Flyfishing FWSW

The 30th. of April is a national holiday in the Netherlands to celebrate the birthday of the queen.
We use it to go fishing in Germany at one of our favorite haunts which is the Möhne river run by
the fishing store Flyfishing Europe formerly known as Flyfishing Brinkhoff.
Since Queensday fell on a Saturday this year we decided to skip work and fish the Möhne on Friday

My friends and I live near the German border so to reach the river only requires a drive about an hour plus.
We arrived just before the opening of the store and first stocked up on flytying gear before we got our
licenses and headed for the river.
At the store they directed us to the upstream part of the river where we curiously had never fished even
though we had visited the river for years.

The upstream stetch looked good, it even was wadable which is not always the case at the Möhne river since the
banks are usually high and are formed of slippery clay.
It was low water and in this case that was good, even now some of the pools where so deep that
I hardly stayed dry. 
I opted to fish with the streamer, on my first retrieve I already had two trout chasing the fly so fish where
stacked in this section.

I hooked and lost a lot of fish on this day.
Not the big monsters that this river was famous for (haven’t seen them for a long time now) but regular size fish.
There where a lot of brook trout around so I figured the fish had been stocked recently especially since I
spotted a whole group of them in one place.

I fished the river and caught rainbow trout, brown trout and brooktrout.
Furthermore I spotted one koi carp, a pike and a quite hefty chub.

At the end of the day the weather suddenly changed and clouds rolled in.
Suddenly it started to blow which was a sign for me to scramble back to
the car as lightning was immenent.
The first impact was too close for comfort so we sheltered in the car to
see if the weather would improve.
With dusk knocking on the door we moved to a more easily fished stretch of the river
and started to fish when we determined it would be safe to do so.
We where just halfway wnen lightning struck the nearby hillside so it was back running
to the car.

We waited half an hour and had a third go at the river.
The thunderclouds where gone, it only poured for a while.
I fished the last hour with a streamer and had many hits but only managed a last
brook trout and one rainbow trout.
A very good day for us at the river.

I had to travel for work recently to the German Baltic coast 
so just in case I had some spare time I took a flyrod with me.

My collegues and I where visiting a milk processing plant and 
while I was thinking about searun browns at the nearby coast
my co-workers where more likely to go out drinking at the hotel.

With some persistance I managed to coax them into dropping me off
at the coast so I spend my couple of hours on the German Baltic 
sea coast.
The water was clear, baitfish where around and the weather was nice so I was expecting some fish.
But … it did not work out as I planned and although I had fished extensively for a couple of hours I could not get a single bite.







Beach

My lodging, the barn to the left.
I picked the hotel and it turned out that the location was featured in
some well known German soap series … which I had never heard of, whatever

On day two of my visit I was quite early at the beach but then the weather had completely changed.
The placed Baltic sea was now boasting pretty whitecaps and the wind was blowing right in my face.
All that wave action rooted up the seasweed making the water a murky mess.
I could not even spot the large boulders that where spread around so I almost took a swim.
Still it was better to be outside than hanging around in some hotel.







I did chat to some of the locals though for some intel.
Appearantly in the morning when I was still working conditons where nice and searuns where spotted hunting along the shorelines.
Some bait fisherman where still out fishing and talked about catches
of flounder.
If the weather was favourable it was even possible to catch cod from the beach.

Maybe I should have invested in a fishing license for the river in the town where my hotel was located.
The banks there where packed with anglers since the Herring where running up the river to spawn.
Maybe I have more luck if I ever go there again.

Yesterday I visited our little stream in Germany and noticed that the water level was 
Extremely low.
We need some good downpours in this region right now.



Low water

I noticed lots of small fish in the water and saw the quite a few Dace actively
feeding in the surface.
I had trouble making a decent presentation of the fly since the water was so low
and the current minimal.
For some reason I could not find any of the larger fish and I wondered where
they had gone.



