Try out the Club

Unlock the fishing spots of Downhead, weather forecasts and many other services with the Premium Club.

10-day free trial

Nouveau : FishAndYou, l'appli des concours de pêche

Avec FishAndYou, vous pouvez créer votre propre concours de pêche, et gagner de l'argent.

Créer mon concours de pêche

Discover everything to fish in Downhead

Find the best moment to go fishing in Downhead, the most caught species, the techniques used, go fish with anglers nearby, find a fishing charter or guide, save your spots and discover new ones.

Go for it!

N°1 | The Ide fish

The Ide fish belongs to the Cyprinidae family. Its size is generally between 30 and 50 cm but this fish can reach a maximum length of 80 cm for a weight of 5 kg and an age of nearly 20 years. Spawning takes place from March to April. Females lay between 60,000 and 160,000 eggs. The fishery is open from June to March. The body is long and laterally compressed with a terminal mouth pointing upwards. The head is strong with a small mouth, obtuse snout and yellow eyes. The back is rounded. The anal fin has a concave rear edge. The back and upper part of the head are greyish-green to brown; the yellowish-brown flanks have silvery or golden reflections; the belly is whitish. The fins are dark except for the pelvic, ventral and anal fins which are frankly red. In older and larger specimens, the body color may turn yellow/bronze.

Fishing period : June to March

Minimum size : 25 cm

Difficulty :

N°2 | Bitterling Fish

The Bitterling fish is a freshwater fish and belongs to the Cyprinidae family. Its scientific name is Rhodeus Amarus. The current size of the bitterling fish is 5-6 cm. Some individuals can reach a maximum height of 11 cm and a weight of 10 g. This species is one of the smallest Cyprinid in Europe. It lives on average from 2 to 3 years. The spawning period is between April and June. It lays 40 to 100 oocytes. This fish is easy to catch due to its small size. The bitterling is a small fish whose body is high and laterally compressed. The lateral line is short or incomplete. The scales on the back have a grey-green coloring. The sides are clear with silvery reflections. During the breeding period the silver coloration changes to a pink to bright red color with a dark blue sideband. Sexual dimorphism occurs between the male and female during reproduction. A 5 to 8 mm laying tube (ovipositor) develops in the female, which allows her to lay her eggs in the gill cavity of freshwater mussels. The male has a higher body than the female and its colors become brighter during the breeding season. The bitterling fish's eyes are quite large. Its mouth is small, oblique and the upper jaw protrudes beyond the lower jaw. The anal and dorsal fins have a short base and 8 to 10 branched rays.

Fishing period : prohibited all year

Minimum size : not available

Difficulty :

N°3 | The Gwyniad fish

The Gwyniad fish belongs to the Salmonidae family. It is a fairly large species: 40 to 60 cm. It reaches 70 cm for 10 kg in the large lakes of northern Europe. Life expectancy would be about ten years. Its breeding period extends quite widely between 15 November and 31 January with a maximum activity between 10 December and 1 January. The female lays 30,000 eggs per kg of weight. This fish is on the IUCN Red List. Fishing is therefore prohibited. It has the fat fin characteristic of Salmonidae. It has an elongated body, silvery grey, bluish grey, with a more or less brownish back and fairly large scales. The caudal fin is very indented. The mouth is small. Two details that differentiate it from other salmonids. The number of gillospines (here 15 to 70) confirms that they belong to that species. The male has prominent scales on the lateral line, rough to the touch.

Fishing period :

Minimum size :

Difficulty :

N°4 | The Three Spined Stickleback

The three spined stickleback belongs to the Gasterosteidae family. The usual size of the three-spined stickleback is 4 to 5 cm for females, with males being a little smaller, about 3 to 4 cm. The life span of the three-spined stickleback varies from 3 to 5 years in natural environments and up to 8 years in captivity. Spawning season extends from March to June. Fertility is 200 to 400 eggs. It is fished from June to March. The three-spined stickleback is a tiny fish with a tapered, laterally compressed body. Its head is quite small, with fairly large eyes, and ends in a narrow mouth that is slightly oriented forward and upwards. The caudal peduncle of the three-spined stickleback is very narrow with a slightly indented caudal fin. The long dorsal fin is set far back, plumbing the anal fin. The dorsal fin of the three-spined stickleback is preceded by three spines, two long and one short, placed on the back of the fish. A curved spine also precedes the implantation of the anal fin. The pelvic fins are replaced by two thorns. The color of this fish is greenish brown for the back, with metallic reflections, silvery for the sides and whitish for the belly. Along the lateral line of the three-spined stickleback, there are no scales but bone plates called "badges", a kind of natural shielding that accompanies the thorny defenses of this fish.

