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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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