Flyfishing FWSW

Friday the 12th. should have been a normal work day for me but I decided to take the
day off as saturday there was a working party planned on the hatchery of my syndicate.
My first intention was to pursuit some more of the big chub in the stream but as I
came nearer to my destination I opted to scout out a little stream of another syndicate
I had joined last year.

I had looked up the new water with satellite imagery and quickly found an access road to get
near to the water.

The new water looked like it was stagnant – off course it had been dry for quite a while so the levels in
every local would have been low.
From what I saw I figured the water was roughly three feet deep, had a lot of vegitation in it and
little fish activity.
Having said that a monster size carp appeared and raced through the stream to somewhere.
The carp was lightly colored and big thus easy to spot, the next fish that came in few was a decent
chub with was harder to spot.

The color of the bottom was generally very dark, most likely due to the low flow rate.
Only at certain shallower parts a sand bottom was visable where you could more easily spot fish.
The problem with this water was that it was quite shallow and had a lot of these man made steep
banks which made you as an angler very visable to the fish.
I walked the stream for miles and encountered mainly bream, a few carp and some chub.
Almost all these fish saw me first and ran off.

In order to get any fish I had to find some faster flowing stretches of the stream, preferrably a weir.
From satellite images I knew there where a couple of them in the general area but it took quite a walk
before I reached the first one – well the images I looked had where old as the weir had been replaced
by a series of big stones that provided fish with the possibity to migrate up and down the stream.
No fish where to be had there, allthough the presence of three herons meant that something edible
should have been there.

As I was now a long distance from the road I continued my trek along the stream passing by some
more bream.
Nothing moved in the surface so I wondered where all the chub had gone.
At the location of the next weir I encountered yet another set of big stones that had replaced the old
fish-unfriendly structures.
A little feeder stream came in from the side providing some deeper water that beckoned to be fished.
Still not a single hit on the nymph.

It was time to head back to the access road where I had spotted the big carp.
A quick peek from under the brigde showed me another removed weir.
When I came crossed the road and walked into the meadow I noticed some fish activity in the surface.

A quick drift with a size 14 nymph yield a tiny chub, there where quite a few of them
around but I was on the look for the big ones.
The next weir was again very interisting, the place looked downright fishy…

Still looking fishy and catching fish are two completely different things.
Again nothing moved in the water and several drifts with the nymph went unanswered.
This water would prove to be difficult indeed.

After the weir the stream got smaller and shallower.
I spotted a very nice chub but off course it had already seen me wandering up on the bank.
Its reaction was to slowly move downstream and then it downright dissappeared into the overgrowth
of the bank.
I gave up on this stream for now and opted to fish my regular water.
When I crossed the first bridge however my plans where turning out to be pretty useless – for some
reason the water had gained the color of coffee even though there was no rain or flooding.
Most likely the authorities where digging again in the stream removing some old weir somewhere
upstream.
It ruined my fishing but at least it was for a good cause.

At the confluence of main stream and feeder stream you could see the clear and dirty water mix.
I also spotted some huge chub standing in the current at the inflow of the clear water.
The chub saw me first though and anticipated the upcoming danger so they swam off.Z
All that remained where some little chub feeding further downstream.
I tried fishing a dry fly but the chub where so tiny that they could not even drown the fly.

It was time for a brake as it was late in the day.
My plan would be to get lunch at a pub, by the time I had finished eating the workforce digging at the
river would have probably stopped working and the main river might clear up then.

After an extended lunch I tried the main river again but unlike the last time activity was non-existant.
Only later I spotted some rising fish under a brigde but those where tiny.
I caught a few of the small fish and then called it a day as would probably not improve.

All in all it was a nice day though that showed me that I had to spend more time to figure out
how to fish the new water.
I guess I have to invest quality time there in order to catch some decent fish.

On Saturday the 13th. fishing was not really an option as a working party was organised at the
hatchery of my German syndicate.
The work involved clearing the area around our hatch pools and fixing the protective net over the
pools that had gotten a beating during a recent storm.

