Flyfishing FWSW

Hot and sunny weather was the ticket for a little exploration to find the big chub.
Mayflies plentiful but nothing rising for them.
The first fish I came across where a couple of hefty carp and they were surface
feeding.
Could have had a go at them but without a proper net I decided to leave them be.

At the mill the weir was raised so the flow was almost non-existent.
Tossing a small tungsten nymph in that stagnant pool did of course not do the trick.
A light unweighted midge got a few silver fish.
Off course in time the weir was lowered and water began to rush downstream so
back to the weighted nymph that yielded perch and roach.
Spotted the perch jumping at the weir …. Have not seen that one before,

Further downstream the bream where stacked but they had no interest at all in the
fly, other fish were also absent or unwilling so it was finally off to the chub stream.
Again loads of mayflies but no rising fish.
I spotted one stationary smaller chub near a rock and when I tossed my sedge near
the stone I had an instant take, the hook came out though … fish lost.

I had expected more activity in the surface but it was pretty dead concerning rising fish.
With some luck I nailed a small chub on a dry and that was it.
Bigger ones spotted but all moving around at high speed not looking for surface food.
I cancelled the dry fly fishing and had a last attempt with the nymph for a big chub.
After a few drifts I hooked a solid fish but the battle was short as the hook came out
I saw color and suspected it was a big chub.

Ended the day at the pub and ran into some acquaintances from my German syndicate
so I stayed to long in the beer garden.
Last action before sunset was to probe a bridge which yielded the last fish of the day,
a nice roach.

I was early out and about on this day and surprisingly catching loads of roach.
The normally more eager dace where keeping quiet.
The mill bypass was still not finished and now they estimated that it would be ready in June … six months late.
Off course the budget for the works had been exceeded accordingly and what I could figure from the German
newspaper reports was that the weekly progress meetings where not happy affairs.

The issue the local fisherman have with the works is that the lowering of the mill weir due to the works
has caused the water level upstream to drop several feet meaning all the fish are gone because
there was no place to hide anymore.
Maybe they will return once the works have finished.
What I did notice in the village where the logs put in vertically in the streambed at the most desolate
featureless section of the stream in the middle of the village.
I am pretty sure these have been put in by the local fishing club and will in the end be part of a
construction to create deeper pools in the otherwise flat sandy bottom.

On this day the pub that I frequented in the past was reopened under new management as I sat
down at my usual spot in front of the fireplace I noticed that they had done some rebuilding works.
The fireplace was molested with a glass cover, sheer sacrilege for something build in 1794.
Sure it would be more fuel efficient but it just did not seem right to do such a thing.
I tried to order a beer and some food but was told that on this opening day only the beer garden
was open. It was a miscalculation from me that things would be as in the past as on this day the
only food could be obtained from a snack caravan in the yard and the only beer served was in
plastic cups … bloody heretics 🙂
At least the band they hired was pretty good and the weather stayed warm and nice.
As I sat in the beer garden I ran into some of my local fishing club members so I spend maybe
a bit too much time drinking that fishing but it was sunny and warm so not a real punishment
to be outside.
Afterwards I tried for larger trout in some of the upstream sections of the stream but could not
get any fish although there were some sporadic rises from fish every time in different spots.
A nice day to be in the outdoors.

The session did not turn out as planned as the usual suspects would not cooperate but if you know your haunts there is always something possible.

After the housemartins I finally have seen the common swifts again soaring above the city.
Also spotted today the first big mayflies.

I went on another excursion to the stream, still not warm and struggled to get some fish.
This day was another one colder than Christmas so one for the records.
Due to some miscommunication my buddy and I ended up at the wrong spot which was
only good when fish where stocked.
It did not take long to figure out that the fish where scarce as the usual telltale signs of
fish presence just where not there.

Still a deep fish nymph did yield some of the smaller fish from the deeper holes and I
actually lost a trout that was about legal size.
My buddy was in conflict with the trees and streambed constantly and was not that
happy as he was in his own words “more busy with tying on tippet, flies and getting untangled”
than fishing.
Oh … just wait untill all the foliage is fully out … sheer hell in the jungle 🙂

As fishing was not that great I took out the landing net for some stream sampling.
I kicked up some stones and debris with the net positioned downstream and got a nice
collection of scuds, caddis larvae and a stone loach.

After a while my buddy and I concluded that the stretch we where fishing at sucked so
off to a more urban setting where fishing could be better.
I managed a few dace and roach and for a moment it got exciting as a brown trout
raced behind a roach I had caught.
Off course I tried to get the trout but he would not come out of lair for a go at either nymph
or streamer.
Dace where rising in the stream so I ended the day with a dace on a sedge pattern.

