Flyfishing FWSW

The weather service predicted nice weather for Saturday and not so nice weather on Sunday,
they were wrong … again.
You actually could not ask for better weather, light winds … mild temperature and plenty of sunshine.

It had rained in the night and the effect was a little more than I had hoped for.
The water pushed through at a pretty pace and the current patterns at my favorite coarse fish
hot spots where mixed up.
I could not get to the fish although I had a few nibbles on a small size 16 pheasant tail nymph.

The trout section of the stream was closed now so I had to check out the coarse fish section of the
stream. With surgery not in the distant past the available spots to fish for me where limited.
The last thing I wanted to do is ending up back in hospital because I slipped down a steep bank.

At one of the more easy accessible pools I spotted fish deep and on top.
The fish on top where dace, what lurked in the depths was unknown.
I tied on a tungsten black midge pattern and before I knew it I had hooked a brown trout.

After trout nr.1 I tried to fish a sedge in the faster flow as I had noticed that at times dace would race
up to the surface to grab floating debris, no luck for me though.
The black midge went back on and voila again a trout, this time a pretty decent fish.

Trout season was closed so I moved on to find coarse fish.
There was a mill pool that could house the odd perch but even though I used a sinking line and
a weighted lure I had no bites whatshowever.

The last section I fished was a wide slow moving section of the stream.
It was ultra shallow but always the spot for dry flyfishing and as I approached the place I
noticed sporadic rises of dace.
With the sun at an unfavorable angle it was impossible to spot the fish so I had to drop the fly
near surface action and hope for the best.
I was too slow for the dace though as I missed most strikes.
The one fish I did hook eventually came off so 1-0 for the fish.

The change into standard time from daylight saving time messed up
my sense of timing so it was off to the pub for lunch.
I had the intension to go fishing after lunch but activity at the stream
was minimal.
As I had enjoyed myself pretty good at the stream in this fantastic weather
I did not bother to go fishing again – fully satisfied and off to home.

With the end of the trout season in sight my days on the trout section of the stream
where numbered and the urge to go fishing was thus great.
The problem I faced was that the last couple of days the rains had poured continuously.
I watched the river gage daily as it went up nearly vertically = flooding.
With two special permits left for the mill pool the Saturday fell into the water as the
stream had its peak flow.
On Sunday the waters receded but it was still way too high for decent fishing, I went
anyway as it was my last chance of the year.

The day started with rain and well it actually never stopped, light rain … heavier rain … just rain.
All that rain was only good for the mushrooms which where popping up everywhere.
The migration of the geese was at full force as I spotted a whole army of them through the canopy
of the forest.

I paused at one of the feeder streams to see how the water looked but the stream in question flowed
mostly through the forest from the nearby hills so it never carried much silt as it bypassed agricultural land.
When I hit the first bridge over the main stream the situation was obvious, brown soup.

I entered the mill property rather late in the morning and as it was such a muddy mess I did not
even bother to put on my wading gear.
Before I went fishing I first delivered a Dutch treat to the inhabitants of the mill namely a pack of
syrup waffles, always a success
Off course I was invited in and in no time I was drinking an Irish coffee.
Eventually I headed to the pool to try and catch at least one fish.

Hopes where slightly raised as I could still see the bottom of the shallow sandbar in the pool so
some minimal visibility was present.
I tried my luck at one of the trees bordering the pool as I spotted fish among the exposed roots
at previous occasions.
A small pheasant tail nymph size 16 was launched and to my surprise it immediately raised the interest
of the fish.
In short succession I landed four roach which had eluded me when the mill pool boasted clearer water.

After a short time the rain became heavy.
As it was past noon it seemed like a good idea to get lunch at the pub first and get into waders later
to make most of the day.
During the previous weekend the low temperatures had kept me from going fishing and so I did something
productive instead namely tying new flies.
After lunch I would try those flies out in the deeper pools behind the mill as I still thought I could
do some business at the stream despite the poor conditions.

The main pattern I wanted to try was a red midge tied on a red Skalka Czech nymph hook.
Red tying thread, tinsel and red dubbing where the main ingredients of this fly.
A tungsten bead would get the fly quickly down and a coat of bug bond would make the fly durable.
Icing on the cake was the red hook, purely for optics.

