Flyfishing FWSW

I made the most of a sunny spring day knowing the border might be closed down soon.
It was dark when I left and the only crowds I encountered where numerous deer.
At my hotspot the water was clear and cold.
Early in the morning it was still pretty chilly.
I fished a team of nymphs to get deep and soon got a small roach.
After some more bites and a few lost fish it got quiet.

I tied on a streamer hoping to encounter the one or other trout.
First stocking should surely have commenced after the season had just opened. The streamer only yielded one small perch though.
The sunny weather place is closed until further notice so they spend their time doing maintenance hoping this mess will eventually end.
I had expected rising fish due to the sunny weather.
The surface was void of fish activity maybe due to the strong wind.
At one spot a few dace where rising but declined to take the dry fly.

The day progressed and crowds started to appear, time to go.
In the forest I finally caught the first trout of the season on a small nymph.
In order to find more stocked trout I switched from nymph to a squirmy worm fly.
The second larger trout came soon but got off.
Scouting other spots yielded only bites of two smaller brown trout that both threw the hook.

I was contend with that one trout and went to the pub to look how the
folks where faring with the lock down.
The fence outside was painted, without customers time was just for
maintenance.
The debate of closing the German/Dutch border would start on monday.
Most likely the outcome would be a closed border so my fishing sessions
there would not be possible anymore.
The landlord of the pub gave me a parting gift, a few cold dark weizen beers with an accompanying glass.
On my way home I stopped at rest stop in the forest and drank a few cold ones on my probably last venture over the border for some time.

The last time I crossed the border was two weeks ago.
My fear of a closed border came not through.
Restrictions where in set in place though.

I decided to fish the river as the last day of fair weather was upon.
A week of sunny clear skies would come to an end.
Instead colder weather with the mention of frost and snow would roll in.
The first mark yielded some bites but no solid hookups.
I hoped to encounter a brown trout but could not find any.

I did spot dace in the surface further upstream though.
The dace at times would pick up items from the surface.
I switched to a dry fly and got a few takes which I missed.
The strong wind caused waves upon the normal calm stream.
The dace where staying deep due to the wind.

I fished several of my hot spots but all where pretty void of fish.
A tree lined bank was the last hope to catch any fish.
The roots of the trees usually held some fish.
Fishing a nymph close to those roots yielded a nice dace.

I fished inside the village and wondered about many people around.
Too many people gathering and too close to each other.
I gave me an uncanny feeling so I moved to a quieter place.
A spot in the deserted forest seemed safer to fish.
Weeks of rain had displaced a lot of sand in the stream.
I saw the bottom well, I could spot no fish though.

I checked out the time for sunset and made my way back home.
In the morning I had biked 30 km due SW against a steady E head wind.
At the end of the day the wind had switch to NNW which so a head wind on the return trip.
I was cold despite having extra layers of clothing due to the wind chill.
I arrived home and was pretty beaten.
Good to be outside again in these strange times.

I decided to make a quick dash over the border into Germany.
The river pushed a lot of water but it was dropping as you could see from
the sediment on the banks.

Today I had my priorities sorted so I headed for the pub first.
Just as I was zipping my second wheat beer the major called and asked the owner to shut the place down.
He declined because voluntarily shutting down meant no compensation.
I was thus able to order the Mexico burger, a new dish for the upcoming season. As it should be the burger was hot.. jalapeño’s. 
Had to extinguish the fire with some more wheat beer.
Since it could be my last visit I had the double cheesecake with cream as desert.

Even though it seemed hopeless I still went fishing. 
The choice of spots was limited as this brown soup was virtually unfishable.
The first spot yielded no fish but the second spot had actually fish moving about.
Just as I thought my nymph was stuck to the bottom the bottom moved and I just caught a glimpse of a dace.

Further casts as the same spot yielded a small dace and a roach.
As usual my hip waders where to short so I ended up with wet feet again.
I made it back over the border in time as public life around was about to shut down completely. 
Borders closed down … public places like pubs as from now mandatory closed.

I am happy that the water table has finally reached a decent level after two years of extreme drought.
It would be nice however to have some dry weather for a change.
The river has been not fishable for a month and every weekend a storm is blasting through.

I was a bit too optimistic today to pack the long rod and head to the river. Even at the watermill all gates of the weir where still pulled.
I went to the pub in a straight line and tested a new burger instead of going fishing.

Off course I could not leave without trying so I entered the muddy waters and tossed a heavy nymph in the water hoping for a take that never came.
Guess I am not the only one waiting for the start of the season.

The stream was still high from last weeks downpours as I looked at the online river gauge.
I decided to go fishing anyway as a big storm out on the Atlantic was predicted to hit us on Sunday.

The day started cold but warmed as the storm came nearer.
I even fished the dry fly for a moment when the sun came momentarily out and fish started to rise.

