Flyfishing FWSW

Day 1 August 4th 2013

After the late spring trip to the Harz mountains when extreme weather plagued our trip it
was time for a renewed visit to this beautiful area in the middle of Germany.

The same spot, different time (May vs August) – quite a difference.

At the height of summer I did not fear high water anymore – more the opposite.
Since it was peak holiday season we wondered if the place which was already pretty crowded would
even see more anglers than there usual.
This time we had opted for a full weeks stay so we had ample time to find out how the fishery was.

On the first day I was really struggling with actually catching a fish.
Normally that would not have been a problem but circumstances where quite different from our
previous visit.
You would expect lots of surface activity during these warm summer days but it stayed pretty quiet.
My usual successful nymphs did not do nearly as well as I had hoped.

To be honest my preparations for this trip where not as perfect as it should have been.
I had not spend time to tie some heavy nymphs for this faster flowing water and also
forgot to bring more of my dry flies with me.

I soon found out that there was one thing where the trout would be interested in … sedges.
Although there never was a hatch going on during the time we where on the river a sedge
placed right near the bank would bring the fish up.
From a talk with one of the local flyfisherman I gathered that there had been some
fantastic sedge hatches in previous months where the water was literally boiling, a classic
example of “you should have been here yesterday”

Most of the ugly stocked brown trout where gone, probably all knocked on the head by the local
meat fisherman.
Now you had a great chance of catching the local strain of brown trout, rather small but fin perfect with
beautiful dark colouring.

So that was the first day, hot weather – difficult fishing (at least for me) and no crowds as feared.

Day 2 August 5th. 2013

For the second day we had picked up one of our most beloved spots on the river upstream from
a large reservoir.
At our visit in May we had expected to run into lots of coarse fish like roach and dace which we also
like to catch besides trout, unfortunately in May they where not there.
Now it was time for a rematch …

I had a couple of goals I wanted to achieve during this trip, for instance catch another golden trout –
catch rainbow trout – catch a grayling and maybe photograph one of these rare fire salamanders that my buddy
had spotted during the last visit.

One of my wished was pretty fast granted as I did not run into the expected roach and dace but hooked
a rainbow trout instantly when I fished the section of the river above the reservoir.

Besides the rainbow trout the usual local brown trout where also present in numbers.

The coarse fish like roach and dace where present but not in the numbers we had seen on earlier
visits, still they where fairly cooperative.

The nymphs I had devised for the local stream did work on this section of the river as it was rather
small and the water level was low.

It was good to see that small fry fish and smaller brown trout where present in the river, an indication
that trout actually reproduced naturally in the stream.

Off course I did not only have an eye out for the fish, I was still looking for those elusive fire salamanders
but instead I found a rather (at least for me) congregation of butterflies which I only ever have seen
from TV documentaries about the Amazon – must have been minerals ….

Speaking about minerals, the section I was fishing had seen mining in the past and the remnants where still visible in the river.
Some of the old bridges of the nearby mining complex where still visible, some of the hardware was
left lying in the river.

The upper sections of the river from the parking lot contained the most fish, the further I came to
the reservoir the less fish I encountered.
My goal was to get to the spot where the river entered the reservoir, at that point it would widen and
move slower often attracting trout from the reservoir itself.

The downside of that spot was the fact that the sediment carried by the stream would settle there
resulting in rather slippery muddy banks and lots of silt at the bottom.
Furthermore the meadows alongside the reservoir where a prime habitat for the wild boars which
you would like to avoid when they move around with their piglets.

I did not see the wild boar at the end of the reservoir but a whole different species of pig.
My buddy tried to entered the water from the slippery banks and took a mud bath instead.
Luckily he managed to come out of this ordeal without the usually broken rod and he still
looked presentable after a wash in the river.

From the signs in the mud in seemed that the spot was rather popular with the wildlife.
Besides the prints of hoofs I saw the ones in the upper picture which almost caused me to believe
that it could have been from a raccoon.
Not a native species to Germany but introduced around the thirties and still spreading out.

During all my exploring I did forget one important thing – time ….
We had set a specific time to stop angling as we had planned to visit the Italian restaurant in a nearby
town late in the day.
At the designated time I was still at the reservoir and had to make fast tracks to get to the parking lot.

As I did not wanted to wade all the way upstream through the difficult terrain I opted to take the 
mountain path along the river.
Boy it was hot as hell out here and these waders where not exactly the most suitable wandering gear.
When I finally arrived at the parking lot I was ready for a long break and a cool beer.

We ended the day at the La luna restaurant and what can I say, it was a perfect ending of the day
that we would repeat many times in the coming days.

Day 3 August 6th, 2013

On day number three of our visit we would visit the zoo section of the stream.
My name because it bordered a row of hotels and you would be watched by tourists on all sides as
you where fishing.
Not exactly my cup of tea so to speak but my buddy wanted to fish there so that is where we went.

My buddy opted to fish the wide section near the hotels, I rather fished the upstream section above
the pedestrian bridge where the river was narrower, deeper and faster flower.
Deep was a relative thing as it was summer and levels where low.
I opted to fish the sedge rather than a nymph and was rewarded pretty soon with nice brown trout.

Judging by the rather fast approach of my buddy behind me I figured that he had not that much
success with his spot.
I was doing rather fine and he was struggling, this was a sort of reverse situation as we had on day one.

As the Italian restaurant was closed on this day we had an alterative eatery sought out nearby and as
usual I was late again.
I had to find a spot to get out of the river at the main road as the river itself was difficult to wade, the road would be faster.

I spotted my buddy who called in by radio to go and have lunch still fishing the deep river bend I had passed earlier.
As my nymphs intended for the slow moving local stream where much to light to fish in that fast water I
had ignored the spot and moved for shallower water upstream.
My buddy was better prepared however and did quite well will some very heavy nymphs that reached the trout at the bottom.

At noon we got our lunch at the old forestry house in the middle of nowhere – so remote that your
mobile phone was useless.
Although my favourite beer in Germany was normally the dark wheat beer here in the east I was totally
keyed in on the Kostritzer black beer … jummy.


Kostritzer Schwarzbier

At lunch we where pondering where to go in the afternoon, it would be the stretch at the hatchery.
The hatchery stretch was probably one of the most crowded on this river as it had easy access and
sometimes had escapee rainbow trout from the nearby hatchery.
Also the wide slow moving pool at the road bridge was always a sure ticket for trout.
With the absence of the crowds we had expected we where pretty sure that the spot we picked would
be relative quiet – it was.

