Flyfishing FWSW

Day 4 of my Harz trip was another travel day, we did not have much time for fishing
but we would still be able to throw in a few hours before we left.
Maybe we could still manage to catch a few of the larger stray rainbows that people where talking about.
Since our schedule was tight we drove straight to a spot had yielded us many fish on previous visits.


One of the good spots.

I was quickly into my wading gear so in no time I was at the water positioning myself on a strategic location.
I was fishing a part of the river where a fast riffle moved into a slower flower deeper part.
Fish where hiding behind the large stones and just out of the main flow.
A Czech nymph named “Sparkle and Orange” was tied on and soon drifted down stream past the fish.
The brown trout loved that pattern and soon the first fish took the nymph.


Brown trout.

A few mayflies where hovering over the stream, I continued fishing the nymph though since I wanted to catch some of the better fish.
The big ones where obviously to wary to take surface flies.
The nymphing paid off because I finally caught one of the bigger fish in the pool.


Mayfly.


Brown trout.

After catching several more brown trout I figured I had disturbed the spot too much so it was time to move downstream.
There where several deep pools ahead of me where I had caught rainbows in the past, maybe these fish where still around.
At the second pool a first cast was immediately rewarded with a brown trout.


Transition from shallow to deeper water.

When I hooked the second brown trout something unexpected happened, a large brown raced behind the smaller fish.
I had never seen such a large fish in this river so I was highly motivated to catch that fish.
Several drifts of the nymph at various depths remained fruitless so I left the spot to check out a few other locations downstream.
When I looked at my watch I noticed that the time had arrived to go to the car for the trip back home.
Before I said goodbye to the river I had to fish the deep hole which the large brown called home though.
After several drifts the big brown suddenly shot out from its cover and nailed the nymph.
The fish took me all over the place and I suspected that he would throw the hook at any time.
After a fierce battle the trout’s last escaped was into the vegetation at the riverbank.
Luckily I had a strong tippet on so I stayed connected with the fish and finally could land it.



Catch of the day.

I did not expect to catch that big brown but with some luck the fish stayed on.
It was one of the largest browns I had caught, the fish was strong and it looked like it had been in the river for a long time.


Back home.

The last day yielded the largest trout for me, the trip could not end better like this.
Four fishing days at a beautiful came to an end.
I gained some new insights about the specifics on this river and would surely come back better prepared in the future.

Last week I was on another extended fly fishing trip to Germany.
The destination this time was the North-eastern part of the Harz mountain region
In former Eastern Germany.
Since my driver had not installed a navigation system in his car we had to find our
Route the old way and thus as usual we missed the proper highway exit.
Instead of heading east we suddenly went south the mishap was corrected quickly and we
Arrived at our final destinations just 15 minutes later than planned.


Our residence during the trip.

A few members of our Dutch fly-fishing club had enrolled in the local German club and had been
travelled there a week earlier.
They where waiting for us and gave us the latest details about the fishing situation.
After collecting the fishing permits we hauled our gear into the hotel and made plans for fishing the afternoon.
We drove into the valley and picked out a place to fish.
I could see fish picking of Mayflies in midair but decided it was best to fish with the nymph
during the bright conditions in the middle of the day.
Pretty soon I landed the first small Brown trout, beautifully coloured wild fish.


The river


Brown trout

After a couple of hours of wading and catching fish we felt the need to take a break and get something to eat.
We had already decided that the best time to have dinner would be in the late afternoon, even the fish took a break then.
Getting food early meant we would have time to fish through the evening without wasting time in a restaurant
during the best fishing time of the day. 
After dinner we picked out a spot where the river was broad and slow flowing.
When there would be a massive hatch it would be best fished at that place.


In the evening.

In the beginning surface activity was very low so I continued fishing with the pheasant tail which worked as usual.



Trout.

Unfortunately later in the evening it began to rain, the fish where still rising though. 
We had the idle hope that the rains would subside but it the raindrops became larger and more frequent.


Lots of water, also in the air.

When the sound of thunder came nearer it was time to leave the water quickly.
The first day was a full success.

My buddy Joop and I went to Germany this weekend on our first trip to the local fishing
ground since our successful Southern Germany trip.
After visiting southern Germany and catching ridiculous amounts of trout we knew that fishing
the home waters would be tough.

On the last trip my wading shoes had fallen apart so the first thing to do was to visit the
tackle shop and get new ones.
Since I was due to leave on another grand trip pretty soon it was of utmost importance
to get the new shoes.
If the local guy did not have them on stock I would have to quit my fishing plans and head west
to visit the nearest other flyfishingshop.