The rising fish where small though and where not able to drown the fly.
I choose to fish the deeper water where I suspected fish.
A narrow strip of calmer deep water called for the use of a team of heavy nymphs .
I managed to hook a couple of fish but only a dace and a small roach
stayed put.

The last spot of the day was a deep pool not fishable from shore due to the fast current.
I had to do some tricky wading to get into position for a good drift.
The water was going to fast to have a decent presentation though.

I called it a day as the skies looked threatening and the light faded.
As usual I ended the day at the pub for a meal.
The broccoli cream soup was tasty.

An ongoing story in this winter, rain … and then more rain.
The river was just returning from the last high water when it started raining again.
I had the choice to fish for pike on my side of the border or try the river anyway. As I despised pike I went for the river.

A look at the high water made it clear to me that fishing would again be tough.
The calm water sections I looked for where almost non-existent.
To get to the fish the only hope was to fish with heavy flies deep.
As I did not had such heavy flies the way forward was to fish several flies just to get deep.

I got my fish but it was hard work, off course it started pouring when I was fishing.
The excerpt from the river gauge tells it all, a rapid increase in the waterlevel due to the rain.
After such a rainy day it is extra comfy to sit at the fire in the pub.

Again a late start as the temps where around freezing in the early hours. The reduced flow made fishing a bit easier.
Plenty of takes despite the low temps.
I got several small roach on deep fished nymphs.
Since I had reserved a table at the pub I had to leave a bit early.

I had pretty much luck with the weather untill I arrived at my fishing spot.
The clouds had followed me and hail thunder and lightning broke loose.
I got out of my waders asap and headed for the shelter of the pub.

When the worst weather cleared I headed back out and had one bite … .
A small dace took one of the nymphs I was fishing.
Temperature around 40F, not comfy at all.
Spring is still far away but I have spotted the first early flowers,
winter aconintes (yellow) and the snowdrops.

Another day with gray skies but at least dry and warmer than the day before.
The previous night it had poured and it seemed like the river was a bit up.
Water was still clear, this time I started fishing the deeper pool in the sheltered part of the stream. 

The current was strong and it took some time to figure out how to get to the fish.
A rig with three nymphs was the ticket, the first two nymphs where just to get the whole lot down deep fast.
The last fly in the setup was the one catching the fish.

A few of my countrymen also where fishing the stream so we chatted for a while and fished the slower moving stretch above the mill weir. 
Fish where visible rising but I could not make out what kind they where.
Not a lot going on bite wise, did manage some fish but only small stuff.
Darkness came soon so it was off to the pub.

At the pub it was busy, no seating available untill I recognized the guys at the table in front of the fireplace … my compatriots had turned in earlier.
Did not recognize them without their headwear 🙂
They went for the pork chops,  I had the Parmasano burger.
For dessert I had the special, Icecream with plums … tasty.

Today’s choice of fishing venue was either the border area for pike or the other side of the border for the roach and dace.
The combination of a favorable flow in the stream and the opening of the pub made me choose for the last option.
Weather wise the temperature had dropped a couple degrees and the wind had picked up considerably.
Skies where dull and grey and from time to time light rain fell.

It was not exactly comfortable to be outside and with the lure of the pub I had decided that if I would get my
first fish of the season I would call it a day and get lunch or dinner depending on how long it would take.
I visited the sure shot marks first but whatever I tried I could not spot fish or get a single hit on the fly.
Having fished the place so long I was absolutely sure there had to be fish.

Next I tried the eddies at the weir for fish, there was still too much water to fish that spot properly but
I figured a short drift would be enough to see if anything was out there.
Surprisingly I got a hit on the nymph but the fish came off.
This showed me that fish could be caught so I persisted and caught a small dace, first fish of the season.

The water was clear but the level was quite high and the current rushed through the stream at a pace
which I figured was too fast to target the fish I was after.

I went further downstream to fish the slower wide stretch just before the local watermill.
Even though it rained from time to time I noticed some fish in the surface.
I removed the tungsten nymph from my leader and put on a lighter red tag nymph and tossed it out
to the general area where I had seen fish.

The first hit came from a small roach which surprised me as I had thought the fish where dace.
At the second hit my indicator went down slowly and when I struck I knew I was in to a bigger fish.
I actually had to net the fish which turned out to be a big fat roach.
On that stretch many big fish roamed but I seldom caught the large ones, maybe that slow sinking nymph
was something I should use more often there.

The spot above the mill was quite desolate with no tree cover so the wind and the rain chilled me down

to such an extent that I sought out a more sheltered spot in the village.
A deeper pool behind a demolished weir was the perfect spot to be out of the wind as the high banks
and tree cover gave some protection from the elements.
To fish it I had to get into my hip waders to position myself close to the calmer water where I suspected fish.
I fished a team of two nymphs on a short line and got fish after fish, small ones but at least continuous action.
After a while the action died down and as it got darker and the rain got stronger I called it a day.
What looked like another skunk day turned out to be totally different, that’s fishing.