Flyfishing FWSW

Flyfishing Germany – July 2nd. 2006

2 July 2006 admin

Yesterday we once again fished in our stream in Germany.
The weather was tropical with very high temperatures and bright sunshine.
These conditions would make fishing tough so our hopes of catching fish
where not that high.
We left in the afternoon and picked a nice shaded stretch in one of the little
towns along the river.
As expected the water was low but we where surprised that the water was
so discoloured.

No clarity

Few fish where seen although now and then Roach where cruising the surface
Joop caught several fish on the dry while sight casting to them while I had little
Roach on the goldbead pheasant tail nymph.

Roach

The bigger fish where surely out there but all fish where very wary, most likely
due to the extreme low water levels.
There where not that many insects on the water, I only spotted one mayfly on the water.
Even though this stretch of the was shaded it still got hot.
We decided to move to a stretch I called the cows swimming pool.
Personally I disliked that place due to the presence of the cows, the extremely muddy
and thus slippery banks and the low flow speed.
There was one plus to that spot though, there where always fish there.

The cows swimming pool

As expected the cows where in the stream, one of them waded deep and was obviously enjoying the cool water.
To my surprise Joop managed to get a trout on the dry on this stretch.
The water level was the lowest yet I had seen.
I fished in the remaining trickle and caught another Roach on the nymph.

Roach

Low water
We did our best at the cow pool but fish where not biting that eagerly.
We would take a break for dinner at 18.00 hrs and would then fish another part of the stream beyond sunset to see if there would be an evening rise.
Our local eatery was the official meeting place of our German fishing club, a rural restaurant in the middle of nowhere.
We where the only guests when we arrived, it was no problem to get a warm meal though.
Ten minutes later we where sitting outside with a couple of schnitzels and a large glass of cool wheat beer.

The local food

It was nice outside as we sat in the shade of the oak trees enjoying our dinner.
The sun was already low on the horizon when we left for the evening session.
At the next location fish where rising so we both fished with dry flies.
When I entered the water the fish where gone, with no signs of fish I opted to fish
the nymph again and slowly waded upriver.
Joop continued to fish with the dry and yet again landed a trout.
At sunset I was casting dries and nymphs to some rising Dace but the fish where small and
refused my offerings.

At sunset

It was a nice day as they usually are when we go fishing.
Joop had caught four roach and two trout while I ended the day with two roach.
The hot and sunny weather was fine for outdoors activities but seeing the water table at
such levels was kind off worrying.
Maybe it was time for a rain dance but down here you have to take care what you wish for.

Eschach June 10th. 2006 – Morning session

10 June 2006 admin

One of the waters we where allowed to fish was the Eschach.
This small stream flowed up in the mountains and was described in the hotels brochure as a
very pretty and very difficult water to fish.
We looked at the map and picked out the village of Eisenbach as our starting point .

Eschach

The stream was small indeed, to catch fish there would be challenging.
At the location where we stopped the trees along the river had just been trimmed.
It was too bright for our taste so we drove back and parked near the first bridge we came across.
Tom would fish far upstream from the bridge, Hans would take the middle section and I would go downstream.
It was tricky to find a way to get into the canyon since the walls very steep and covered with deadfalls and large rocks.
When I arrived at the streambed I had a very deep pool behind me and a less deeper one in front of me.

Deep pool.

I fished the deep pool behind me with a gold bead nymph but saw no fish.
When I looked into the pool I figured it was more than 1.5meter deep, amazing since the rest of the stream was so shallow.
Next stop was the pool upstream from me, it was clear that you had to keep a low profile here to have any change of catching fish.
I kneeled down and dropped the fly upstream in the deep pool.

Pool and brown trout.

A trout immediately took the nymph, it was a nice and strong fish.
The skunk was avoided, hopefully this success would continue.
There where plenty of likewise pools ahead but I had no more hook-ups.
Since I did not see fleeing fish I figured that I had not scared all fish away.

Eschach.

