Flyfishing FWSW

After a second fishing session to the mountain stream we once again spend the afternoon session at the main river.
There was a nice spot we wanted to visit that lay just downstream of a reservoir.

We stopped at a nearby bridge to see if anybody was fishing the spot we intended to visit.
We spotted no fisherman but we did notice that some monster chub
and a single large trout where moving about in the water.

As usual my friend wanted to fish upstream so there was only one way for me to go.
It was not a problem for me though as the downstream section
Boasted the inflow of turbine channel from the hydroelectric plant.
This was a spot with a lot of flow so there had to be fish there.

The water at the outflow itself was quite shallow and I did not get any fish there.
Further downstream though the fly was immediately intercepted by rainbow trout.

Things where going pretty swell as one after the other fish took the fly.
I got my friend on the radio and asked how he was doing at his spot.
Not that great was the answer, he had managed to scare all fish away
In the slow moving water behind the reservoir.
He then ran into two German fisherman who told him not to go any further
Upstream as it was a waste of time, they had only seen and caught pike –
Lot’s of them but tiny fish.

I told my friend he should join me as the pool I fished was large enough to
fish with two people and the fish where once again stacked.

Most fish I caught where rainbow trout but sometimes there was a welcome change when
a brown trout would take the fly.
The surprise of the day was when I hooked a small pike amongst the rainbow trout,
the little bugger imitated the trout by making a few nice jumps.

My friend did also well with the trout so the day still turned out to be good for him.
We fished as usual well into the dark, another perfect fishing day.

The morning session took place at a small stream up in the mountains.
In the afternoon we would hit the main river again.
At the river the water level had gone down quite a bit since the rainfallon Monday.
The sun came out in full force, luckily some clouds and a light breeze
made it tolerable to be outside.

We would visit the same section of the river as we had done the previous day.
As expected the fish where still present in large numbers.

After a while I did get the feeling that it was all too easy so I decided to explore
the river further downstream.
The goal was to eventually get to the spot where the Tenkara boys had fished before.

Oddly on my way to that spot I hardly ran into any fish.
With fish so concentrated in one spot you could not get rid of the thought that fish
had been recently stocked.
When I came near the deeper pools where I wanted to fish I noticed that somebody
was already fishing there.

I stayed upstream from the fisherman until I saw that he took a break on the riverbank.
I walked over and talked fish for a while.
This person was a regular visitor to this river so it was interesting to hear what he
Had to say about the fishing conditions.
I had the luck that he was planning to move to another spot so I could go ahead
With my plans to fish that nice pool there.

The fish where very active in the surface feeding so I picked a very small CDC sedge
pattern and tried my luck.
The pattern I had was just the ticket as I managed to catch some nice rainbow trout.
The fun did not last that long as the deep pools also doubled as a bathing spot for
The local kids.
Before I knew it they where swimming in the spots where moments ago dozens of
Trout had risen.
That was the drawback of fishing this river during the summer, holiday time and
low water….

So back upstream was the only way to go.
When I arrived at the pool where I started the day I noticed that loads of sedges
where on the water.
Oddly they where not bothered by the trout at all.

I could still catch fish on nymphs, action was kind of slow though.
When the sun finally went down surface activity increased and fish began to feed
aggressively on top.

Like the previous days we fished until it was so dark that we could not track our own flies.
The fish however still feeding well into the dark.

Day 2 of our fishing trip had arrived.
After a good breakfast we headed out to find a new fishing spot for the day.
My friend wanted to fish upstream which left me just one direction to go.

The water had risen and the river was slightly murky due to the rainfall of the previous day.
I could not spot any rising fish although small mayflies where on the water.

The first stretch of the river that I fished seemed lifeless.
In the past this part of the river had a fair amount of chub in it so something had to bite.
After a while I could at least catch one fish.

The end of my beat was formed by a weir.
A turbine channel led from the top of the weir to a small hydroelectric plant.
Usually the deep water would house some fish but even when I switched from
nymph to streamer nothing showed up.
The end of the weir was silted up and I deemed it impassable so I headed
back upstream where I knew some likely fish hideouts.

