After the tropical fishing in Florida I went to my usual fishing haunts in Germany to get used to the local climate again.
In the morning hours we visited one of the smaller streams first. All I could manage was the smallest yellow perch that ever dared to attack a streamer. My buddy Joop did a whole lot better by catching a nice rainbow trout. Fishing was not that good in our little stream but at least we enjoyed the colourful foliage of fall.
In the morning hours.
In the afternoon we would visit another water where we would try to catch pike. The early morning hours where dull and gray but later the sun appeared and the wind picked up. When we arrived at the next water it was already later in the day and the first clouds appeared. We where now fishing a river on a windy plane, the water looked pretty dead as we fished the first the section. Finally I noticed a swirl in the surface indicating a hunting fish so I quickly placed my streamer near the disturbance. In no time the streamer was intercepted by a yellow perch.
Yellow perch.
A while later I got another hit on the fly. Joop had walked over a bridge to the other side of the river and asked me what kind of bite it was. I replied that it was most likely of a pike. It only took a few casts before I had another strike and this time the fish was on. The pike was not a monster but it did put up a pretty good fight. When I had the fish I tried to grab it but it slipped out of my hand and off it went. Too stupid I left my landing net in the car. So I tried to catch another pike and it did not take long before yet another fish attacked the streamer, it was no pike though but a quit sizeable yellow perch.
Yellow perch nr. 2
Light was fading and it slowly started to rain so we decided to call it a day. This was the first time we fished that particular river so late in the season and it was good that it all worked out as it did. Next time we would know where to start fishing and off course I will not leave the net in the car anymore.
After the two trips to the Harz Mountains it was time to fish one the nearby German streams for a chance. I took the train to Germany and after 50 minutes I arrived at my destination.
My first intention was to fish the canalized part of the river and then especially the outflow of the sewage treatment plant. I was unpleasantly surprised when the stream was fenced off by electric wire and the farmer had put sheep and cows in the meadows.
On the road, grey skies in the morning with blue sky appearing in the afternoon.
I had to move on to find a suitable spot for fishing so I walked to the first small weir in the river. Fish where recently stocked so maybe the odd rainbow trout would lurk behind the weir. A couple of casts with the streamer through the pool remained fruitless so I moved on. The pool of the watermill further downstream would surely yield some fish. As I walked through the fields I started to notice that a lot of people where cycling out there in the middle of nowhere. When I arrived near the mill I suddenly spotted a traffic jam of cars and then it came to me what day it was.
The good spot, a fish was constantly rising under the tree.
To my horror the mother of all festivities was held at the watermill, the annual farmers market. The whole agricultural neighbourhood had come out for this fest of fests.
The whole place was turned into an amusement park, goodbye quit fishing. Luckily my good spot was more or less unaffected of the racket. A fish was constantly rising under a tree, problem was that a sunken tree was just lying downstream of the good spot. After losing two nymphs and trying to get the fish on the dry I decided to concentrate fishing on the easier spots. I tried the streamer and felt a take of what I believe was a trout, unfortunately the trout missed. To increase my chances of catching other species of fish I tied on a small goldbead nymph. A couple of deep drifts along a deadfall resulted in another contact with a trout, this time the take was solid and I hauled in a small Rainbow trout.
Rainbow trout.
I tried to get some more fish but bites slowed down after the Rainbow trout. There was a deep pool a short distance downstream so I tried to coax some fish there but there where no takes. When I returned to my honey hole three kids where dunking worms there so I asked them how they where doing.
Seemed they already knew me as one of those two Dutch flyfishing guys that had joined their club. I wished them good luck and moved upstream within sight of the Ferris wheel at the mill. Some shiners where clearly visible below me so I tied on a Copper John and let the nymph drift in the middle of the school of fish. One fish dived for the nymph and took it firmly.
Dace on the Copper John.
For some reason I was walking around the river without my usual fishing clothing. Instead I had some pretty light colored pants when a small accident happened. Due to recent flooding a fine layer of silt was deposited on the steep banks. I slipped and fell in the dirt so I looked like a pig, I had to wash the dirt off in the river to be at least somewhat presentable when heading back home.
