Germany 2024 Archives - Page 3 of 3

Gave the stream a try again last Saturday.
The previous week was quite cold and off course rain was often on the menu.
In the weekend the temperatures would be on the rise so good for fishing.
Once at the water I was unpleasantly surprised at the height and color of the
stream, higher than expected – visibility lower than expected.

My goal was to finally get a trout, after all it was almost May.
To find trout I fished some of the spots I normally do not frequent and tossed
a black streamer through the murky water.
That only resulted in lost streamers as I could not spot any brushes and deadfalls
in the murky water.

There was no response from fish, nothing to be seen on the surface.
I tried many spots, tossed nymphs and dryflies to no avail, almost no bites.
This day started smelling like skunk.
Last option was to hit the upper section of the stream where it was formed
by the junction of two small brooks.

I could not believe my eyes when I actually spotted a very decent trout in this
very tiny stream. My choice of fly for this skinny water was wrong though.
The squirmy made the trout bolt.. should have used the dry fly.
I tried to locate the hiding spot of the trout but did not manage to find it.

I continued fishing the squirmy and actually caught quite a few nice shiners.
Pleasantly surprised about the size of the fish and the aggressive takes.
This upper part was really shallow but any depression or root work held one or
the other fish. It was a good thing I opted for a short short 6.5ft trout bum.

I even crept up into one of the feeders.
A struggle to get even at the water with all the shrubs, brambles and so on.
Alas, only some nibbles there.

Roach

Germany 13-04-2024

14 April 2024 admin

Last Saturday was another unusual hot spring day thus perfect for another fishing session.
I opted for inner village fishing hoping to encounter numbers of good roach and maybe the odd stocked trout. With the relative dry weather lately the stream level was more or less back to normal with the exception that clarity was not that great.

The first pool had a good flow and I was expecting many fish to be caught but I only managed
one small gudgeon on the squirmy.
I tried several spots with both squirmy and nimf but no reaction at all from the fish.
To be honest I did not see much life except for some carp moving along the banks in a slow moving
section above a weir.

I finally ended at the edge of the village and spotted for the first time this season rising fish.
A school of small dace had settled in the current in the foam line picking at debris floating by.
I switched to a small dry fly and caught one of the small dace, first dry fly action of this year.

I was hoping the forest would bring some more nymph action but nothing was moving.
There where quite a few insects on the water and I had expected more action.
The best I could do was one small roach on the nymph.
I was also hoping for stocked trout but I saw no signs of them.

The last section of the stream I visited was the so-called guest stretch where outsiders could
fish with a day-ticket. Figuring the club should at least stock some fish there I scouted for trout.
Again I could see no signs of any larger fish.
On my search I noticed some large dace feeding very actively in a difficult location.
After a few missed takes and tangles in the trees I finally hooked a good fish.
Of course with the racket of that first catch the school was gone.

Just before I called it a day I noticed another school of dace feeding in the foam line.
Big fish again and although I had already packed in and rigged up again and made a few casts.
The strong wind made it difficult to place the fly at the right spot and I missed one or two good takes.
The disturbance I made scared the fish eventually away and they did not return so I called it quits.

So dry fly fishing this day was the best method.
The foliage is exploding on the scene, insects are on the increase.
Hopefully the weather stays civil over the next weeks.

Germany 06-04-2024

7 April 2024 admin

The weather prospects for Saturday where very good.
26 degrees C and sunshine should have counted for lots of activity.
However as on many occasions this season the day before it had rained… heavily.
So once again a blown out stream to deal with.

Looking at the nearest measuring station on the stream I was in doubt to even
go seeing the high level, in the end I went anyway.
As predicted the waters where high and discolored and whatever I tried I just
could not get any hits.

In these high water situations I usually would stick to spots that held fish
most of the times but that did not work out.
I moved up further afield and after a long time I finally hooked a fish be
it for a short while as it came off.

The salvation for the day came when a gudgeon nailed the squirmy and
actually stayed on. Fishing the squirmy normally means that you get a lot
of tail bites where the fish hang on until the last moment.

One fish was good as it saved me from a blank but still it was somewhat
dissatisfying as I had expected more action on this warm day.
After lunch I tried a second stream, this particular stream had a mill pool
which always had fish in it … or had.

Due to a mechanical failure the weir gate of the mill had been removed.
That resulted in an almost dam break situation where tons of sand where
deposited in the already shallow mill pool.
Now the water rushed in a straight flow down the opening of the mill
making fishing very difficult due to the odd current conditions.

I tried the end of the pool and surprisingly got many hits from small fish.
Caught a lot of the small stuff and they all looked very battered so it
could be that those fish came from above the weir when the gates where pulled.
Had hoped to run into some larger stuff but it was not be.

Germany 31-03-2024

1 April 2024 admin

It is still early spring so basically fishing is still very slow.
With the weather being very nice I went out yesterday to check on
one of my favorite chub spots to see if anything was going on.
The water was reasonable clear, still a tad high.
No chubs to be seen though, the only activity I could spot was of
tiny bleak in the surface feeding.

I tried a stagnant arm of the stream that could hold fish at times.
There was plenty of activity but the takes where very subtle.
Again only tiny bleak roaming around.
I noticed one of the walkers on the nearby footpath taking pictures
with his at one of the deadfalls in the stagnant.
I checked the spot out and noticed a turtle sunning on the tree, first
one I have ever seen around here … dumped pet.

In order to catch anything I went to one of the good spots with good
meaning sometimes. The water again a tad high with reduced visibility.
I launched a Perdigon nymph and caught a small dace on it.
Normally you could spot fish at that spot but not this time, it was slow.

I had expected more activity as the small mayflies where on the water
and the yellow wagtails where stalking them.
I checked out a large section of the stream to see if any fish where
moving about but it was totally void of life.
Guess we have to wait a while before things get better.

Germany 25-02-2024

16 March 2024 admin

Out and about for another try to catch the first fish of the season.
All that rain still made life extremely difficult, the water now a bit lower than previous weeks
but still too high for decent fishing.

I went to a spot I had not fished in ages, in the middle of a village.
In the first sections the current was so strong and visibility so low that it was highly
questionable that the fly would even reach a proper depth.
It was just all too wild, I moved on to a spot where the current seam looked just
right to make a decent drift with a squirmy.

A jumping fish at the second spot of the day raised hopes, at least some activity.
After trying some different depths I got bites and in short order I landed several
roach and a dace. Action was short and sweet, it died down pretty quickly.

The last spot in the forest did not yield any more bites.
Just too much water and current in my view for a good drift to be able to
get a proper presentation.
Called it a day early and headed for the pub as further fishing made no sense
in these conditions.

Germany 28-01-2024

28 January 2024 admin

The end of the season last year has not been particular good for fishing flowing water.
Endless rain made the streams I use to frequent unfishable due to high flows and muddy
water. The start of the new year did not really bring better conditions.
At the beginning of the week things looked like they would improve with a steady drop
of the waterlevels.

Alas on Thursday and Friday the heavenly sluice gates opened again and it did not take
long for levels to jump up to unfishable status.
I tried to catch my first fish of the early season on Saturday but after crossing stream nr.1 it
was obvious to me that it a miracle was needed to make it happen.

I could barely get into the water due to the high flow and the visibility was beyond poor.
Fly of choice was a squirmy usually good for roach or dace in high water situation but
not on this day.
I tried another stream but the results where the same, not a single hit.
The season is early but the appearance of the first snowdrops indicates spring will
arrive sooner or later.

The day ended in defeat, at least dinner in the pub was good as usual.
Just keep hooping that the temperatures do not bottom out and that the streams
will reach their regular levels one of these days.