Flyfishing FWSW

Another session to the mill pool of syndicate nr.2
It was an early session as had some trouble sleeping so when I got up early I decided to go out.
It was colder than I had expected and fog was blanketing the land.

At the water I was the first angler to appear …
The water was a lot lower than last week but it still blasted through the mill.
The turbine channel was still out of action so all the water rushed over the weir.
It was just flowing to fast to get the fly deep enough in time.
Nymphing seemed out of the question in these conditions so a free lined
squirmy was my last hope.

With the water now lower and the sandbar and the end of the pool exposed
I figured wading to a better spot might be an option.
I managed to reach a spot where an eddy had formed with slower water.
Still … it was deeper than anticipated so cold water entered the wader.

Some of the hits on the squirmy resulted in catching small perch but no
hits of trout, at least not visible.
On three occasions the tail of the squirmy was bitten clean off, not the
action of perch but not sure who was responsible for that.

When I finally had a large fish on I thought I had hid the jackpot by either
getting a big perch or a pike.
The rod was bend double and I wondered what it could be.
When I got a glimpse of the fish it turned out to be a pike.
Just as I was about to net the fish the line went slack.
Turned out I had hooked a small perch and the pike had grabbed it.

A couple of my friends came along and one of them fished with conventional
gear and dropped a lobworm on a sinker into the currents.
He managed two large perch in succession so the combination of natural
bait and proper weight outperformed the squirmy.

In the afternoon the cold easterly wind died a bit down and out of the
wind it was rather nice … still I was not clothed properly for the day.
Some midges where on the water but no signs of feeding fish.
After another small perch I called it a day.
Monday back for a third try with some perch streamers.

With the recent rains and cold temperatures it was maybe not the wisest move
to check out one of my “new” old fishing haunts.
Early morning the temperature was below freezing and ominous clouds
at the horizon meant nothing good.

An earlier peek at the particular river gage showed it was carrying twice
as much water as in normal conditions.
The only hope I had to catch fish was the fact that there where plenty
of perch in that water.

When I arrived at the water I saw that it was indeed high and murky.
Only one fly could yield something in those conditions, the squirmy.
I tried but no luck, wat surprised me was the fact that I could see a
trout trying to get up the mill weir.
Off course impossible due to the height and lack of a fish ladder but
at least fish where present.

The spot right behind the weir did not yield any bites.
Figuring I might fish too shallow I removed the indicator and drifted the
squirmy freely with the current.
That method gave me a certified hit but the fish came off.
Tried for a quite a while and finally got a little perch, the only fish of the day.

All we can do is hope for warmer weather to get things moving.
Insect life had started and midges where out in numbers so fishing should
improve in the coming weeks.

Another week and totally different weather.
The spring feeling was definitely gone when the thermometer showed -4C
in the morning.
Besides that rain, hail and snow was in the forecast with a high temperature
not exceeding the 6C in the Afternoon.

So I waited until the temperature was above freezing, the roe deer probably
did the same because they where everywhere late in the morning.
I picked up the last rays of sunshine before the dark clouds and showers rolled in.

First spot was the location where I lost the legal size last week but boy fished
sucked big time.
No hits at all and nothing to be seen moving.
The only break I got was when the tiniest of Rudd nailed the Perdigon nymph.

I ran into my friends and they had the same experience.
Tried some other spots but no bites at all, pretty miserable day to be outside.
Water levels had dropped and with no cover as foliage has yet to appear
I figured if there where fish I had probably scared them off.

Another friend was also fishing and reported that he had a single hit on the fly
and that it was a rainbow trout.
Those are illegal to stock in flowing water in the part of Germany where I fish so
I was puzzled.
I had heard an earlier report that a quite large rainbow had been caught so maybe
somebody stocked them.

The weather has turned for the worse and right now it rains cats and dogs and this
will probably continue for the whole week.
Likely the stream will be in flooding stage by the weekend.
I will monitor the levels, if it is not to bad I might try dredging the stream with
squirmy’s hoping for an elusive sizable trout.

Well, since last Friday did not yield any trout I figured I would give the syndicate the Saturday
to put in the stockies so I could fish for them on Sunday.
Went early before daybreak under cloud cover with as target the upper section of the stream.
The headwaters were accessible in spring, later in the season it would become an overgrown
jungle with no room to cast.

I guessed the lack of cover scared the fish away but at least I got a roach and a dace for starters.
The stream further down was shallow so you could imagine what the headwaters looked like.
But in the end I got a little brown trout and missed a legal size fish.
There was always something like next week so I remembered the spot by heart for another try.

I even waded one the two feeders that formed the stream.
Behold I actually got a strike on the indicator so that could only have been a trout.
The clouds had gone early in the morning and the temperature rose quickly.
Insects where appearing and I even spotted a blue dun on the water.
No fish in the upper feeder though or more likely all on the run for bigfoot=me.

Next stop the middle section with deep pool but absolutely no life to be seen.
Further downstream I managed only gudgeons and a few dace.
Last stop of the day way downstream in a village dragging a deeper pool for any fish.
I had hoped for a trout but only encountered a perch and some roach.

This was the last day of fine weather so far with a cold snap and possible 
snow, hail and other rotten stuff forecast for the weekend …

So I skipped work to get my first trout of the season … to put it short … I failed.
Morning started with clear weather and a temperature just above freezing.
At the first stream I crossed I looked from upon a bridge into the water and
found several roach moving about.
One of the fish was pretty large … could have been a trout.

The first mark had fish, hooked a few dace but could not stick the hook.

Plenty of bites from the pesky gudgeons, small bottom feeders and thus the first

fish species to be caught.
Finally managed one good dace but did not see any trout.
Stockies usually go for the sight indicator but no show.

I tried several spots on our so called guest stretch but no hits at all.

Headed out into the woods to check some more secluded spots but
alas nothing to be had. Ended the day with another dace and some more gudgeons.

It was nice being out and about and it sure beats working.

At the closed pub I noticed a note at the door stating it would reopen soon.
The owner probably found a tenant again brave or stupid enough to give it a go.
On the way home I ran into a local acquaintance who could tell me that
the new landlady was from Africa and that the menu would be African. 
We made a bet that they would not last past December…

I timed the second session of the year between two stormfronts.
It was still windy but waterlevels were ok, temperature a tad low
at 6 degrees C.

At first I tried nymphing at the feeder stream hoping to encounter
dace, roach and chub.
The wind blew strong over the water so I could not see moving fish.
The nymph travelled unhindered along the stream.

With no action to speak of I tied on a streamer hoping to get a
perch or other predator.
After a few casts I saw a boil near my streamer and felt the missed
strike of a pike.
The second cast yielded a solid take of a nice fish, it was a real jumper.

I suspected more pike would be around and after another missed
strike I had pike number 2 on.
Unfortunately the wire trace broke so that fish was lost.

End the day on another section of the feeder tossing a squirmy
in the depths hoping for a chub or perch.
It was no good though, nothing moved so I called it a day.