To my surprise the nymph did pretty well, at the first pool it was hit after hit.
At first I thought this fly would mainly appeal to trout but the Roach and Dace in the pool had
no problem with this fly and where eagerly hitting it.

The pools further downstream yielded mixed results.
I guess at some spots the faster flows prevented the fly from getting to the proper depth.
Knowing the many snags at some spots I did not wanted to extend the leader as I could
not see the underwater hazards under these conditions.
At one of the pools where I knew the bottom was relatively clean I fished with a longer
leader and had results again.
One decent Trout got off but the Dace and Roach stuck.

When I exhausted the last pool I went back to the mill as the light was slowly fading.
I still wanted to catch one of the Yellow perch at the mill or a trout on a streamer but despite
using a sinking line to probe the depths and combat the increased current I received no bites.

I switched back to nymph fishing and during a short break in the rain I even spotted some rising fish
although this was only of short duration.
I also noticed a giant sedge in the grass which I never knew existed at the stream, at first I
thought it was a stone fly since it was so large.

Eventually the rain and cold got to me as I was walking around in my el cheapo
Hardy featherweight waders which I once had bought as a backup in case the proper ones had problems.
These waders where so thin that they had the insulation properties of a plastic bag … none.
Despite the less than favorable conditions I had done pretty well and ended the trout season
with a trout caught and released.

I took a last look at the mill pool, said goodbye to the inhabitants of the mill and called it a day.
Next year we will try again.

This Sunday would be the last day when we could enjoy the quiet sunny fall weather
before a southwesterly flow would bring in unstable and wet weather from the Atlantic.
The day started with high clouds, later in the day the wind would pick up if the
weather prediction would be accurate.

So I was off again to the mill pool were this time nobody was fishing, the word had
got around that the pool had been emptied of trout.
At the mill pool I spotted some dace in the shallows, a carefully placed nymph yielded a
a respectable dace.
I also noticed a giant trout actively hunting in the shallows so I quickly replaced the nymph
and tied on heavy mono and a zonker streamer.
Things did not pan out as I had hoped and my only short contact was to a medium sized
perch that managed to throw the hook.

As I had disturbed the mill pool my next move would be to check out some of the good spots
on the main stream and return to the mill pool later.
The water was even clearer and lower than the day before making fishing even trickier.

Curiously my good spots did not produce any fish nor could I spot any movement.
Only after using a heavier fly I started catching fish in deeper water.

The stream yielded not that many fish so it was off to the mill pool again.
On the way back I noticed something at the edge of the corn field which turned out to be a roe deer.
The deer however had already seen me and was pondering what to do, at least I could grab
the camera and make a maximum zoom shot before the deer ran off.
In a few weeks that corn would be all but gone as harvesting was in full swing.

Although I lived in the city I noticed that for the past several nights geese where flying over
in fast numbers, signs of a changing season.
Now I could even spot them during the day.

Back at the mill pool the sun had come out and fish where moving about.
It was not like the day before though as the wind had indeed picked up and the water was full
of debris. The fish where only sporadically rising.
The fish where rising pretty near to the weir of the mill, for proper presentation I had to
wade into the pool.
Like the day before I noticed the what I call shell shocked trout at the end of the mill pool.
Clearly visible in the water it would lay stationary on the floor of the pool and would only
scoot off I you would come within two feet of it.

The feeding fish turned out to be dace as expected but a real surprise was the brown
trout that was feeding with the dace, my first and probably last brown trout on the dry fly this season.
After a few more dace from the pool the fish stopped rising and all action died down.
As the pub was open early it was the ideal time for an afternoon break.

After lunch it was back at the pool but before I had the chance to go fishing I was again
invited for coffee by the inhabitants of the mill so I enjoyed my coffee and watched
the blue lightning aka kingfisher fly over the weir of the mill.

The fishing on this day was still pretty good but I wondered why one of the first pools had not produced
any fish so before I called it quits I had to try and find out why.
While fishing the pool in the morning I had used one of my smaller nymphs which was in
general a constant fish producer.