After the work was done and most people that had attended the working party had left
some of the remaining people wanted to see some flyfishing action.
One of our ponds contained some left over stock fish, I called it the mutant pool as it
contained some tiger trout.
Besides the tiger trout the pool contained rainbow trout, brown trout and brook trout.
All these fish had grown to pretty respectable sizes during the last half year.
They where also very aggressive – not so long ago a mole tried to swim over the mutant pool.
It was a fatal mistake by the mole as it was devoured by the trout.

To make a long story short I tossed in one of my small mink streamers, stripped a couple
of times and before I knew it I was in direct contact with the largest tiger in the pond.
The sizeble fish fought well … like a tiger but after a while I could subdue and net it.

At lunch at the local pub I discussed the fishing with one of my fellow club members.
It appeared that some more work parties where ahead as the mill pool was filling up with sand.
That pool was off-limits to fishing as it was on private land but it contained some huge roach.
Off course I offered to volunteer with just a small demand – I had to fish there 🙂

Later in the day I still had an hour or two left to fish before other duties beckoned.
In the woods I noticed some roach and dace in the water which had gone down to its usual low
summer levels.

One fish took my attention by its size, it almost looked like a trout.
As the fish did not react to the nymph I dropped in its path I tried to check out with a
streamer if it was indeed a trout.
The streamer did not produce the desired effect so I tied on a heavier nymph.
I guess the depth was the issue here as the heavy nymph got the fish to bite,
the fish was not a trout but a pretty decent dace.

At some other spots I caught a few small roach, not many fish where visable.
When my indicator was attacked in a rapid flowing stretch I knew I was dealing with a trout.
As the fish ignored my nymph I tried to coax it out of its lie with a streamer, to no avail.
I was pondering weather to use a dry fly or continue to fish the nymph.
In the end I choose the nymph in order to pick up any of the present roach if the trout did not
want to play.
The trout did want to play after several drifts and it put a good bend in the rod.
It left its rather shallow hideout immediately for deep water but then managed to threw the hook.
Time for me to leave the scene.

It has been a while since I fished for chub.
The main reason was for most part the weather as it was either to cold, to windy or there ws
to much water to fish for them.

With high summer and progress and a few sunny and warm day forecast I finally went on the
road again to check out my chub haunts.
First stop was a body of water in the territory of a new syndicate I had joined last year.
I had already scouted a mighty fine spot and had fished it in the cold spring without
any results.
With the current warm weather I just had to catch something there.
There was not a cloud in the sky, well I am lying now as I could spot a plume coming off
from the cooling tower of a nearby nuclear plant.

When I arrived at the stream I was dissappointed that the water was so murky even though
the water levels where not high.
Not encouraging was the total lack of surface activity on the water, last summer the chub
actively chased damsel but it was all quiet on the water now.
In the end I tossed a nymph behind a weir with not much luck,
When the nymph travelled past the outflow of the weir I fished a fish struck.
It was a small chub but the first of the season, good enough for me.

When I checked out another nearby stream I noticed a very large shape in the water.
It was a chub, a large one that was stationary in the current.
Off course I had a go at the fish but I suspected it had already spotted me in advance and
ignored everything I tossed in front of its nose.

I gave up on that chub and headed further downstream where some broad sections of the
stream would probably give me a better shot at landing a larger chub.
Only some small chub where visible in the surface, not the kind of fish I had hoped for.
On the plus side, the cherry trees where loaded.

I did catch a few of the small chub but nothing decent so again it was time to check out some
other haunts.
At one location I spotted some smaller chub in the shallows and off course I tried to catch them.
Those fish where however very hard to catch as they where extremely wary in the shallow water.
Even the sight of an indicator would scare the fish away.

