If you happen to visit the reservoir, the reason for the naming will become obvious and actually well deserved. The reservoir is a fly fishing spot and
an oasis for this endengered bird, cigogne is the french word for stork, that nest here in conspicuous numbers.
The pond has an extension of 2.5 hektar and it is located in the middle-east of France. Morphologically it is divided in three parts, on the east side the pond is long and narrow.
The middle part is canal-like and it joins the east side with the west side.
The west side is rounded and deep, with boardwalks wedging into the pond through bushes and reeds.
Only fly fishing is allowed, with all techiques: dry, nymph and streamer, but strictly barbless. The daily license allow to take home one fish, the permit can be purchased locally at the nearby restaurant.
The water is clear and of good quality. It filters through the ground from the Rhein basin and it is cool enough for most part of the year. Fishing is allowed from September through June (info 2018).
Most of the fish are salmonid, there are big rainbows
plenty of brown trout, a few pike and carp
and some brook trout. However mind that catching fish ain't easy here, the fishes are used to see all sort of patterns.
The most successfull fishing is done with streamers or nymphs, but during the warmer months, various hatches can offer interesting dry fly fishing too.
It might get busy at times and on some weekends. All in all a place not pretending to be what is not, here the angler will find a quite place, far from roads. And with decent stocked fish,
stocked fish that don't threaten the ecosystem as it would in open rivers or streams, where introducing stocked fish could disrupt native species.