The first deep hole where I suspected fish only yielded one bite,
It stayed quiet after that.
The next pool housed a nice brown though and when I fought the fish I
noticed that the trout was accompanied by a huge chub.
The trout was landed, the chub disappeared.

Further up I ran into my friend who was doing pretty well catching several
brown trout and even a brook trout on nymphs.
I passed by and walked quite a distance upstream so I would not disturb the water.

Eventually I ended up in the Canyon where the deep pools yielded numerous fish.
Time flew by and so we had to take a break for lunch.
The Italian place was closed now for the summer holidays but the Greek one was still open.
Normally you would combine Greek food with wine but a cool wheat beer is personally more to my liking.

After lunch we headed to a spot far downstream where we had some issues
in the past with a local (pretty deranged) farmer over parking.

On the way to our spot we crossed a bridge over the river and just had to stop
and see what was happing in the water.
It turned out people where already fishing, our colleague from our local flyfishing
club and his son where Tenkara fishing.
We had a grand view from the top of the bridge and gave directions to the
anglers below where the trout where located.
The place was really full of fish.
The kid showed his dad how Tenkara fishing was down as he caught a nice
Rainbow trout.

In the past we had a little run-in with before mentioned farmer and it
was really not a big deal to us but the farmer thought differently.
In the past we had dared to park our car at the roadside on a patch of
grass that according to him was absolutely vital for the survival of his cows.
We did not block traffic or do any damage to this not fenced in roadside
Patch of grass near a bridge but the guy obviously did not like strangers
and foreigner where I guess even worse.

This time we choose a spot to park the car that seemed unlikely to provoke
a conflict with even that deranged farmer but I guess we would only be sure
of that at the end of the day.
My buddy once again wanted to fish upstream (strange guy) so I had to
take a walk downstream.
I walked into the river and on my third cast I hooked into a very lively Rainbow trout.

Fish was present, as I worked my way upstream I came to a deep pool and noticed
That the fish there where really stacked.

Although the airspace just above the water was inhabited by a legion of sedges the trout
Did not go after them.
Instead they nailed something in the film on the surface but as on the previous occasion
I could not see what they where after.
Maybe it was about time to get a small scoop net to see what kind of food was present in The surface.
This time however nymphs where also ready accepted.
After sunset the feeding intensified and we just fished all the way until it got Really dark outside.

When we could not spot the fly anymore we just called it a day.
Another perfect fishing day had ended.

On the first fishing day of the trip it was obvious where
we would fish, the spot where the fish had been spotted
on the previous day.
The pool with the fish was however to small to be hammered
by two people so I told my buddy he could have a go
at the good spot.

I had to move downstream and the spots I came across
did not hold any of the big fish we had seen upstream.
After a while I did manage to catch a tiny brown trout
so the ice was broken.

Further downstream I knew that a few nice pools where located
that used to boast a lot of trout in the past.
On our scouting trip the day before the place was however
full of bathers so I expected not to much from that place.
I spotted a few trout in the pool and managed to catch one
of them – the trout where getting bigger.

The next spot on the list was the so called canyon where
the river boasted some nice deep pools.
The place looked fantastic, bathers where not to be seen so
there had to be some fish around.
Things where going great in the canyon and so time flew by.
It was also very hot outside and the horse flies where pretty much
getting to me.
We got together again in the afternoon and traded places.
Now I had a go at the trout, my friend told that he had only gotten
a few fish out of the stack as they seemed to be very picky.

I noticed that the trout where taking something in the surface
but I had no clue what they where taking.
My attempts to serve them a dry fly where in vain.
Maybe a streamer pattern would do the trick then.
When the streamer landed at the head of the pool the effect was
instant, the trout raced behind the streamer and grabbed it
without hesitation.

The skies started to darken and before we knew it the promised
rain began to fall.
Unpleasant was the fact that there was also thunder and lightning
so we headed for the safety of the car as it rained cats and dogs.
It was late in the afternoon and we where not ready to call it a
day so we headed for our hotel for a break to see how the
weather would develop.
It continued raining so we decided to head into town for dinner
at an Italian restaurant.

