Dace Archives - Page 2 of 3

This Saturday I choose for the lazy option to travel the first leg to my fishing spots.
I opted for the first train to Germany.
The train however was late and when I settled in the train driver walked by and notified
me that where not leaving any time. The reason … a dead body on the tracks.

So rather than waiting for service to commence which usually takes several hours I opted
to bike the distance. Since early fishing was now off the cards my first port of call would be
the mill pool at stream nr 2 as it was the closest and probably void of anglers.

Luckily the mill pool was empty and at first I dragged a streamer with a trace through the
shallow water in case any pike had remained after the mill weir was pulled permanently.
No response from the pike so next step tying on a small black streamer with an orange tungsten bead.
That yielded a tiny perch and off course nibbles from small gudgeons.

I then tried the squirmy and got a good hit right at my feet from something big.
Turned out the be a carp and frankly that carp showed me all the corners of the mill pool.
With the light tippet I could not exert any pressure on the fish other than the bend in the rod
and the line dragging in the current.
In the end the barbless hook came out, otherwise I think I could have landed it.

I fished downstream from the mill pool in the now very shallow water and caught some
dace and roach in the remaining deeper pools at bends and under tree roots.
I noticed that by now a lot of sediment that had filled the mill pool after the weir pulling had moved downstream into the river.

I tried the mill pool once more with the squirmy and got one roach and actually missed the
take of a trout, quite unexpected.
Next I headed to stream nr. 2 where I caught some roach and had a go a rising dace with the sedge.
Caught one nice dace on the sedge but could not find more rising fish despite numerous
big Danica mayflies on the water.

The rest of the stream was pretty quiet, no action until I arrived at one spot where a small brook enters the river. By now the stream was shallow as hell so spotting fish in the open was rare.
At the inflow rising fish got my attention, one rising fish was quite aggressive so I thought it must have been a trout.

I entered the stream somewhat ungraciously due to the steep banks but luckily far enough downstream not to cause fish to flee.
The sedge did not work so I tried a small mop fly that was not too heavily weighted.
That did the trick and I could hook a spunky small brown trout.
Called it a day after that trout and went to one of the local restaurants for dinner.

Germany 13-04-2024

14 April 2024 admin

Last Saturday was another unusual hot spring day thus perfect for another fishing session.
I opted for inner village fishing hoping to encounter numbers of good roach and maybe the odd stocked trout. With the relative dry weather lately the stream level was more or less back to normal with the exception that clarity was not that great.

The first pool had a good flow and I was expecting many fish to be caught but I only managed
one small gudgeon on the squirmy.
I tried several spots with both squirmy and nimf but no reaction at all from the fish.
To be honest I did not see much life except for some carp moving along the banks in a slow moving
section above a weir.

I finally ended at the edge of the village and spotted for the first time this season rising fish.
A school of small dace had settled in the current in the foam line picking at debris floating by.
I switched to a small dry fly and caught one of the small dace, first dry fly action of this year.

I was hoping the forest would bring some more nymph action but nothing was moving.
There where quite a few insects on the water and I had expected more action.
The best I could do was one small roach on the nymph.
I was also hoping for stocked trout but I saw no signs of them.

The last section of the stream I visited was the so-called guest stretch where outsiders could
fish with a day-ticket. Figuring the club should at least stock some fish there I scouted for trout.
Again I could see no signs of any larger fish.
On my search I noticed some large dace feeding very actively in a difficult location.
After a few missed takes and tangles in the trees I finally hooked a good fish.
Of course with the racket of that first catch the school was gone.

Just before I called it a day I noticed another school of dace feeding in the foam line.
Big fish again and although I had already packed in and rigged up again and made a few casts.
The strong wind made it difficult to place the fly at the right spot and I missed one or two good takes.
The disturbance I made scared the fish eventually away and they did not return so I called it quits.

So dry fly fishing this day was the best method.
The foliage is exploding on the scene, insects are on the increase.
Hopefully the weather stays civil over the next weeks.

Germany 06-04-2024

7 April 2024 admin

The weather prospects for Saturday where very good.
26 degrees C and sunshine should have counted for lots of activity.
However as on many occasions this season the day before it had rained… heavily.
So once again a blown out stream to deal with.

Looking at the nearest measuring station on the stream I was in doubt to even
go seeing the high level, in the end I went anyway.
As predicted the waters where high and discolored and whatever I tried I just
could not get any hits.

In these high water situations I usually would stick to spots that held fish
most of the times but that did not work out.
I moved up further afield and after a long time I finally hooked a fish be
it for a short while as it came off.

