Germany 27-09-2020

Germany 27-09-2020

A few days of rain had put water and color in the stream.
I fished the upper section of the stream as the weather was no good for
chub fishing.

Since the mill pool was open again for members with a special permit I tried to catch some fish there.
Unfortunately the lack of water over the past year had filled in the pool
completely so it was to shallow for decent fishing.
Surprisingly the usual present roach and dace where a no show.

Luckily some other sections of the stream still housed some fish with as
icing on the cake a nice brown trout.
The perdigon produced some fish but with the murky water I soon opted
to fish the squirminator.
A borderline fly but it has it’s moments and the many gudgeons I caught
showed it was fished properly deep.

Drawback of the squirminator or squirmy is that you get a lot of tailbites
and that their durability is minimal.
The plus side is that they are easy to tie so you should be able to tie a 
good supply of them in a short time.
I like the original material from Fulling Mill best as it really moves.

Germany 20-09-2020

Germany 20-09-2020

Another sunny day was upon us so again back to the chub hot spots.
As it had not rained for ages the water in the stream was extremely
low and almost stagnant.
I did not manage to spot any large fish or many fish to be precise.

With the sun low in the sky I had again problems just seeing fish.
The many bow waves in the shallow water indicated to me that
the fish had none of such problems.

I finally spotted a collection of fish near a brigde.
The reaction to a dry fly landing in the water was not what I was hoping for.
The fish scattered with even the larger ones running scared.

Switched to a squirmy brought a small chub to surface and later on
a small sedge did the same.
The fish which I did not where totally uninterested in any flies I
offered them.
Hopefully some rain will fall soon to get some action started.

Germany 19-09-2020

Germany 19-09-2020

A bright sunny day just beckoned for chub fishing.
An early start was out of the question as it was fall and the morning
temperatures where quite low.
The first spot I visited boasted some chub and I had the first fish quite
early on.

A little walk along the stream revealed a very big chub in the middle
of the stream hovering in the surface.
I managed to put the fly right in front of the fish without scaring it
as I usually do.
The chub moved slowly towards the fly and tried to gulp it down.

Tried because yours truly was again to quick on the strike and yanked
the fly out of reach of the fish.
The fish submerged to be never seen again.
A trip to a feeder stream yielded chub nr. 2 of the day and later finally
the largest one of the day measuring 40cm.

Fishing was tough, quite some wind from the east and also a sun low
in the sky that made spotting fish very difficult for me.
Alas the fish had less problems seeing me … they ran …

Harz 09-2020

Harz 09-2020

An opportunity arose to make a last minute fishing trip so plans where put into practice quickly to arrange another road trip.
The recent visit to the Harz region called for more and so we left for a 
second trip at the end of the trout season for that region.
Conditions where excellent weather wise while fishing was not always
easy.

I set goals to catch browntrout, rainbowtrout and grayling and all those
goals where accomplished.
I was most pleased at catching the grayling as I had not expected such
large fish in the river.
When I fished a squirmy through a deeper pool I was amazed at what size grayling where chasing the fly.
Off course catching one on sight was the hightlight of the trip.

With international travel being restricted the local region was crowded.
That caused some challenges with dining as due to limited space 
reservations where often required.
We managed to find less frequented places where you could dine without
reservations. 
At some of the more popular places in town we where turned down but
also had some luck being the last guests admitted as the busy hours started. 

Germany 06-09-2020

Germany 06-09-2020

I left for the stream just as the sun was appearing in the sky.
The weather forecast was questionable but early morning started with patches of fog and a clear sky.

Fall was here, crisp mornings with fog and still the possibility of warm afternoons.
With the sun low in the sky I could not really have a good look in the water and thus had difficulty with spotting fish.
I scared the fish off before I could make casts with only on one occasion a fish that took a look at the large dry fly twice before rejecting it.

With time the sun came higher but also clouds appeared and the wind picked up messing up my chances for sight fishing.
A small sedge yielded a small chub so at least I did not blank.
The spot I fished was clearly not yielded any fish so I headed to a feeder stream where surprisingly the fish where absent.

With some luck I got two larger fish but still not the size I wanted, fish in the 40 to 50cm range.
It was late afternoon when I tried my last spot which frankly had not been good to me this season.
Again the lack of sunshine made spotting fish virtually impossible with the fish seeing me first and running for cover.

I was lucky that I spotted the orange fins of a large chub upstream from me close to the bank, I noticed in fact two large chub.
I could not place the large mayfly under the bank from my position but I did manage to toss the fly near to the fish.

The fly was close enough to make both fish turn and one of them gobbled up the mayfly without any hesitation.
I kept my cool and struck at the right moment resulting in the landing of 
an 48cm long chub on the 4-weight.