After drying up I decided to give the spot near the Ferris wheel another try, I was sure a trout would be hiding under the debris at the bank. Letting the nymph drift deeply along the debris was the ticket for a quite large Rainbow trout. When I carefully stepped down the bank the fish came of so no pictures of that one.
With all the racket going on and people moving up behind me I called it a day and made my way back to the train station. Clearly it was not my day, at least the two Rainbow trout made the trip worthwhile. Next time I will keep better track of the fair dates…
Last week one of my fellow flyfishingclub members called me if I was interested in a short fishing trip. May basic response to such question was always with the counter question “do cows eat grass?” So that issue was solved, the next issue was where to go. Basically we would have to choose between a four hours drive to the Bode River in former Eastern Germany or the Diemel River in the federal state of Hessen. The weather predictions where extremely bad during our departure, flooding and lots of rain where predicted. The Diemel River would probably turn into brown soup while the Bode would run higher but keep clear water, so the Bode it was.
The Hotel.Early morning at the Bode river.
Since the Bode was a four hours drive from our neck of the woods we would opt for a nights stay in a hotel so we could fish the next day early. It was peak tourist season so getting lodging on short notice was difficult but in the end we found a place to stay. After work we packed our gear and headed to the east. Late in the evening we arrived at our hotel, luckily the cook was still on the premises so we could get a hot meal. The next day we would first go the local trout hatchery to get our license and fish for a while before getting breakfast at the hotel.
I knew some pretty good spots near the hatchery with almost a catch guarantee, since my companion Harry had never been to this river I thought it would be the best location to go. We parked the car on the mountain road and got into our gear, Worrying sounds came up from the mountain; there was a logging operation going on and the sound of falling timber made us wonder if it was safe to leave the car there. We proceeded to the river and as I saw the water I noticed it was almost two feet higher than usual. The weather was rainy and misty and it looked almost like I had arrived in the middle of fall. There where no rising insects or signs of feeding fish so I knew fishing would be very tough.
Harry making his first casts on the Bode River.Almost like fall.
This river we fished in was tricky to wade due to large slippery stones. I warned Harry that he should watch out where to set his feet. It was all in vain though when I heard a loud splash, Harry went swimming but fortunately he stayed sound and safe. On the piece of water I had chosen it was normal to catch 5 or more fish in a short time but now nothing happened, even deep-fished nymphs where left untouched. For me skunk was avoided when a tiny brown trout decided to nail the Czech nymph I was fishing.
Skunk avoided, first fish of the day.
After an hour fished the results where one fish caught, one lost and Harry still fishless. We had to return to the Hotel in order to not miss out on the breakfast. After a short break at the hotel we went out again, this time on what I called the senior citizen stretch.
The “senior citizen” stretch.
The senior citizen stretch was a wide slow flowing stretch in a valley with a road on one side and a row of hotels on the other side. I nicknamed it also a zoo since you where watched by the tourists from almost all sides, the plus was that the place usually held cooperative fish. It was normal to see rising fish on this place and even during this high water stage I noticed a few fish rising. To get a fish to bite was a different story, I received no hits on the nymph.
Harry doing his best.
I had directed Harry to the better bank and he was actually starting to catch fish. He lost a nice one who decided to make a dash into the weeds. I continued to fish under the watchful eyes of the tourist and eventually I got a nice Bode trout on the nymph.
Finally a good fish on the pheasant tail nymph.
We fished the place thoroughly but the results where pretty poor. Since it was almost noon we decided to grab something to eat before we would continue. After a good meal we where ready to fish the rest of the day. The question was only where to go. The senior citizen stretch might improve when the weather would clear a little and insects would come off the water but we could also visit one of the faster flower stretches and see how things where there. Since Harry had never been to this river before I opted for the faster flower stretch so he could see other parts of the river.
Fog on the river.
