Flyfishing FWSW

A cold start of the day, when the fog lifted it was barely 1 degrees C.
I fished the lower end of the river but found only clear water.
At one spot I noticed a school of Bream (Abramis brama) so despite the
cold there was life in the water afteral.

Just like winter had a hold on spring the flu had a hold on me.
Both issues where withholding me from going out fishing.
Yesterday there the first time in weeks I went out and about again as
the temperatures rose to a balmy 51°F / 11°C.

Spring is usually a time for tree trimming and boy at one of my hotspots
they cleared away everything … no cover left for the fish and consequently
no fish about anymore.
In general spring waters are barren anyway, once the algae bloom starts
things will pick up but now the water is clear, cold and more or less lifeless.

At one of the sheltered spots where I always catch fish I struggled.
A few weeks earlier at almost freezing  temperatures I spotted moving
fish with even active carp but now the place seemed dead.
Tried very hard with single and multiple nymphs and in the end got a small
dace as rewards for my efforts.

I inspected several spots at the stream, the clear water did not reveal any
feeding or moving fish.
The last major storm had downed a lot of trees in the water and although
they are welcome as cover for fish it also meant many spots where
unfishable for the moment.
Another hotspot had now two trees in it so again no fishing.

Just one fish for a days work was not enough so I could not go for my usual
pub break before getting another fish.
My favorite method for catching fish in the stream was nymphing but that
obviously did not work on this day.
The last resort was using a streamer and I had selected one stretch of the
stream that had a longer deep pool lined with tree roots.

As wading was officially outlawed on this stretch I tried to position myself
at the opposite bank for a good drift but my boots where just a tad too short
to make it and so I had to return to the bank with more or less wet feet.
The water was cold … very cold.
My solution to the problem was to find a spot between the trees at the pool
I wanted to fish.
I fed out the line and let the current take the streamer to the end of the pool.
Once the fly had swung to the end of the pool I retrieved the streamer up current
and just as I expected a trout grabbed it … I earned my pub time.

After the lunch break I tried several other spots but no life whatsoever to
be seen. Guess it is still very early season and the weather needs to significantly
warm up before things start happening.
At least the first flowers start popping up and some insects are about, can get
only better from now on.

It was cold at night so my fishing trip started at midday when the temperatures
where finally above freezing.
Still it was not warm as snow and ice patches still persisted on the fields.
I had no high hopes of catching anything but when I saw the water I thought
clarity and level might be good enough for a fish or two.

The dilemma of the early season …. either cold and dry or warm and wet.
Both situations not exactly ideal to go after roach, dace and the like.
Currently the weather pattern was warm and wet, the stream never got near to a decent
fishable level.

The long term forecast was in the cold and dry department so I choose this day with
a balmy 12 degrees C as my fishing day for the weekend.
Since it had been dry for a longer time I had hoped the stream would be fishable but 
the level just would not drop towards a more fisherman friendly level.

With so much water pushing through the stream it was hard to find a spot that was
fishable and would likely hold any fish.
I again tried the current seam of a deeper pool but the nymph did not track well
with the current picking the nymph up after a short drift.
All the effort was finally rewarded with one dace, only after I had tied on a heavy dropper
to get to the fish holding depth.

The second spot in the forest looked good but again to much turbulence in the
water for a decent drift and so no hits on the fly.
With the big storm from a week ago many trees where downed and on a windy
day such as this I took care not to be in harm’s way as trees could still be
unstable and come down.

The last and final spot for the day was messed up because a big branch had fallen right in the deeper pool
where I wanted to fish.
As the branch likely provided cover for fish and a narrow seam of the current was relatively calm I tried
anyway and was rewarded with fish number 2 of the day, a small brown trout.
I tried one pool upstream but even there the current was blasting through the otherwise calm section of
water. Normally you would find dace and roach here and maybe a stray brown trout.
The dace and roach did not show up but surprisingly at the end of several drifts the indicator went down
and I was into a brown trout.

I was happy with the three fish I had caught today as the last outings where single fish ones.
All that fishing made me thirsty so it was off to the pub for some cold ones and a good meal.

As I generally have a dislike for Stillwater I opted to fish the German stream instead of the Dutch canal today.
With the stream still returning from flooding stage and a temperature around 2 degrees C or 36 F I knew
it would be difficult to get my first fish of the season.

The current at my usual haunts was still too strong meaning the eddies with calm water
where not present, it just rushed over all the deeper pools I liked to fish.
Even at the slower dammed sections upstream nothing was happening.
I tried nymphing first and then a small streamer hoping to get a yellow perch.
Since the previous nights had clouds the temperatures did not go below freezing but it
was still too cold for decent action.
In the afternoon the skies cleared and a weak sun appeared.