The spot I was fishing was the spot where I had caught my largest chub to date in my neighborhood,
even more memorable was the fact that it was on a big dry mayfly pattern.
Often you could see the big chub cruise happily along the stream, now with the murky water no signs
of them.
The shady tree at the bank however was a spot that had to be fished thoroughly.
It took some arkward casting to finally get my nymph under that tree but as soon as I did a big chub
came and nailed the fly.
Now I was in trouble as I was standing up on the weir, to have any chance to land the fish I had to get into the water.

As I had no waders with me I had to jump in like I was, well first I had to crawl under the newly installed electric
fence with rod in hand and still connected to the chub.
After I had crawled under the fence from the weir I had to slide in along the steep embankment.
That all went well – I even had secured my phone – just in case I would have to get into deeper water.
So I was still connected to the chub but now I was standing in the stream.
The chub was masssive and used it weight and strength to dive into the aquatic vegitation.
I had to drag the fish out of the weeds all the time, finally the fish was logded solidly amongst some
lilies. 
My crude attempt to dislogde the fish with the landing net resulted in a sudden surge of the fish that
severed my tippet.
So there I was, not looking that happy – wet – in the middle of the stream.

I wanted to re-tie when I noticed I was missing something, my flybox with a few hundred nymphs.
Now I was starting to feel really bad.
All I could do was to get up the bank and scout for my fly box from a high vantage point.
Luckily the box was quickly spotted – a relieve.
Up on the weir I could determine that I had scared off all the small chub with my actions.

Allthough the idea seemed far fetched I concluded that there was a slight possibility that another
chub could be hiding under that shady tree.
So another size 14 goldbead PT nymph went for a swim.
To my surprise a large gray shape moved from underneath the shady tree and intercepted the nymph.
Again I was connected to a hefty chub and the whole electric fence routine was repeated.
This time I was putting more pressure on the fish and coaxed it out of the weedpatches.
The fish took me around the pilings of the weir but I countered every move and in the end could net the fish.

Catch of the day.

I took a little break from the fishing under one of the trees at the weir and enjoyed my
little moment of succses of the big chub.
In order to dry up I fished a little more in the open fields where a breeze made you forget
that it was a hot 26 degrees Celsius.

The ony thing I spotted in the open water where those pesky breams milling around in the
deep water behind a shallow patch overgrown with ranunculus.

Under carefull observation by the cows I managed to catch some small chub from beneath the
weir.

 

Time had flown and since I had skipped breakfast in the morning so I had to get something to eat.
Earlier in the day I had a conservation with one of the locals who also was a fisherman.
To his knowlegde the stained water was rather unusual and it was most likely caused by the work that
was going ahead upstream to remove some old weirs.
My plans for the rest of the day where clear, first lunch – then off too see what the weir removal team
was doing.

From previous visits I knew a nice place for lunch nearby.
Under the shade of some large trees I enjoyed a good meal and some cold beers at
an old guesthouse in the middle of nowhere.
It was quite late when I finally left the guest house but I still wanted to check out some new
spots I had scouted out earlier in the year.

A warning sign that warns that the local fox population carries a dangeous parasite – tapeworm.
Stay on the roads – do not consume any wild fruit etc. as these foxes distribute the eggs of the worm
by means of their feces – they poop and pee all over the place …
It is potentially deadly for humans – I looked it up and appearantly 94% of people infected die
within 10 to 20 years after discovery of the parasite.

On my way to the removed weir I noticed this nice rodent nibbling away at the shrubs.
You have to watch of for the holes they dig in the embankments as you could easily break your
legs with the traps these furry misfits make.

I checked out the removed weir which was quite an improvement from the old steel one that used to
be there.
All done to make it possible for migrating fish to head up and down the stream.
I fished the fast flowing sections at the end of the reworked weir and noticed fish where present in
numbers in the fast water.

It was the first time I had ever fished there but with four chub in a row I knew the place had
potential. 
The upstream section of the weir also looked inviting but as the sun was getting pretty low in the sky
I knew I had to get on my home.

