Flyfishing FWSW

On August the 5th. we made our way from the Dutch border to southern Germany for a five day fishing trip.
We estimated it would take us about 8 hours driving time to reach our hotel.

It was Sunday when we left which meant that the German Autobahn was free of trucks (by regulation), we made
good tracks.
Our fishing licenses issued by the hotel would be valid from
Monday onwards but we guessed if we would get there early enough
we could do some scouting on the river for the next day.

After five hours on the Autobahn we decided it was time for a break.
Instead of heading to a place right on the highway we took an
exit and decided to stop at the first little village for some coffee.
The first village looked quite empty so we moved further away from
the highway.

We crossed a stream and fishing nuts as we where we wanted to take a closer look at it.
The name at the brigde stated that we just drove over the Frankische Saale.
We could not find a suitable spot to reach the stream and eventually
ended up in the town of Hammelburg, Bavaria.
A little study on the map showed that further in town a small road
might lead to the river so we headed there.
The road ended though at the railway tracks, only a small walkway underneath the tracks gave access to adjecent fields.

I took a path along some ponds where I saw some carp and perch.
Finally when I reached the stream I noticed that it was all thick brush and steep banks.
I just could not get near to have a good look.
All I could see was some murky water so I was not that excited.

On the way to the river we had located a small restaurant along the roadside which turned out to be an Italian place when we stopped
there as we headed back to the highway.
So instead of regular coffee we got some pretty good cappuchino.
The rest of the trip went pretty uneventfull and so we arrived
within the designated time at our destination in the deep south.

We stopped at one of the feeder streams of the river we would
fishing and immediately spotted some trout in the current.

As we stood on the brigde and looked at the trout I noticed that a car stopped at the roadside.
It had a dutch license plate, what a coindence.
Then a guy stepped up and yelled something like “there are no fish in there”.
The voice sounded familiar, turned out to be a guy from our local flyfishing
club who was staying at the same hotel we did – it’s really a small world.
After a little chat we each went our ways, our stop was the main river.

The main river looked nice but we just could not see any activity of fish which bothered us a bit.
First it was time to check in to the hotel and maybe get some refreshments in the village.
We headed out to the stretch of the river where we would probably
start our fishing the next day.
A quick peek on the bridgde still gave us no signs of fish.

A walk to the field road adjecent to the stream was in place.
When we looked a little bit further afield in the stream we could not believe our eyes.
The fish where stacked in layers of three in one concentrated spot.
It looked just like a place that was recently stocked.

After seeing all those fish it was pretty certain where we would start fishing the next day.
Fishing would be good for sure.

We ended the day with dinner at our favourite Italian restaurant in the village.
To bad the owner would close his place down for his holiday the next day but we had already spotted a plan B place.
Plan B was the Greek restaurant located in the same street.
Most important with these places, they stayed open late enough so you could fish well into the evening hatch and still have
dinner afterwards.

Today I was on a mission – go and catch chub.

I knew that the stream I fished had some pretty big chub in them
but they where so wary that I never even got close to them.
Off course big chub got big not because they where stupid like
the little ones who would grab anything from the surface.

At first I only spotted little chub and subsequently caught a few of those.
Just by chance I ran into a fellow member of the German syndicate who
was also busy flyfishing.
He had done well with mayfly patterns so that might be the ticket for the
day as many naturals where buzzing along the field.

After some searching I spotted a couple of very big chub, the monsters
I had been looking for.
It was almost impossible to fish for them without scaring them off but I
managed some casts with a big mayfly.
It was nerve wracking as I watch many times how a big chub would move
To investigate the fly and open its mouth to inhale the fly.
For some reason they all rejected the fly at the last moment and whatever
Different pattern I choose did not seem to matter.

I left the spot for an hour and tried again later in the day.
The big chub where still around and it looked like they where active.
After a few fruitless drifts the fly suddenly got inhaled by a big chub,
I struck and all hell brooke loose as the chub charged off.

Chub had the nasty habit of diving in the weeds and this one was no different.
I had to get wet to land this fish but luckily the water table was low and access
To the water was more or less easy.
I managed to coax the chub out of the weeds and could finally land the fish.
It may have taken years but I finally got one of the big boys…

I had hoped that today’s weather would be a bit friendlier than yesterdays
but oh boy was I wrong.
With those low temperatures and drizzle I just could not get in the spring spirit.

Still I could notice a rising fish in the stream so I immediately launched a fly towards the fish
Which did not led to the desired effect.
The spot I was fishing did not look that lively so I moved on to the next.

Spot nr. 2 actually boasted a brown trout.
The trout had picked a strategic position behind some tree roots.
To get a fly there would be very difficult especially with such a low water level like we had today.
Before I even launched the fly the trout spotted me and ran off, a wise decision.

The next spot was at a location where I had not fished in ages.
I just tried my luck by tossing a nymph in a deeper section of the stream between to deadfalls.
Well, there where fish as I suspected, the rate in which my tippet ran off however showed me
That I was into something larger than I had bargained for.
I set the hook and a very big trout shot into the air, the fish broke the tippet- bummer.

At the next spot where last week a decent trout was rising it stayed quiet.
The big trout had gone, the toddler was present and off course he took my nymph.
The small trout managed to throw the nymph and so it looked like I might be in for a tough day.