With the decreased levels I figured it would be even easier to reach the desired depth.
It looked though like the current was moving faster than on earlier occasions as debris had
accumulated at the stones from the shallow weir in front of the pool.
A heavier red midge was tied on and after a while I hooked and lost a small trout.
I continued fishing until I again got a fish on, this time a larger trout.
After landing the trout my mission for the day was accomplished and I could go home with peace of mind.

Next week I will probably try a different river as I still want to catch a river perch or pike.

Another weekend and another visit to the stream while the season lasted.
The weather forecast was good, all requirements for a successful fishing day were met.

Clouds covered the sun in the early morning so the temperature only rose slowly.
At the mill pool the first anglers where already fishing.
After getting in wading gear I first probed the pools of the stream as those fish would
most likely be inclined to feed earlier than the ones at the mill.

The water had lowered and cleared considerably since the last weekend.
I could see the fish, they could see me and would subsequently run.
Deep nymphing yielded my first fish of the day, a brown trout.
It went pretty well from that moment on and it was pretty surprising how many fish you
could catch in one smallish pool if the water was just deep enough.

Surprisingly besides the regular size dace and trout I hooked several small trout, a good sign
the trout where present in the stream in various sizes.
Some of the pools further downstream where too deep to properly fish with the nymphs I had
in my flybox.
When the flytying season would start I would definitively have to tie some extra heavy nymph
patterns to dredge the streams floor

Later in the day I returned to the mill pool where the competition had already left.
The sun was out in force and for some reason the pool had come to life with rising fish.
I could clearly see loads of dace in the clear water.
At first I caught them on my regular small nymphs but when the dace actively rose I
tied on a small sedge and sight casted to individual fish in the pool.

The couple that lived in the mill invited me for coffee and cake which I could not decline
even though the fishing was that good.
After the extensive break I went back to the water where the fish where still feeding.

As the sun moved in the sky so did the fish and eventually I had to wade in the pool to be
able to make proper casts to the rising fish.
In the end the action died down to such a degree that I decided to call it a day.
With the sun going down the temperature would plummet and then fishing the pool would generally
be of no use anymore, it was for sure fall now – the warm evenings of summer were history.
The fishing was however brilliant with lots of takes and very big dace from the mill pool.

As I had only had breakfast in the morning a healthy appetite had developed and so the
visit to the pub was in order.
The problem I faced was the fact that October 3rd was a public holiday in Germany, the day
of German Unity.
My local informants however convinced me that the pub would still be open for business
despite the festivities.

The sign of the pub open for business for me would be the smell of the open fire, despite
the opening hour being on had though I could not smell anything.
As I arrived at the pub it looked like I was not the only one wondering about the business hours.
People where waiting outside and some left early as it seemed the place was vacated.
I feared the worst but decided to call the local contact number in the village for the pub to see if
I could raise anybody and get information on what was going on.

Apparently the place was open and I was instructed to find an open door and look for
the waitress.
Well, I found her as she was just about to open up the place, better late than never.
So it all ended well and I celebrated another wonderful fishing day with a good meal
and a cool wheat beer at the warm fire.

Saturday was a good day and as the weather predictions for Sunday where even better
than the day before I had high hopes for the fishing.
As it was fall I wondered where the mushrooms had gone, I gave the search some more
attention and spotted a few along the road.
Again the weather was perfect, bright blue skies in the morning with that crisp fall feeling.

The mill pool was again not void of anglers as I arrived.
Just as with almost every bait angler I talked to the fishing was slow.
With the pool occupied I once again directed my attention to the outflow.
The stream had dropped and clarity had improved in such a manner that I believed I could
spot fish in the running water.
This visibility improvement worked both ways though as the fish slowly moved into the deeper
section of the hole I intended to fish.
It was now a lot harder to get any fish but after trying for some time I did get my first trout.

A day before I had pulled several fish out of the same pool, now just one.
The other spots where I had caught several trout earlier seemed void of life now.
At least the dace where proving a little more cooperative today.

Sometimes you get to places were your gut feeling just say “fish”, the problem was I could not get
any so I was pondering why.
My conclusion was that I did not reached the right depth.
To overcome that problem I changed to a lighter tippet and voila within no time I had caught two
trout in a spot where I got no bites earlier.

I had intended to move further downstream but there was one obstacle in my way namely a slippery bank.
With my recent surgery I figured it would be not wise to move further so I headed back to the spot where I
had caught the dace earlier.