All in all a very grand day, those chub had grown that big not because they there stupid.
I scouted out some new places and boy it was pretty down there.
I will probably be back there next week when the weather holds up.

After the extreme downpour last week that caused flash floods I wanted to fish the stream today.
Oddly when I checked the river gages I noticed an sudden increase of the level of about 30 percent.

If you looked at the countryside you would not suspect high water.
The fields where slowly attaining their golden hue, the poppy flowers still in full bloom. 

Normally I would have avoided the stream when the levels where so high but with the
experience gained in the Harz mountains I figured I might actually catch some fish.
I had tied up some new flies that I wanted to test.
In the past I had found a fly lodged in a tree while fishing the Möhne river, that particular
pattern was a black nymph with flash that worked pretty well on the local roach.

As the stream I fished was mostly inhabited by roach and dace I needed a small fly.
I came up with a sort of chironomid a.k.a. buzzer pattern.
Normally these flies are unweighted but as the stream I fish has short deep pools I needed
something that sank quickly to reach the fish in the pool before the fly was swept into the shallows.
The end result was a buzzer with a tungsten bead head, body of black thread and ribbing with
small pearl tinsel.
I had tested a prototype earlier and found that the varnish cover on the tinsel would not protect it
from being mauled by trout so this time I applied bugbond on the fly.

When I came to the stream it was indeed high and dirty.
Normally I could walk along the banks without getting my feet wet but now that
was not possible.
From the looks of it the water had been much higher so the stream was receding.
Like with every flood condition a fine clay coating was deposited on the banks of the stream
that had the same properties as grease.

Although the water murky I could see some part of the bottom , visibility was enough for
fish to see the fly.
The first drift of the buzzer nymph immediately raised interest from a trout that intercepted the fly.
The trout did not stay connected though.
During normal conditions I could clearly spot the fish, now I was just fishing blind.
Still a drift along the edge of the fast flowing water yielded a strike from a fish that I initially
thought was a small trout, it turned out to be roach.

The  particular spot I fished had boasted some trout in the past and the high water would
not have changed that.
After a few casts I noticed a trout chasing the nymph, in fact the fish chased the fly several time
before the fish finally grabbed it.
I probed some other spots but could not hook any fish.

Time flew as they say and before I knew it lunch time had arrived.
I made my way to the pub, from a distance I could see smoke coming from the chimney.
It had indeed been quite cold in the morning for a late June morning.
Overcast skies at a temperature of 7 degrees C where not my idea of Summer.

After lunch I decided to head to the headwaters of my stream.
As the stream was fed by many little spring fed feeder streams the headwaters should
have the clearest water, they did in fact.
The upper reaches of my stream where small indeed and access was kind of a problem with
steep banks and lots of treecover.

One of my favorite spots had been almost filled with sand over the last year.
I still fished there a couple of times but it did not yield as much fish as it
did in the good old days.
With the first cast I did however immediately hooked a small trout with
beautiful markings.
There were still roach and dace present but nothing of size.

On my way home I stopped at some of my regular haunts but even though
the spots looked very good and had plenty of water I could not hook any fish.
There where fish present though as I saw some surface action.
If I had waders with me I might have been able to get close enough to try
a cast but I was limited to fishing from the bank.

At the end of the day the weather improved and blue sky and sun appeared.
Like previous days it still was windy and the temperatures never reached a
level you would expect at this time of year.
The mayflies had all but gone, the only insects common now where mosquito’s
and they were out for my blood.
A last ditch attempt to catch fish on the dry fly remained fruitless so I called it
a day.

If the promised weather improvement holds up I might check the lower
reaches of the stream for some chub action, I will miss the pub though.

At the end of May a fishing trip to the Harz mountains was planned.
The crew for this trip would normally consist of three people who would
go on this trip every year.
This time it would be a different as some other friends had asked to join us. In the end we counted seven people.
Arranging a trip with a lot of people caused problems, especially when you wanted to pin a date and get a confirmation that everyone was actually going. So in this case setting a date and getting confirmations was a problem.