Fishing period : June to March

Minimum size : no restriction

Difficulty :

N°5 | The Common Carp

The Common Carp belongs to the Cyprinidae family. Its average size is 40 to 60 cm (up to 1 meter for some specimens) with an average weight of 6 to 8 kilos (up to 37 kilos for some specimens). It can live up to 20 years in the wild. Common carp breed from spring to summer. The female lays 250,000 eggs per kg of weight. Carp can be fished all year round in the 2nd category rivers! It is a massive fish, green in color (except the koi). Its head is conical, its mouth is protractile, it has no teeth but has 2 pairs of barbels. Its growth is fast; it exceeds one kilo in 3 years. The fins are strong and grey, except for the pelvic and anal fins, which are slightly orange.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 40 cm

Difficulty :

N°6 | The Bullhead fish

The Bullhead fish belongs to the Ictaluridae family. This species generally measures 15 to 20 cm, but can reach a maximum of 45 cm for a weight of 2 kg. It can live up to 6 years. It breeds in May-June and lays up to 5000 eggs. It can be fished all year. It is a scaleless fish with bare, viscous skin. Its naked body is elongated and has thousands of sensory cells (electro-receptor cells) that are a particular feature of the species. He has a large flattened head, a very wide mouth with large lips and 8 barbels, 6 of which hang, and 2 are located behind the nostrils. Its pectoral fins have sharp spines that are dangerous. Similarly, its first dorsal fin has a sharp sting. It also has a short fat fin (between the dorsal and caudal fins). Its brown back is almost black or greenish brown, its sides lighter, its belly yellowish white.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 20 cm

Difficulty :

N°7 | The Burbot

The Burbot fish belongs to the Lotidae family. The burbot can measure 30 to 120 cm and weigh up to 3 kg. It can live from 15 to 20 years. It breeds from December to March and can lay up to one million eggs. It can be fished all year round. The body is cylindrical, elongated, slightly compressed towards the tail, covered with small scales covered with a thick layer of mucus. The back is greenish brown or yellowish with darker mottling, with a gradation becoming lighter on the sides. The belly is yellowish white. The short, rounded pectoral fins, close to the head, overhang the ventral side with their first very elongated radius. The first dorsal fin is short, the second, very long, continues until the birth of the caudal, which is rounded. The lower jaw has a single long barbel and the nostrils have two fairly distant orifices, each with a small barbel. The mouth is wide, with many fine teeth.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 50 cm

Difficulty :

N°8 | Brown Trout

The Brown Trout belongs to the Salmonidae family. According to the location, the adult size varies from 25 cm to 80 cm for 300 to 800 g. It lives for 3 to 6 years. The spawning period starts in October and end in January. The female can lay up to 4000 eggs. The fishing period is open from the second Saturday of March until the third Sunday of September. This fish is not hard to catch but the fishing needs complex skills. Depending on its environment, the brown trout have a very variable color, but the brown trout, as its name shows, is rather brown with scattered black and red spots, depending on the spawners. It has a certain mimicry according to the bottom of its living spaces since the dominant brown will become a green dress if it lives close to the banks where yellow and even sometimes silvery white will mix. It has a "useless" adipose fin between the dorsal fin and the caudal fin. The head is tapered, strong and has a powerful jaw. Its back is a pretty black or night blue.

Fishing period : March to September

Minimum size : no restriction

Difficulty :

N°9 | The Vendace fish

The vendace fish belongs to the Salmonidae family. Its average size is 45 cm and its weight is 1 kg. The oldest specimens observed were 10 years old. It breeds from October to December. The female lays 30,000 eggs per kg of weight. It is fished from March to December. The vendace is a small, slender and streamlined fish that is very easy to confuse with a bleak, a small lavaret whitefish or a peled whitefish. Unlike the bleak, the vendace is a member of the Salmonidae family, which is why it has a fat fin. It differs from the lavaret and peled whitefish by its much longer lower jaw. In the lavaret whitefish, the upper jaw is longer and in the peled whitefish the jaws are of the same length. It is silvery on the sides, with a white belly and a brown-green, grey-blue or blue-green back.

Fishing period : from March to December

Minimum size : 30 cm

Difficulty :

N°10 | The Bronze Bream

The Bronze bream belongs to the Cyprinidae Family. The current catch size varies between 30 and 50 cm, for a weight of 0.5 and 2.5 kg. Some individuals can reach a maximum height of 80 cm for a weight of 7 kg. It lives between 20 and 25 years. It reproduces between April and June and lay 100,000 to 300,000 eggs. The Bronze Bream can be fished all year round in 2nd category streams and is not hard to catch with the right bait. In Europe, there are 2 or 3 types of bream, 5 species and 2 subspecies. The Bronze bream has a very high and strong body flattened laterally. The bushy back, especially in older individuals, is characteristic of this fish. Its body is covered with large scales and mucus. The Bronze bream has a fairly small eye compared to the size of the muzzle. The mouth is small, oblique, barbless and protractile. The upper jaw protrudes beyond the lower jaw. Teeth are subject to seasonal replacement. The anal fin is very long and has 23-30 soft rays. On the other hand, the dorsal fin is short and inserted behind the pelvic fins. The caudal fin is very indented with the lower lobe longer than the upper lobe.

Fishing period : All year

Minimum size : 30 cm

Difficulty :

7.6

10 am

Take out your rods! The fishes are here.

High

Medium

Low

The best moment to go fishing!

The fishing forecast allows you to forecast your fishing trips and always go at the right time to the right place!

How it works

This is a score of 1 to 10 calculated city by city according to some forty criteria affecting fishing: moon, weather conditions, atmospheric pressure, sunrise / sunset. sun, tides, swell etc .