The salvation for the day came when a gudgeon nailed the squirmy and
actually stayed on. Fishing the squirmy normally means that you get a lot
of tail bites where the fish hang on until the last moment.

One fish was good as it saved me from a blank but still it was somewhat
dissatisfying as I had expected more action on this warm day.
After lunch I tried a second stream, this particular stream had a mill pool
which always had fish in it … or had.

Due to a mechanical failure the weir gate of the mill had been removed.
That resulted in an almost dam break situation where tons of sand where
deposited in the already shallow mill pool.
Now the water rushed in a straight flow down the opening of the mill
making fishing very difficult due to the odd current conditions.

I tried the end of the pool and surprisingly got many hits from small fish.
Caught a lot of the small stuff and they all looked very battered so it
could be that those fish came from above the weir when the gates where pulled.
Had hoped to run into some larger stuff but it was not be.

Germany 31-03-2024

1 April 2024 admin

It is still early spring so basically fishing is still very slow.
With the weather being very nice I went out yesterday to check on
one of my favorite chub spots to see if anything was going on.
The water was reasonable clear, still a tad high.
No chubs to be seen though, the only activity I could spot was of
tiny bleak in the surface feeding.

I tried a stagnant arm of the stream that could hold fish at times.
There was plenty of activity but the takes where very subtle.
Again only tiny bleak roaming around.
I noticed one of the walkers on the nearby footpath taking pictures
with his at one of the deadfalls in the stagnant.
I checked the spot out and noticed a turtle sunning on the tree, first
one I have ever seen around here … dumped pet.

In order to catch anything I went to one of the good spots with good
meaning sometimes. The water again a tad high with reduced visibility.
I launched a Perdigon nymph and caught a small dace on it.
Normally you could spot fish at that spot but not this time, it was slow.

I had expected more activity as the small mayflies where on the water
and the yellow wagtails where stalking them.
I checked out a large section of the stream to see if any fish where
moving about but it was totally void of life.
Guess we have to wait a while before things get better.

Germany 25-02-2024

16 March 2024 admin

Out and about for another try to catch the first fish of the season.
All that rain still made life extremely difficult, the water now a bit lower than previous weeks
but still too high for decent fishing.

I went to a spot I had not fished in ages, in the middle of a village.
In the first sections the current was so strong and visibility so low that it was highly
questionable that the fly would even reach a proper depth.
It was just all too wild, I moved on to a spot where the current seam looked just
right to make a decent drift with a squirmy.

A jumping fish at the second spot of the day raised hopes, at least some activity.
After trying some different depths I got bites and in short order I landed several
roach and a dace. Action was short and sweet, it died down pretty quickly.

The last spot in the forest did not yield any more bites.
Just too much water and current in my view for a good drift to be able to
get a proper presentation.
Called it a day early and headed for the pub as further fishing made no sense
in these conditions.

Germany 27-08-2023

8 September 2023 admin

I Skipped the Saturday for fishing due to a rising stream caused by rains of the previous day.
On Sunday the water had dropped considerably, the clarity was good.

I was just fishing for half an hour when the skies darkened.
It poured cats and dogs but I stayed dry as I hid under a bridge.

After the downpour I fished the shallow section of the stream with small sedge patterns for the dace.
That part of the stream had in general a sand bottom, the slightly deeper spots could be found
at deadfalls and near the banks.

At one spot I noticed a rather loud splash which was untypical for dace meaning it could be a trout.
I made a cast to the spot and hooked the trout for a short moment on a sedge pattern.

I was pretty sure that was it for the trout but just to be sure I waited a while and

tossed a small caddis nymph at the same spot.

That worked… hooked and landed the trout, unfortunately the trout wanted to remain
incognito so it slithered to freedom when I unhooked it.

At another spot a trout went for the dace I had hooked on the sedge.
Not sure what the plan was of that trout since it was not that big.
Off course I tried to nail it but it was not to be seen again.

I continued catching dace until I spotted another trout in extremely shallow water.
The sedge was ignored as was the small nymph.
When I tied on something larger the trout was spooked and ran under the bank … game over.

Late in the afternoon I once again noticed dark skies approaching so I choose to visit
the nearest pub … my old haunt.

My friends fishing nearby so I texted them that bad weather was approaching and that

I sought refuge, they joined me as heavy rains started.

We talked shop and exchanged some information for a road trip next week.
After some drinks they went home, I stayed on for dinner.
As appetizer the Feta cheese with honey and salad, main course pasta with
mushrooms and garlic.

It was a nice fall day… weatherwise of course as it supposedly is still summer.