The sedge once again did it trick and brought some of the remainder stocked browns to the light.

When my buddy called in that he had spotted a golden trout coming my way I was hoping to fulfil one
of my set goals for the trip.
Goal 1 was achieved by catching the rainbow trout – now I had a change to get a golden trout.
Off course these golden trout where just those Albino rainbows that they reared in the first couple of
basins at the hatchery, sometimes these escaped into the river where they had little chance to
survive as they stood out against the dark bottom of the river and where not keyed in to natural foods.

The fish that came my way was obviously not fit to be in the river, it darted around like it had suffered
some trauma – I could actually scoop it up in my landing net.
I tried to revive the fish and it looked for a while that it would be ok but after some straight movements
it began darting again alas out of my reach.


Not what you expect in a German river.

Some people in my neck of the woods frown on rainbow trout as they view this species as invasive but I like them a lot as they always put up a good fight.
There is also quite a difference in quality depending on which hatchery produced the fish.
In this particular river the fish are escapees from the local hatchery and quite ugly to be honest.

Having said that I have seen some pictures of magnificent rainbows which have been caught in the river that where big and beautiful.
I had an interesting chat with one of the locals who witnessed spawning rainbows in the river this spring.
He mentioned that he had caught small rainbows that where fin-perfect assuming that these particular
rainbow trout had adapted to living in this river.

In the mean time I concentrated on getting more browns on the sedge which worked pretty well.
I continued to catch the non-stocked brownies with their dark coloration.
I had one particular fine specimen which took the sedge as I dropped in under some branches at
the other river bank.




I had checked the weather forecast in the morning, in the afternoon severe thunderstorms with rain and hail where predicted.
We had instated the rule that as soon as we heard thunder we would clear the river and head for safety.
The problem in the mountains is that you often do not see when bad weather rolls in when you are
standing in a river covered by foliage – with the noise of the water picking up sounds from around you
tends to be difficult.
Still later in the evening I did for sure heard the sound of thunder and immediately radioed my buddy that
It was time to head for the car ASAP.

When I was at the car and gearing down the dark clouds crept over the mountain top and it began
to rumble in earnest – not a comfortable position to be in.
My buddy came walking in from the distance, we barely sat in the car when the rain began to fall and
the thunderstorms really started going.
In the driving rain we reached the hotel and had to sit it out for the rain to stop.
The perfect weather for spotting the elusive fire salamanders where it not for the lightning.

Well, the rains did not bring the fire salamanders out, instead this toad came creeping along the road.
We made it relatively dry from the parking lot to the hotel where people where still sitting on the sheltered terrace
having their drinks.
Just as we sat in our room I jokingly remarked that someone was taking pictures with flash when suddenly
a loud bang followed and the windows started to shake – direct hit near the hotel.
Those guys outside surely … their pants 🙂

Day 4 August 7th. 2013

On day number four we headed once again to the river upstream from the reservoir.
During the night it had rained a lot so in order to fish clear water the section below the reservoir would have been the logical choice.
Then again the murky water in the shallow waters of the upper stream made it easier to approach the fish there.

The water was murky but not really a hindrance as both trout and roach had no trouble in
located the nymphs I fished.

While I probed the upstream section from the parking lot my buddy headed downstream.
One part of the stream boasted a large stone wall and an old derelict building where I hoped to spot
those elusive salamanders – that remained elusive 🙂

I pretty much had a ball fishing with my buzzer type nymphs that where originally intended for the
local stream.
When I finished with fishing the upstream section I slowly moved downstream towards the reservoir
catching all kinds of fish along the way.
I even managed to catch my goal nr. 3 of the trip, the grayling.

Day 5 August 8th. 2013

Day five would bring another visit to the river above the reservoir.
Although it had rained in the night the river had cleared up quite a lot so fishing started to be
difficult again.
I still caught some fish but it was tough going, this time I would fish the lower section while my
buddy would fish upstream.

I did not travel all the way to the reservoir as there where plenty of good spots to fish before that point.
Fishing was slow but I still got fish on the nymphs.

Streamer fishing had been quite fruitless but in one of the deep slow moving pools I had to try.
My buddy had once mentioned a method how you could catch those tail biting trout.
The procedure was to tie a nymph on a short piece of tippet behind the streamer.
I guess the philosophy was that the trout would strike the streamer maybe out of aggression rather
than see it as pray, the trailing nymph would then present a target that the trout would accept.
Well I tried it once and actually to my disbelieve it worked.

For the remainder of the day it was back to the nymph setup though…

At the end of the day we could view back on another fine session on the river.
It was the right decision to fish the upper section when all the rains had fallen.
As we headed towards the Italian restaurant at the end of the day the skies coloured golden,
a suitable setting for such a golden day.

Day 6 August 9th. 2013

In the morning of day number five my buddy wanted to fish the river where it left the reservoir.
Not my kind of place as access was too easy and thus too crowded.
When we parked the car at the nearest car park it was empty, we where the first fisherman.

My friend would fish downstream, I opted for the upstream section.
It had rained in the evening but the water was clear, it was also rather chilly and windy which
had an impact on the insects moving around – almost none ….

I still found some surface feeding fish, my supply of the good sedge patterns was however dwindling fast
as the trout tore them to shreds.
A large klinkhamer did yield a fish but it just was not to the trout’s liking.

I caught a few fish but action was really slow.
Finally I made it up to a spot where a small weir used to divert water to a mill channel.
The whole installation had been derelict since ages but the weir was still in place.
Above that weir the river was first wide and shallow and then very narrow and also very deep.
In fact so deep that you would be submerged easily.
I noticed quite a few trout in the shallow section with some good ones amongst them but
they also spotted me and quickly fled to safer place.

In the deep water under the road bridge fish where rising very sporadic, I just tried to get one of them
and then would head back to the parking lot as my buddy had already indicated that he wanted
to fish another spot later that day.

When I came back to the parking lot two other cars where present.
My buddy was not at the car park at the designated time so I went looking for him.
I met him halfway, the competition in the downstream section had been strong, three other anglers
had joint him not that long after we arrived.
Fishing had not been that swell although he had caught his fair share of fish.

In the afternoon we would fish the hatchery again and since the forestry house was the nearest restaurant we
decided to eat there instead of the Italian place down in the valley.

Before we started fishing near the hatchery I borrowed some of the heavy nymphs that my buddy ties.
His favourite pattern was a so called Ritz-D nymph, his son also a flyfisherman used that pattern almost exclusively.
It was heavy and it came in handy fishing the deep pools near the hatchery.