I took position near the bank and noticed some fish in the current.
The small nymph patterns where eagerly taken by the fish, a lot of fun seeing a fish turn and
swim after the nymph.

At the mill pool I spotted new faces, seemed that lack of action made anglers leave the spot prematurely.
I tried to fish the shallows but I just had the feeling that the otherwise present dace and roach where absent.
One meager dace was all I could produce from the pool.
All that wading was tiring and as I was wearing my el-cheapo one-layer wader I got a bit cold.
Since it was late in the afternoon already this was the moment to visit the pub and grab something to eat.
The couple at the mill invited me for coffee and cake but I told them that I first had to go for lunch.

At the pub the fire was going so I nestled myself in front of the fireplace for my afternoon break.
The fishing had been pretty good so I was not so eager to leave the comforts of the pub, eventually
though I did.

As it was late in the day I did not bother to get into my wading gear again.
The mill pool was now vacant and ideal for an experiment I was going to undertake.
I knew that some pretty big perch where living in the pool but I was never able to catch them.
So this time I had taken with me a full sinking 4-weight line and some streamers.
After a few casts the fly was intercepted by a brown trout which escaped before I could net it.

My presence was not going by unnoticed and so I was served coffee, cake and a strong one
at the waters edge – where in the world can you get that 🙂

Having hooked one trout I figured I could do it again but it turned out costly and the bottom of the
mill pool had its fair numbers of snags so flies got lost.
Still I noticed takes on the streamer which was in this case a polar minnow in perch livery.
I continued casting until I suddenly felt the long awaited tug, it was a violent take though and
I was happy that I had tied on a strong tippet.
My first thought was that I had hooked a pike but when the fish surfaced after several runs I spotted
a big brown trout.
As I was fishing barbless I did not think I would be able to land the fish but in the end I did,
personal best brown trout measuring 57cm.

After that last fish I called it a day as it could not get any better than this.
On the way back home I stopped for a break at a vantage point looking out over the fields
as the last rays of sunlight illuminated the landscape – life was good.

Another weekend and thus another visit to the stream.
I was out and about in the morning and since it had been a clear and relatively
cold night I was in no hurry to get to the water.
The sunlight was just about to burn the fog away on this crisp fall morning.
Off course I had to stop to see how the hornets where doing, the power of the sun was already
strong enough to keep them flying on and off to the hive.
It really looked like it would be a nice day, typical fall weather with a calm sky.

Again my plan was to fish the mill pool but on arrival it seemed that others had the same idea.
This time I had my wading gear with me and although it did not look pretty I managed to get myself
without assistance in my wader and wading shoes.

Pretty surprised to see a tent on the premises, turned out some of our juvenile club members had
done an all-nighter.
They had pulled out a couple of trout but where not all too excited about the results, still they
enjoyed themselves and judging by the beer bottles they would not die of thirst either.

During the week the rains had come down in force but luckily the peak flow was well
before the weekend.
A look at the stream and pool showed that although still carrying a lot water the color was
pretty decent.

With the mill pool being pounded by the worm drowners I figured I might better look for action in the
stream.
The first deep hole behind the outflow of the mill pool seemed like a good place to start.
The depth was sufficient enough to do some close quarter nymphing as the water also still
somewhat off-color.
Although the hole was small it housed a surprising number of fish.

The camping kids would leave the mill in the afternoon so I decided to fish the main stream instead
and checked out some of the deeper spots.
Fish where everywhere be it trout as the other species were probably still in flooding mode hiding somewhere.

The elderly couple who lived in mill wanted some trout for dinner so I took a few of the stocked trout for
the table.
The kids had gone but their place was quickly taken in by some seniors trying their luck.
A look at their faces gave me the impression that fishing did not go that well.
When I caught my bag limit trout in the pool on my fly outfit it got noticed.
I later heard from the mill inhabitants that somebody complained that the fly guy caught all the good fish 🙂

I took a short break and headed back into the stream.
More people where now visiting the mill just to stake out the grounds and decide if it would be
worth to purchase the special ticket required to fish there.
Under the watchful eye of some of my fellow clubmembers I fishing the hole behind the outflow again
and it still yielded some fish using short nymph tactics.