Germany 20-08-2023

26 August 2023 admin

I skipped fishing on Saturday because of rain showers and extremely muggy conditions.
Sunday seemed a better choice with mostly sunshine mixed in with a few clouds.

In the morning I hardly got any bites but in the afternoon things changed.
Caught anything from trout to dace and rudd with squirmy’s, mopflies and
small sedge’s.

Ended the day as usual at the pub and was guineapig for a new dish.
Penne with cheese, vegetables and ground meat covered in cheese.
Liked it very much, as usual they overfilled my plate but I managed it in the end.

Weather and nature wise it seems that fall is around the corner.
Fields are harvested, the swifts that hovered over the city have gone on their way to Africa.
In the morning fog sometimes covers the fields, summer is ending.

Germany 02-07-2023

8 July 2023 admin

Summer was in progress and we experienced the usual low water situation that this season brings with it. It rained on Saturday but it was not enough to have any impact on the water levels.
The small stream coming out of the moors at the border has fallen dry for quite some time now.

First water I checked was at syndicate nr.1 where the only effect of the rains the day before was less visibility in the water, a good thing when it is so low.
Opted for the squirmy but all I could get was little Rudd.
Hooked one trout but only lightly and it slipped of the hook.

Since it was early I opted to check out an off limits spots where I expected another trout.
Even though the water was low the resident trout in the pool was still there and again a hookup and a lost fish.
Next I tried a wide spot further downstream but the water was now so low that large portions of the stream had fallen dry.

The remainder of the shallow water still contained some small dace which I caught on nymphs and small dry flies.
With the dismal results I soon called it a day and decided to go to syndicate nr. 2 hoping to catch
the first pike of the season.

At syndicate nr. 2 I hopped in the clear mill pool, also as shallow as could be.
To my surprise however I spotted some other fish besides the usual dace, perch and rudd mix.
It was the first time this season that I had spotted several trout at the end of the pool.
Unfortunately every type of fly I tried was ignored, I only got as far that one attacked the strike indicator.

I hoped the stretch of the stream downstream of the mill pool would hold some trout more cooperative than the ones in the pool.
At first I only caught the usual dace and small perch.
Last resort was the mop fly and I actually caught a roach with it … a first.

On the way back to the mill pool I spotted some trout in the stream and got one hookup
of a trout on the mop fly … it got off .. story of the day.
In the mill pool I spotted a pike following my woolly bugger so I switched to a larger streamer with a wire trace.
The larger fly paid off as I finally hooked that pike, not a big one but keeping in mind that the pool was less than 3 ft. put it into perspective.

After a while I hooked a second pike, a bit larger but it threw the fly.
Last of the pike only followed the streamer and hovered in front of me … no take.
With the pub conveniently next door I called it a day and met up with my buddies who
where also out for the day.
Opted for the special of last week, goulash soup with bread all topped of with the gooseberry
cake and a coffee.

Germany 27-05-2023

31 May 2023 admin

The goal for today was to get a trout on a big mayfly pattern.
I spotted one trout upstream from me that came for the mayfly but I struck to soon … fish gone.
Trout nr. 2 was close to the bank and hit the fly, solid hookup at least that was what I though.
It took one jump from the trout so get rid of the fly so no luck.

The third chance for a trout came soon as I spotted another one but it just would not
commit to anything I offered.
My last resort was to use a fly I had recently acquired … the mop fly.
Had no luck with that pattern last week but today it was the ticket for that picky trout.

Tossing nymphs, squirmies and sedges yielded some small roach, dace and rudd.
The water level had dropped considerably so fishing was tough.
Tomorrow I think I might hit the chub section again, maybe the combination of low
water and clear sunny skies might reveal some fish.

Germany 29-04-2023

30 April 2023 admin

For a change I tried some spots in the village hoping to do well with the silver fish.
Hopes where high but reality kicked soon in as I could not spot any fish and did not get any bites.
Many spots seemed shallower and I could not spot any fish.
Normally you would expect schools of dace and roach moving about this time of year.

In the end I found some tiny dace feeding in the surface and did some target practice with a dry fly.
This resulted in a tiny dace but it was the first fish caught on sight with a dry fly this season.
Could not find any larger dace roaming the stream though.
That whole village plan did not work at all so to save the day I went back to the spot where I had
previously caught the trout.

The location switch paid of as I landed two trout, missed two and landed a few dace.
Fly of choice was again the perdigon nymph with the squirmy being totally useless.
Ran into a buddy of mine but he blanked at the stretch he was fishing.

Overall the action was very slow despite seeing numerous BWO’s on the water and
some dace going for them.
Spring so far has been pretty cold in regards to previous years so I expect it
will take a while before the bite gets be