A day out in the field catching dace on the dry fly and even a roach.
Met up with some former co-workers at the pub and ended the day sightseeing on top of the hill gazing at the landmarks in the distance.
The cooling tower is from a nuclear power plant … no wind today.
Despite the temperature drop and the heavy cloud cover I opted to fish the chub spots today.
On arrival my favorite haunt was void of large fish but the feeder stream boasted six large chub.
Just as last time those chub would not look at any fly I presented so I headed on to greener pastures.
A view from the bridge revealed medium chub moving about so my hopes where high.
The problem I faced was that I just could not get close to the fish.
The fish spotted me in the low clear water and made a run for it.
The large mayfly did not attract any fish so I tried the hopper again.
The hopper either scared the fish off or they would carefully move under it and inspect the fly.
I noticed a large chub moving under the bank I was walking on.
As it did not run I figured I might try to catch that fish.
I was obscured from the fish by huge nettles and the steep bank.
My tactic was to land the hopper with a splash in the water.
The second time I did that the chub came out of its lair and hit the fly.
Now I had a big chub on and it immediately rushed into the aquatic plants and got stuck.
I figured my thigh waders might be to short judging the depth but I had to get in anway.
My waders filled with water as expected but now I could coax the fish out of the weeds.
I forgot about the fact that the hopper was barbless and in that moment of slack line before netting the fly came out … bummer.
The banks where so steep that I could not climb out and so the only way was to wade to the nearby gauge station and climb the service steps.
I drained my waders and pondered what to do next.
Fish count of the day was one tiny chub on the nymph and that was not satisfactory.
Other spots I tried had a lot of chub present but again no eaters.
When I arrived at the final spot of the day it was already pretty late.
Again fish where present and some took a close look at the hopper.
The last cast of the day yielded an instant hit.
As soon as the fly landed on the water and it was gone …
The fish ran in the plants but I could get it out without going for a swim.
Mission accomplished…
Plenty big chub around but none of them wanted to eat.
Had a few chub that went on top to inspect the hopper but all declined to take the fly.
First spot yielded only a small chublet that wanted to kill the mayfly. Spotted two large chub but no eaters.
The feeder stream boasted seven large chub but whatever I tried no response.
I tried another spot and found a trout on station in the current, again nothing worked.
Wanted to fish another spot but heard racket and then spotted the youths in their canoes so no use in fishing.
Last spot had again fish but all on the move, the mayfly yielded a slightly larger fish.
With the skies getting dark I opted for the pub visit instead of fishing. Pretty meager results so I might have to check some other spots the next time.
The fields are bone dry, crops are failing so hoping for rain.
Working party at the clubs hatchery and a little fishing afterwards in the almost stagnant stream.
I skipped the fishing yesterday due to frequent thunderstorms but today the weather was fair.
The stream was slightly higher than last weeks as water now flowed over the rocks of the weirs.
The target fish was again chub, sighting them was difficult as clouds and a stiff breeze made it difficult to look into the water.
With no fish in sight I tried a nymph first that yielded a tiny chublet.
I moved to a nearby feeder stream and noticed a single large chub in a pool but was unable to get the fish to hit the fly.
After a while I doubled back to my first spot and noticed a few big chub moving about.
My fly of choice was a large mayfly pattern and with a long cast it landedÂ
near the group of chub.
One of the chub exploded on the mayfly and when I set the hook the tippet gave way.
The second chance came when a big chub tracked the mayfly and was about to inhale it.
Unfortunately drag on the line pushed the fly away and it was all over.
I managed one chub on the mayfly that dove into the aquatic plants soÂ
I had to get into the water to grab the fish.
On another stretch I tried the hopper and once again it did attract fish.
One of the big ones exploded on the hopper but to my surprise totally missed the fly.
The other spots I frequented that day did have fish present but those where to wary to take the hopper.
Sometimes they would come up for the fly but moved away at the last minute.
The hopper is the fly for high summer chub fishing.
Â
Off course after yesterday’s success with the hopper fly I wanted to try it again.
