Flyfishing FWSW

As the fishing session at the stock pond resulted in a complete blank I had to go out for a final time in order to close the fishing year off with fish.
The warmer weather had finally prevailed and so I was on my way to Germany.

Since my MD told that I was too heavy or as I put it I am to short for my weight I tried the bike route again,
roughly 19 miles single way over hardened farm roads and through small villages.
I had planned a new route and the small smuggling path in the swamp between the Dutch / German border
was located in the pitch black of morning.
My shortcut up ahead though was a dirt road so I had to change the route at the last minute but
made it in two hours flat to the water.

Surprisingly the river was very clear and also very low which is not really helpful in catching fish as hiding places become scarce.
The plus side was that I could wade to the adjacent bank to have a better shot at the few deeper pools.
At one pool I finally got some bites and managed to catch a roach … skunk avoided.

The usual spots failed me so I headed into the woods where all pools seemed fishless.
No life at all was visible with the exception of some midges dancing around the water.
I had expected more action as conditions seemed pretty good.
In one pool I had some nibbles on the nymph and lost one fish, small stuff though.
The final pool I fished was downstream where dace where usually present.
I could spot the fish in the clear water but they seemed lethargic.
A deep drifted nymph yielded two fish and that was it.

Off course it became dark early and so the proper thing to do was to go to the pub.
I had hoped I would finally get that precious onion soup as starter but it was still not available.
Off course I protested (again ) and had to settle for the tomato soup.
As starter I had the tomatoes and mozzarella.
The main course was an oven dish, a potato with a creamy souce … I was tempted to order fries on the side
but refrained because of my eh.. unbalanced weight to length ratio.
The dessert was a peach cake with coffee and off course plenty of cream.

All that food meant that I would have to skip my train ride home and bike all the way back again, so I did.
While I was dining the weather had changed and light rain was now falling.
It was pitch black outside again which made navigating through the forest paths and farm roads interesting.
On the last leg near the border the navigation on the phone stalled and I missed an important turn hence

I had to double back a distance.
In the end I found the border crossing through the swamp and made if home safe.
So that was fishing 2018 for me which leaves me only to wish everyone the best for 2019
and hope that everybody is present here again next year.

Due to circumstances today I had to adapt and overcome which resulted in a 15 mile bike
ride through the continuous rain to get to my fishing spot.
My hopes where for better weather as it had rained all day on Saturday but once again the forecast was out of sync with reality.

It took quite some time before I was on location and by then off course I was completely soaked.
With all the rain the river was high and murky but enough clarity to catch fish in my book.
At one of my honey holes I fished the current seam between slow and fast moving water and
at least got some dace on the nymph.
Now that I was stationary at the stream the cold got to me, the 7 degrees C / 45F and the rain
made it pretty unpleasant to be outside.

I lacked the motivation to scout out some other spots in this weather so it was off to the pub.
Luckily the table in front of the fireplace was not occupied so I settled in to dry out.
Today it was the Tomato soup as starter with the Paris Salad with feta cheese and tomatoes as main course.
And since it was Germany I could not leave without the obligatory cake (Raspberry) and coffee.

With the heavy rains from yesterday during the day and the night I figured the stream might
be finally carrying some water and maybe more than I hoped for.
Early in the morning a strong wind was blowing and some rain came down.
The weather service mentioned a break in the afternoon so I headed out late.

En route to the stream I came across one of the feeders and for the first time since months
I could actually hear the water flowing over the rocks, it was a nice sound.
The plan was to fish the same stretch as last week but this time with a lighter setup.
This time I was armed with an Orvis clearwater 6’ #2 fitted with a small Hardy reel.

At the first stop I noticed that the water was indeed high and a lot of silt was stirred up.
The current was fast and somehow I felt that the nymph was just moving to fast.
A heavy nymph only resulted in lost flies as I hooked the debris on the stream floor
instead of any fish.