It got a little too crowded for me at the pool so I retreated back into the stream where I
finally encountered some of the other fish species I was looking for.

In the afternoon I felt the need for a good lunch so I got out of my wading gear and headed
straight for the pub where I had all the time of the world to get something to eat and drink.
Fishing had been pretty good and maybe it was time to call it a day, still I pushed on.
Maybe the evening would see some surface action and it would surely be nice to catch a fish on the
dry fly so late in the season.

Some of the dace where rising but difficult to reach by fishing from the shore.
The wind had picked up during the day and as the leaves where falling the surface of the mill pool
was not exactly a great spot to drop a dry fly.
A change to a small nymph yielded one fish but action was very slow.
The sun was about to set and as it was the end of September the temperature dropped pretty quick in
the last daylight hours.
With the bats on the wing it was time to call it a day, a beautiful day.

A day earlier I attended the annual gathering of our fishingclub at the mill pool.
On that day I secured fishing permits for the mill pool for every upcoming weekend so
the next day I was again on my way to Germany.
In the local village they had yet another harvest celebration so my competition would
probably be drunk in the village instead of fishing at the mill.

On the way to the pool I noticed this birdhouse with what I believed was a wasps nets but when
I stopped to take a look it turned out that the inhabitants where hornets.
From a safe distance I took some pictures and left them in peace.

The weather looked really nice with the blue sky, the temperature though was a bit on the low
side and it was a little windy.
As I crossed a bridge over the stream I noticed that one of the bankside trees had fallen down
creating a deep pool, this would be a spot to remember for the future.

When I came at the watermill I spotted two cars on the parking lot and figured that not everybody
was going to the harvest festivities.
I spoke to the elderly couple living in the mill and it turned out the cars belonged to the people who
attended our party from the day before – those people had to many beers and went home by other
means of transportation.

What was a nasty surprise was the color of the water.
Even though it had not rained the water was even more colored than a day before and I wondered
how that was possible.

My wading gear was still drying at home as I figured the decline in the water level would result
in cleaner water making it easier for me to just fish from the shore.
In the meantime clouds and wind increased and as expected activity in the water was minimal.
A few fish where rising over the sandbar at the end of the pool but out of reach for me
as the current would cause my line to drag within seconds if I tried to reach that spot.

I instead tried the bank at the outflow of the pool and although I had some subtle bites I could
not catch any fish.
I tried for several hours without success and figured it was time for a break at the local pub.
After a good meal I tried one of my more successful spots at the stream.
This was a shallow pool with one small deep riffle were I usually would catch something
despite how bad the conditions would be.
Not this time though and so I headed back to the mill pool to give it another go.

At the mill pool I spotted a fellow club member who was fishing with his wife.
They used worms and lures as bait and had not had much luck as yet.
The trout where not as eager as usual and complained that the fish only nibbled
at the worms.

As the day progressed more people came by visiting the pool to ponder if it was worth to go
fishing.
I finally caught a roach so my day would at least not end fishless.

Talking to people and fishing at the same time caused me to miss quite a few solid takes
but I guess that is fishing.
It was funny though that many of the visitors where sort of impressed by us flyfisherman
as we outfished them the day before.
When I showed the tiny nymph I was fishing they could not believe that you could catch
trout let alone any other fish species with such minimal gear.

At one point I hooked a brook trout but it managed to throw the barbless hook so no trout
for me today.
The second and last fish I caught was a nice dace that was feeding over the sandbar
at the end of the mill pool.

When I left the mill it was already getting dark.
The results were pretty meager but it was great to finally be fishing again.

My last fishing venue was at the end of March and from then on it all went peer-shaped.
Having experienced pain in my left leg / hip for a long time the doctors finally judged that
something had to be done.
It turned out I had to undergo surgery for a full hip replacement even though I was too young
for such a procedure. Off course I asked for alternatives but there were none.
The surgery practically ended my fishing season and even though the procedure was a success
part of a muscle had to be severed so my rehabilitation would take even more time than usual.

The physiotherapy went quite well and after nearly three months I was deemed safe to get
on a bike again.
It would still take a lot of time to get some sort of my former mobility back but at least there
was improvement.

