The valley begins to sink slightly into the middle of the Scots pine forests and meadows.

A sumptuous setting with great surprises along the way

The riverbed is stonier and scattered with granite blocks. The habitat and richer waters enable a better growth of trout…Thus, fishermen will find some very nice specimens.

Did you know? The main tributaries of the Upper Truyère are the Mézère, the Rimeize, the Limagnole. The streams around the Malzieu are the Galastre, the Gardelle and the Chambaron.

Further downstream, from Saint-Léger-du-Malzieu, the river gradually plunges into deep gorges. There is room for sporting routes where the journey can be difficult! Reserved for seasoned fishermen in good physical condition.

“Fellow fishermen, be respectful. Remember to close the fenced passages for cattle, collect in moderation and delicately release the juveniles or practice the no-kill techniques”.

Specificities and regulation

Specific fishing trails

• “No Kill” from Saint-Léger-du-Malzieu. A pretty little course strewn with boulders and strong currents located 300m downstream from the bridge and reserved exclusively for artificial flies.

• “No Kill” from the Malzieu-Ville. A long “toc” and “fly” route of 2500m which starts at the dairy factory’s footbridge and goes upstream to the hamlet of Le Soulier. The sector has a great diversity of profiles and offers alternating flat currents with a multitude of stations along the banks and boulders.

• The fishing pond of Saint-Léger-du-Malzieu. Paying fishing pond managed by the fishing federation and artificially stocked with rainbow trout, including some very large specimens that provide strong emotions for beginners as well as for old gaulish fishermen. Open every day from 1 July to 31 August (for opening days in May, June and September, ask the federation for information).

• The fishing pond of Paulhac-en-Margeride: Located within a deer farm, this pond is ideal for a family fishing trip. Open every afternoon in the summer, you will find everything you need on site: tables, barbecue and fishing rod. For more information, call 06 44 24 77 42.

• La Sablière du Malzieu : This stretch of water on the banks of the Truyère is the result of an old quarry whose site has been rehabilitated. Fishing is public with a departmental permit. Populated with white fish (rotengles, bleak, …) and carnivorous fish (perch, pike), it offers another type of fishing for anglers who love to fish by the stroke and casting. The water is shallow and we recommend you use surface or very shallow diving lures. Drop-shot” rigs and soft lures with “Texas” hooks allow you to explore areas of dense vegetation. The use of a float-tube is an interesting alternative as there are very few shore stations.

This page has been written with the precious help of the Compagnie des Guides de Pêche de Lozère which gathers 8 professional fishing instructor-guides, state qualified, all over Lozère. If you wish to use their services, please visit their website: www.guides-de-peche.fr

• Fishing discovery activities, day trips, fishing trips, fishing excursions and courses as well as stay-overs of 2, 3 or 5 days.
• Boat and float-tube fishing trip
• Initiation and improvement of the various techniques of sport fishing
• Transport on site and loan of equipment included