Rivers & Lakes, France

Common Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Widespread, wary and powerful, carp cruise shallow flats rooting up the bottom and are a growing target for sight fishing and European-style bait tactics. A hooked carp makes long, stubborn runs.

European Barbel

Barbus barbus

The iconic fast-river fish of the Rhine, Weser, Thames and Trent — a long, four-barbelled bottom feeder that lives in weir pools and gravel runs and fights harder than almost any European river fish. Best at dusk on warm summer evenings.

Chub

Squalius cephalus

A bold, greedy river fish found all over Europe, famous for eating almost anything from cheese paste and bread to crayfish, slugs and small fish. Chub haunt weir pools, bridge shadows and overhanging trees, spook easily in clear water, and give a hard, dogged fight on light coarse tackle.

Nase

Chondrostoma nasus

A streamlined river cyprinid that grazes algae off stones with a hard, horny lower lip. Its status varies sharply by country: it is listed in Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive and is protected with closed seasons or full bans in many German states, yet it remains a common quarry fish in France and Spain — always check the local rules before fishing for it.