Cloudy and overcast skies did not help finding the fish but in the end I found some chub in a deeper pool and had a go with the hopper.
Unfortunately the hopper did not yield any reaction from the fish so I tried a nymph instead.
The nymph also had zero effect on the fish so plan C would be to toss a streamer in the pool.
Same result with the streamer but as there where about six to seven fish in the pool I had the notion that one of them would sooner or later be greedy and nail the streamer.
I did not spot the take but I sure felt it as one of the fish grabbed the streamer just under the bank.
To fight the fish I slid into the water and after a few runs I could net it, about 20 inches of chub.
When I went to my second hotspot I noticed that the village where the stream ran through had some sort of festival going on.
The main tent on the meadow of the stream where I wanted to fish.
Even worse they had organized canoe trips on the stretch I wanted to fish so I had to move on.
The last spot was a sketchy one, sometimes fish present … sometimes not.
I walked a mile or so and only encountered one large chub … on the run.
When I checked out the section further upstream I came across some chub but first got a dace on the dry fly.
The hopper came into action again and yielded one small chub.
I will check out the other spots next week when hopefully some more sunny spells are around to make spotting the fish easier.
The cooler temperatures called for a trip to the stream where chub where the fish species to go for.
There had been some rain on previous days and for a short while the stream had ran more water.
The signs of the high water where heaps of algea that had accumulated and formed little mounds in the stream.
At the first bridge I crossed I checked out the stream and fish where present.
A large school of roach with dace and perch mixed in moved in the shallow water.
I got a few bites but the fish where generally not in biting mood.
With no luck at the first spot I moved on hoping to find the chub.
I checked out the spot at the old railroad brigde again.
It was difficult to spot the fish due to the lack of sunlight I could still see fish moving about.
I walked along the stream and encoutered nice size chubs but they where all on the run.
At the pool just below the bridge some large fish where milling around
and allthough I saw chub there where also some bream mixed in.
A bream nosed down and took my nymph and allthough these fish are
not noted for their fighting abilities the sheer weight and light tippet
made the fight interesting.
With the water being disturbed it was time to check out some other spot
where I knew for sure that chub would be present.
I found the fish but again wary and moving, all I could muster where some small chublets.
As I had recently aquired some hopper flies as one of my friends had succses with them on the chub.
Now I wanted to see if they would work.
Finally I spotted one larger chub at the end of a bend in the stream.
That location made it possible to make a long cast so as not to scare of the fish.
The hopper landed near the fish and the chub rushed foreward immediately and grabbed the hopper.
Off course the first thing the chub did was running into the aquatic vegitation.
I slided into the water from the steep bank to fight the fish.
I managed to fight and land the fish, happy I finally got one of the bigger chub from the stream.
At one of my previous items I spotted some really big chub just downstream from a bridge.
On this day I checked out the same location and just as clockwork the big chub where present.
With all the high grass and the steep embankment it was difficult to find a good foothold.
In the end I found a level spot where I could overlook the fish.
Since the chub where wary I kept movement to a minimum but I was still spotted.
A large fish was located just downstream from my location.
I dropped a nymph carefully near the chub, he grabbed it and took off.
The hook was thrown instantly so no luck at this time.
I tried various other spots and allthough fish where present the water was so shallow that merely dropping a fly caused the fish to run.
In the end I only managed to catch some small fish.
On the plus side I had the chance to make some decent shots of a muskrat as the big rodent did not notice me up on the bank.
Next week I will give another shot at the big chub, ordered a few hopper flies as a friend of mine had succses with that pattern on the chub.
With the heat and drought a trip to the sheltered stretches of the stream
seemed the way to go.
Unlike the previous weeks I did not spot any signs of trout so all I could get where some small roach and dace.
At the end of the day it actually rained for a while allthough it was only enough to get rid of some dust.
Icing on the cake as usual a visit to the pub where the cheeseburger can now be ordered as a double 🙂
Again a very hot day … more people in the stream than fish and just a few tiny fish to show for. We need some serious rain.