Luckily for me our local dealer had the right shoes in the right size so nothing could stop us from going fishing. 
I was pretty quick ready and walked with the new wading shoes down to the pool below the watermill.
There was barely any water flowing over the weir and levels had dropped to an all time low.
At least the fish where concentrated in one spot know, I could see countless small fish and a few
cruising carp in the shallows.

My first bet was on perch or trout so I dragged a streamer through the pool.
To my surprise fishing the streamer did not result in one single hit so it was time to switch over to nymph fishing.


Outflow of the mill.

Joop headed into the shade of the forest pretty soon while I dropped a nymph in front of the weir
where fish where actively rising.
The gold bead nymph pretty turned out to be a good choice since it delivered takes instantly.


Dace


Roach

After a while the sun and the heat where too much for me so I also headed into the forest to cool down. 



In the forest.

The low water levels made it possible to wade through the complete length of the stream so I
could get to spots that where otherwise inaccessible from the shore.
I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of deep holes on the unknown stretches but at least
I had a good idea where to fish once water would return to normal levels.
At least I encountered one deep hole with rising fish it.
A gold bead nymph was soon intercepted by a small brown trout that put up a good fight.

Brown trout

In the mean time Joop was not far located from my position, he called in on the radio to tell me he
was in to his third rainbow trout.
I visited his spot and fished a nymph right along a sunken tree where Joop had seen a rainbow just a
short while before.
The rainbow was still there as it came out from under the tree to intercept my nymph, he just missed it.
While I retrieved the line Joop had already thrown the streamer on the same spot and seconds later his rod
was bowing to the rainbow trout, what an evil man he is.


Joop in action with his custom mini rod.

For a couple of hours fishing in hot sticky weather the results where not that bad.
Joop had four rainbow trout and two perch while I had two dace, to roach, a brown trout
and a mini version of a perch.

Yesterday I went out with a friend fishing the local stream for one purpose, to catch chub.
The stretch I normally fish has no chub whathowever but far way downstream these fish are present.

The first spot I tried for the chub was below a weir.
I fished with a gold bead pheasant tails plus indicator and probed all
deeper sections but to my surprise got no hits.
I had expected at leasted a twitch from a roach or perch but nothing
of that.


Fishing below the weir.

Downstream some chub where rising to insects on the surface so I put on a small Klinkhamer and fished the dry.
A friend of mine told me that a week before the chub where feeding like mad on top but not today.
I had expected that chub fishing would be pretty much straightforward but these fish where tricky.
They spotted me always first and ran off down the river.


A sunny day at the river.

Maybe the fish more active in the open so I headed out of the forest and in to the open field in seach of the chub.
To my surprise I spotted only a few downstream and they all spotted me first as usual.
It became pretty uncomfortable walking with waders in the bright sunshine so I walked back to the shady trees.


Alder fly.

There was pretty much insectlife around, I spotted many Alder flies buzzing around.
The upstream section of the weir had more life in it that the downstream one.
Chub where rising there more or less continuously so I positioned myself on a strategic position and made casts to the rising fish.
Finally I had a good take and I could land my first ever chub in that river.


Chub nr.1

Fish nr. 1 was not a monster but not bad for a first.
Still some rises where pretty agressive and I knew for sure that some monster chub where lurking down in the water.
The chub where pretty picky, it took quite a time before I landed my second fish.


Chub nr.2

We fished all through the day and expected some evening rise to occur at sunset.
There was however no spectular rise when the sun went down.
The steady wind that was blowing during the day increased in force making casting sometimes difficult.
There was however an increase in insectactivity at sunset.
For the first time this year I spotted mayflies, loads of them.


Mayfly.

When the light faded activity stopped more or less and we called it a day.
My conclusions where that chub a very wary and that they are constant on the move.
I am still wondering why the chub would not take any nymphs, we will have investigate that further.

Today I tried to repeat yesterday performance but I failed to do so.
It was even hotter than on the previous day, the maximum temperature was 84 F. 
We fished at river nr. 1 but did not encounter any aggressive trout.
I saw a few fish scoot along the stream but had no single take.
My excuse was that it was just to hot.

Since we stocked river nr. 2 yesterday we returned there to see if the fish had settled
and where active. 
Large parts of that stream where straightened and had no shade from trees so our
hopes of catching fish where low.
All this sunshine of the past week had triggered an algae bloom that together with the
remains of blossoms created a very dirty river.

We did get a few following fish but nothing took real interest in the fly.
The only spots with some clear water where after weirs and the natural part of the stream
where the water flowed faster.


Clearer part of the stream.

I tried my honey hole where I had caught two rainbow trout in the last couple of weeks.
There where minnows moving in the murky water so some fish where present.
Finally a fish hit on the streamer but it was not the intended quarry, only a small perch had dared to attack the fly.