The end of the summer always meant one thing, a festive gathering of my German fishingclub
members and fishing in the otherwise off-limits mill pool.
As every fisherman knows those waters that are off limits have extra attraction.
So I decided to give fishing a try with the help of my buddy who would help me get in my
waders and make sure that the mill pool would not turn out to be my last resting place.

As I looked forward for this venue the whole week I was concerned about the rainy weather
in the week before the event.
The local stream turned to a turbid coffee colored mess in an instant so my fears where
that flyfishing would not be possible.
The peak flow occurred just one day before the event and my fears came true on the morning
of the event when I looked at the mill pool.

The highlight for me for of this event was fishing the mill pool, well stocked with trout and also
home to a myriad of other fish in good sizes.
While the other club members went fishing on the stream as per protocol I stayed behind due
to my condition and scoped out the mill pool.
Despite the turbid water I spotted a rising fish and when I walked towards the outflow of the
pool I noticed at least some sort of clarity in the shallows that raised my hopes of catching anything.

After a couple of hours the club members gathered again at the watermill where breakfast
was served in the garage of the mill’s resident, yes a big garage 🙂
Just like every year some of the guys already positioned their gear near the mill’s weir as
it was the deepest part of the pool and usually frequented by the most trout.
My buddy and I where the only flyfishermen and by the grace of god they let us fish the
least attractive part of the mill pool, the shallow end.

Not that it was a problem for us because the rear shore was covered by thick brush so
no conventional angler could fish there.
The usual modus operandi would be that the anglers at the weir would catch their 5 trout limit pretty
quickly and would head out to the garage for drinks and snacks.
In the mean time we could advance further to the good spots.
Well, not this time … the wormdrowners just did not catch the fish like usually.

I was hoping for any fish and soon I caught a nice Dace to my surprise.
So the fish where after all able to see my little size 14 gold bead nymph in the murky water.
As the trout where usually not that large in the mill pool I decided to use my new 2nd hand
Orvis 2-weight rod.
A fluorocarbon tippet of 14/100 mill (5 a 6X) was used to get the nymph quickly down to depth.
It was not long before I caught my first brown trout, as per regulation I had to knock it on
the head but the fish was too slippery and got away.
Soon I was into brown trout number two and that one received immediate head trauma.
The elderly couple living in the mill who every year graciously allowed us on their premises
requested fish and I was happy to oblige.

I got a bit carried away after landing three more rainbows I was soon at my limit
while the rest of the folks where not really catching fish.
This was after all a sort of contest where the guy who caught the most fish would
be crowned fisher king.
It would cost you several cases of beer, you would get that Mayor like neckless around
your head and would have to be present at the start of every venue of the club pouring in a
strong one.

My last fish turned out to be a little larger than expected, it was a massive brown trout
and put my setup to the test.
I was not expecting to land the fish but in the end I did and as every eye was on me
I could not slip that fish back so now I had a net full of trout.
As I made it up to shore one of German friends weighed the fish and mentioned that
I would be fisher king for sure … sheer terror…

As there was still time left to fish I decided to wade back in the pool and help my buddy as he
was not doing so well.
With some pointers and a move he also started to catch fish.
I told him however to slip back any fish after he had caught three trout.
At the end of the venue I would sneak some of my trout in his bag.
The last hour went by pretty uneventful as the fishing had tapered off considerably.
I still managed to catch two brook trout so my fishing day was pretty perfect.

At the weigh in my buddy became fourth while I luckily got stuck as number three.
The deception did not work a 100 percent though as one my friends called me
the secret fisher king 🙂

So this first day’s of fishing after my “break” was quite succsesfull.
The otherwise off limits mill pool would be open for members of the club the
next day untill the end of trout season with as only condition that a special
day permit had to be bought.
I figured with me being not able to fish for such a long time I had to take this
chance so I asked the club’s president to arrange permits for me for every
weekend the mill pool would be open.
The trout would be cleared out pretty quickly but the ease of access and the
other fish in the pool would be ideal for me to at least have some fishing season.

The afternoon was spend barbecueing and as it was common practice on
such events no one had to be thirsty.
I sneaked away to the the nearby pub where I had not been in ages just
to show that I was still alive.