In the end the whole process dragged on and when my friend finally wanted to arrange the desired hotel it turned out that it was fully booked.
He called me what to do, simple I replied get another hotel.
As I had traveled often to that region I named another hotel and when he called that place rooms where still available for the desired time period.
Now my friend asked what to do with regards to the other guys who
where not sure if they would go or not.
Again the answer was simple, book a room for us regulars – let the others know that we have a different hotel and that they have to act right away.

In the end everybody was booked in the same hotel and so on May the 29th we went on the road to Eastern Germany.
With all the feet dragging in the beginning nobody had realized that the date of our departure we coinciding with a German public holiday.
The roads where packed to full capacity.
The total drive would take less than four hours which we would normally drive in one go.
Not this time, we where barely over the Dutch German border when the first request for a coffee break came by the non-regulars.

At about a quarter of the trip we where about to enter a traffic jam on the Autobahn – normally we would just wait it out as circumventing would usually not outweigh the time wasted in the traffic jam.
The non-regulars wanted to try it anyway so we left the Autobahn only to get stuck on the slow road that went to countless little villages which had traffic lights a and heavy traffic because of that public holiday.

We did not only have bad luck with the road conditions, the weather would be terrible also.
I had told my friends that a weather warning was in place for the region we would visit and that extreme rainfall was predicted – at first they would not believe me.
When we crossed the Leine river near Hannover they got worried – it was well out of its banks.
The further we headed east – the more clouds we encountered.
As we drove into the mountains I could see that the little brooks that ran down from the hills carried a lot of brown water – not a good sign.

With all the delays we had experienced we arrived late afternoon at our destination.
I had a feeling that it would be a waste of funds to get a fishing permit for this day as in a couple of hours it would become dark.
My friends and I aka the regulars had to make some decisions fasts in order to get out most of the day.
On our way to the hotel we would come along one of our favorite restaurants wo we would eat first, the next place along the route would be the trout hatchery where we would get our fishing permits.
Finally we would then go to the hotel, check in and fish afterwards.

When we arrived at the river and saw the water our fears where confirmed.
The banks where flooded and the water was muddy, it would be difficult to extract trout under these conditions.
Normally I would not fish flooded rivers but since I had traveled a long distance to get here I had no other options.
My thoughts where that the trout would seek sheltered spots behind larger stones or inside bends.
As the riverbank was well under water I figured that fish would also be in there.
It turned out I was right – any of the spots I mentioned had fish and so I did quite well.

We returned to the hotel late in the evening, it was raining again – in fact it rained cats and dogs all night.
In the morning at breakfast we heard roaring water, the little brook that flowed past and underneath the hotel  was now a little monster.
It pushed so much water that the manager of the hotel had stood watch all night as a section of the hotel was build on pilings over the brook.
Rocks and tree limbs came down that little stream which could potentially get stuck at the pilings flooding part of the hotel.
The road from the hotel further into the mountains was closed due to a landslide and fire engine crews where in constant action to clear the roads – not a good forebode for the days fishing.

There was some discussion of where and how we would fish this day.
Our other friends always wanted to fish in a pack – we had more or less the idea that we would fish like we did every year.
I would not deny that I might be a bit socially impaired but I could not stand the thought of fishing a rather small river with seven people at the same spot. In the end we all went on our own (different) way.

There was a large reservoir in the middle of the river we fished, the downstream section was the part most fisherman knew and thus crowded.
We as regulars had often fished the river where it entered the reservoir, a favorite spot for us.
It was not that well known and boasted besides the rather rare grayling huge quantities of shiners that ran up from the reservoir in spring to spawn.
We decided to fish that section of the river which was now even murkier and higher because of all the rain that had fallen in the previous night.