During dinner we looked at the sky and for a moment we believed
the skies would clear but it was just a pause for even more
rain.
The lightning had gone however so after dinner we headed back to
our fishing spot and started fishing in the driving rain.
The river had risen slightly but fish where still eagerly
taking flies.

Late in the evening the rain stopped, even a rainbow appeared
in the sky.
Fish where still rising during all this time and later at near
dusk I started fishing a small segde.
Now the trout would take the larger patterns with gusto.
When I finally could not see the fly anymore I knew it was time
to stop.
So this was the first day of the trout, tons of fish where
caught and the conditions where just great.

On a recent fishing trip to Germany’s deep south we had the chance to fish
a tiny stream called Eschach up in the mountains on the border of Bavaria with Baden-Württemberg.
It was a challenging water where it was difficult to approach the fish unseen.

I managed to scare most fish away but managed to catch a few small wild brown
trout in the deeper sections where the disturbed water surface blocked my movements.

This small water was more or less divided in two sections, the lower section was probably
The best since it carried more water due to feeders from the surrounding mountains.
Now most trout are small there and have a very light colouring that makes that provides
Perfect camouflage with the light stream bottom.
Some of the deep pools however held huge brown trout, only managed to scare them under
the rocks but at least I knew they where present.

We decided to go for a rematch to this stream and switched beats where I would fish
the upper section.
My friend had not fished all the stream on that previous day so I ventured up far upstream.
Few fish where present but I managed to catch at least two brownies.
I was in short contact with a big brown trout but it got off.

On my way back downstream I tried to get the big brown fishing a nymph downstream of
The weir where it was located but it would not come out to intercept the nymph.
I hopped over the small weir instead and looked for the fish which was tucked away
under a large stone.
I did a bit of hillbilly handfishing and felt the fish which consequently raced out of its
Cover to head over the weir upstream.
Next time I will get that fish….

On August the 5th. we made our way from the Dutch border to southern Germany for a five day fishing trip.
We estimated it would take us about 8 hours driving time to reach our hotel.

It was Sunday when we left which meant that the German Autobahn was free of trucks (by regulation), we made
good tracks.
Our fishing licenses issued by the hotel would be valid from
Monday onwards but we guessed if we would get there early enough
we could do some scouting on the river for the next day.

After five hours on the Autobahn we decided it was time for a break.
Instead of heading to a place right on the highway we took an
exit and decided to stop at the first little village for some coffee.
The first village looked quite empty so we moved further away from
the highway.

We crossed a stream and fishing nuts as we where we wanted to take a closer look at it.
The name at the brigde stated that we just drove over the Frankische Saale.
We could not find a suitable spot to reach the stream and eventually
ended up in the town of Hammelburg, Bavaria.
A little study on the map showed that further in town a small road
might lead to the river so we headed there.
The road ended though at the railway tracks, only a small walkway underneath the tracks gave access to adjecent fields.

I took a path along some ponds where I saw some carp and perch.
Finally when I reached the stream I noticed that it was all thick brush and steep banks.
I just could not get near to have a good look.
All I could see was some murky water so I was not that excited.

On the way to the river we had located a small restaurant along the roadside which turned out to be an Italian place when we stopped
there as we headed back to the highway.
So instead of regular coffee we got some pretty good cappuchino.
The rest of the trip went pretty uneventfull and so we arrived
within the designated time at our destination in the deep south.

We stopped at one of the feeder streams of the river we would
fishing and immediately spotted some trout in the current.

As we stood on the brigde and looked at the trout I noticed that a car stopped at the roadside.
It had a dutch license plate, what a coindence.
Then a guy stepped up and yelled something like “there are no fish in there”.
The voice sounded familiar, turned out to be a guy from our local flyfishing
club who was staying at the same hotel we did – it’s really a small world.
After a little chat we each went our ways, our stop was the main river.

