Flyfishing FWSW

Some time ago I received an invite from a flyfisher of a neighboring syndicate to
join their season-opener celebration on this day.
The plan was to start with breakfast at the house of one of the local flyfisherman,
then head out to the river to fish to be concluded by dinner in a local pub.

Early morning in the Netherlands

It could not have been a worse day for fishing as the a stormy wind came blowing out of the east
and temperatures would be below freezing all day.
At the breakfast we where with 7 flyfisherman.
Breakfast took a long time, I guess we dragged our feet more or less to avoid getting out in the miserable conditions.
Finally we did decide to head out to the stream but at that time we where left with 5 flyfisherman as two
of us had other obligations.

At the water the conditions where harsh, even though the stream was more or less sheltered the
cold wind was blowing over the land with much force.
There was a constant flow of debris from the trees that fell around us.
The stream looked good though with clear water and a nice flow.

The stream

The flyfisherman dispersed along the stream and tried their best to catch the first trout of the season.
After about an hour or two we gathered again at the parking lot when another flyfisherman had to leave
because of chores.
Now left with four people we decided to take a break from the cold and head for lunch to a nearby
guesthouse … which was surprisingly closed.
Plan B was put into action so off to the next village to another guesthouse … again closed.
As faith would have it the only option open for us now was the Ice parlor – apptly named “Ice age”.
Luckily for us they also had one warm dish on the menu so we went for the hot chocelatemilk with cream
and a warm apfelstrudel.

It took a long time to warm up and an even longer time for us to finally head out again to the
stream.  
In the mean time flyfisherman number 4 had left due to chores at home so we where only
three as we hit the water.
In the stretch we where about to fish I knew for sure that fish would be present but with this
adverse wheater conditions I had not high hopes that fish would be willing to bite.
I suspected that the fish would probably be hunkering in the tightest cover they could find
right now which mean right amoung the tree roots that lined the stream.
After donating some streamers to trees I finally hooked into a fish when I drifted a streamer
right into the treeroots.
My first brown trout of the season was a fact.

First brown trout of the season

Ice…

Trout number one was a fact but off course there would be more fish hiding in the depths.
At another spot I actually had three takes in a row but missed the fish.
I headed out further in the woods for some good spots I knew from last season.
Access was a problem though as I had no waders with me and was fishing from the bank.
At one of the steep banks it went wrong as I slipped and voila yours truly landed in the water.
Damage was only emotional but I got pretty wet which is no fun at subzero temperatures 🙂

Steep banks.

I recovered quickly from the water, dusted off the mud and emptied my shoes before I headed
up the bank to see how the other guys where doing.
I met up with the other guys who clearly had had enough of the cold weather so we decided to 
head up to the pub where a warm fireplace would greet us …. we thought.

Well on this day nothing went as planned, we headed to the pub but there was missing something.
No smoke from the chimney … allthough the pub should have opened according to the sign nobody 
was home.
I opted to then visit the pub of my angling syndicate nearby which luckily was open.
The fireplace was running at full blast, just what we needed.

What we needed at the end of the day.

The only drawback was the fact that we could not get the food we wanted as the pub would only
cater for weddings, birthday parties andsoforth.
We could get a sandwhich dish though which was rather good and off course the beers tasted 
like usual.

All in all a challenging day but spend in good company and hey … I caught my first trout for the season.
Pretty pleased to say the least.

The trout opener coinced with a working party at the hatchery.
I suspected that the hatchery would probably be the only place
on this day where I could see trout so I took some pics and
made a little video to remind me how trout looked.

{wmv}Trout-2{/wmv}
In the hatchery pool

At the hatchery

With the work all being done it was time to head out to the stream.
I fished the deeper pools with a heavy streamer to coax out any stockies but 
unfortunately nothing moved.

One of the deeper pools at the stream.

As I encountered plenty of footsteps on the banks of the stream I figured
I was not the first angler to visit the spot.
Maybe the first few fish that where stocked where already cleaned out.

In a last ditch attempt to avoid skunk I headed to the headwater to
see if any roach where active but alas nothing came out to play.

