Flyfishing FWSW

Yesterday some friends and I went to the Mohne river in
the Sauerland region of Germany.
The particular stretch we fished was managed by a local flyshop
and well known for its large trout.


Mohne river.

My friends dropped me off at the end of the stretch.
I fished the river upstream from an old stone bridge where I
always had good results in the past.
There was not a lot of insect activity going on so I started
with nymph fishing.
I did not got any hits until I tied on a Copper John, that was
the ticket for a nice size brook trout.


Brook trout

With a large pool in front of me I expect more hits on the nymph but it remained awfully quiet.
Maybe it was time to get the streamers out and see what would happen.
In the pool where I was nymphing the streamer was left untouched.
As I moved upstream to visit another deep pool I fished some of the shallower sections with the streamer.
To my surprise a few fish exploded on the streamer but unfortunately they did not stay connected.
At the deep pool upstream however things where different, this time the fish stayed on.


Contact!


Nice Brooktrout

To my surprise I encountered yet another Brooktrout of respectable size.
Every time I fished the streamer through the pool a Brooktrout would come and chase after it.
In short order I landed about three good size Brooktrout.



Beautiful strong fish.

This madness could not go on off course and so after catching several fish in a row the action died down.
I moved further upstream and decided to work my way downstream to the pool I had just fished.
There where a few deeper sections in front of me so I just fed line out and fished the streamer back upstream.
Before I knew it a Brooktrout jumped up from the stream and I felt a tug on the line.
But that flying fish was not the one that took the streamer, most likely two fish where chasing the same fly.


Brooktrout on white zonker streamer.

The section I was now fishing also seemed like a Brooktrout hotel since on several occasions fish where chasing the streamer.
I managed to catch one other Brooktrout before I had to return to my friends for lunch.


Last Brooktrout before lunch.

When I met my friends one had blanked while the other one had caught about five good size Rainbow- and Brown trout.
After lunch we first visited the local flyshop to stock up in gear before we returned to the river.
I decided to get back to the Brooktrout section.
In the meantime the weather had changed dramatically, it went from clouds and sunshine to rain and strong winds.
The temperature had plummeted and the few insects that where buzzing around in the morning where gone.
Although I got a few more hits on the streamer I could not get a solid hookup anymore.
We had agreed on a departure time and with only 1 hour to go I decided to visit the other guys.


Mohne river

My friends fished the dammed section of the river that was located upstream from a watermill.
This deep water stretch was known locally as the trophy stretch and my friend had done well down there.
Both had caught several good fish from that stretch on nymphs and streamers.
I too was soon into fish but I did not manage to stay in contact.
Time was running out as the assembly time arrived.
During one of my last casts I suddenly received a solid take and the fish stayed on.
I had hooked a real fat Brown trout.


A bonus Brown trout at the end of the day.

I was however in big trouble because I only had a wading net on me and it was fact that steep clay banks and felt-sole waders where a combination for disaster.
There was a small ledge where I could barely stand so with the risk of an involuntary bath in mind I slipped down the bank.
I could barely manage to net the fish and I even dared to make an awkward picture.
As I released the fish my friend came looking for, it was time to go and they thought I had gone swimming.
The problem was now that I could not get up the bank, it was no use with the wet felt soles.
I handed all gear over to my friends and made last ditch attempt to grab an overhanging tree to haul myself onto shore.
Luckily I just made it although I was covered in clay, it was worth the effort though.

Anyway I had a great day on the Mohne river and hope to visit that river on a few more occasions this season.

Loads of rain and cold weather had prevented us from visiting one of our close by German
Trout streams. 
Last Sunday the weather was finally good enough to see if life had returned to the stream.
A visit in an urban section of the stream gave us hope, the shiners had finally appeared again 
in the open water signalling the beginning of the season to us.
The shiners where present but they did not take the nymphs we offered them, the only contact
I had was a short battle with presumably a trout that hit my streamer.



It rained for a while in the morning, sheltering under a bridge.

After fishing the urban section with no success we headed upstream and ended up in the forest.
Spring flowers like Windflowers and covered the forest floor.
The stream we fished always carried loads of sand with it so many of our old honey holes
where filled in while some new ones had appeared.
With that bright sand bottom I knew that fish would most likely shelter along the edge of the 
stream and behind piles of rubble. 
A cast with a nymph along the darker coloured bank yielded the desired result, a trout took the nymph instantly.
I felt a solid hook-up but guess what, the fish came off.



Spring flowers, Cowslip and Windflower

One thing that bothered us where the many footprints along the bank of the stream.
With the knowledge that most members of the German club where meat fishermen we decided to
visit one of the locations where access to the water was difficult.
My buddy Joop soon radioed in that he was into a fish, both brown trout and rainbow trout
fell victim to the black zonker streamer.



Brown- and rainbow trout by Joop.

I fished for a while with nymphs hoping it would increase my chances to catch something
with fins. After a while I figured a deep streamer would probably be a more suitable lure to
fish early in the season.
I had fished a deep with the nymphs thoroughly but had no takes, when I dropped the 
the trusty black zonker in the depths I was instantly into a small brown trout.