When we entered the river fog was falling down over the hillside and onto the river. As I waded out I saw to my surprise rising fish and soon I hooked another little trout on the nymph. Harry was also doing well by catching some of the bigger fish in the river.
The fish where active for a short while but suddenly all activity ceased as the fog became thicker. I headed further downstream and ended up in a slower flowing section where a few fish where rising. I decided I would try some dry fly fishing and tied on a tan Klinkhamer. A few fish rose to the fly and I ended up with another tiny trout.
Late in the afternoon we decided to call it a day amidst light rain and fog. I ended up with four fish caught and Harry with nine fish. Fishing was quite bad considering my earlier experiences on this river but all in all I was pretty pleased to be out there again. Catching fish and preferably big fish is nice but to be in a nice surrounding in good might be even more important. The season on this river closed in mid September but we vowed to return before that date under better conditions.
The fishing in our first German river had been so dismal during this summer that we skipped that water altogether and went to the river of club nr. 2 instead. Our first stop was the pool behind the watermill to see if any trout had survived that constant attacks of the conventional fisherman. Apparently the other guys had done a good job of cleaning the trout out since all I caught where very tiny yellow perch. I always wondered what happened to the big yellow perch, there where some real nice fish in there but it seemed that they had gone on vacation. The pool was still very shallow so the plans to dredge the pool where obviously not implemented yet.
The next stop was the river itself, we fished the deep holes we knew would hold trout. To our surprise the water looked dead, even the streamers where left untouched so I was quick to state that the bait fisherman had cleared out the holes. Just as I spoke those words a fish suddenly rose under a tree. It showed once again that there where more fish about than you would expect. While I kept to nymph fishing Joop tied on the smallest CDC fly he could find. I had seen no insects about whatsoever so I was curious if that dry fly would yield any response from the fish.
Joop with trout.
Joop made a clever move by using the dries, as soon as the fly landed under the tree a rainbow trout came up and grabbed the fly. In the mean time I was drifting nymphs in the same location and had not a single bite. Even when a second fish made his presence known I could not get the trout interested in taking the nymph. Joop tried again and before I knew it he was into his second fish. That sight was too much for me so I left for a quiet place.
The other pools had only small shiners in them which would readily rise to a dry fly but I found them too small to target. I stubbornly fished the streamer and finally hooked something, not a trout but a nice yellow perch.
Yellow Perch
We tried some other parts of the river upstream and wondered why such a pretty stream had so little fish in it. We would have to talk to the club member responsible for stocking to release some more fish in the river, not only trout but also other species.
High summer.
Pretty stream, not many fish in it.
The last couple of hours fishing would be spent at the small lake where club nr.2 had fishing rights, we would fish there the conventional way (with sweetcorn) It was a small man-made lake in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees. Flyfishing was tough there since the trees made it impossible to get the line far out. Furthermore the place was rather deep so it was not exactly the ideal flyfishing spot. The lake would be ideal for bellyboating but boating was forbidden there.
Hazelnuts at the lake.
[ The lake.
As I mentioned the bellyboating thing to one of the clubs official he mentioned that it might be possible to get permission to use a float there so I requested a official ok from the clubs president. If I would get the go-ahead then my next purchase would be a bellyboat to chase the pike near the lily fields. After a few fruitless hours on the lake we called it a day, it seemed like our conventional fishing skill where a bit rusty. Hopefully on my next fishing outing to the lake I will be floating on its surface.
Day 4 of my Harz trip was another travel day, we did not have much time for fishing but we would still be able to throw in a few hours before we left. Maybe we could still manage to catch a few of the larger stray rainbows that people where talking about. Since our schedule was tight we drove straight to a spot had yielded us many fish on previous visits.
One of the good spots.
I was quickly into my wading gear so in no time I was at the water positioning myself on a strategic location. I was fishing a part of the river where a fast riffle moved into a slower flower deeper part. Fish where hiding behind the large stones and just out of the main flow. A Czech nymph named “Sparkle and Orange” was tied on and soon drifted down stream past the fish. The brown trout loved that pattern and soon the first fish took the nymph.