Germany 30-08-2020

Germany 30-08-2020

I wondered if moving to the chub section on a day with fog and thick clouds would be a wise move.
On the other hand the low water at the upper reaches of the stream seemed equally a waste of time.

I arrived at the chub haunts and had difficulty spotting fish.
With some luck I managed to catch one chub near the bank who
failed to spot me.
I dropped the fly over the edge of the plants on the shore and got
an instant hookup.

Other fish I spotted ignored my fly all together, to smart to be
fooled by my attempts.
I witnessed the rare sight of an eel moving in the surface and if my
mayfly had not been stuck in the shrubs I would have tossed it in
front of the fish.

When the cloud cover lifted somewhat blue skies appeared, the
sun made it easier to spot fish.
I still struggled to sneak on to the chub which where in ample supply.
Plenty of opportunities but wary fish as expected in a small stream
with low water.

Before I caught fish nr. 2 I had some heart stopping moments when a
big chub hovered under the mayfly I tried to zip it in only to refuse
at the last moment.
I refrained from prematurely striking so I had the chance to target the
other chub nearby that swam upstream.
One cast near that fish was enough to entice a strike.

Time passed quickly and just before I decided to quit I made a second
pass at the fish I had scared off earlier.
Again the bank side vegetation obscured me from the fish and a cast
near the bank yielded fish nr. 3 of the day.

With three fish on the mayfly my day was made and so it was time
for a pub visit.
With temperatures on the low side a vest was required to enjoy the outside dining.
Fall is definitely around the corner.

Harz 08-2020

Harz 08-2020

I looked at this year as a lost year as all fishing trips that we planned had been cancelled due to the trying times.
An opportunity came along and so I made some last minute arrangements to start the first road trip of the year.

Conditions where kind of tough in the mountains with low water and warm and humid temperatures but we did alright.
Our tactics differed and sometimes the dry fly produced more fish but
at other times nymphing worked out better.

I fished with the ugliest fly invented aka the squirmy but it was at times
pretty effective in fast runs where the fly got deep fast.
All in all a very enjoyable trip.

Germany 02.08.2020

Germany 02.08.2020

I checked the river gauges and found them all to be low.
More or less what you could expect in high summer.
I was early on the water looking for fish in the chub section of the stream.

The first big fish came up to check out the hopper but decided it had to be fake. The second fish seemed upset by the hopper landing in front of it’s nose and scooted off.
The third fish looked interested but needed some convincing.
A few tugs on the hopper did the trick.

I hooked a nice chub and as chub do it ran into the weeds.
The fish was stuck under the bank lodged in the aquatic growth.
I had to get in again to grab the fish but this time the depth was ok,
resulting just in some wet pants which was tolerable in summer.

I got a few of the smaller fish on the hopper before I noticed that contrary to the weather forecast something was brewing in the sky.
Thick dark clouds gathered and my plan to outrun the rain failed.
I was soaked when I entered the pub for lunch.

I stayed quite a while at the pub and met up with one of my friends before we hit the river for a late fishing session.
The water was low, no deep holes left so all I could muster where some small roach and dace.

Germany 27-06-2020

Germany 27-06-2020

Yesterday I met up with former colleges at the pub in Germany.
The company we worked for had been sold to a big corporation.
The new management ran the whole lot into the ground, we left.

I had some time to spare so I fished the stream in the morning.
Weather wise the rains had stopped at daybreak with the water
slightly up and murky.
It was strange that the perdigon did not draw strikes from shiners.
I hooked a nice trout and then knew why it was so quiet in the pool.

The perdigon did not perform liked I hoped it would.
I had to change to a squirmy worm to get things going again.
Mostly from small bottom feeders that bit the tail but I also managed a trout.
I stalked a larger trout when the skies suddenly darkened.
The rumbling sky above my head made me clear out the water fast.

I went to the pub and just as I was getting out of my waders the skies opened.
It poured but I made it more or less dry into the pub.
It did not take long before my former co workers arrived.
We talked about the old times while having lunch.

Off course I could not resist getting back in the stream after the meetup.
During the downpour the stream had swollen and pushed a lot of dirty water.
The squirmy was a producer due to it’s visibility in the murky water.
All in all a nice day, I cleared the premises around bat time aka sunset.

Germany 19-07-2020

Germany 19-07-2020

I had to try a second day of summer fishing for chub hunting and fished the open plain again.
Chub where about but I did not see the real big fish.
I was lucky enough to once again spot a school of larger fish before
they saw me.

I dropped the hopper in front of the school and one fish raced to
grab the hopper, solid hookup and no swimming involved this time.

What I noticed today was that the fish where concentrated at only
a few places.
The spots with close by cover where favoured by the chub.
I fished the hopper and a segde and both drew strikes.