I struggled to get fish during the afternoon section, somehow I just could not get into sync with the fish.
Still I hauled in some fish, even a rather suspiciously marked small rainbow trout that supported the
theory of the local angler who told me rainbow trout where reproducing in the river.

At one of the deeper pools I tried fishing a streamer but the trout where only chasing the fly.
After a while they where not even interested anymore.
One of the local fisherman had already told me that streamers worked best early season,
late in the season the fish had seen it all and where more difficult to catch.

Even at the hatchery location signs of the mining past where visible, most notable was the old
aqueduct that used to lead water from the mountain to a former sawmill.
Nowadays the water was diverted to the trout hatchery.
Every time I walked under that structure I always thought to myself that it could be coming down
on my head – one of these days this structure will fail as it is not maintained.

Day 7 August 10th. 2013

As day 7 was a travelling day time was an issue and so was where to dine.
My preference was to dine late in the day at the Italian place, the drawback was that the place opened
late.
Option two was to visit the forestry house again but in the end I convinced my buddy to go for the Italian
place and it was on the route home.

The more difficult question was where to fish.
Now during this past week we constantly had crossed an s-curve with two bridges where my buddy
mentioned every time “I have never fished here”.
I had and did not think that much of the place as it drew in crowds but when he wanted to fish there
so be it.
Just as we had parked the car and geared up other flyfisherman arrived, three of them in one car.
One asked the rather rhetorical question “are you going to fish here?”.
I just mentioned, yes – I will head downstream – my buddy upstream.

They left – not particularly happy – well it was weekend and according to the traffic I witnessed on the
road it would be a busy one.
I found a path downstream and went along for a mile or so and would then fish upstream.
Before I left the car park however I asked my buddy to hand over two of his fine caddies flies he had
tied as mine where torn completely to shreds by the trout.

The river in front of me was wide and shallow so I opted to fish the sedge even though I did not
see rising fish.
Tossing the fly over the patches of ranunculus however caused many trout to rise and grab the dry fly.

Most of the trout where the little local brownies but I did came across on of the stockies.
According to the locals these fish often only lasted one season as they could not adjust to river life.

Although the part of the river I fished was pretty the well marked paths along the banks showed that
this part was frequented a lot by fisherman.
I came across some deeper sections that surely would hold fish but unfortunately my lack of preparation
ahead of this trip came to bite me now.
To fish those deeper and fast flowing sections effectively you had to use heavy nymphs – I had none of
those in my fly box.

When I finally arrived near the car park at the bridge my supply of good flies was gone.
All my good sedges where totalled, the ones given by my buddy where either lost in the trees or
started unravelling from the trout bites – a sign to stop.
Well actually it was the fact that I came across five fisherman walking in single file that convinced me
to call it a day, to much people in my book.

So I was early at the car park and ran into one of the locals that I had spoken to earlier that week.
I had a nice chat and could tell him that I had actually caught a juvenile rainbow trout near the location
where he had seen spawning rainbow trout in spring.
My buddy followed soon and was complaining about the crowds, he had however caught quite a few
fish despite the onslaught of weekend warriors.

As we where early I coaxed my rather reluctant friend into visiting one of the local tourist magnets.
There was a restaurant at a nearby point where you had a scenic view over the surrounding area.
At that spot the river left the mountains and flowed in to the plains below.
Off course the place was a tourist trap but the views where stunning.

All that rested us was to visit our beloved Italian restaurant where finished off these wonderful days
with a good meal.
So this was a week of the good life, we surely will repeat this next year.

Fishing report 20-07-2013

Since our closest trout river had been leased to a new owner it had gone downhill
fishing wise rapidly.
The last visit was for me the final straw as the fishing was so dismal in my personal view.
Still my friends made a second visit to the river later in the year and came back with more
negative expiriences.

With no improvement to be expected in the future my friend scouted for a new place
to fish and finally ended up with the Aar river in the state of Hessen.
I volunteered to join him on a fact-finding mission to the river and arranged the permits.
As it was almost a three hours drive from where we lived and we had to collect or permit between
7 and 8 o’clock in the morning we had to leave early.
With the summer holidays starting I urged my friend to leave very early so at 4.30 in the morning
we headed east.

In Hessen.

The ride to Hessen went smoothly, we ended up at the hatchery where we had to get
the permits sharply at 07.00 hours in the morning.
It would be a hot day with temperatures rising to 30 degrees C but in the morning it was
still a chilly 10 degrees C.
Since it had not rained for quite a while I expected the river to be low.

We collected our permits and got a little briefing from the owner of the hatchery of where
to start fishing.
We followed his directions and soon crossed the river, we parked the car at the designated
location and took a look at the river.
My first impression was that it would be very tough to catch a fish in the river as it was
smaller than expected and hidden in a canopy of trees.
It looked beautiful though and the best thing was that there were no major roads in
the valley where the river ran through.

Even though the river was small and there was not much water running I still decided to use full
wading gear as some pools where very deep according to the owner of the hatchery.
I was glad I brought my 6ft. rod with me as the green tunnel where the river ran through 
would not allow the use of long rods.
My friend would start at the bridge we just crossed, I would walk some distance upstream 
and start there.

I walked for a minute or 10 and then found an opening in the brushwork and entered the river.
The stream was beautiful, lots of riffles and pools to fish in.
The problem I had was the fish where wary because of the low water and would move off as
soon as I came close.
I could not make a lot of casts as the shrubs and branches of the trees prevented that.
At one pool where the water was more disturbed I finally caught my first fish of the day,
a smaller brown trout that took the nymph as it ran along some tree roots.

After a short while I came at a rather large and deep pool.
The current pushed along one rocky edge where a single fish rose more or less frequently.
In the middle of the pool the water was more or less stagnant.
Small sedges where around in some numbers and the fish had keyed in on them.
Several times I saw the trout shoot out from the water to catch the caddis in flight.
As the edge of the pool was difficult to reach with a cast and a proper drift would probably
only would last a few seconds I opted for the nymph.
My first cast was into the middle of the pool, it was answered immediately by a trout.
But … instead of my nymph it took my strike indictor and pulled it under.
A strike had only one effect – I lost the trout and the biostrike indicator.

Since the river was owned by the hatchery I figured that they would not have skimped on stock
fish and indeed they had not.
Almost every cast yielded a strike and I missed a lot of fish.
Still with some luck I landed several very fine brown trout and a bonus rainbow trout.
I even got one of the trout at the edge on a rather large sedge dry fly.