I carefully fished all pools and places I thought would house fish and finally arrived at the pool where we had our car parked.
This pool was surely checked by Hans but I knew he was not a fan for lure fishing so that was
something I had to try.
The pool was at least 2m deep with a strong current so it was difficult to get the lure down for a longer period.
When I retrieved the lure next to the big boulders a really big brown came out from underneath the rocks and tried to hit the lure.
I had not expected this so I was a bit startled, unfortunately the trout did not appear for a second run.

Eschach.

I walked upstream to see how Tom was doing.
Tom was already out of the water and stood on a small bridge over the river.
He had also caught one fish out of three, all fish hit the dry fly.
We walked back to the car and waited for Hans to come and tell about his results.

I really got a Alpine feeling while fishing the stream due to the fact that the cows in the meadows
above had these bells around their necks.
The rings of the bells where a constant companion while travelling along the stream.

Livestock.

We had enjoyed our morning fishing trip but agreed that this was not a water to fish all day in.
We would do some more exploring of the main river in the afternoon.
I learned a great deal while fishing this little stream.
Next time I will certainly probe the deep pools more thoroughly with a lure after learning that
large trout hide below the boulders.

Flyfishing Germany – Untere Argen/Eschach 2006

9 June 2006 admin

I Just returned from a couple of days fishing down in the deep south of Germany near the Swiss border.
I had a great time down there and managed to catch some fish.
Below a small selection of pictures I took, detailed report will follow later.

Germany, 05-06-2006

5 June 2006 admin

I have just finished a beautiful and productive fishing day in Germany.
Fellow club member Joop picked me up at 7.30, half an hour later we where tackling up at the river bank.
The morning air felt chilly and the promised sun was nowhere to be seen.

Checking out the good spots,

The mayflies that where so abundant a few days ago where not to be seen.
So instead of tying on a klinkhamer dry I decided to fish a grey gold bead nymph.
After a few casts a nice brown trout took the nymph instantly as hit the water.

Nice brown.

The ice had been broken so the say.
When a fish rose in front of me I thought it would be easy game but the fish was not fooled by the nymph.
A drift along some brushes in the water resulted in a dace.

Dace

Joop managed to hook a big brown by letting his nymph rig float near an undercut bank.
I tried the usual haunts of past seasons but found that they where void of trout or at least it seemed that way.
With no more hits and no rising fish it was time to move to another stretch.
The second stretch of the river was not a piece of water I was fond of.
The water was slow moving due to a watermill in front and from a pasture cows would sometimes enter the water.
For some strange reason though that muddy part was always pretty well stocked.
Joop was first in business when a rising trout gave away its cover.
Only after several casts the fish would finally surface and take the dry.
In the mean time I tried a stretch a little further upstream where a feeder enter the main stream.

The good spot.

I had changed to a black streamer to probe the waters for fish.
At the first cast a big swirl behind the streamer showed me someone was home.
Now the fish had not felt the hook so on the next cast it would probably chase the fly again.
Second cast was an instant hit, a small brown had taken the streamer.

Joop had some appointments in the afternoon so he had to go back.
I had plenty of time however and asked Joop to drop me off near the river in the next town.
Joop dropped me off in the town and walked with me to the river only to see rising fish and loads of mayflies.
I saw a trout rise and launched a klinkhamer close to the fish, the trout was not fooled though.
Several casts with the dry yielded no response so I tied on a small gold-bead pheasant tail nymph.
As the nymph drifted close the last sighting of the trout I saw a silvery flank moving, the trout had hit the nymph instantly.
Almost at my feet another trout was rising very close to some overhanging shrubs.
The fish would not take the nymph so I tied on a big white klinkhamer.
That was more to the trout’s liking as it exploded on top of the fly.

Trout nr. 4 of the day.

Later in the afternoon the action died down a bit, I could not locate any more rising trout.
Something else was feeding though and I guessed it would be either Roach or Dace.
To my surprise even the Roach where tuned in to the mayflies because they took the large klinkhamer with no hesitation.

Roach.