The pike season has opened at the Neighbors so I tried to get one and behold one was actually
following my fly.
Unfortunately that following was all the pike did and whatever I tried to get another response
failed.  After donating  lure nr.4 into sunken debris at the mill pool I called it quits and switched to
tactics for the silver fish.

There where insects about (some kind of small mayfly) but no rising fish.
Even with the nymph I got zero hits so I wondered if I would blank today.
I decided to search for fish in the more sheltered locations in the nearby village and when I looked
onto the stream from a bridge I noticed a rise further upstream.
I went upstream and watched for a while and yes, it where dace surface feeding.

The sedge yielded one small fish but rises where not really consistent so I tried a nymph also.
The moment the nymph went down it was grabbed by a larger dace.
Alas the action was short lived as no further fish showed themselves
Other locations in the village did yield some dace but those where tiny.
I called it a day and checked out the nearby nature reserve to see how the geese where doing.Greylag Goose (Anser anser)

Forecast was a warm day and indeed it was, the wind however was a factor I had not thought of.
Plan A. was to check out the chub stream and see if there were any chub feeding in the surface.
Plan B. was to check the usual haunts for fish.

The wind was way heavier than I had expected and to fish the open water of plan A did not seem
like a good idea as that surface feeding would probably be off.
So plan B was set in motion but the water in the stream was pretty low and I hardly could get any
fish. The nymph yielded some smaller dace and behold a gudgeon but that was about it.
Off course I made several casts to the goldfish I spotted but to no avail.

This Saturday was officially a date for a working party at our hatchery but when I
spotted our former club president actually working … meaning bossing around all the
kids to do the work I decided I might better of just going fishing.
So I did and as the previous day had yielded so many fish I thought it might be
time to see how the headwaters where looking where fishing is tough … because
there just are not that much fish 🙂

As I had heard from friends the deep pools where all sanded in so no places
anymore for fish to hide.
I found a few spots that boasted a little depth and as I spotted fish moving about
I was able to catch a few small shiners and a little trout.

I was close at the source of our stream, it actually is formed by a junction of two
little creeks that each have their own names.
One was no good, never had much water in it and although I checked it out for a
short distance I found it not worth too look any further.
Feeder nr.2 was also low but the good spots still existed and even though it
was not deep my hotspot still yielded some roach.
I even lost a trout, this time of better size.

At the end of the day I ended up at one of my hotspots downstream and
did my best to get to the fish.
I still got a brown trout and a rainbow trout from the water with some added
roach and dace.
It was chilly and windy though so conditions where not the best.

I noticed that my former watering hole is being refurbished.
A sign announced that the beer garden would be opening May 1st.
and the restaurant a few weeks later.
Maybe I will check the place out at the end of May to see if it is
worthwhile to stop there again.

I case you are wondering what the tank car is doing in my pictures …
Two of them have been bought by the local distillery, just for fun.
The distillery makes Korn = Schnapps … the same stuff that used to be
transported in the tank car.
Never been at the distillery but as it was so close to our hatchery I
decided to take a look.

This was the last day of the week that it would supposedly be warm…
It started out sunny but it all ended in tears … from the sky that is.
Fish where present though and pleseantly surprised by the number of
trout I encountered.

Quite a cold day and not much going on … somebody shrunk the trout.

With this single hot weather day forecast I decided to have a go at my chub hotspot.
As I arrived fish where indeed rising and I messed up a couple of good bites.
Tossing the leader with the leader ring still attached was not that smart … it was too splashy.
Still I got a fish on the sedge, not the intended chub but a dace.
For some reason however the rising stopped and I could not spot a single fish anymore.
I tried fishing the cascades with a nymph but only got a very small battered dace.

Somebody in the village had obviously been feeding the ducks in town with bread as
the leftovers came floating down the stream.
Interestingly I noticed a big disturbance in the surface and spotted some hefty chub
going after the bread.
Would have loved to have a go at these fish but with the high steep banks I had not a
change to even come near.

Overall I found surface activity to be minimal, plenty insects about especially alder flies but
the stream was surface wise like a mirror.
I checked out several spots at the lower end of the stream but could not find any signs of life.
My last stop for the day was at a spot where one of my pals had recently hooked a signal
crayfish.
I spotted a boatload of bream in one of the deeper pools and drifted a flashback pheasant tail
nymph deep.
After several nibbles I finally had a good hookup and although bream do not fight spectacular
this one earned a gold medal for resistance as it just would not give up.

At the crayfish spot I fished behind the weir of the mill, the weir was open and the water was
running fast.
I had the heavy flashback pheasant tail nymph still on and after long trying I landed a little trout.
The weir was raised and flow almost ceased, the water level dropped and so I tied on a lighter
nymph only to catch a small perch.
With the absence of any flow and no signs of larger fish about I called it a day.