Getting to the river provided a new challenge, the access road was closed off as a new bridge was being built.
To reach our desired fishing haunts we had to follow the trail that ran along the mountain.
With all the wet weather this trail had been converted into a narrow slippery path, passable with good walking shoes but a nightmare to walk with felt soled wading shoes.
My friends headed directly for the spots they had done so well one year before, I stopped earlier at a deep and wide pool where I thought I had the best chances to catch fish.

At first I was fishing with a nymph just to see if any of the shiners where around.
I got no hits which was not entirily a wonder as the water was so murky.
Something bigger had to be tied on, in this case a streamer might be more visible to any hungry fish and it turned out to be the right choice.
The streamer did not travel long in the water before the first trout hit it.
There where many trout and so I expected that the pool must have been stocked recently.
Most of the trout I caught where off color and had damaged tails, a sure sign that these fish had been reared in a concrete hatchery basin.

At least I was catching some fish, the other guys did conserably less well.
Only one of my other friends caught a couple of the fish, the other one blanked.
We fished until late in the afternoon, after that it was back to the hotel and then into town for dinner at the Italian restaurant.

The third day was even worse than the previous day.
More rain had fallen and many part of middle and eastern Germany had serious flooding.
We where not sure if we would go fishing or go home that day.

With the river even higher and muddier than the day before we decided to tour the area and see if we could find a fishable spot.
We all ended up at the large reservoir and I had serious plans to rent a boat and fish the reservoir instead of the river.

A view from the dam showed us that (as is often the case) the outflow was pretty clear.
The run-off from the mountains caused the stream to color the further you came from the dam.
The plan came in to mind to fish the first section of the stream behind the dam.
The problem was that we where not alone with that thought, other anglers had the same idea and they where with even more people than we where.
Again our party split up – the regulars would try and fish further downstream – the part timers would join the crowd.

I fished the spots I visited on day one and did again pretty well.
There where also many nice spots further upstream and although wading was tricky I could reach and fish all those spots.
Well upstream there was a section that I normally would not fish because it was so shallow – off course now it was flooded.

One side was marshy and before I knew it I got stuck in the mud – I had to get out of there quick.
There was a small road that ran through the river and it was easy passable during normal conditions.
I tried to walk over it but the heavy current convinced me to turn around.
Instead I carefully waded over the flooded bank as I had seen rising fish in the distance.
In the end I found a good spot to fish and was catching little brown trout on sedges.

I did very well on the shallow stretch but as I lost radio contact to the other guys I wondered how they fared.
If they had no luck at their locations they could join me as there was ample space to fish.
I headed downstream and found them at the adjacent bank halfway from our starting point.
They had caught their fair share of fish and where doing fine.
I decided to fish the road bridge downstream where two East Germans where already fishing.
I fished well upstream from the two other anglers and did quite well catching the stockies on streamers, I saw not much action with the other guys though.

At the end of the day we would all meet up at the local trout hatchery in order to drive to the next town for a visit to a Italian restaurant.
When we arrived at the hatchery and the others did not show up at the designated time a radio call was made to the part timers.
They replied that they still fishing – so we waited – and waited – and waited a little more.
Finally a phone called was made, the part timers where already at the restaurant.
So we cursed them as we could have been fishing during all the time we waited.
Off course we ended at separate tables in the Italian restaurant which was btw. a very good place to eat.

During the last night of our stay it had actually not rained.
A look at the river showed that the level had gone down quite a bit and the water had become cleaner.
We as regulars had a short fishing day ahead of us as some of us had other obligations later that day,
the part timers would stay a little longer.
After breakfast we had a discussion of where we would fish – I had the preference for the area near the
hatchery, my friends wanted to fish below the day.
By mistake we ended up at the spot I desired.

Although it was dry it also was very cold for a day in spring, in fact the temperature did not climb higher than eleven degrees Celsius on that day. Combined with a very strong wind it almost fell like fall.
I fished with a small nymph and caught quite a few trout near a hot spot at the road bridge.