After having caught several trout in the deep pool I wondered if there could be any monsters
around so I tied on a streamer.
The trout went pretty mad charging the streamer but for some reason I did not get any good
aggressive bites, maybe it was because of the hot weather.
I hooked one big brown trout on the streamer and it came fully airborne but with that action
it also cleared my barbless streamer.

I could have stayed longer at the deep pool but I order to explore the river I had to move on.
The water in front of me was shallower but still mixed with small pools that could hold fish.
More interesting was that the fish in front of me  where actively feeding on the caddis and would
rise leisurely to intercept caddis on the surface.
With a big tree as cover I could come in close enough to toss a caddis on the waiting trout.
It was an awesome sight to see the trout sip in the dry fly without any hesitation.

As I progressed further upstreamer the conditions became more challenging as the shrubbery grew
thicker all the time.
One one side the river was bordered by a steep hillside, the other bank was the border of a meadow
overgrown with shrubs and fitted with an old barb wire fence.

Around midday we had decided to hold a small break, we sat under a shading tree at the
bridge and discussed our experiences.
All in all it was a lot better than we had ever could hope for.
Despite the low water the fish where plentiful and active and the landscape was very beautiful.
Of the two sections we were allowed to fish we had barely managed a third of section one.
The plans for the afternoon where discussed, I would scout out the stretch below the bridge
– my friend would continue his trek upstream.

In the blazing sun I crossed a newly moved field to enter the river where it met the hillside.
Getting to the river was tricky as the bank was partly made out of clay.
Even though it was dry I had not counted on the wet felt soles of my wading shoes and so I ended
in a rather un-elegant way on the riverbank.
Luckily fisherman and gear remained intact, I just slipped in the first deep pool to cool off and get the
mud off my waders.

My plan was to move even further downstream to the beginning of the section but the heavily 
overgrown  banks and hillside prevented that.
I climbed and crawled further downstream through the brushwork in order to find a larger pool but
none came in sight.
I noticed that the gradient the river followed was a lot steeper than in the forested part.
In the end I decided to return upstream and instead fish the part towards the bridge.

The part I fished was a lot more open that the section I had fished in the morning .
The sun shone pretty brutal on the water.
I came across several long pools where some fish where sporadically rising but often
my approach was too clumsily and the fish ran for cover.
Still I managed to catch a few more brown trout and had some fish that threw the hook.

My other fear for the day besides traffic jams on this day was tourists that would use
the river as a public bath.
The field road along the river looked pretty deserted but in the afternoon we did encounter
a some dogs , kids and assorted tourists at one spot.
The river was big enough the circumvent the disturbance.

I was heading for the upper border of section one and noticed that the conditions where
become tougher.
The heat had really started now and fish where becoming quite lethargic.
With the increased light they became more wary.
At most longer shallow pools the trout lay at the end of these pools and since the trees and
shrubs where even more dense that in the part I fished in the morning I could hardly make
long casts.
The only thing I often saw where the bow waves of fleeing trout.

There was one spot where a large fallen tree hid me from the rising trout in a nice
pool.  I counted at least three trout and they were sporadically rising.
I had to cast over the deadfall to the rising pool but I just could not get the proper distance
without hitting the trees or scaring the fish off, a matter of feet prevented me
from catching those fish.

Late in the afternoon I almost reached the end of stretch one.
I encountered a very deep pool that yield one small rainbow trout.
There could have easily been more trout in there but the pool was deep, very deep.
In fact my plan to wade through the pool was pretty fast abandoned so I tried to find
a spot to climb on to the bank.

Finally I found a spot to make it safely on dry land.
My plans to check out the start of the stretch where thwarted by the fact that there was
no way down to the stream anymore  as the banks where steep and overgrown
with some of the more unpleasant plant growth.
Icing on the cake was the van load of tourist and dogs that stopped not far from me.

As our departure time neared I called it a day as I had to walk all the way back to the car in this
extreme heat while wearing waders.
I was cursing myself now as I had not taken a long sleeved t-shirt with me.
The horse flies where out in force especially in the just mowed meadows and they had it in for me.
Halfway along the path I met my friend who had the same idea as me, call it a day.

We had postponed lunch during midday to make most of our fishing trip.
I had checked for an Italian restaurant in the small village near to the hatchery  and found one that
would surely be a good place to end the beautiful day.
The cool beers hit the spot on this hot day and the food was as expected, pretty good.
We topped our dinner off with ice cream and vowed that the Aar river had not seen the last of us.

Friday the 12th. should have been a normal work day for me but I decided to take the
day off as saturday there was a working party planned on the hatchery of my syndicate.
My first intention was to pursuit some more of the big chub in the stream but as I
came nearer to my destination I opted to scout out a little stream of another syndicate
I had joined last year.

I had looked up the new water with satellite imagery and quickly found an access road to get
near to the water.

The new water looked like it was stagnant – off course it had been dry for quite a while so the levels in
every local would have been low.
From what I saw I figured the water was roughly three feet deep, had a lot of vegitation in it and
little fish activity.
Having said that a monster size carp appeared and raced through the stream to somewhere.
The carp was lightly colored and big thus easy to spot, the next fish that came in few was a decent
chub with was harder to spot.

The color of the bottom was generally very dark, most likely due to the low flow rate.
Only at certain shallower parts a sand bottom was visable where you could more easily spot fish.
The problem with this water was that it was quite shallow and had a lot of these man made steep
banks which made you as an angler very visable to the fish.
I walked the stream for miles and encountered mainly bream, a few carp and some chub.
Almost all these fish saw me first and ran off.

In order to get any fish I had to find some faster flowing stretches of the stream, preferrably a weir.
From satellite images I knew there where a couple of them in the general area but it took quite a walk
before I reached the first one – well the images I looked had where old as the weir had been replaced
by a series of big stones that provided fish with the possibity to migrate up and down the stream.
No fish where to be had there, allthough the presence of three herons meant that something edible
should have been there.

As I was now a long distance from the road I continued my trek along the stream passing by some
more bream.
Nothing moved in the surface so I wondered where all the chub had gone.
At the location of the next weir I encountered yet another set of big stones that had replaced the old
fish-unfriendly structures.
A little feeder stream came in from the side providing some deeper water that beckoned to be fished.
Still not a single hit on the nymph.

It was time to head back to the access road where I had spotted the big carp.
A quick peek from under the brigde showed me another removed weir.
When I came crossed the road and walked into the meadow I noticed some fish activity in the surface.