After catching the Roach I called it a day and headed for the station that was located far out of the town I was fishing in.
The path to the station happened to run along the river and when I saw rising fish I just had to stop and make a cast.
I missed one fish but the second one was firmly hooked, a Dace again on the klinkhamer.

Dace caught, train missed

I missed the train home but did not mind, getting that last fish was more worthwhile than being on the train anyway.
Maybe I could apply for trout bum status one of these days.

Germany 03-06-2006

3 June 2006 admin

Today I went to Germany and visited my trout stream.
In recent days the river was flooding but water flows had returned almost to normal.

There where some mayflies on the water but most where intercepted mid air by the local bird population.
Now and then you could see a rising fish but nothing consistent.
Even the normally abundant roach seemed to be absent.
The usual trout hideouts still contained fish and soon I had a trout racing after the black streamer I was fishing.

I fished the outflow of the watermill to see if there where perch around but only got one strike which I missed.
Since fish where still rising I tied on a dry fly and went on the lookout for active fish.
The first specimen I saw was a good sized trout that was rising a couple of times close to the opposite bank.
I managed to get my fly in the right spot and the trout jumped clear out of the water to nail the fly.
These acrobatics where in vain though because the fly was missed.
The second fish I spotted was more accurate and nailed the dry fly right away.

As I walked back to the train station I located the missing roach,
all the fish where massed near the outflow of the local sewage treatment plant.
That part of the river was lined with shrubs on both banks so casting was Impossible.
I managed to make a shot with the camera though of a school of smaller roach behind a submerged willow tree.

So the action was slow but I was more than happy with the two brown trout.
I know there a prettier rivers with bigger fish in them but when you live in a trout-less country like the Netherlands this is sheer paradise.

Fyn 2006

30 April 2006 admin

A recollection of my first trip to the Island of Fyn in Denmark.
I was forewarned that this seatrout fishing was a tough business and that I would probably blank on my first trip.

The first stop was at Sønderballe on mainland Jutland.
A wonderfull looking place but alas no fish to be seen.

We headed on to try Kolding fjord further north where conditions where bleak.
A strong cold wind blew over the fjord and while my buddy Tom headed north I sought refuge in the more sheltered southern part of the fjord.

When the tide began to race over a nearby musselbed I noticed feeding fish and tossed small pink shrimps in the current with as result bites from the fish.
Lost several fish but managed to catch two small seatrout on my first day, beginners luck indeed.
The next days where indeed a lot tougher but we still caught a fish or two.

Germany 28-01-2006

28 January 2006 admin

A visit to a nearby stream in the middle of Winter.
Expectancy was low and so where the results as we could not get any fish to bite.

Time has passed and this straightened stream has been renaturized in certain parts.
Inpassable weirs have been removed which should make migration of fish possible
if they are not eaten first by the hordes of cormorants that plague our local waters.

This particular stream holds mostly Dace and Roach in selected spots but as
the local angling clubs sometimes stock trout you can expect surprises.
Catching fish there is difficult though.

Oostvoorne Dec. 28th. 2005

28 December 2005 admin

After a successful trip to Lake Oostvoorne on the 18th of December quite a few members
of our flyfishing club wanted to go there for a final flyfishing trip to seal off the year.
The big rainbows in the lake where a compelling reason to go there.
Unfortunately the weather was a factor that had a strong impact on my fellow flyfishermen.
Once the temperature dropped below freezing the volunteers disappeared as snow before the Sun.
In the end only Tom and Bert where willing and able to go but I guess everybody had a slight
feeling that we might be totally insane to go fishing in this weather.

When we arrived at the lake the skies where bright and blue and a light breeze was blowing.
The otherwise packed parking lot at the lake was totally empty, how odd.
We only spotted three fellow flyfisherman from Belgium and saw two divers floating in the cold waters of the lake.
The water was actually warmer than the outside air, 41F water compared to 33F air.
I headed out to one of the entrances between the little dams in the lake and immediately
spotted a very big rainbow making a turn in the surface.
So the fish where present, the only thing needed was a fish that ate flies.

