My friends had planned a trip to the Eifel region in
Southwestern Germany this spring.
Since I would be visiting the Harz mountains later in
the season I was thinking of skipping the Eifel trip
since time and funds might be an issue.
When the final preparations for the Eifel trip where
made it turned out to be a pretty bargain and since I
could get time off from work I decided to tag along.
Day 1.
On a wednesdayevening we headed to our destination of
Kyllburg and made good progress on the Autobahn.
The last stretch would take us on the backroads.
Our driver was a little too eager to get to the river
so he was speeding at a spot fitted with a speedingcamera.
The flash from the radar trap was a sign that the trip
just got a little expensiver.
Late in the evening we arrived at the camping that was located
smack on the riverbank.
It was still warm outside and to our surprise hundreds of caddisflies
where swarming in the lights.
Our quarters would be one caravan and something I just called the dog house.
A view on the camping, to the right the doghouse – further
left our caravan.
The dog house – two people fitted in there (barely)
The first day we fished the stretch of the Kyll in Kyllburg.
After breakfast at the camping we headed out for our morning session
and did pretty well.
In the beginning I had a tough time figuring out what would work.
My usual nymphing techniques failed but slowly I got there and
started catching all sorts of fish.
Only the barbels, a large carp like fish ignored whatever I offered them.
In the afternoon we headed into Kyllburg to get something to eat.
We picked out the Bella Italia restaurant that was located on the rive bank.
From the nearby bridge we could see how monster size chub and barbel patrolled the no-fishing zone.
A bread fly would probably do wonders out there.
Barbel from the no-fishing zone.
For the evening session we decided to not venture to far from our camping.
A year before we had witnessed a grand evening rise on the camping
stretch and where hoping for the same this time.
Conditions where different though as we where right in the middle of a weather change.
The weather turned from very hot to very chilly and so we stood in the river und dark clouds and a strong wind.
The temperatures had dropped significantly and allthough fish where rising it was not what we had hoped for.
Still some fish came to the net, the winning pattern was a segde fly.
When it became to dark to spot the fly and fish activity slowed down we called it a day and went back to the camping.
Day 2.
On day 2 we would visit a different stretch of the Kyll.
We would head to the town of Gerolstein where we had
arranged permits to fish the Kyll and a small stream called
Oos.
After getting the licenses we split up at the river.
Some friends and I started at the downstream section, two others
would hit the Oos stream and the upstream section.
As we got ready to gear up the clouds opened and it rained pretty strong, since the Kyll river was prone to discoloring after rainshowers I feared the worst.
As I entered the river amidst the rain I opted to fish the nymph.
At first I got no hits except on the orange strike putty I used as strike indicator.
Figuring orange was a good color I tied on my one and only small orange nymph and hoped for the best.
It did not take long before I got results.
The first stretch I fished was in a tunnel of trees, the river was small there and casting was tricky.
Further downstream the river became wider.
When the first showers stopped the sun came out for a moment and I spotted a rising fish just behind me.
After a few casts I was in to the fish which turned out to be a surprise, a grayling.
grayling
New rainshowers came pouring down and I wondered if we would get lightning.
Luckily it stayed with rain only so I continued to fish.
After catching some small trout I ran into a big fish that raced upstream in seconds.
It only took a few seconds before my tippet gave away, I had
most likely hooked into a barbel .
When the rain subsided the sun came out once again.
Now I was standing on a stretch where the river was wide.
Trout suddenly started rising fanatically.
I could clearly see the trout stationed upstream from me and
caught loads of them while sightcasting, it was good.
I made it upstream to the Oos stream and decided to check it out.
Allthough I spotted some trout in that stream I found it to be to shallow and small to explore it all the way.
The Oosbach
Upstream the rest of the crew where working the river so I decided to
go downstream.
The next couple of hours where not that good as I had fished the
section before and fish where on to me.
In the afternoon we picked out a restaurant in Gerolstein to get
something to eat.
The guy who sold us the permits talked about the Grayling section in the middle of Gerolstein so we checked it out after lunch.
In Gerolstein
Fishing in the middle of town amidst sunken bikes and soforth was not our cup of tea so we headed to the section in front of the town where my friends had done good that morning.
We walked along a bikepath close to the river and could spot the rising trout amidst the crowfoot.
I picked a spot and tied on a segde pattern and worked the lanes between the crowfoot.
Fish after fish came to the net, caddis where on the water in force.
It all went pretty well untill the caddis dissappeared when the sun went down.
Temperatures plummeted so the insects where gone.
Fish where sporadically rising but most likely taking emergers in the surface film.
Whatever I tried I could not get them to eat.
The last fish I took that day was on a small PT nymph.