A little perch.

Over the past years I waded in these streams and always noted these small fish that where
hiding under the stones and debris.
Since fishing was really slow I decided that today was the day to investigate what species
of fish these critters belonged to.
Most of these little fish skilfully eluded me but finally I got one in my landing net, it turned out to be bullhead / sculpin.




Bullhead / Sculpin

No wonder that small black zonkers worked that well on trout and perch in the river.
While I was doing research my buddy caught a small brown trout and then another little perch.
I tried nymphs, wet flies and so on but could not hook into anything else than debris on the riverbed.

In the evening we ended up in the large pool below the watermill.
It was the first time I waded that pool so I waded with care.
The bottom felt almost like paved, it was an old building of several hundred years so it could have.
The pool was shallow but in the murky water you could not see the bottom, since I had no
wading stick with me moving was a bit tricky.

At a certain moment I came to the edge of the pavement, a deeper channel was just at my feet.
I stopped and hauled a streamer though the channel.
The channel gave up a larger specimen of perch.


Perch nr. 2

When the sun got low fish where beginning to rise in the pool but these where no trout, most likely shiners.
Our nymphs where rejected by the fish.
We finally called it quits and headed to the nearby pub for some nice cool wheat beers.

Tomorrow the big temperature drop will occur, from a whopping 84 F we will go back to 55 F which is more normal.
At least the new weather pattern will bring some much need rain.
Since I will fish the Baltic coast for sea run browns next Thursday I am glad that it will be cooler, summer like
temperatures are not exactly helpful for that kind of fishing.

I was told by a friend that the fish where finally 
active in the rivers again so I headed to one of the
places I fish in Germany.
Hordes of Roach moved through the clear water and made
a perfect target for nymph fishing


Clear water



Nice Roach

I talked for a while with a guy who was walking his dog, he was member of the local club and
told me that he had spotted trout.
It would be great to catch a trout for a change so I followed his directions and came to a deeper pool.


The pool.

I could determin one rising fish and one that went after my small Polar Magnus streamer.
The small one finally nailed the fly and trout 1 of the day was a fact, it was a little Rainbow.


Rainbow trout.

I had to call one of German fishing buddies and was told that he was in the process of stocking
rainbow trout in another river.
He asked me to help him and of course I said yes.
We collected a load of regular size Rainbows and a couple of monstersize ones and headed off to
various locations at the other river to stock the fish.


A plastic bag, water, oxygen and a large trout.


Trout released and already positioned in the river.

Since we where at river nr. 2 we could just as well try to get some fish well below the are we had just stocked.
A hatchery on one of the feeder streams had a little mishap with a rusted grid on their rearing pond meaning
loads of smaller sized browns had entered the main stream.
A week before I had caught a rainbow and missed a brown so now I had a rematch.
Eventually I located a brown trout but I missed the fish three times before all went quit.
When a fish rose upstream from me I tried again but only got a small perch on the fly.
I had more succses further downstream when I hooked one of the Rainbows that where stocked the year before.
The fish gave a pretty good fight.


Rainbow trout

Since activity at river was so high we went back in search for more trout.
On a very unlikely spot I hooked into something big.
At first I thought I had hooked a Walleye but to my big suprise it was a brook trout, my first in this river.


Brook trout.

The brook trout put up quite a fight before I could land and release it. It was a fine well built fish.
My day was really made now, I had caught all three trout species available down here in a single day.
I fished untill evening but got no more fish.


One of the good spots

This day was the best of the season so far.
It was so hot today it reminded me of Summer, I would not be suprised I would see mayfly one of these days,
It was nice to see that the river was finally alive again.

Yesterday it was time again to visit our club water over the border in Germany for another
Go at the fish.
Recent visits showed us that life had not returned to the river even though the weather was
improving by the week.
On this day the sky was a bright blue and the sun shone with full force, too bad that a strong wind was blowing over the land.
We decided to visit the sheltered part of our little river to stay out of the wind.


The river.

Fish where nowhere to be seen, I suspect they where still in hibernation on the river bed.
It is still early spring but the forest floor is already in bloom, some parts are full of windflowers right now.



Windflowers

The main stream yielded no fish so we looked for fish in some of the small feeder streamers where we suspected more activity due to the shallower water.


Feeder 1.


Feeder 2.

At feeder stream nr. 2 I had my first fish contact which I suspected was a brown trout.
I misinterpreted the sinking of my strike indicator as being caused by the current when in
fact a fish was taking the nymph.
When I lifted the line I felt the fish but it was already too late as the fish threw the hook.