Long range weather predictions listed last tuesday till wednesday as the last days of the
month that would actually boast some spring like temperatures.
Having not fished in earnest this year I decided to skip work for a day and go fishing.

The trout season had just opened and at the water I noticed that I was not the first angler as many
spots showed tracks in the sand and even a spinner hanging in one of the bankside shrubs.
As every year somebody had probably stocked trout for the season openener and I sure would want
to catch one if the competition had not already cleared them out.
First though I was after the silver fish to break in a new flyrod I had recently purchased.
Off course I had accumulated plenty of fishing tackle over the years but when I saw a 6′ #4 rod being
offered for a decent price I just could not resist.

Despite the dry and chilly weather over the last week the stream carried more water than I had hoped for.
Allthough it would be a relative warm spring day the temperatures in the early morning were very low
so I expected any action to occur mid day.
The first spot I fished was usually a good producer for me but despite several attempts I got no takes.

At a spot were a small ditch joined the main stream I spotted hordes of roach hiding behind a
submerged brush.
Dozens of small roach fell for a small goldbead pt nymph before the fish got smart and moved
further into the brushes.
I fished several other spots nearby but not much life was to be seen.
To be honest it was a bit early to fish as life had still to return to the land.
At least some insects were buzzing about and a lonely dace rising to surface items was a sign
of things to come.

I checked out some trout hotspots but only found other fishermen and empty water.
Guess I was not the only one that figured out the best time to go fishing.

After a while my knee injury played up which made me think that going fishing today was maybe not the
brightest idea I had lately.
My footing was quite unsecure and moving along those steep banks did not help either.
I should have gone home but there still was this issue with trout season being open and being troutless.
Before leaving I had to give it one last shot and went to a small pool were I knew trout would be
present.
Normally I could spot roach and dace in the pool but this time I did not spot anything.
Still when the small gold beadhead pt-nymph headed into the water it was instantly intercepted by
a dace.
There were many dace present as I caught one of the another.

The dace were all feeding in the middle of the pool at a current seem.
Soon I had disturbed them and the bites tapered off.
I spotted a trout earlier in a pool below the one I fished but that trout fed in the shallows and would
run into a submerged tree every time I took a look.
I was not equipped to go after that trout so instead I tried the start of the pool I fished which boasted
a pocket of deeper water.
After a few casts into the top of the pool the indicator went down and jugdging by the way the fish
fought I figured my first trout of the season could soon become fact.

It turned out to be my first brown trout of the season, not really big but a scrappy fighter on the 2-weight.
Mission accomplished, I could barely make it up the bank due to my issues but at least it was a nice
end of the fishing day.

Last weekend a work party was planned at the hatchery of the local syndicate.
It was early morning when I was on the road, the weather was fine and I stopped
to watch the sunrise over the nearby hills.

At the hatchery I met the local members of the syndicate.
The woodburning stove of the clubhouse was fired up to provide a warm meeting place.
My friends showed up and quite a bunch of kids where dropped off by their parents to
help with the chores of the day.

The work lasted a little longer than expected, I still had planned to go fishing but judging by the
low position of the sun in the sky I knew time would be limited.
I opted to fish an open section of the stream and noticed on arrival that fish where present.
It was pretty decent weather with the sun shining and quite some insects about.
There where even rising fish and as I did not get any hits on the nymph I soon switched to a dry fly.
As the water was quite shallow my first approaches only scattered the fish but then I managed
to catch a dace on the segde.

In the open section I could not get any other fish to take the fly so I moved further downstream to
try my luck there.
Even in the sheltered part fish where rising and so I could sight cast to another fish.
The fish did take the fly but after a few seconds it managed to throw the fly.
I noticed plenty of fish at some of the submerged shrubs but was unable to present a fly there.
The stream was still quite high from the downpours earlier in the week and some banks where
covered with a very slippery coating of clay deposited by the flooding.

Light faded and since I had not eaten all day I went en route to the pub for dinner.
I made a few stops at the wooded section of the stream capturing the last coloring trees.

At the pub I installed myself in front of the fireplace and enjoyed my meal.
It was pretty amazing to see rising fish so late in the season probably due to the still very mild
temperatures for the time of year.
It would have been nice to catch some more fish but all in all I was pretty content with the day as
good work was done at the hatchery and the attendance of the work party was good.