The Rhone River originates from Switzeland, and flowing across France, it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The Rhone delta is located in the Camargue National Park which is famous for its bird and wild life (mainly pink flamingos and wildhorses). Before reaching the historic town of Arles, the river devides into 2 arms; the Petit- and the Grand-Rhone surrounding the national park. In the Camargue there are numerous channels and small lakes, providing an exciting water world as well.
This European catfish paradise had been unexplored by most of the catfish anglers. With the exception of a few French, German and Italian anglers, the „catfishtourism” of the past decade has avoided the Rhone delta.
While in other fishing destinations (e.g. Ebro in Spain), there are more and more fishing camps, here you find individual, family-run homes, profiting from agriculture and tourism, their number is still not enough. Not enough because the catfish stock of the Rhone river is just amazing! These superb predators can hunt and grow without any problem in the water world of Camargue.
Those who follow the blogs and uploaded videos of the French and German catfish anglers, they could already purchase information about these legendary catfish. There are quite a few official videos which had been shot in this area, showing the different techniques. Not without any reasons…
This is a fact – sometimes hidden by the local anglers – that the recatches above 2,60 meters time to time. Probably none of the other European waters have catfish in this remarkable size. We can not even guess the biggest catfish of the Rhone, since they could grow without any problems in the past decades. The yare protected even today according to the local regulations it is C&R, but the catfish anglers visiting the Rhone do not kill any otherwise.
The local fishing methods are variable and effective. The French anglers prefer the vertical fishing, but using livebait, jigs, or even worms can be succesfull. Clonking is not really wides pread so far, that is why it could be also very effective. The catfish did not get used to it, so they behave aggressively while clonking.
You can also expect some really big catfish by using the buoy method. It is preferred mainly by the German anglers, and it is very effective in the Rhone delta as well, how ever the anglers have to take extra care of the others moving on the river by motorboats. All together we can say that there are plenty of succesfull methods which can be used to catch the king of the predators.
Beside the fishing aspects, we have to mention the Mediterranean Sea which is very close. The attractive small town, Saint-Marie-de-la-Mer is just 25 kilometers from the camp, here you can find plenty of good seafood restaurants, cocktailbars and entertaining possibilities.
The Camargue region and the Predator Fishing Camp provides great holiday for the catfish anglers. Maybe it is your turn to catch a 2.80 next time?