To boost moral I had to visit the “always fish” honey hole even though it had not been that
swell the last time I fished there.
I could see the roach but they where strangely hugging the bank.
When I heard racket in the water upstream I instantly thought “trout”.
It did not take long before I had one on and by the way it thought it was clear to me
That I had caught one of the pretty rare brook trout.

Besides the brook trout I could land two brown trout and even a little perch and roach where interested
In the nymphs I fished.
I was happy that the last spot had produced fish.

On the way back home I stopped at a carp hideout and as expected the carp where moving
Up and down in a shallow pool accompanied by a few bream.
I tried to catch them but they had already noticed me and where not in feeding mode.
One of these days I will get one of these carp….
So despite the lousy weather this day turned out pretty good.

Tried the stream this afternoon and was welcomed by legions of Roach that
pretty much ignored most of my offerings.
Finally I got one decent fish out of the school who put up a fight and scared
the rest of the school away.

Further upstream I ran into the first trout who managed to escape.
Had a go at the Dace that where feeding in the surface but they saw me and ran off.

When I saw another trout I wondered if the local syndicate had been on
a stocking spree again.
I decided not to use a lure but drift a nymph to the stationary brown, the
fish did not think twice and grabbed the nymph.

The weather was unsettled and when it became dark and thunder was heard
I took cover at the local watermill.

When things cleared up I fished a small white lure in one of the pools hoping for more trout.
Nothing hit the white lure so I switched to black which turned out to be the ticket for the trout.
Hooked one that threw the hook and had two fish showing interest.

When I looked at my watch I saw that I was already well past my intended departure time so I called it a day.
Maybe the trout will last untill next weekend.

The sudden weather change did not forbode much good this weekend.
We went from warm spring weather to a cold and windy weather pattern.
Since I had tied a bunch of nymphs I wanted to test I headed to the stream
anyway despite the less than ideal weather situation.

The weather turned out to be exactly as the weather forecast stated, lousy.
You could get pretty wet from that “light” rain.

At my first tried and tested pool I put some of the new nymphs to a test.
These flies where tied with normal weight bead heads so they would take a time to reach the
proper depth.
I spotted the roach having a go at them even before they had sunk to the bottom which was not
noticable on the indicator.
For some reason I could not get the roach interested to take the nymphs.
Since the stream was recently stocked with trout I decided to switch my setup and fish a streamer instead.
I had a nice trout follow the streamer but it just missed the fly.
I fished the pool thoroughly to get another strike but the trout declined.
A few pools further upstream I caught at least a small perch.
Some more casts delivered another perch which was bigger and fought very well.

I still wanted to test the nymphs so I checked out another pool.
The pool in question boasted some feeding fish as I could see something silvery flanking in the depth.
I had a few hits of some small trout but the silver fish where nowehere to be seen.

When I increased the length between the nymph and the indicator to reach more depth I received the
first strikes.
The roach that came to the surface was of pretty good size.

Two roach was all I got get from the pool.
The combination of low water, not many fish to be seen and lousy weather made me decide
to call it day.
Spring had progressed a little further now that debris from flowering trees where covering the surface of
the stream.

It was interesting to see that for the first time the dace where actively nosing in the surface for edible items.
If only the temperatures would increase then it might be possible to fish the dry fly.
Another thing I noticed where the many goldfish in the stream, I guess somebody had dumped the
contents of their garden pond into the stream.
The herons would probably make short work of those fish.

The day started today cold and foggy but when the sun broke through it got pretty warm.
I fished one of my favorite pools upriver and had a ball.
I even hooked three of the elusive carps which all managed to throw the hook.
I will be back … for those carp.

All kinds of fish species where moving in my pool.
Oddly I spotted two lampreys in the stream, never seenthose before.

Trout season was open so I could fish the full length of the stream again.
Had a go at the Roach and then ran into the stockies.
There where a lot of them and surprisingly small fish as well.
Hooked about 7 brown trout, had one legal size and two small ones
who all went back.

When I returned from upriver I could not believe how many anglers where dunking worms in the streams.
I guess they all hibernated.
If my calculation is right then the stream will be troutless before the end of the month.

Last saturday the weather was not so pleasant for fishing so I tied some nymphs and lures instead.
On sunday the weather was decent so I decided to field test the new flies.

Besides the pheasant tails I had tied some brassies and fitted them with a tungsten gold bead hoping they would do the trick.
I scouted the stream for suitable test objects but the stream looked empty.

After a while I found some fish but to get near to them was quite difficult.
I managed a few drifts and caught the first small dace of the season.

I wondered where all the roach had gone – none to be seen.
As I came near the watermill in the village I noticed that the roach where present.
It looked however like something was chasing them so I figured that somebody might have stocked trout for the opening of the season
next week.
Since I could not clearly make out what moving in the water it might also
have been a perch so I tied on a small lure to see what was in the pool.
One small perch had a go at the fly but that was it.

It was time to switch to the nymphing setup again and vist the good spots where more roach could be found.
At one spot where a tree had fallen in the water I could spot dozens of roach between the submergded branches.
It was an unfishable spot though as the nymph would get tangled in seconds in the debris.
Further upstream I managed to catch a couple of roach and I am happy to day that the fish are increasing in size.

I had a little talk with one of the villagers who mentioned that he had seen quite a few cormorants this winter.
We have to see what effect they have had on the fish population.
It is still early season though so I suspect that the big schools of roach and dace will pop up when the countryside is green again.