ok, this will be just a warbling rave out of my bum ------- come back and tell me what bits you might like expansion on if any and, I'll see what I can do.
From leaving Calais on the sea - once one is up into the internal river and canal system - it's of course very different. But, once inside - the fishing looks pretty much the same - from North to ??? about halfway down the country. I don't know if it changes much to the South.
Whilst the fishing seems to look the same - I found that each canal can look vastly different - rivers as well. Turning from one canal onto another can be a total change of colour - going from green dark water to a very different colour that might be strongly blue and light - and countryside that might go from golden grains to lush forest areas which are deep greens in bright sun. That was probably the most amazing part of canaling for me - aside from seeing the manmade things - which - well, go from ?? style to style.
First, something to note - last year, there was almost literally zero traffic on the waterways where there's no commercial traffic - at all - at all, meaning, including summer.
During winter - the tourist canals - and, rivers - all close for the season - every year. But, last year was very different all year - because of lockdowns in both France and other nations - so - no tourists.
for the rivers and canals - that made it the most unusual year - I'd say - perhaps since WW2.
The Yonne here last Autumn - was crystal clear - so clear - I could look down and see Tasmania.
I went swimming in 2020 many times - and in the late summer - early autumn - which was in Auxerre on the Yonne - a great many times.
This year is vastly different - the water is not clear and there's a lot of 'stuff' in it - heaps of sediment, bits of vegetation, froth, etc. - I'm guessing that this is from a LOT LOT more traffic this year - 'mostly'. The marina where my boat is has sold an enormous amount of fuel this year. Added to the traffic was a lot of rain in that ?? April, May period - and, when I was away - June, July - the European floods - I 'think' we got rain here as well. I sure got rain in Germany.
Not so much at all on the rivers - but, on the canals - one of the biggest issues is weed - followed by water levels. - and, as the levels drop - the weed gets even worse. Those are the two factors that mostly affect the boating. Weed by itself - would also affect fishing in the canals - sometimes - you just would not be able to get a bait down through the weed and spinning would be impossible.
It also - I guess means that you can't spot the fish at all - unless you saw the weed moving - my experience was that when the weed was seriously thick - I didn't see fish at all - barring the tiddlers in among the top bits of the forest.
The canals health depend on boats - the canals like the bigger boats with the bigger chopping propellers - they mow the grass - no mow - exactly the same as the back yard - the grass gets away madly.
As to the health of the rivers - I do not know - what I do know is that there are bazillions of small fish ------------- baaaaaaaaaaaaaaazillions++++. Last year at times - when the temperature of the water is higher - you could see quite a lot of bigger fish as well - up to about 600 mm long.
Many of the rivers (probably all) - the flow is very much man controlled - if you're interested - I can give you a site which shows the live measurements of the river at a whole variety of points - one of which is just a little bit up the river from my boat - meaning that last year when we flooded - and we were very close to the top - I was able to stay in bed and look at the app and see the level - rather than getting out of bed and checking about if there was a bump that I had heard which caught my attention - you get a lot of bumps and tugging sometimes in wind etc - if you got out of bed for every one - you'd need a hell of a lot of nanna naps to catch up. ---------------- But, if you're near the top - and, all of a sudden in an hour or so - you went over the top ------------- that's a bump you might want to know more about.
One thing to note is that the water temperature can change very very very fast - a cold snap in a warm period or a warm period during cold weather can jump or dive the water temp by many degrees in a few days - so, before falling in - it could pay to put a finger in first. Over the years - a lot of people have died jumping or falling in when they hit the cold water and gasp - breathing in water - works well for fish - not so good for us.
We do not freeze over here (now) - I think perhaps in some years - '?????????? maybe it gets a little ice on top near the edge - just piddly stuff - not freeze over. I 'think' I remember seeing some very light little ice over in the locks on the canal last year - not sure - I'll look for it this year, assuming I'm not away. I don't know about it in years gone by when things were much colder- I'm only talking about here. I believe that there were some canals etc where people in years gone by could skate - but, that's probably up in higher ground - and, before these much warmer winters now.
I'll check with my historian mate on that - because he's right up on what the Romans used to do here - they used these rivers.
that's a start for you - just out of my date ------------ let me know what you would like to know about. If you want pictures ----------- easy - just say what.