Mark nr. 2 was different, even though the flow was fast the eddy with slack water was
still in place and that was the spot where I tried to catch fish.
It soon became obvious that the fish where present as I got numerous hits.
The fish where small but at least there was action and I got several roach and a dace.
The pattern that produced the fish was a size 16 pheasant tail nymph fitted with a black
tungsten bead, the dubbing was pink spectra flash.

The next two spots yielded no fish and it became clear that the downside of all that water
from the sky was the fact that many spots where now to deep to get to with only boots on.
Just as predicted the rain came back again in the afternoon and although it was early I
preferred a seating in the pub over the cold wind and rain outside.

At the pub to my disbelief the new menu was in place.
Now I was about to go for the soup of the day but my beloved Onion soup was not available
so I though  I would go for the tomato soup.
Due to miscommunication however I did not get the soup but tomatoes and mozzarella … oh well …
For a pub in the middle of nowhere the menu was extensive and I had difficulty in choosing the
next dish.
In the end it became the Parmesano burger, Mozzerella- Parmiganio-Bacon-Beef-Rucola-Mustardsauce.
To finish this meal off a desert was in place and the special of the day went down pretty well as it was Mascarpone
or better put Mascarpone Alceholico…

On the warmest December 2nd ever measured I dogded the rain and strong wind at the stream. For a change I fished a different section of the river where the roach allthough small where quite active.At one spot the two dead trees leaning against each other on both banks made an eerie sound as
if they would collapse any minute so I quickly relocated.
If one of those trees would gave way fatal injury would be immenent. I was expecting some dace to be around but only found roach and the odd brown trout.Still a good day and good to see that the river has slightly elevated waterlevels.

At the pub I protested about the fact that the new menu was still not put into practice
and told staff that the folks at Surftalk eagerly awaited some new dishes.
I had hoped to start my dinner today with an onion soup but it was not to be and the
soup of the day was not to my liking.
As a sort of compromise I got the smoky burger today with baked potatoes as side order.
It was pretty good but there was something missing so I ordered a baked feta cheese
salad as well.
To top it all off I choose the plum cake … with cream … and a large coffee, all good.

With high pressure building over Russia and the winds shifting to the east the end of
regular fishing seemed to be near.
I started my fishing session late in the afternoon to be on the water when the air temperature peaked.
Wind and frost had made short work of the remaining foliage and the predominant color now
was brown.

Normally I would have betted on the inner village stretches of the stream to get at least some
bites but today it was different.
Fearing a complete blank I headed into the forest to see if fish where to be had.
As it had not rained properly since April the stream was ultra low and with the extreme clarity stalking
fish was almost impossible.
Surprisingly however fish where moving about and eventually I caught a few small ones.

As the sun was setting the temperature dropped fast towards freezing so it was time to end
the session and head for the warmth of the pub.
Now I had hoped to order some new dishes from the menu but after inquiry I was informed that
it was still in the works … delayed.
Off course I could not file this report without any food pics so I made a few.
Also notice the Christmas setting … decorations are already in place.

From the menu today:  Beef soup, Grilled Feta Cheese with Salad, French fries all washed away
with the dark wheat beers and off course the obligatory cake and coffee to finish it all off.

With the last week of my vacation the endless summer also ended.
The heavy rain that we needed did not materialize, just low temperatures and some sprinkles.
Temperatures plummeted abruptly last weekend, when I started my fishing session
it was barely over freezing.

In the early cold morning the sky was still clear, with the low temperatures I expected that
the fish would not be in the biting mode.
I tried one of my former hotspots and surprisingly the first fish that hit the nymph was a small
perch, even a small dace decided to bite.
The flow through the stream was still minimal but at least the water was more or less
clear.

The wind picked up quite early in the day and the clouds rolled in making it not that
comfortable to be at the water.
In a sheltered part inside the village I noticed some fish in the shallow water, a couple of
dace where moving about.
I scared the first school but when the second school came around I managed some fish on the
nymph.
At a weir at the beginning of the village I also spotted dace in the current but one cast made them
scatter in all directions.
I waited for things to calm down and eventually had a second shot at the fish and managed one fish.