The headwaters.

So fishing was a bust today but at least I did something good at the hatchery.
As it has been too cold for a very long time I suspect that it will take quite some
time for the stream to get to life again.
In the mean time I will keep on trying, one day it will change for the better 🙂

Allthough warmer weather was predicted for later this week I had to
check the river to see if I could finally catch my first fish of the season.
The first thing I noticed today that it was rather chilly so hopes of 
catching fish where somewhat dimmed.

The river still carried more water than I had expected but I had brought
some heavier nymphs with me to fish deep.
I fished one of my summertime honey holes but to no avail.
At that spot fish where rising untill November but now nothing at all
was moving in the water.
There where a few insects about but for the rest all was lifeless.

Oh deer …

The lack of succses at the honeyhole made me move far downstream where the river got wider and
moved slower.
In that section I could always catch a perch or two during most of the year but again nothing would
come out to take a well presented fly.
I noticed that the competition was also fishing, a cursed cormorant was cleaning out the water.

Looks like spring, if it would only get warmer.

Last chance today was to fish a rebuild weir where I had hooked a big chub a year or two ago.
Maybe there would be fish in that spot.
As all stones where submerged at the former weir I knew that the water was still to high for
any activity.
I fished a nymph in the currents anyway but again no takes.

Plenty of water.

So fishing wise today was a complete blank bur at least I got my daily dose of fresh air in.
It will take some time before the river comes to life again so I hope the weather will get warmer in the coming weeks.

It has been bugging me that I have been fishless since the start of this year.
The cold weather did not exactly help and getting hammered by the flu was
also not helpfull.
With a break in the below freezing temperatures this weekend I headed out
to see if anything was happening at my little stream.

With the membership in a new syndicate my pool of fishable water was yet
again increased so I decided to check out some of the new spots first.
What gave me hope today was the sight of the first snowdrops almost in
bloom and the fact that the first insects have hatched and are moving about.

Snow drop

The stream was carrying still a lot of water, more than I had hoped for.
Catching a fish in these conditions would be a miracle indeed.
I tossed some nymphs and streamers in the stream but to no avail.

Somebody cleaned out the freshwater mussels.

I found some pretty nice fishing spots that surely would hold fish.
When the season has progressed and temperatures and waterlevels are more favourable
I will return to see if the new spots are any good.

New spots to fish this year.

After visiting the new spots I headed down to one of my old favourites where the river 
was wider so the impact of the current would be lower.
I fished the place thoroughly and had one certified take but missed the fish.
When the sun broke through it was rather nice outside.
As the first insects where hovering around the riverbank I had hoped that the sun would 
bring out feeding fish but nothing happened, I guess it is still too early.

Geese

I came across one other flyfisherman at the stream today, also a member of my syndicate.
He had the same luck as I had, no fish today.
So fishing wise the day was not a succses but seeing the snow drops and insects today 
assures me that it can only get better from now on.

In the winter months the fishing in the small streams I frequent usually comes
to a halt as fish seem to dissappear for overwintering.
Since temperatures where favorable I could not resist to visit one of the streams
to look for myself how things where going.

It looked pretty bleak in the outdoors as most trees had shed their leaves.
Still there where a few midges on the waters surface and I even spotted a rising fish.

If I had taken the dry fly box with me I would have tried but I only carried nymphs
and streamers.
I tossed in a size 16 goldbead pheaseanttail nymph and soon had the first bites.
The fish turned out to be small chub, the big ones I had seen during the summer
where not to be seen.

Maybe I could lure the big chub by fishing a small zonker streamer in the
deeper sections of the stream.
I probed the mostly likely places with the streamer but only got one hit which
resulted in a bitten off tail of the streamer, most likely a pike.
There where no more hits on the streamer so I tied on a nymph again.
The nymph yielded one larger chub.

The forecast clouds rolled in around afternoon when I decided to call it a day.
First the rain was light but then it just poured and it did not stop untill the
evening.
Still a very informative day as I had expected all fish action would be over
because of the late season.