First brown trout of the season.

So I went from pool to pool to search for trout, the deep fished streamer soon yielded another 
nice brown trout.
Meanwhile the rain clouds had gone and the sun appeared, the world looked completely different now.


Brown trout nr.2 of the season.

I released my second brown trout hoping for a rematch later in the season when the fish would be a bit larger. 
The last fish I encountered on this visit was a brown trout so small that it could not take the streamer,
time after time the little critter would charge at the streamer but it just was too small. I had no run-ins
with then newly stocked rainbows which where of quite a good size.
With higher temperatures predicted next weekend I might make a return visit to the river to
make the most of the current present fish before the meat fishermen clear everything out.

Just returned from a fabulous fishing weekend that I spend in
the deep south of Germany close to the borders with Switzerland and Austria.
The river was quite low and the fish where picky most of the time.

I had it especially tough since I not a keen dryflyfisherman.
There was however some room for my crude fishing tactics = dumping a conehead woolly bugger in the deeper holes.
I also had some fabulous moments with the mayfly though.

Last Saturday somebody actually got me to do some work for a change.
One of the German clubs had a so called working day at some of the waterways they
Manage.
Together with my buddy Joop I had tree planting duty at the main pond of the club.
After digging holes and planting trees during the morning we had a well deserved
break on a sunny day.


After the work.

We did not travel abroad off course without flyfishing equipment.
Although it had rained a lot during the last weeks and streams where still pushing
Loads of water we decided to try a small feeder stream just behind our clubhouse.
One of our German friends showed us how it was done when he fished with bait 
behind the weir of the small watermill at the back of our pond.
I tied on a heavy nymph and fished the same swim as my German friend and 
voila, a little rainbow trout took the fly.
I had a take of a second fish but whatever I tried afterwards remained fruitless.



First trout of the year.

My buddy also managed to catch his first trout of the (still closed) season so we 
ended our working day successfully.



Rainbow trout.

Sunday was just as unusual warm and sunny as the day before so we decided to go 
after the pike at the local university.
The usual competition had already disturbed our honey hole namely the unsavoury infidels 
of our flyfishingclub that preferred to fish with spinning gear.
Even worse was the presence of a Cormorant slashing through the shiners, death to the
those darn birds…

The pike where quite active but also very keen on the real thing so our streamers where
left untouched all through the afternoon.
At the end of the pond the students from the University sat on the waters egde.
The whole lot had musical instruments with them and so the air was filled with traditional
Irish music.
We where not sure though if the music was beneficial to our activities, the pike just would
not attack the streamers.
With all the shiners in the surface I decided switch to nymphing gear and soon hauled in 
a little shiner. 
Still I had not come for the shiners so in the end I tied on the streamer for second try.
Finally well after sunset a pike showered bait near the location where I was fishing.
When my streamer went near the pike it suddenly stopped.
At first I thought I had hooked the bottom but suddenly the bottom moved.


My one and only pike of the day.

My buddy Joop had actually said that he had to go home but after witnessing my 
catch his priorities changed, he just had to get his pike.
His persistence paid off and after two missed strikes he hauled in his pike.



Last pike of the evening.

So we ended the weekend on a positive note.
We do not catch monsters down here but we always have a good time when
we are out fishing.

After the tropical fishing in Florida I went to my usual fishing haunts in Germany to get used to the local climate again.

In the morning hours we visited one of the smaller streams first.
All I could manage was the smallest yellow perch that ever dared to attack a streamer.
My buddy Joop did a whole lot better by catching a nice rainbow trout.
Fishing was not that good in our little stream but at least we enjoyed the colourful foliage of fall.



In the morning hours.

In the afternoon we would visit another water where we would try to catch pike.
The early morning hours where dull and gray but later the sun appeared and the wind picked up.
When we arrived at the next water it was already later in the day and the first clouds appeared.
We where now fishing a river on a windy plane, the water looked pretty dead as we fished the first the section.
Finally I noticed a swirl in the surface indicating a hunting fish so I quickly placed my streamer near the disturbance.
In no time the streamer was intercepted by a yellow perch.



Yellow perch.

A while later I got another hit on the fly.
Joop had walked over a bridge to the other side of the river and asked me what kind of bite it was. 
I replied that it was most likely of a pike.
It only took a few casts before I had another strike and this time the fish was on.
The pike was not a monster but it did put up a pretty good fight.
When I had the fish I tried to grab it but it slipped out of my hand and off it went.
Too stupid I left my landing net in the car.
So I tried to catch another pike and it did not take long before yet another fish attacked the streamer, it was no pike though but a quit sizeable yellow perch.



Yellow perch nr. 2

Light was fading and it slowly started to rain so we decided to call it a day.
This was the first time we fished that particular river so late in the season and it was good that it all worked out as it did.
Next time we would know where to start fishing and off course I will not leave the net in the car anymore.