Flowering trees

At one small rapid the pool was deep enough to hold fish and I hooked and lost
several roach, the fish where picky.
I spotted rainbow trout so I switched from nymph to streamer and soon had a nice
Fish on that put up a good fight on the four weight.
A second trout was also hooked but threw the barbless hook.


Rainbow trout

Further a field all the pools that held fish the last week where empty.
The water was so low that I could spot the bottom which was not good.
Two more trout came out to attack the streamer but I could not hook those fish.



View of the countryside

On my way back I wanted to have another go at the first pool where I had success
But the spot was already occupied by the worm brigade so I have no hope
that trout would remain in there.

Still it was a nice sunny day here in Europe.
For the time being this was the last visit to the stream for some time.
Next week I will be off to pursue sea run browns in the Danish Baltic sea.

My friends had planned a trip to the Eifel region in
Southwestern Germany this spring.
Since I would be visiting the Harz mountains later in
the season I was thinking of skipping the Eifel trip
since time and funds might be an issue.

When the final preparations for the Eifel trip where 
made it turned out to be a pretty bargain and since I 
could get time off from work I decided to tag along.

Day 1.

On a wednesdayevening we headed to our destination of
Kyllburg and made good progress on the Autobahn.
The last stretch would take us on the backroads.
Our driver was a little too eager to get to the river
so he was speeding at a spot fitted with a speedingcamera.
The flash from the radar trap was a sign that the trip
just got a little expensiver.

Late in the evening we arrived at the camping that was located
smack on the riverbank.
It was still warm outside and to our surprise hundreds of caddisflies
where swarming in the lights.
Our quarters would be one caravan and something I just called the dog house.


A view on the camping, to the right the doghouse – further
left our caravan.

The dog house – two people fitted in there (barely)

The first day we fished the stretch of the Kyll in Kyllburg.
After breakfast at the camping we headed out for our morning session
and did pretty well.

















In the beginning I had a tough time figuring out what would work.
My usual nymphing techniques failed but slowly I got there and 
started catching all sorts of fish.
Only the barbels, a large carp like fish ignored whatever I offered them.

In the afternoon we headed into Kyllburg to get something to eat.
We picked out the Bella Italia restaurant that was located on the rive bank. 
From the nearby bridge we could see how monster size chub and barbel patrolled the no-fishing zone.
A bread fly would probably do wonders out there.


Barbel from the no-fishing zone.

For the evening session we decided to not venture to far from our camping.
A year before we had witnessed a grand evening rise on the camping
stretch and where hoping for the same this time.
Conditions where different though as we where right in the middle of a weather change.
The weather turned from very hot to very chilly and so we stood in the river und dark clouds and a strong wind.
The temperatures had dropped significantly and allthough fish where rising it was not what we had hoped for.





Still some fish came to the net, the winning pattern was a segde fly.
When it became to dark to spot the fly and fish activity slowed down we called it a day and went back to the camping.

Day 2.

On day 2 we would visit a different stretch of the Kyll.
We would head to the town of Gerolstein where we had 
arranged permits to fish the Kyll and a small stream called
Oos.

After getting the licenses we split up at the river.
Some friends and I started at the downstream section, two others
would hit the Oos stream and the upstream section.
As we got ready to gear up the clouds opened and it rained pretty strong, since the Kyll river was prone to discoloring after rainshowers I feared the worst.

As I entered the river amidst the rain I opted to fish the nymph.
At first I got no hits except on the orange strike putty I used as strike indicator.
Figuring orange was a good color I tied on my one and only small orange nymph and hoped for the best.
It did not take long before I got results.







The first stretch I fished was in a tunnel of trees, the river was small there and casting was tricky.
Further downstream the river became wider.
When the first showers stopped the sun came out for a moment and I spotted a rising fish just behind me.
After a few casts I was in to the fish which turned out to be a surprise, a grayling.



grayling


New rainshowers came pouring down and I wondered if we would get lightning.
Luckily it stayed with rain only so I continued to fish.
After catching some small trout I ran into a big fish that raced upstream in seconds.
It only took a few seconds before my tippet gave away, I had 
most likely hooked into a barbel .