After a while I headed further upstream as there was another nice pool only a short wading distance ahead.
One of my friends had the same idea only he used a path along the river to get there.
As I had reached the end of the pool he was fishing the start of it.

Despite the cold windy conditions small mayflies where on the water and the trout where rising all over the place.As the water was rather deep especially in these conditions fish where rising right in front of me.
At first I fished the nymph but then tried a sedge to get any of the rising fish.
I did get a few of them but it was clear that the sedge was not entirely convincing.
At noon we called it a day and headed back home only to get caught up in another traffic jam as all regular holidaymakers also returned home at the same time.

So this trip left some mixed feelings – despite the lousy conditions the fishing was actually
rather good and I learned something about fishing flooded rivers.
We had a good time nonetheless all the adverse conditions.
The downside was going on a trip with so many people and also importantly with people
that are not always on the same wavelength so to say.

Hopefully next year we will go as regulars only to avoid all the organization misery we had on this trip.
One of the regulars and I will return for a re-match later this year to the Harz mountains though, we will then probably complain about the low water 🙂

I was a bit late on this Sunday so there where already plenty people out and about
when I got at the water.
My first port of call was the spot where I would always guaranteed catch some roach.
Normally you could see the fish cruise in the shallow water but now the spot
seemed void of life.

Like so many day in this so called summer the wind was blowing in force.
Lots of debris covered the water, half the time the nymph I fished would be entangled
in blossom debris before it sank in the water.
Normally I would get hits near the Willow tree that covered the stream but on this
day the opposite bank was the ticket for the first couple of fish.

I had tied up some weighted buzzer type flies lately that worked pretty well with the fish.
The only drawback I noticed was the fact that the tinsel would be chewed off by the fish when they
hit the fly, the next versions will get a coat of bug bond.

The roach I caught where on the small side and I wondered where the big ones had gone.
When my indicator went down I felt something more massive swimming away with my
fly and was already thinking I had caught one of those really big roach.
To my surprise it turned out to be a brown trout, a rare visitor on that stretch of the stream.

I fished the spot thoroughly but no more fish came to the surface.
At a pool further upstream I noticed more fish but all where small and not interested in my flies.
I spotted two trout but they only only followed the fly probably protecting their lie rather than
intending to eat the fly.

Further sections upstream had fish but with the low water the fish would scatter before
I even was in the position to make a decent cast.
I was about to move to more secluded spots when I noticed upstream from a weir a pike.
The pike was very slowly moving in the middle of this slow flowing stretch of the stream that
had quite a population of tasty roach.
Unfortunately this was a sort of village green spot where lots of people would cycle along the
path that paralled the bank.
With no room to make a decent cast and so many people about I decided after a few failed
attempts to let the pike in peace.

My next stop was a spot in the middle of the forest where I had spotted trout on the last visit.
I saw a rising fish but could not determine which species.
With no room to cast I just flipped a little nymph into a bend and was rewarded with an instant
strike, Dace.

The dace where rather small though so I went on and looked for the trout.
I noticed that the stretch in the forest boasted a lot of mayflies, many of them
where landing on the water – and safely flew off again.

There was still a trout present but it spotted me first and retreated to a pile of debris in the
water.
I tried to coax it up with a streamer but failed, it would not come out to play.
When I tried the nymph I got constant hits of very small dace that where just nibbling at the fly.
After a while I got a hookup from another trout but it slipped of the hook.

While other parts of Germany where almost submerged my little stream had a definite shortage
of water as the banks become more exposed every week.

It was late in the day and as I had not eaten yet it was time to visit the pub, first though I would
take a look from the nearby bridge to see if any trout where visible.
A view from that bridge only revealed that some dace where milling around, I left them in peace.
After my well deserved break it was time to hit the road again.

In the morning the skies where blue with clouds but late afternoon the cloud cover got more thick.
It almost looked like it might rain allthough the weather people had not predicted that.
With the mayflies in mind I scouted some more upstream sections for rising fish, I saw none.
When I arrived at the last spot I would fish the first sprinkles fell, the forest sheltered me and
the stream from the rain but it was already pretty dark.