My colleague had more success and told me on the radio that he had run into a school of roach and had seen a trout jump further downstream.
He also told me that the fish would only take nymphs that where fished very deep.
I headed to his direction and positioned my selves at the undercut bank near a large tree.
I weighted the leader down so the nymph would drift over the bottom of the pool.
This tactic worked since something was pulling the indicator down.
A quick strike and my first roach on flowing water was a fact.


Roach nr. 1

In the deep I could see the sunlight reflecting off the silver bodies of the Roach.
There where a few more fish down there and soon I had a slightly larger fish on.


Roach nr. 2

After fish nr. 3 the roach wised up and left the scene.
There where quite large fish moving about but these larger specimens where not
inclined to take the fly.
There where still not many insects about so I guess it would take a few more
weeks before the fish would become really active.
Even the kingfishers where not in their usual mode as one passed right along me, normally 
they would fly around me from a long distance. 

We tried some other spots that we usual fish in summer but those did not yield any more fish.
The only living creature I came along was a muskrat that moved past me at the waterline.


Rat.

It was a beautiful day but it is still early in the season.
I am pretty sure that no trout where stocked as we would have ran into them somewhere along the way, so the wait continues.
Maybe I give the Mohne River a try in a week or two, one week later it is off to the Baltic
coast in search of the Sea trout.
Things can only get better now.

Last Saturday we attended the annual Fisher king tournament of our German fishing club.
This tournament was attended by the senior members of the club and consisted of a few hours
fishing in the river and at the well stocked pool below the watermill.
At 07.00 hours we gathered at our pub annex official meeting place in the middle of the countryside.

The first session on the river left us only 1 hour and 15 minutes to fish.
Time was short and since fly-rods where not allowed on the second part of the tournament
we decided to rig the spinning rods for this session so we where ready for leg two right away.
It was time to break out my ultra-light Fenwick 4’-6” spinning rod.
With a small twister I managed to catch two small perch from the river in a town downstream
of the watermill.


Perch on twister.

After the river session we returned for a solid breakfast at the pub. 
With the breakfast finished the whole circus moved to the pool below the watermill
to fish for the limit of five trout per angler.
People where staring at me when I entered the premises armed with my UL spinning rod.
Most of the local guys where fishing with pretty crude gear which looked to me like it would be better
suited to fish for mackerel at sea than trout in a river.
We where supposed to fish with a float and worms but I tied on a small black zonker streamer instead.
I moved away from the crowd to the end of the pool and tossed in the streamer.
By slowly retrieving the fly across the pool I quickly caught my limit of five trout.
At noon the whole circus went back to the pub again for dinner and the weighing of the 
catch. 

After dinner the new Fisher king was officially announced, the festivities would continue in
the evening for the so called Kings ball.
While the locals headed home for a rest or preparation for the evening event we had different plans. 
Driving all the way back to the Netherlands was impractical so we would fish until it was time
for the ball.
The normally off limits pool below the mill was now open to members of the club when they
would buy a special ticket. So we decided to buy the extra tickets and off we went to the mill.
This time we entered the grounds with fly rods.
The pool was full of trout and with some luck we might encounter the odd brown trout that
survived last years massacre.


Meadow Saffron, typical autumn flower

When we walked over the weir at the millers house we met the residents, a retired 
veterinary surgeon and his wife.
So instead of fishing we where sitting high above the pool drinking coffee and chatting
with the friendly inhabitants of the mill.


Coffee at the mill

My fishing buddy Joop was seated in such a position that he saw all the trout roaming below
in the pool. 
The sight was too much for him so after a while he made a comment that we had to go fish since there was so little time.



Joop in action at the mill.

In the beginning the action was ridiculous, anytime a fly went in the water a trout would race towards it and grab it. 
The pool was filled with chunky rainbow trout that put up a good fight, many fish went airborne.


Rainbow trout

This action did not last long since the trout pretty soon figured that the shores where an unsafe place to be.
Still the black zonker streamer was irresistible to most trout although the fish became more wary by the hour.



More rainbows

At the end of the day I had caught at least 20 rainbows from the pool and although the action was fun
I wished I had caught them elsewhere on the river. 
I do not have to catch trout every day but just one per session on the river would be nice or at least
the sight of moving or rising trout would be sufficient.
Next year the stocking regime of the river will be changed, fish will be stocked more evenly during the year.
Hopefully in the upcoming year we will encounter trout in the river during all months of the season.

September 28th is the date for a new adventure since on that date the die-hards of our Dutch club
will be off to the Danish Baltic sea coast.
Our mission is to catch seatrout and cod in the sea and grayling and trout in the rivers. 
It will be my second time in Denmark this year and I know it will be good especially if I have the luck to
catch at least one fine strong seatrout again.

To be continued….