Browsed by
Tag: dry fly fishing

Germany 22-09-2024

Germany 22-09-2024

The last days of fine weather and pending fall motivated me to give the chub a last shot
before the weather shuts down that fishery.
I opted to fish the most accessible spot I knew but I was a tad early as the sun had not yet
hit the water.

I could not see any fish moving other than some surface action by the very tiny bleak that
even went for my tippet ring.
I persisted fishing the sedge that despite it size was a legitimate target for the tiny bleak.
Luckily some chub where also inclined to eat the sedge.

I soon moved off to another easy spot but when I looked down on the water from a bridge I could not spot a single fish which was kind off unusual.
So off to the next spot where the high banks and the stinging nettles made it difficult to move about.

I spotted large chub but mostly to late and if I had a shot the fish would take no look at the fly.
Larger patterns like big mayflies or hoppers also did not work.
My last hope was to move back to the first spot of the day as the sun would cover that place by now.

The first spot indeed had fish, several sizes and even the odd big one.
Still for some reason, the fish ran from the dries as soon as they landed on the shallow water.
The best I could do was fishing a nymph in the nearby fish ladder that had some deeper pools.
Nymphing yielded the last chub and a roach.

With the sun low in the sky spotting fish became difficult and I did not expect conditions to improve so I called it a day. 
To my surprise I seemed to have a reserved table at the pub as they where expecting me … even a cold one was ready when I entered.
A day earlier my usual spot was occupied due to an event so I had to move what they call the sinners bench at the bar so they wanted to make up for that.

Germany 26-05-2024

Germany 26-05-2024

Went on another mayfly session to the local stream and soon spotted the first
rising fish at a location where I had seen a trout last week.
Some of the rising fish where dace but one was definitely a trout.

Targeting the dace was tricky because of overhanging trees.
After every clumsy cast I waited a while so everything would calm down and fish would continue to rise.
That tactic yielded two dace and a spectacular hit from the trout … who completely missed the fly.

When the action died down I tried tossing a streamer close to the bank to see if any trout where present.  The trout that previously was rising took the streamer but managed to flee in the submerged roots of the trees and broke off.

I moved further upstream and heard a loud plop as if something had fallen from the trees in the water … but it was caused by a fish.
Off course a trout and when I launched a spent mayfly pattern under the trees the hit was instant.

On my way upstream I noticed dace close to the adjacent bank rising now and then to debris floating by so again I presented the spent mayfly and got two fish.
Upstream from me the outside of a bend provided a continuous supply of debris floating close to the bank. The spot was not deep but I figured one or two fish might be station there.
On the second drift the spent mayfly was nailed by another brown trout.

Last week I had some takes on the streamer in a deeper pool so today I checked that spot today hoping for a solid strike. This time all went to plan and I hooked surprisingly a nice rainbow trout.
Later in the afternoon clouds and winds killed of the surface activity.
With rain showers immenent called it a day, a good day with the dry fly.