Brown trout.
A few mayflies where hovering over the stream, I continued fishing the nymph though since I wanted to catch some of the better fish. The big ones where obviously to wary to take surface flies. The nymphing paid off because I finally caught one of the bigger fish in the pool.
Mayfly.
Brown trout.
After catching several more brown trout I figured I had disturbed the spot too much so it was time to move downstream. There where several deep pools ahead of me where I had caught rainbows in the past, maybe these fish where still around. At the second pool a first cast was immediately rewarded with a brown trout.
Transition from shallow to deeper water.
When I hooked the second brown trout something unexpected happened, a large brown raced behind the smaller fish. I had never seen such a large fish in this river so I was highly motivated to catch that fish. Several drifts of the nymph at various depths remained fruitless so I left the spot to check out a few other locations downstream. When I looked at my watch I noticed that the time had arrived to go to the car for the trip back home. Before I said goodbye to the river I had to fish the deep hole which the large brown called home though. After several drifts the big brown suddenly shot out from its cover and nailed the nymph. The fish took me all over the place and I suspected that he would throw the hook at any time. After a fierce battle the trout’s last escaped was into the vegetation at the riverbank. Luckily I had a strong tippet on so I stayed connected with the fish and finally could land it.
Catch of the day.
I did not expect to catch that big brown but with some luck the fish stayed on. It was one of the largest browns I had caught, the fish was strong and it looked like it had been in the river for a long time.
Back home.
The last day yielded the largest trout for me, the trip could not end better like this. Four fishing days at a beautiful came to an end. I gained some new insights about the specifics on this river and would surely come back better prepared in the future.
Last week I was on another extended fly fishing trip to Germany. The destination this time was the North-eastern part of the Harz mountain region In former Eastern Germany. Since my driver had not installed a navigation system in his car we had to find our Route the old way and thus as usual we missed the proper highway exit. Instead of heading east we suddenly went south the mishap was corrected quickly and we Arrived at our final destinations just 15 minutes later than planned.
Our residence during the trip.
A few members of our Dutch fly-fishing club had enrolled in the local German club and had been travelled there a week earlier. They where waiting for us and gave us the latest details about the fishing situation. After collecting the fishing permits we hauled our gear into the hotel and made plans for fishing the afternoon. We drove into the valley and picked out a place to fish. I could see fish picking of Mayflies in midair but decided it was best to fish with the nymph during the bright conditions in the middle of the day. Pretty soon I landed the first small Brown trout, beautifully coloured wild fish.
The river
Brown trout
After a couple of hours of wading and catching fish we felt the need to take a break and get something to eat. We had already decided that the best time to have dinner would be in the late afternoon, even the fish took a break then. Getting food early meant we would have time to fish through the evening without wasting time in a restaurant during the best fishing time of the day. After dinner we picked out a spot where the river was broad and slow flowing. When there would be a massive hatch it would be best fished at that place.
In the evening.
In the beginning surface activity was very low so I continued fishing with the pheasant tail which worked as usual.
Trout.
Unfortunately later in the evening it began to rain, the fish where still rising though. We had the idle hope that the rains would subside but it the raindrops became larger and more frequent.
Lots of water, also in the air.
When the sound of thunder came nearer it was time to leave the water quickly. The first day was a full success.
My buddy Joop and I went to Germany this weekend on our first trip to the local fishing ground since our successful Southern Germany trip. After visiting southern Germany and catching ridiculous amounts of trout we knew that fishing the home waters would be tough.
On the last trip my wading shoes had fallen apart so the first thing to do was to visit the tackle shop and get new ones. Since I was due to leave on another grand trip pretty soon it was of utmost importance to get the new shoes. If the local guy did not have them on stock I would have to quit my fishing plans and head west to visit the nearest other flyfishingshop.