The cold weather called for fishing with sinking lines and making slow retrieves.
We used floating nymphs that in conjunction with the fast sinking lines hovered close to the lake’s bottom.
Fishing was very slow, after seeing the big bow in the surface I saw no more signs of life in the water.
Since nobody was catching any thing I was pretty sure I was not doing anything wrong.
At one point during the day we saw a guy who was filming us, he was standing next to Tom and asked how things where going.
Bert asked Tom later who the guy was affiliated with, I just replied it might be psychiatrists weekly.

So during the bright daylight hours nobody was catching any fish.
We would just have to tough it out until the golden hour of sunset arrived.
Then our chances of catching a fish would be increase greatly.
It was a fact that most fish where caught either at dusk or dawn.

Although it was cold outside we fared pretty well during the day because the sun was shining and the dunes behind us shielded us from the North-easterly
winds.
The only drawback was the smell from the petrochemical plants located well in front of the dunes in the Rotterdam harbour.
Once the sun was gone the temperatures plummeted and suddenly I noticed ice in the guides and on the line.

Tom and I had the same rate of success in the evening as during the day, none.
Bert on the other hand was shouting that he finally had a take.
Then came another shout and he was into a fish.
Tom rushed towards Bert and took a few pictures of the fish, it was not big so most likely one of the years new stocked rainbows.

So Bert saved the day, at least a fish was caught so this whole exercise in the bitter cold was not in vain.
Our reputation was saved and for now we where safe from being transported to an asylum.
As we left the temperature had plummeted to 25F, we where happy to get in the warm car and go home.
It was a memorable ending of the fishing year.

Netherlands 11-12-2005

11 December 2005 admin

Today I went fishing for pike at the grounds of the local university.
My fishingbuddy Joop had a special permit to fish there and was able to take one guest angler with him.
The campus is littered with small heavy overgrown lakes that house pike in various sizes.
I had two hits on the fly and managed to haul in one little specimen who hit the fly when I retrieved it close to the bank.

Pike

Pike nr.2 shot out from a weedbed to nail the fly but after a few jumps the hook came out.
Joop was fishing a streamer with a spinningrod to fish those parts of the lakes that where out of reach for flyfishing.
He had several hits but was not able to hook any fish.
Todays weather was reasonable, 40F temperature with gray skies and light rain.

Netherlands 13-11-2005

13 November 2005 admin

Since I returned from Florida I had to adjust to the local fishing again.
Fall down in the Netherlands means pikefishing.
With the demise of aquatic vegitation due to the changing weather pattern pike become targets again for the local flyfishers.

Yesterday I was on my second piketrip and still eagerly trying to catch the first pike of the season.
The colder weather had made the fish somewhat sluggish so fishing was slow.
Still we probed the usual pikehaunts near brigdes and junctions of canals and streams.

At one bridge I thought I had hooked the bottom, as I started to pull on the line the bottom suddenly moved.
A huge pike had taken the fly and came to the surface.
Unfortunately the hook was not set properly and in a blink of an eye the pike slipped of the hook.
I ended that day pikeless, it was a heartbreaking moment.

Today I got a rematch when I fished a location inside the city.
Normally I would do anything to avoid fishing there since I can not stomach the question of bypassers “have you caught anything” repeated every 5 minutes.
So at the end of the day I fished this ornamental pond in the smack of town which I knew held some fine specimens of pike.
After half an hour first signs of live showed when a pike followed the fly right to the bank but broke of the attack at the last minute.
I fished on and past sunset I hooked a substantial pike 15 feet out of the bank.

First pike of the season.

The fish dispaced a lot of water when I struck, it raced off towards the middle of pond in an instant.
The fish put up a surprisingly good fight and even jumped clear of the water which was pretty unusual for our local pike.
The streamer was neatly hooked in the corner of the mouth and was released after a quick photo.
It was my first pike of the season and the biggest one I ever had caught, not bad for an urban pond.