The main river looked nice but we just could not see any activity of fish which bothered us a bit.
First it was time to check in to the hotel and maybe get some refreshments in the village.
We headed out to the stretch of the river where we would probably
start our fishing the next day.
A quick peek on the bridgde still gave us no signs of fish.

A walk to the field road adjecent to the stream was in place.
When we looked a little bit further afield in the stream we could not believe our eyes.
The fish where stacked in layers of three in one concentrated spot.
It looked just like a place that was recently stocked.

After seeing all those fish it was pretty certain where we would start fishing the next day.
Fishing would be good for sure.

We ended the day with dinner at our favourite Italian restaurant in the village.
To bad the owner would close his place down for his holiday the next day but we had already spotted a plan B place.
Plan B was the Greek restaurant located in the same street.
Most important with these places, they stayed open late enough so you could fish well into the evening hatch and still have
dinner afterwards.

Today I was on a mission – go and catch chub.

I knew that the stream I fished had some pretty big chub in them
but they where so wary that I never even got close to them.
Off course big chub got big not because they where stupid like
the little ones who would grab anything from the surface.

At first I only spotted little chub and subsequently caught a few of those.
Just by chance I ran into a fellow member of the German syndicate who
was also busy flyfishing.
He had done well with mayfly patterns so that might be the ticket for the
day as many naturals where buzzing along the field.

After some searching I spotted a couple of very big chub, the monsters
I had been looking for.
It was almost impossible to fish for them without scaring them off but I
managed some casts with a big mayfly.
It was nerve wracking as I watch many times how a big chub would move
To investigate the fly and open its mouth to inhale the fly.
For some reason they all rejected the fly at the last moment and whatever
Different pattern I choose did not seem to matter.

I left the spot for an hour and tried again later in the day.
The big chub where still around and it looked like they where active.
After a few fruitless drifts the fly suddenly got inhaled by a big chub,
I struck and all hell brooke loose as the chub charged off.

Chub had the nasty habit of diving in the weeds and this one was no different.
I had to get wet to land this fish but luckily the water table was low and access
To the water was more or less easy.
I managed to coax the chub out of the weeds and could finally land the fish.
It may have taken years but I finally got one of the big boys…

I had hoped that today’s weather would be a bit friendlier than yesterdays
but oh boy was I wrong.
With those low temperatures and drizzle I just could not get in the spring spirit.

Still I could notice a rising fish in the stream so I immediately launched a fly towards the fish
Which did not led to the desired effect.
The spot I was fishing did not look that lively so I moved on to the next.

Spot nr. 2 actually boasted a brown trout.
The trout had picked a strategic position behind some tree roots.
To get a fly there would be very difficult especially with such a low water level like we had today.
Before I even launched the fly the trout spotted me and ran off, a wise decision.

The next spot was at a location where I had not fished in ages.
I just tried my luck by tossing a nymph in a deeper section of the stream between to deadfalls.
Well, there where fish as I suspected, the rate in which my tippet ran off however showed me
That I was into something larger than I had bargained for.
I set the hook and a very big trout shot into the air, the fish broke the tippet- bummer.

At the next spot where last week a decent trout was rising it stayed quiet.
The big trout had gone, the toddler was present and off course he took my nymph.
The small trout managed to throw the nymph and so it looked like I might be in for a tough day.

To boost moral I had to visit the “always fish” honey hole even though it had not been that
swell the last time I fished there.
I could see the roach but they where strangely hugging the bank.
When I heard racket in the water upstream I instantly thought “trout”.
It did not take long before I had one on and by the way it thought it was clear to me
That I had caught one of the pretty rare brook trout.

Besides the brook trout I could land two brown trout and even a little perch and roach where interested
In the nymphs I fished.
I was happy that the last spot had produced fish.

On the way back home I stopped at a carp hideout and as expected the carp where moving
Up and down in a shallow pool accompanied by a few bream.
I tried to catch them but they had already noticed me and where not in feeding mode.
One of these days I will get one of these carp….
So despite the lousy weather this day turned out pretty good.