Luckily for me our local dealer had the right shoes in the right size so nothing could stop us from going fishing. I was pretty quick ready and walked with the new wading shoes down to the pool below the watermill. There was barely any water flowing over the weir and levels had dropped to an all time low. At least the fish where concentrated in one spot know, I could see countless small fish and a few cruising carp in the shallows. My first bet was on perch or trout so I dragged a streamer through the pool. To my surprise fishing the streamer did not result in one single hit so it was time to switch over to nymph fishing.
Outflow of the mill.
Joop headed into the shade of the forest pretty soon while I dropped a nymph in front of the weir where fish where actively rising. The gold bead nymph pretty turned out to be a good choice since it delivered takes instantly.
Dace
Roach
After a while the sun and the heat where too much for me so I also headed into the forest to cool down.
In the forest.
The low water levels made it possible to wade through the complete length of the stream so I could get to spots that where otherwise inaccessible from the shore. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of deep holes on the unknown stretches but at least I had a good idea where to fish once water would return to normal levels. At least I encountered one deep hole with rising fish it. A gold bead nymph was soon intercepted by a small brown trout that put up a good fight.
Brown trout
In the mean time Joop was not far located from my position, he called in on the radio to tell me he was in to his third rainbow trout. I visited his spot and fished a nymph right along a sunken tree where Joop had seen a rainbow just a short while before. The rainbow was still there as it came out from under the tree to intercept my nymph, he just missed it. While I retrieved the line Joop had already thrown the streamer on the same spot and seconds later his rod was bowing to the rainbow trout, what an evil man he is.
Joop in action with his custom mini rod.
For a couple of hours fishing in hot sticky weather the results where not that bad. Joop had four rainbow trout and two perch while I had two dace, to roach, a brown trout and a mini version of a perch.
Yesterday I went out with a friend fishing the local stream for one purpose, to catch chub. The stretch I normally fish has no chub whathowever but far way downstream these fish are present.
The first spot I tried for the chub was below a weir. I fished with a gold bead pheasant tails plus indicator and probed all deeper sections but to my surprise got no hits. I had expected at leasted a twitch from a roach or perch but nothing of that.
Fishing below the weir.
Downstream some chub where rising to insects on the surface so I put on a small Klinkhamer and fished the dry. A friend of mine told me that a week before the chub where feeding like mad on top but not today. I had expected that chub fishing would be pretty much straightforward but these fish where tricky. They spotted me always first and ran off down the river.
A sunny day at the river.
Maybe the fish more active in the open so I headed out of the forest and in to the open field in seach of the chub. To my surprise I spotted only a few downstream and they all spotted me first as usual. It became pretty uncomfortable walking with waders in the bright sunshine so I walked back to the shady trees.
Alder fly.
There was pretty much insectlife around, I spotted many Alder flies buzzing around. The upstream section of the weir had more life in it that the downstream one. Chub where rising there more or less continuously so I positioned myself on a strategic position and made casts to the rising fish. Finally I had a good take and I could land my first ever chub in that river.
Chub nr.1
Fish nr. 1 was not a monster but not bad for a first. Still some rises where pretty agressive and I knew for sure that some monster chub where lurking down in the water. The chub where pretty picky, it took quite a time before I landed my second fish.
Chub nr.2
We fished all through the day and expected some evening rise to occur at sunset. There was however no spectular rise when the sun went down. The steady wind that was blowing during the day increased in force making casting sometimes difficult. There was however an increase in insectactivity at sunset. For the first time this year I spotted mayflies, loads of them.
Mayfly.
When the light faded activity stopped more or less and we called it a day. My conclusions where that chub a very wary and that they are constant on the move. I am still wondering why the chub would not take any nymphs, we will have investigate that further.
Today I tried to repeat yesterday performance but I failed to do so. It was even hotter than on the previous day, the maximum temperature was 84 F. We fished at river nr. 1 but did not encounter any aggressive trout. I saw a few fish scoot along the stream but had no single take. My excuse was that it was just to hot.
Since we stocked river nr. 2 yesterday we returned there to see if the fish had settled and where active. Large parts of that stream where straightened and had no shade from trees so our hopes of catching fish where low. All this sunshine of the past week had triggered an algae bloom that together with the remains of blossoms created a very dirty river.