When the rain subsided the sun came out once again.
Now I was standing on a stretch where the river was wide.
Trout suddenly started rising fanatically.
I could clearly see the trout stationed upstream from me and
caught loads of them while sightcasting, it was good.







I made it upstream to the Oos stream and decided to check it out.
Allthough I spotted some trout in that stream I found it to be to shallow and small to explore it all the way.


The Oosbach

Upstream the rest of the crew where working the river so I decided to 
go downstream.
The next couple of hours where not that good as I had fished the
section before and fish where on to me.

In the afternoon we picked out a restaurant in Gerolstein to get 
something to eat.
The guy who sold us the permits talked about the Grayling section in the middle of Gerolstein so we checked it out after lunch.



In Gerolstein

Fishing in the middle of town amidst sunken bikes and soforth was not our cup of tea so we headed to the section in front of the town where my friends had done good that morning.

We walked along a bikepath close to the river and could spot the rising trout amidst the crowfoot.
I picked a spot and tied on a segde pattern and worked the lanes between the crowfoot.
Fish after fish came to the net, caddis where on the water in force.







It all went pretty well untill the caddis dissappeared when the sun went down.
Temperatures plummeted so the insects where gone.
Fish where sporadically rising but most likely taking emergers in the surface film.
Whatever I tried I could not get them to eat.
The last fish I took that day was on a small PT nymph.

Day 3

The third day we headed to the Kyll at the village of Fliessem.
It was the only section of the Kyll in the Kyll valley where there
was no road or railway along the river.
So as we headed into the valley we hoped to enjoy pure silence.

It did not work out though as we had thought.
On the valley floor a watermill was the landmark in the middle of the stretch we would fish.
A big sign stated “Tonight rock concert”, so we entered the middle of 
the fairground.
Since the concert would be later in the evening only the crews of the stage where present but it would get busy and loud later.

It was rather chilly outside so dry fly fishing would probably be a 
waste of time.
I entered the water and found it discolered.
A nymph pretty soon yielded the first trout.
Since I was in the middle section I decided walk along the fields
to get to the farthers upstream point.

When I found that the upstream section was only becoming deeper and wider and headed a little back downstream and started to fish
a streamer.





Normally the Kyll was not that deep but the stretch I was wading was different. 
When the water became deep I was pondering weather to get out to the bank and walk or continue wading.
I decided to do the latter which was my downfall.
Suddenly I went to deep and noticed to late that my “open” waterproof camera bag was submerged.
It was too late to safe the camera, completely dead after being dunked in the water – bummer.

So I did stuped and payed the price.
It put a damper on my fishing expirience and well I got 
a little depressed.
I continued fishing but was happy when we decided to stop for
lunch later in the day.
We headed to the only restaurant in the village nearby and fuelled
up for the evening session.


Fuelling up.

In the evening we had a slight break in the weather.
The sun came out for a while and caddisflies began to swarm.
The fairground was slowly filling up with people and as 
Guns and Roses came out the speakers behind me audible through
the whole valley I noticed loads of rising fish.

Armed with a segde I targeted the rising fish and started catching
them.
I told my buddy nearby to get over the spot I was fishing and
soon he was into fish also.
Since I was cameraless now I started taking pictures with my phone,
not great quality but at least something for the record.







At a certain time in the evening the action just died down in an instant.
The caddis stopt swarming when the sun went down behind the hills.
Off course the trout did the same and would only sporadically rise.
I figured that only a streamer would work so I tied on a small magnus streamer originally intended for searun browns in the Baltic sea.
That streamer yielded the last couple of fish for the day.
As the fairground filled with people for the concert we left for the camping.

Day 4.


On the last day of our trip we would head north and fish the Kyll river way upstream in Stadtkyll.
After breakfast we cleaned the caravan and the doghouse and made our
way up north.
In Stadtkyll we got our permits at the local gas station and headed out to a very clear and small Kyll river.

The water was low and fishing would be tricky indeed.
I was the first to get ready and noticed a pool that was teeming with trout, chub, roach and perch.
I even spotted two crayfish moving about.