A quick drift with a size 14 nymph yield a tiny chub, there where quite a few of them
around but I was on the look for the big ones.
The next weir was again very interisting, the place looked downright fishy…

Still looking fishy and catching fish are two completely different things.
Again nothing moved in the water and several drifts with the nymph went unanswered.
This water would prove to be difficult indeed.

After the weir the stream got smaller and shallower.
I spotted a very nice chub but off course it had already seen me wandering up on the bank.
Its reaction was to slowly move downstream and then it downright dissappeared into the overgrowth
of the bank.
I gave up on this stream for now and opted to fish my regular water.
When I crossed the first bridge however my plans where turning out to be pretty useless – for some
reason the water had gained the color of coffee even though there was no rain or flooding.
Most likely the authorities where digging again in the stream removing some old weir somewhere
upstream.
It ruined my fishing but at least it was for a good cause.

At the confluence of main stream and feeder stream you could see the clear and dirty water mix.
I also spotted some huge chub standing in the current at the inflow of the clear water.
The chub saw me first though and anticipated the upcoming danger so they swam off.Z
All that remained where some little chub feeding further downstream.
I tried fishing a dry fly but the chub where so tiny that they could not even drown the fly.

It was time for a brake as it was late in the day.
My plan would be to get lunch at a pub, by the time I had finished eating the workforce digging at the
river would have probably stopped working and the main river might clear up then.

After an extended lunch I tried the main river again but unlike the last time activity was non-existant.
Only later I spotted some rising fish under a brigde but those where tiny.
I caught a few of the small fish and then called it a day as would probably not improve.

All in all it was a nice day though that showed me that I had to spend more time to figure out
how to fish the new water.
I guess I have to invest quality time there in order to catch some decent fish.

On Saturday the 13th. fishing was not really an option as a working party was organised at the
hatchery of my German syndicate.
The work involved clearing the area around our hatch pools and fixing the protective net over the
pools that had gotten a beating during a recent storm.

After the work was done and most people that had attended the working party had left
some of the remaining people wanted to see some flyfishing action.
One of our ponds contained some left over stock fish, I called it the mutant pool as it
contained some tiger trout.
Besides the tiger trout the pool contained rainbow trout, brown trout and brook trout.
All these fish had grown to pretty respectable sizes during the last half year.
They where also very aggressive – not so long ago a mole tried to swim over the mutant pool.
It was a fatal mistake by the mole as it was devoured by the trout.

To make a long story short I tossed in one of my small mink streamers, stripped a couple
of times and before I knew it I was in direct contact with the largest tiger in the pond.
The sizeble fish fought well … like a tiger but after a while I could subdue and net it.

At lunch at the local pub I discussed the fishing with one of my fellow club members.
It appeared that some more work parties where ahead as the mill pool was filling up with sand.
That pool was off-limits to fishing as it was on private land but it contained some huge roach.
Off course I offered to volunteer with just a small demand – I had to fish there 🙂

Later in the day I still had an hour or two left to fish before other duties beckoned.
In the woods I noticed some roach and dace in the water which had gone down to its usual low
summer levels.

One fish took my attention by its size, it almost looked like a trout.
As the fish did not react to the nymph I dropped in its path I tried to check out with a
streamer if it was indeed a trout.
The streamer did not produce the desired effect so I tied on a heavier nymph.
I guess the depth was the issue here as the heavy nymph got the fish to bite,
the fish was not a trout but a pretty decent dace.

At some other spots I caught a few small roach, not many fish where visable.
When my indicator was attacked in a rapid flowing stretch I knew I was dealing with a trout.
As the fish ignored my nymph I tried to coax it out of its lie with a streamer, to no avail.
I was pondering weather to use a dry fly or continue to fish the nymph.
In the end I choose the nymph in order to pick up any of the present roach if the trout did not
want to play.
The trout did want to play after several drifts and it put a good bend in the rod.
It left its rather shallow hideout immediately for deep water but then managed to threw the hook.
Time for me to leave the scene.

It has been a while since I fished for chub.
The main reason was for most part the weather as it was either to cold, to windy or there ws
to much water to fish for them.

With high summer and progress and a few sunny and warm day forecast I finally went on the
road again to check out my chub haunts.
First stop was a body of water in the territory of a new syndicate I had joined last year.
I had already scouted a mighty fine spot and had fished it in the cold spring without
any results.
With the current warm weather I just had to catch something there.
There was not a cloud in the sky, well I am lying now as I could spot a plume coming off
from the cooling tower of a nearby nuclear plant.

When I arrived at the stream I was dissappointed that the water was so murky even though
the water levels where not high.
Not encouraging was the total lack of surface activity on the water, last summer the chub
actively chased damsel but it was all quiet on the water now.
In the end I tossed a nymph behind a weir with not much luck,
When the nymph travelled past the outflow of the weir I fished a fish struck.
It was a small chub but the first of the season, good enough for me.

When I checked out another nearby stream I noticed a very large shape in the water.
It was a chub, a large one that was stationary in the current.
Off course I had a go at the fish but I suspected it had already spotted me in advance and
ignored everything I tossed in front of its nose.

I gave up on that chub and headed further downstream where some broad sections of the
stream would probably give me a better shot at landing a larger chub.
Only some small chub where visible in the surface, not the kind of fish I had hoped for.
On the plus side, the cherry trees where loaded.

I did catch a few of the small chub but nothing decent so again it was time to check out some
other haunts.
At one location I spotted some smaller chub in the shallows and off course I tried to catch them.
Those fish where however very hard to catch as they where extremely wary in the shallow water.
Even the sight of an indicator would scare the fish away.

The spot I was fishing was the spot where I had caught my largest chub to date in my neighborhood,
even more memorable was the fact that it was on a big dry mayfly pattern.
Often you could see the big chub cruise happily along the stream, now with the murky water no signs
of them.
The shady tree at the bank however was a spot that had to be fished thoroughly.
It took some arkward casting to finally get my nymph under that tree but as soon as I did a big chub
came and nailed the fly.
Now I was in trouble as I was standing up on the weir, to have any chance to land the fish I had to get into the water.

As I had no waders with me I had to jump in like I was, well first I had to crawl under the newly installed electric
fence with rod in hand and still connected to the chub.
After I had crawled under the fence from the weir I had to slide in along the steep embankment.
That all went well – I even had secured my phone – just in case I would have to get into deeper water.
So I was still connected to the chub but now I was standing in the stream.
The chub was masssive and used it weight and strength to dive into the aquatic vegitation.
I had to drag the fish out of the weeds all the time, finally the fish was logded solidly amongst some
lilies. 
My crude attempt to dislogde the fish with the landing net resulted in a sudden surge of the fish that
severed my tippet.
So there I was, not looking that happy – wet – in the middle of the stream.