We did get a few following fish but nothing took real interest in the fly. The only spots with some clear water where after weirs and the natural part of the stream where the water flowed faster.
Clearer part of the stream.
I tried my honey hole where I had caught two rainbow trout in the last couple of weeks. There where minnows moving in the murky water so some fish where present. Finally a fish hit on the streamer but it was not the intended quarry, only a small perch had dared to attack the fly.
A little perch.
Over the past years I waded in these streams and always noted these small fish that where hiding under the stones and debris. Since fishing was really slow I decided that today was the day to investigate what species of fish these critters belonged to. Most of these little fish skilfully eluded me but finally I got one in my landing net, it turned out to be bullhead / sculpin.
Bullhead / Sculpin
No wonder that small black zonkers worked that well on trout and perch in the river. While I was doing research my buddy caught a small brown trout and then another little perch. I tried nymphs, wet flies and so on but could not hook into anything else than debris on the riverbed.
In the evening we ended up in the large pool below the watermill. It was the first time I waded that pool so I waded with care. The bottom felt almost like paved, it was an old building of several hundred years so it could have. The pool was shallow but in the murky water you could not see the bottom, since I had no wading stick with me moving was a bit tricky. At a certain moment I came to the edge of the pavement, a deeper channel was just at my feet. I stopped and hauled a streamer though the channel. The channel gave up a larger specimen of perch.
Perch nr. 2
When the sun got low fish where beginning to rise in the pool but these where no trout, most likely shiners. Our nymphs where rejected by the fish. We finally called it quits and headed to the nearby pub for some nice cool wheat beers.
Tomorrow the big temperature drop will occur, from a whopping 84 F we will go back to 55 F which is more normal. At least the new weather pattern will bring some much need rain. Since I will fish the Baltic coast for sea run browns next Thursday I am glad that it will be cooler, summer like temperatures are not exactly helpful for that kind of fishing.
I was told by a friend that the fish where finally active in the rivers again so I headed to one of the places I fish in Germany. Hordes of Roach moved through the clear water and made a perfect target for nymph fishing
Clear water
Nice Roach
I talked for a while with a guy who was walking his dog, he was member of the local club and told me that he had spotted trout. It would be great to catch a trout for a change so I followed his directions and came to a deeper pool.
The pool.
I could determin one rising fish and one that went after my small Polar Magnus streamer. The small one finally nailed the fly and trout 1 of the day was a fact, it was a little Rainbow.
Rainbow trout.
I had to call one of German fishing buddies and was told that he was in the process of stocking rainbow trout in another river. He asked me to help him and of course I said yes. We collected a load of regular size Rainbows and a couple of monstersize ones and headed off to various locations at the other river to stock the fish.
A plastic bag, water, oxygen and a large trout.
Trout released and already positioned in the river.
Since we where at river nr. 2 we could just as well try to get some fish well below the are we had just stocked. A hatchery on one of the feeder streams had a little mishap with a rusted grid on their rearing pond meaning loads of smaller sized browns had entered the main stream. A week before I had caught a rainbow and missed a brown so now I had a rematch. Eventually I located a brown trout but I missed the fish three times before all went quit. When a fish rose upstream from me I tried again but only got a small perch on the fly. I had more succses further downstream when I hooked one of the Rainbows that where stocked the year before. The fish gave a pretty good fight.
Rainbow trout
Since activity at river was so high we went back in search for more trout. On a very unlikely spot I hooked into something big. At first I thought I had hooked a Walleye but to my big suprise it was a brook trout, my first in this river.
Brook trout.
The brook trout put up quite a fight before I could land and release it. It was a fine well built fish. My day was really made now, I had caught all three trout species available down here in a single day. I fished untill evening but got no more fish.
One of the good spots
This day was the best of the season so far. It was so hot today it reminded me of Summer, I would not be suprised I would see mayfly one of these days, It was nice to see that the river was finally alive again.