At first I thought this would be easy but these fish where already spooked when the leader landed on the water.
No show for me thus, my only hope was to find a deeper pool that was under the cover of trees.
I found such a spot soon and landed my first trout of the day.





It was a jungle out there and darn shallow.
I was soon overtaken by Tom who starting fishing in front of me.
Since the section I fished was lacking a path I could not move
further upstream to circument Tom.
I guess part of the Kyll was no good for a horde of five flyfisherman.
In the end Tom got his fly so often in the trees that he gave
up to find greener pastures.

I moved upstream through the jungle when the river eventually entered a more open landscape.
It became very shallow though and the only fish I found where in spots where casting was absolutely impossible.
To my surprise I did spot larger grayling though.
My intention was to reach the start of our stretch where a larger dam would be located but when I saw another flyfisherman already working the stream I opted to go back.

On the way back I had a go at the grayling.
They where hiding in a pool under a set of willows so I just
let the nymph be taking with the current downstream.
It worked as I hooked one of the larger graylings.
To bad the hook came out so I had nothing to show for.





I caught a few smaller trout and a little grayling downstream.
When it was close to the time when we would leave I opted to
fish one of the deeper pools in the middle of the village.

Legions of large roach where in front of me, I could spot
them in the clear water.
I tried catching them with PT nymphs just as I would do back
home but it did not work.
I could clearly see the fish following the nymph but they
just would not take it.

At five o’clock it was time to get back to the car.
The other guys had moved downstream and caught a few fish
and had the expirience of being chased off a field by
a bull.

We met a fellow flyfisher who told us that conditions where
bad due to the low water levels.
It was not that great catching wise but I could see the potential
of this stretch in better times.

After three hours driving time we where back home.
With the exception of the camera accident I had a great time
just like the rest of the guys.
The dryfly fishing was really out of this world, haven’t seen
such good rises for a long time.

The only thing I have to do now is to fix my camera issue with
the travel insurance – it has worked before so it might work again.

I spend a couple of days on the German Baltic sea Island of Rügen in pursuit of pike that actually spend time in the open sea.
My friends and I hired a guide who showed us the techniques to use
and the spots to fish.

The pike are normally way out in the waters of the Baltic pursuing the Herring but come into the marshes and harbors in fall to overwinter.
The curious thing about the place is that in that part of the Baltic the salinity is so low that you encounter fresh- and saltwater fish
in the same environment. 

The weather was cold and quite dismal since we almost had fog everyday but some pike where caught and even some big ones.
The downside was that I totally blanked on this trip, only had one fish on that got away.
At least I got a feeling for the place now and if there is ever a next time I will fare better for sure

Everybody who attended the trip handed over
the pics they made so here is the rest of the
images.

The guys from the fishing club had planned a trip to the Eifel region, basically the part of Germany
that is adjacent to the Belgian Ardennes area.
Since I already had a few fishing trips on my sleeve and a upcoming trip to Rhode Island planned I declined the offer to join them.

It looked like it would get busy at work so I did not take the chance to ask for more time off.
When I discovered that it would be quiet at work for some time I decided at the last minute to join the trip.

The first destination would be the Rur river at the village of Blens.
Two of our party had already fished there last year during the summer and had good results.
Since the hotel was full we got the rental house on the other side of the street which was nice.

The first day of our trip was purely a travel day, after 3,5 hours we arrived at the village of Blens and off course
the first thing we did was park the car and walked to the bridge over the river to see if we could spot any rising fish.

We did not stop at the hotel though but ran straight to the end of the stretch we where allowed to fish.
Halfway at that spot the river would make a s-curve, at that curve there was a deep hole.




A cross at the roadside was placed in remembrance of an unlucky soul who died there due to an accident in 1881.
Lokal folklore stated that the man in question in was drunk at the time and ran his horse drawn carriage
right in that deep hole to be never found again.

A nice tall story although the divers of the local fire department estimated that the hole would be 40 meters /
120 feet deep, enough to swallow man and horse I guess.