I wanted to re-tie when I noticed I was missing something, my flybox with a few hundred nymphs.
Now I was starting to feel really bad.
All I could do was to get up the bank and scout for my fly box from a high vantage point.
Luckily the box was quickly spotted – a relieve.
Up on the weir I could determine that I had scared off all the small chub with my actions.

Allthough the idea seemed far fetched I concluded that there was a slight possibility that another
chub could be hiding under that shady tree.
So another size 14 goldbead PT nymph went for a swim.
To my surprise a large gray shape moved from underneath the shady tree and intercepted the nymph.
Again I was connected to a hefty chub and the whole electric fence routine was repeated.
This time I was putting more pressure on the fish and coaxed it out of the weedpatches.
The fish took me around the pilings of the weir but I countered every move and in the end could net the fish.

Catch of the day.

I took a little break from the fishing under one of the trees at the weir and enjoyed my
little moment of succses of the big chub.
In order to dry up I fished a little more in the open fields where a breeze made you forget
that it was a hot 26 degrees Celsius.

The ony thing I spotted in the open water where those pesky breams milling around in the
deep water behind a shallow patch overgrown with ranunculus.

Under carefull observation by the cows I managed to catch some small chub from beneath the
weir.

 

Time had flown and since I had skipped breakfast in the morning so I had to get something to eat.
Earlier in the day I had a conservation with one of the locals who also was a fisherman.
To his knowlegde the stained water was rather unusual and it was most likely caused by the work that
was going ahead upstream to remove some old weirs.
My plans for the rest of the day where clear, first lunch – then off too see what the weir removal team
was doing.

From previous visits I knew a nice place for lunch nearby.
Under the shade of some large trees I enjoyed a good meal and some cold beers at
an old guesthouse in the middle of nowhere.
It was quite late when I finally left the guest house but I still wanted to check out some new
spots I had scouted out earlier in the year.

A warning sign that warns that the local fox population carries a dangeous parasite – tapeworm.
Stay on the roads – do not consume any wild fruit etc. as these foxes distribute the eggs of the worm
by means of their feces – they poop and pee all over the place …
It is potentially deadly for humans – I looked it up and appearantly 94% of people infected die
within 10 to 20 years after discovery of the parasite.

On my way to the removed weir I noticed this nice rodent nibbling away at the shrubs.
You have to watch of for the holes they dig in the embankments as you could easily break your
legs with the traps these furry misfits make.

I checked out the removed weir which was quite an improvement from the old steel one that used to
be there.
All done to make it possible for migrating fish to head up and down the stream.
I fished the fast flowing sections at the end of the reworked weir and noticed fish where present in
numbers in the fast water.

It was the first time I had ever fished there but with four chub in a row I knew the place had
potential. 
The upstream section of the weir also looked inviting but as the sun was getting pretty low in the sky
I knew I had to get on my home.

All in all a very grand day, those chub had grown that big not because they there stupid.
I scouted out some new places and boy it was pretty down there.
I will probably be back there next week when the weather holds up.

After the extreme downpour last week that caused flash floods I wanted to fish the stream today.
Oddly when I checked the river gages I noticed an sudden increase of the level of about 30 percent.

If you looked at the countryside you would not suspect high water.
The fields where slowly attaining their golden hue, the poppy flowers still in full bloom. 

Normally I would have avoided the stream when the levels where so high but with the
experience gained in the Harz mountains I figured I might actually catch some fish.
I had tied up some new flies that I wanted to test.
In the past I had found a fly lodged in a tree while fishing the Möhne river, that particular
pattern was a black nymph with flash that worked pretty well on the local roach.

As the stream I fished was mostly inhabited by roach and dace I needed a small fly.
I came up with a sort of chironomid a.k.a. buzzer pattern.
Normally these flies are unweighted but as the stream I fish has short deep pools I needed
something that sank quickly to reach the fish in the pool before the fly was swept into the shallows.
The end result was a buzzer with a tungsten bead head, body of black thread and ribbing with
small pearl tinsel.
I had tested a prototype earlier and found that the varnish cover on the tinsel would not protect it
from being mauled by trout so this time I applied bugbond on the fly.

When I came to the stream it was indeed high and dirty.
Normally I could walk along the banks without getting my feet wet but now that
was not possible.
From the looks of it the water had been much higher so the stream was receding.
Like with every flood condition a fine clay coating was deposited on the banks of the stream
that had the same properties as grease.

Although the water murky I could see some part of the bottom , visibility was enough for
fish to see the fly.
The first drift of the buzzer nymph immediately raised interest from a trout that intercepted the fly.
The trout did not stay connected though.
During normal conditions I could clearly spot the fish, now I was just fishing blind.
Still a drift along the edge of the fast flowing water yielded a strike from a fish that I initially
thought was a small trout, it turned out to be roach.

The  particular spot I fished had boasted some trout in the past and the high water would
not have changed that.
After a few casts I noticed a trout chasing the nymph, in fact the fish chased the fly several time
before the fish finally grabbed it.
I probed some other spots but could not hook any fish.

Time flew as they say and before I knew it lunch time had arrived.
I made my way to the pub, from a distance I could see smoke coming from the chimney.
It had indeed been quite cold in the morning for a late June morning.
Overcast skies at a temperature of 7 degrees C where not my idea of Summer.

After lunch I decided to head to the headwaters of my stream.
As the stream was fed by many little spring fed feeder streams the headwaters should
have the clearest water, they did in fact.
The upper reaches of my stream where small indeed and access was kind of a problem with
steep banks and lots of treecover.

One of my favorite spots had been almost filled with sand over the last year.
I still fished there a couple of times but it did not yield as much fish as it
did in the good old days.
With the first cast I did however immediately hooked a small trout with
beautiful markings.
There were still roach and dace present but nothing of size.

On my way home I stopped at some of my regular haunts but even though
the spots looked very good and had plenty of water I could not hook any fish.
There where fish present though as I saw some surface action.
If I had waders with me I might have been able to get close enough to try
a cast but I was limited to fishing from the bank.

