HI/All
Was looking to go to Normandy to Fly fish this year
was staying around Gavray way, which is near Granville
any help on good rivers and what I can get was told the River Sienne was good?

If plan to do DIY then I'd suggest that you get on the French forums as otherwise you will struggle. Best option would be to get a guide. I tried Normandy and Brittany last summer to no success .

I've fished both Normandy and Brittany whilst on holiday, would agree that DIY is difficult, in Normandy we spent half a day running round getting permits and finding the beats.

I fished the Iton in Normandy, Nr Evereux, La Truite de l'Iton – AAPPMA d'Evreux: Accueil saw huge grayling and trout but failed to catch them, speaking to a few locals many of them don't bother fishing in July, would definitely recommend a visit early or later in the season.

Last July I fished in Brittany with a guide Antoine Sokoloff, we fished the Blavet and Hyères, near Rostrenen. It was free fishing for all wild brownies, fantastic rivers and trout. Antoine spoke excellent english and knew the rivers inside out, highly recommended. Similarly to Normandy we fished in July and it is on my agenda to return earlier in the season Guide de pêche en Bretagne

If you want more details send me a PM

Hi! Despite France is not the best place for fishing, there are somme great oppportunities, in Normandy in particular.All other rivers in the area have a good reputation for brown trout.

Most of fishing is private but you can get info there, even if not well updated:
http://www.federationpeche.fr/
Thick on the district ("departement") requested; hope somebody can reply in english...

If you can, there is a really pretty river, called "Touques" that runs in the Calvados:
BIENVENUE sur le site de la Fédération de Pêche du Calvados
You can expect here nice brown and huge sea trouts, up to 17-16 pounds (annual run is currently about 6000/7000 fish; fishing is worth from mid-may). I don't know if there are good guides here. Some friends of mine used to fish this river but it needs lots of knowledge to land a "blanche" (local name for sea trout). Have a look to the above link, may sure they can provide you the information you need.


Regarding river Sienne, even if salmon population is depleted, some grilses can be catch by the second half of summer. Brown trouts population seems to be healthy. It is not in the same district (Manche -50) as river Touques.

hi, I fish in normandy a lot, I have owned a house just outside st lo for 10 years, there are a number of permits for fly fishing but as a hoilday maker all you need is a two week permit, costs around 30 euros or so. this would be for the northern part of france not the whole of france, there is very little private water in france as excess to rivers is allowed, But the french do love red tape and this is the mine field, on some rivers you can only fish on tuesdays on others fridays etc. but all will be explained for you when you get your permit, this comes with a map of the area showing rivers etc. you can also get a very good little guide on fishing in normandy which shows the rivers in greater detail from most french bookshops. Its not that hard to sort out and there is some very good fishing to be had, mainly wild trout.
if i can help further email me direct. terry1956@btinternet.com

Hi I have recently moved to Gavray in Normandy I'm a keen flyfisher, having a blog which I update regularly. This may be of some use to you. If your ever in Gavray send me an e-mail and we could fish together.

http://www.theflyfishingfella.com

My Parents moved to France a few years ago to Pas de Calais and we had about an hours drive from tunnel down to them, and found some great fly places, even the local river was trout stocked, as long as you had a permit they were more than happy for you to fish. And everyone was incredibly friendly, as fly isn't used that much, probably like here, but they're more than happy for you to try and very interested in the technique. It's also quite amusing that on one day the fishing season stops and shooting begins, and it really does seem to! Friday out fishing then Saturday, shooting season, rod packed away for another 6 months - lets go shooting!!!
But a beautiful and fantastic place to fish!

And just as another point, there are more and more 'fly' trout fisheries opening up. I went to one locally to my parents as they were actually having a fly-fishing competition to promote fly fishing. I turned up no-one else there, and was told it had been cancelled because of bad weather, it was a 'bit rainy' but they let me carry on and fish anyway!