“Pray for the soul of the Joseph Kühl ,born on the 4th. Of Mai 1881, who crashed here on the 13th. Of July 1881.
Watch and pray because death will come to you at an hour you do not suspect.”

After our little sightseeing trip we headed to the hotel and occupied our rental house.
We would not fish this day, instead we went to the hotel’s restaurant for some good German food and
of course some fine wheatbeers.
The next morning we would visit the river well before breakfast for a short fishing session.

The part of the Rur river we would fish was located behind the Rur reservoir at Heimbach.
This meant clear water with a constant temperature and a quite steady flow of 7.5 cubic meters per second according to
the measuring station at the reservoir.
In the early morning we headed to the river when it was still dark outside.
The river looked good, mist was still hanging in the valley and over the cold water.




I had some difficulties coping with the fast flow and the wide river, not a place I was used to.
What disappointed me was the total lack of visible fish, I already was told to fish into the adjacent bank
but somehow I did not got a single bite.
The guys who had visited this river last year had fished there with a guide and that obviously paid
off since they managed to catch a few fish.






I scouted a large stretch of the river but it was to no avail, in the end I decided to join the other guys
to see how they where faring.

Tom told me he had seen a rising fish near the bridge but could not get it to take his fly
and suggested I might have a go at it.
I decided to launch a klinkhamer dry fly at the spot mentioned and behold after a few drifts a trout sticked
it’s head above the surface and took the fly.




Luckily skunk was avoided, the brown trout was a pretty specimen with a nice dark brown coloration.
When we left for breakfast Tom had six fish, Alfons five and Joop and I both one fish.

According to the other guys the water was slightly higher than usual but not extremely high.
We settled in the restaurant of the hotel for breakfast and would visit the stream later in the morning.






The afternoon session was tough, we fished downstream from the bridge and had a hard time
getting into the water because of the steep banks.
I could not get a single hit on the fly even though I fished a lot of places that would have to hold the one or the other fish in my book.
The other guys did not fare well better and I must confess that I felt a bit disappointed that a water with
such a heavy price tag for a permit would not yield more fish.

The icing on the cake came when my wading staff decided to lead a life on its own.
The staff was new and came with a warning in the manual that some people had lost their staff due to a
faulty connection on the line that secured the staff to the holster.
Off course I checked that connection as suggested in the manual but it still came loose and so 
I stood there in the full current without my wading staff.
I had to think quick to avoid a swim in the cold water and made my way to the bank,
picked up a suitable wooden stick and secured it to a line.

I made my way downstream until I was at the S-curve where Joseph Kühl plunged to his death in 1881.
I found that close to that abyss there was a rock ledge where you could walk on.
I crawled along the willows of the bank and positioned myself on rock ledge so I could reach that
single rising fish that was located near an otherwise unreachable deadfall.
I did get a good shot at the fish and voila, the fish took the fly.



The problem was that the fish was rather small in my book, I tried for some bigger trout but could not find them.
While fishing Joop radioed in that the water levels had risen quickly, we also noticed that a lots of debris where floating by.
When I met the other guys at the river we decided to take a break and go for dinner to the restaurant.

We told the story of the increased flows at the hotel’s owner who stated that the people at the reservoir would inform him
on time if they would release water.
So a call went out to the reservoir, and indeed extra water was released “turbine cleaning“ so they told us.

We where directed to a second spot by the hotel owner that would surely yield fish in the evening so after dinner we headed way upstream.
The water was still running high though and the fish where nowhere to be seen.
In a last ditch effort we headed back to the abyss after sunset in the hope of catching more fish.
Only Tom managed to get more as he spotted some rising fish in a spot that was difficult to reach.

When it was to dark to see the fly we called it quits.
We retreated to our rental place and discussed the plans for the next day.
There was an option to fish a second day on the Rur river but with these results and the hefty permit price we skipped that option.
Calls where made to our plan B spot at the Kyll river in Kyllburg where we would rent a cabin on the local camping.

To be continued…