At the end of the day the weather improved and blue sky and sun appeared.
Like previous days it still was windy and the temperatures never reached a
level you would expect at this time of year.
The mayflies had all but gone, the only insects common now where mosquito’s
and they were out for my blood.
A last ditch attempt to catch fish on the dry fly remained fruitless so I called it
a day.

If the promised weather improvement holds up I might check the lower
reaches of the stream for some chub action, I will miss the pub though.

At the end of May a fishing trip to the Harz mountains was planned.
The crew for this trip would normally consist of three people who would
go on this trip every year.
This time it would be a different as some other friends had asked to join us. In the end we counted seven people.
Arranging a trip with a lot of people caused problems, especially when you wanted to pin a date and get a confirmation that everyone was actually going. So in this case setting a date and getting confirmations was a problem.

In the end the whole process dragged on and when my friend finally wanted to arrange the desired hotel it turned out that it was fully booked.
He called me what to do, simple I replied get another hotel.
As I had traveled often to that region I named another hotel and when he called that place rooms where still available for the desired time period.
Now my friend asked what to do with regards to the other guys who
where not sure if they would go or not.
Again the answer was simple, book a room for us regulars – let the others know that we have a different hotel and that they have to act right away.

In the end everybody was booked in the same hotel and so on May the 29th we went on the road to Eastern Germany.
With all the feet dragging in the beginning nobody had realized that the date of our departure we coinciding with a German public holiday.
The roads where packed to full capacity.
The total drive would take less than four hours which we would normally drive in one go.
Not this time, we where barely over the Dutch German border when the first request for a coffee break came by the non-regulars.

At about a quarter of the trip we where about to enter a traffic jam on the Autobahn – normally we would just wait it out as circumventing would usually not outweigh the time wasted in the traffic jam.
The non-regulars wanted to try it anyway so we left the Autobahn only to get stuck on the slow road that went to countless little villages which had traffic lights a and heavy traffic because of that public holiday.

We did not only have bad luck with the road conditions, the weather would be terrible also.
I had told my friends that a weather warning was in place for the region we would visit and that extreme rainfall was predicted – at first they would not believe me.
When we crossed the Leine river near Hannover they got worried – it was well out of its banks.
The further we headed east – the more clouds we encountered.
As we drove into the mountains I could see that the little brooks that ran down from the hills carried a lot of brown water – not a good sign.

With all the delays we had experienced we arrived late afternoon at our destination.
I had a feeling that it would be a waste of funds to get a fishing permit for this day as in a couple of hours it would become dark.
My friends and I aka the regulars had to make some decisions fasts in order to get out most of the day.
On our way to the hotel we would come along one of our favorite restaurants wo we would eat first, the next place along the route would be the trout hatchery where we would get our fishing permits.
Finally we would then go to the hotel, check in and fish afterwards.

When we arrived at the river and saw the water our fears where confirmed.
The banks where flooded and the water was muddy, it would be difficult to extract trout under these conditions.
Normally I would not fish flooded rivers but since I had traveled a long distance to get here I had no other options.
My thoughts where that the trout would seek sheltered spots behind larger stones or inside bends.
As the riverbank was well under water I figured that fish would also be in there.
It turned out I was right – any of the spots I mentioned had fish and so I did quite well.

We returned to the hotel late in the evening, it was raining again – in fact it rained cats and dogs all night.
In the morning at breakfast we heard roaring water, the little brook that flowed past and underneath the hotel  was now a little monster.
It pushed so much water that the manager of the hotel had stood watch all night as a section of the hotel was build on pilings over the brook.
Rocks and tree limbs came down that little stream which could potentially get stuck at the pilings flooding part of the hotel.
The road from the hotel further into the mountains was closed due to a landslide and fire engine crews where in constant action to clear the roads – not a good forebode for the days fishing.

There was some discussion of where and how we would fish this day.
Our other friends always wanted to fish in a pack – we had more or less the idea that we would fish like we did every year.
I would not deny that I might be a bit socially impaired but I could not stand the thought of fishing a rather small river with seven people at the same spot. In the end we all went on our own (different) way.

There was a large reservoir in the middle of the river we fished, the downstream section was the part most fisherman knew and thus crowded.
We as regulars had often fished the river where it entered the reservoir, a favorite spot for us.
It was not that well known and boasted besides the rather rare grayling huge quantities of shiners that ran up from the reservoir in spring to spawn.
We decided to fish that section of the river which was now even murkier and higher because of all the rain that had fallen in the previous night.

Getting to the river provided a new challenge, the access road was closed off as a new bridge was being built.
To reach our desired fishing haunts we had to follow the trail that ran along the mountain.
With all the wet weather this trail had been converted into a narrow slippery path, passable with good walking shoes but a nightmare to walk with felt soled wading shoes.
My friends headed directly for the spots they had done so well one year before, I stopped earlier at a deep and wide pool where I thought I had the best chances to catch fish.

At first I was fishing with a nymph just to see if any of the shiners where around.
I got no hits which was not entirily a wonder as the water was so murky.
Something bigger had to be tied on, in this case a streamer might be more visible to any hungry fish and it turned out to be the right choice.
The streamer did not travel long in the water before the first trout hit it.
There where many trout and so I expected that the pool must have been stocked recently.
Most of the trout I caught where off color and had damaged tails, a sure sign that these fish had been reared in a concrete hatchery basin.

At least I was catching some fish, the other guys did conserably less well.
Only one of my other friends caught a couple of the fish, the other one blanked.
We fished until late in the afternoon, after that it was back to the hotel and then into town for dinner at the Italian restaurant.

The third day was even worse than the previous day.
More rain had fallen and many part of middle and eastern Germany had serious flooding.
We where not sure if we would go fishing or go home that day.

With the river even higher and muddier than the day before we decided to tour the area and see if we could find a fishable spot.
We all ended up at the large reservoir and I had serious plans to rent a boat and fish the reservoir instead of the river.

A view from the dam showed us that (as is often the case) the outflow was pretty clear.
The run-off from the mountains caused the stream to color the further you came from the dam.
The plan came in to mind to fish the first section of the stream behind the dam.
The problem was that we where not alone with that thought, other anglers had the same idea and they where with even more people than we where.
Again our party split up – the regulars would try and fish further downstream – the part timers would join the crowd.

I fished the spots I visited on day one and did again pretty well.
There where also many nice spots further upstream and although wading was tricky I could reach and fish all those spots.
Well upstream there was a section that I normally would not fish because it was so shallow – off course now it was flooded.