I probed a deadfall that lay in the water, there had to be a trout lying in hiding there.
A segde was carefully placed at the the edge of the tree and a trout shot out and tried to
get the fly – it missed however.
On the second attempt it just swam under the fly, I could see the bulge but the fish
hesitated.
More attempts followed but no response from the fish, still I knew it would take the fly at some point.
In the end perseverance paid off as the fish finally took the fly and I hooked it solidly.

Getting the last fish of the day on a dry fly was so they say the icing on the cake which I already
had at the pub to be precise 🙂
I took a last look at the green fields, smelled the fresh air and thought that I was privileged to
have such a nice place to fish close at thand. 

The day started rather cool with a cloud covered sky, oddly beautifull clear weather was
predicted.
When I finally arrived at the stream the cloud cover broke up and within a short time the
sky was clear and blue as promised.
Since it had not rained for some time the stream was again without much water.
Easy to spot the fish but als easy for fish to spot anglers.

At the first pool I visited I noticed that small roach and dace where present.
What caught my eye was a rather fat brown trout though standing in the current picking
up tasty morsels that floated by.
Any small roach that came to close to the trout was chased away or pursued.
Since the fish was obviously in feeding mode I tossed a small nymph right in the current.
I could see the trout take the nymph so I struck and was connected to a hefty trout.
The trout wanted to flee into the rootwork of the bankside trees but I coaxed it out
of there so it decided to run down to the next pool.
There in the deep water I could fight the fish and land it … well that last part was a bit
tricky as I had forgotten the landing net.
So I beached the fish, time for a picture – the fish thought otherwise and in a spray of mud
and water it shot back into the stream.

A few minutes later I spotted another trout, as the big trout had left its lie the next one
came to claim the prime feeding spot.
So again a nymph went into the water and the whole story repeated itself with as
exception that this time the trout stayed put for the picture.

I wanted to catch either roach or dace but could only spot the tiny ones and they did not
really cooperate.
In a shady stretch of the stream I blindcasted into deeper sections of the water and was
rewarded with an instant hit of a roach.

I fished the pool behind the watermill once again without any hits but noticed that some mighty fat
carp where moving right under the weir.
I had no time to target the fish though as I had an appointment with one of the members of our syndicate
to re-rig his fly rod, next stop would be our hatchery.
On the way to the hatchery I came across the largest roach I had ever seen in the stream, a
target for me on a next visit.

The weather was really perfect, clear blue skies and a nice temperature made it feel like summer.

At the hatchery members where busy cleaning and repairing some of the rearing ponds.
I met up with the fellow flyfisherman and re-rigged his fly rod.
The gentlemen had not fished with it for a long time so I fixed his setup and gave him
some of my flies that I use on the stream.
One the guys remarked that it was time to test the setup so he took the rod and went
to what I call the mutant pool, a small pool stocked with several diffent kind of trout.

The mutant trout pool was inhabited by rather large rainbow trout, brook trout, brown trout
and a few tiger trout (hybrid brown – brook trout).
Off course it took only little time before one of the fish nailed the fly and put up a
good fight.
It was a brightly coloured brook trout that took the small barbless streamer.
So the rig was officially tested and approved.

It was already mid day when I left the hatchery and as I had not eaten anything this day it was time
for the pub to get lunch.
After lunch I fished some of the old haunts where I had spotted trout at an earlier visit.
The fish where difficult to approach with the low and clear water but with a bit of care I managed
to catch some more trout.

Lots of mayflies about but curiously nothing rising for them … untill I came
across a spot where something was feeding agressively behind a fallen tree.
I tossed a sedge at the commotion and was instantly awarded with a fine
brown trout.

So on this beautifull day I managed two roach and six brown trout, not bad at all.
For the next day I might try the chub section of the stream, have not caught one
of those yet.