Day 3
The third day we headed to the Kyll at the village of Fliessem.
It was the only section of the Kyll in the Kyll valley where there
was no road or railway along the river.
So as we headed into the valley we hoped to enjoy pure silence.
It did not work out though as we had thought.
On the valley floor a watermill was the landmark in the middle of the stretch we would fish.
A big sign stated “Tonight rock concert”, so we entered the middle of
the fairground.
Since the concert would be later in the evening only the crews of the stage where present but it would get busy and loud later.
It was rather chilly outside so dry fly fishing would probably be a
waste of time.
I entered the water and found it discolered.
A nymph pretty soon yielded the first trout.
Since I was in the middle section I decided walk along the fields
to get to the farthers upstream point.
When I found that the upstream section was only becoming deeper and wider and headed a little back downstream and started to fish
a streamer.
Normally the Kyll was not that deep but the stretch I was wading was different.
When the water became deep I was pondering weather to get out to the bank and walk or continue wading.
I decided to do the latter which was my downfall.
Suddenly I went to deep and noticed to late that my “open” waterproof camera bag was submerged.
It was too late to safe the camera, completely dead after being dunked in the water – bummer.
So I did stuped and payed the price.
It put a damper on my fishing expirience and well I got
a little depressed.
I continued fishing but was happy when we decided to stop for
lunch later in the day.
We headed to the only restaurant in the village nearby and fuelled
up for the evening session.
Fuelling up.
In the evening we had a slight break in the weather.
The sun came out for a while and caddisflies began to swarm.
The fairground was slowly filling up with people and as
Guns and Roses came out the speakers behind me audible through
the whole valley I noticed loads of rising fish.
Armed with a segde I targeted the rising fish and started catching
them.
I told my buddy nearby to get over the spot I was fishing and
soon he was into fish also.
Since I was cameraless now I started taking pictures with my phone,
not great quality but at least something for the record.
At a certain time in the evening the action just died down in an instant.
The caddis stopt swarming when the sun went down behind the hills.
Off course the trout did the same and would only sporadically rise.
I figured that only a streamer would work so I tied on a small magnus streamer originally intended for searun browns in the Baltic sea.
That streamer yielded the last couple of fish for the day.
As the fairground filled with people for the concert we left for the camping.
Day 4.
On the last day of our trip we would head north and fish the Kyll river way upstream in Stadtkyll.
After breakfast we cleaned the caravan and the doghouse and made our
way up north.
In Stadtkyll we got our permits at the local gas station and headed out to a very clear and small Kyll river.
The water was low and fishing would be tricky indeed.
I was the first to get ready and noticed a pool that was teeming with trout, chub, roach and perch.
I even spotted two crayfish moving about.
At first I thought this would be easy but these fish where already spooked when the leader landed on the water.
No show for me thus, my only hope was to find a deeper pool that was under the cover of trees.
I found such a spot soon and landed my first trout of the day.
It was a jungle out there and darn shallow.
I was soon overtaken by Tom who starting fishing in front of me.
Since the section I fished was lacking a path I could not move
further upstream to circument Tom.
I guess part of the Kyll was no good for a horde of five flyfisherman.
In the end Tom got his fly so often in the trees that he gave
up to find greener pastures.
I moved upstream through the jungle when the river eventually entered a more open landscape.
It became very shallow though and the only fish I found where in spots where casting was absolutely impossible.
To my surprise I did spot larger grayling though.
My intention was to reach the start of our stretch where a larger dam would be located but when I saw another flyfisherman already working the stream I opted to go back.
On the way back I had a go at the grayling.
They where hiding in a pool under a set of willows so I just
let the nymph be taking with the current downstream.
It worked as I hooked one of the larger graylings.
To bad the hook came out so I had nothing to show for.
I caught a few smaller trout and a little grayling downstream.
When it was close to the time when we would leave I opted to
fish one of the deeper pools in the middle of the village.
Legions of large roach where in front of me, I could spot
them in the clear water.
I tried catching them with PT nymphs just as I would do back
home but it did not work.
I could clearly see the fish following the nymph but they
just would not take it.
At five o’clock it was time to get back to the car.
The other guys had moved downstream and caught a few fish
and had the expirience of being chased off a field by
a bull.
We met a fellow flyfisher who told us that conditions where
bad due to the low water levels.
It was not that great catching wise but I could see the potential
of this stretch in better times.
After three hours driving time we where back home.
With the exception of the camera accident I had a great time
just like the rest of the guys.
The dryfly fishing was really out of this world, haven’t seen
such good rises for a long time.
The only thing I have to do now is to fix my camera issue with
the travel insurance – it has worked before so it might work again.