With the wind, cold and low water messing up the fishing it was not difficult to make the choice
to visit the pub early.
As daylight saving time had ended it would be dark soon anyway and it just seemed to make more
sense to enjoy a few drinks and a good meal at the fire in the pub then to be outside in the cold.

With the ending of the trout season on oct. 20th. I went for a last time to the mill pool.
It was the first time I had a real fall feeling with all this mist and the low temperatures in the morning.

My action of the previous day by removing some debris from the lower weir had helped to clear the mill pool

and early on fish where active at the front of the weir.
The only competition at the time was luckily another flyfisherman from the syndicate who early on was into two trout.
The trout eluded me and when they came near the interest went out to the strike indicator and not the fly.
At least I could catch a dace early on.

Fishing was really slow but in the afternoon some fish started rising so I fished a small emerger hoping
I would get at least one trout before the end of the season.
All I got though where more dace and when some high level clouds dimmed the sunlight the action died down.
When the sun was setting I feared I might end the last day of the trout season troutless.

In a latch ditch effort I tied on a heavy nymph and fishing it deep near one of the walls of the mill where I
knew the water was deep and where I had a hit on the previous day.

My prayers where answered as the indicator went down and I was in to a good fish.
The fish on the other end of the line was a nice rainbow trout fighting very well.

With that last trout I could end my troutfishing season properly and go to the pub for a well deserved meal.
I had noticed that my waders where not so watertight anymore and that the water temperature was quite
a bit lower than the outside air temperature.
Luckily the fireplace at the pub was in service so I grabbed a chair and warmed up first before
I started my meal.
The bad news … no dinner pictures, the good news … at the pub they where busy assembling a new
menu so who knows what the future might bring.

My holiday was pretty ok but alas it could not last forever.
Now I still had three day tickets left for the mill pool, in this case Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The session on Wednesday fell through the roof as one of my friends sold me firewood
which needed proper storing … it took longer than expected so fishing was off.

Today I went ahead to the mill pool and was shocked at what I  saw, the pool full of leaves
and white foam lines on the water.

As it had not rained properly since April the drought had reached epic proportions.
The water had an eerie tannic color probably caused by the leaves.

Normally the river would be flushed by the frequent rains in fall but now nothing.
I found the water level in the pool high, all the leaves blocked the flow at the end of the

pool. Before I could do any fishing I made an opening at the lower end of the pool so
some of the leaves could be flushed out.

It worked out pretty well as after an hour or so some open spaces appeared.
A nymph dropped right under the main weir yielded a variety of roach and dace.

I had figured the last week of the trout season and thus the last week of the mill
pool being open would be quiet but I had not calculated school vacations.
So before long other anglers appeared, I was not sure if the lead bombs they tossed
where intended to hit me standing at the opposite bank or if they were just bad casters.

These anglers where more busy watching their smartphones than the floats they fished.
So the fish got scared and nobody was catching anything anymore.

I decided to move downstream to see if there was a quiet spot to fish and there was but
just no fish to be seen.
When after a while I came back at the mill pool I noticed that the competition had gone.

Peace and quiet at last … and fish started rising.
The overgrown banks where the spot to go as I had numerous bites there catching
a few rudd and at last some pretty decent brown trout.

When the sun was gone I went to pub for dinner, it all worked out fine at the end.

Usually I would be spending my holiday by now in Southwest Florida but the
environmental problems caused by dumping polluted freshwater into the Gulf
and the Atlantic caused a change in plans.

Instead I decided to go to nearby Germany and spend two weeks troutfishing
at the Wenne river.
Maybe a bit too long for the short river stretch but the pampering at the hotel
made up for some of the lesser days of fishing.
I did get the big fish, even caught a few decent grayling and had the most
beautifull fall weather you could imagine.
The down side was the very low river but then again as it had not rained
properly since April of this year that problem was present at most locations.