One side was marshy and before I knew it I got stuck in the mud – I had to get out of there quick.
There was a small road that ran through the river and it was easy passable during normal conditions.
I tried to walk over it but the heavy current convinced me to turn around.
Instead I carefully waded over the flooded bank as I had seen rising fish in the distance.
In the end I found a good spot to fish and was catching little brown trout on sedges.

I did very well on the shallow stretch but as I lost radio contact to the other guys I wondered how they fared.
If they had no luck at their locations they could join me as there was ample space to fish.
I headed downstream and found them at the adjacent bank halfway from our starting point.
They had caught their fair share of fish and where doing fine.
I decided to fish the road bridge downstream where two East Germans where already fishing.
I fished well upstream from the two other anglers and did quite well catching the stockies on streamers, I saw not much action with the other guys though.

At the end of the day we would all meet up at the local trout hatchery in order to drive to the next town for a visit to a Italian restaurant.
When we arrived at the hatchery and the others did not show up at the designated time a radio call was made to the part timers.
They replied that they still fishing – so we waited – and waited – and waited a little more.
Finally a phone called was made, the part timers where already at the restaurant.
So we cursed them as we could have been fishing during all the time we waited.
Off course we ended at separate tables in the Italian restaurant which was btw. a very good place to eat.

During the last night of our stay it had actually not rained.
A look at the river showed that the level had gone down quite a bit and the water had become cleaner.
We as regulars had a short fishing day ahead of us as some of us had other obligations later that day,
the part timers would stay a little longer.
After breakfast we had a discussion of where we would fish – I had the preference for the area near the
hatchery, my friends wanted to fish below the day.
By mistake we ended up at the spot I desired.

Although it was dry it also was very cold for a day in spring, in fact the temperature did not climb higher than eleven degrees Celsius on that day. Combined with a very strong wind it almost fell like fall.
I fished with a small nymph and caught quite a few trout near a hot spot at the road bridge.

After a while I headed further upstream as there was another nice pool only a short wading distance ahead.
One of my friends had the same idea only he used a path along the river to get there.
As I had reached the end of the pool he was fishing the start of it.

Despite the cold windy conditions small mayflies where on the water and the trout where rising all over the place.As the water was rather deep especially in these conditions fish where rising right in front of me.
At first I fished the nymph but then tried a sedge to get any of the rising fish.
I did get a few of them but it was clear that the sedge was not entirely convincing.
At noon we called it a day and headed back home only to get caught up in another traffic jam as all regular holidaymakers also returned home at the same time.

So this trip left some mixed feelings – despite the lousy conditions the fishing was actually
rather good and I learned something about fishing flooded rivers.
We had a good time nonetheless all the adverse conditions.
The downside was going on a trip with so many people and also importantly with people
that are not always on the same wavelength so to say.

Hopefully next year we will go as regulars only to avoid all the organization misery we had on this trip.
One of the regulars and I will return for a re-match later this year to the Harz mountains though, we will then probably complain about the low water 🙂

I was a bit late on this Sunday so there where already plenty people out and about
when I got at the water.
My first port of call was the spot where I would always guaranteed catch some roach.
Normally you could see the fish cruise in the shallow water but now the spot
seemed void of life.

Like so many day in this so called summer the wind was blowing in force.
Lots of debris covered the water, half the time the nymph I fished would be entangled
in blossom debris before it sank in the water.
Normally I would get hits near the Willow tree that covered the stream but on this
day the opposite bank was the ticket for the first couple of fish.

I had tied up some weighted buzzer type flies lately that worked pretty well with the fish.
The only drawback I noticed was the fact that the tinsel would be chewed off by the fish when they
hit the fly, the next versions will get a coat of bug bond.

The roach I caught where on the small side and I wondered where the big ones had gone.
When my indicator went down I felt something more massive swimming away with my
fly and was already thinking I had caught one of those really big roach.
To my surprise it turned out to be a brown trout, a rare visitor on that stretch of the stream.

I fished the spot thoroughly but no more fish came to the surface.
At a pool further upstream I noticed more fish but all where small and not interested in my flies.
I spotted two trout but they only only followed the fly probably protecting their lie rather than
intending to eat the fly.

Further sections upstream had fish but with the low water the fish would scatter before
I even was in the position to make a decent cast.
I was about to move to more secluded spots when I noticed upstream from a weir a pike.
The pike was very slowly moving in the middle of this slow flowing stretch of the stream that
had quite a population of tasty roach.
Unfortunately this was a sort of village green spot where lots of people would cycle along the
path that paralled the bank.
With no room to make a decent cast and so many people about I decided after a few failed
attempts to let the pike in peace.

My next stop was a spot in the middle of the forest where I had spotted trout on the last visit.
I saw a rising fish but could not determine which species.
With no room to cast I just flipped a little nymph into a bend and was rewarded with an instant
strike, Dace.

The dace where rather small though so I went on and looked for the trout.
I noticed that the stretch in the forest boasted a lot of mayflies, many of them
where landing on the water – and safely flew off again.

There was still a trout present but it spotted me first and retreated to a pile of debris in the
water.
I tried to coax it up with a streamer but failed, it would not come out to play.
When I tried the nymph I got constant hits of very small dace that where just nibbling at the fly.
After a while I got a hookup from another trout but it slipped of the hook.

While other parts of Germany where almost submerged my little stream had a definite shortage
of water as the banks become more exposed every week.

It was late in the day and as I had not eaten yet it was time to visit the pub, first though I would
take a look from the nearby bridge to see if any trout where visible.
A view from that bridge only revealed that some dace where milling around, I left them in peace.
After my well deserved break it was time to hit the road again.

In the morning the skies where blue with clouds but late afternoon the cloud cover got more thick.
It almost looked like it might rain allthough the weather people had not predicted that.
With the mayflies in mind I scouted some more upstream sections for rising fish, I saw none.
When I arrived at the last spot I would fish the first sprinkles fell, the forest sheltered me and
the stream from the rain but it was already pretty dark.

I probed a deadfall that lay in the water, there had to be a trout lying in hiding there.
A segde was carefully placed at the the edge of the tree and a trout shot out and tried to
get the fly – it missed however.
On the second attempt it just swam under the fly, I could see the bulge but the fish
hesitated.
More attempts followed but no response from the fish, still I knew it would take the fly at some point.
In the end perseverance paid off as the fish finally took the fly and I hooked it solidly.

Getting the last fish of the day on a dry fly was so they say the icing on the cake which I already
had at the pub to be precise 🙂
I took a last look at the green fields, smelled the fresh air and thought that I was privileged to
have such a nice place to fish close at thand.