Spring fishing Archives - Flyfishing FWSW

Last Monday was a National holiday so I had time off from work.
Off course I went fishing but I started late as the morning was quite chilly.
We had overcast skies and quite a strong north-westerly wind blowing.

Spring had sprung and the canopy over the stream was now green.
All those blooming trees deposited lots of debris though on the water and
patches accumulated at obstructions of the flow.

There where insects about, spotted some sedges and small mayflies.
With all the debris floating on the surface no action on top.
First fly of choice was a squirmy as it was heavy and went down quickly
before getting snagged in floating debris.

The first fish came pretty soon, a small brown trout.
After that it went eerily quiet and even switching to a more delicate nymph yielded no bites.
I decided to move and noticed a big trout just behind a deadfall.
I though I could sneak up on the fish but I was too clumsy and it bolted.

With the trout gone I tried the less wary shiners in front of me.
Despite having a dozen or more fish right in front of me I could not get solid takes.
The next deeper pool had fish in it, even a trout.
With the drought going on the pool was shallow and again I was spotted first, game over.

Moving further upstream again a scene with lots of shiners and no bites.
But then I spotted fish feeding in the surface which I thought where dace.
I tied on a smaller nymph and with the second drift I hit the jackpot, a nice brown trout.

I was thinking that by now only shiners would be in that pool but again I spotted a rather
violent rise. Another cast and bang, another solid brown trout.
After that the shiners started biting with mostly roach and a nice dace.
Further upstream I scared more trout but also landed some smaller ones.
Best day of the season so far.

Germany 06-04-2025

7 April 2025 admin

During last week the weather was very warm, sunshine and hardly any clouds in the sky.
During the weekend temperatures would drop significantly.
When I went out on Sunday the temperature was about 34 F early on.
Once I was at the water the temperature had risen somewhat so it was not that cold.
A strong easterly wind was blowing over the land.

I was prepared with some heavier clothing as the highs for the day would be about 53 F.
Since my visit to the stream last week the outdoors looked quite a bit greener.
I also noted that the algae mats where growing on the bottom of the stream.
Those mats would die off later in spring when the foliage would block out the light.

My first goal was to catch those trout I missed last week.
Tried the same spots and heck nothing was present, in fact on most spots I got no bites at all.
Finally I spotted some tiny fish moving in a pool.
I order to avoid skunk I tried to get one of those, it was a school of gudgeons with some small
dace mixed in.

I wanted the dace but the gudgeons where more numerous so I caught one of those.
Maybe the trout had moved upstream so I checked any deeper pools there out.
Surprisingly I got a hit from a small trout and it went airborne a few times only to throw the fly.
A pool further upstream the same happened.

Spots where I would normally catch shiners guaranteed where all dead.
Nymphs where useless, I got all bites on the squirmy.
There was one pool that was promising and since access was a bit harder than usual it
could be a bonus for finding fish.

I launched the squirmy in the beginning of the pool and got a hit from a good fish.
Turned out to be a brown trout of a decent size for this small stream.
I fished a light tippet so I had to fight the fish carefully with the chance that the
barbless hook would come out if I did not take care.
Luckily it all went to plan and I could land the fish.

I tried some other spots in a downstream section but although I could spot fish I did
not get any bites. Surprisingly as I spotted a lot more insects in the air than last week.
I blamed it on the east wind.
Spring was in full swing, a lot drier than last year though so again weather in extremes.
Noticed the first swallows in the sky back from Africa, also spotted the first stork.

Germany 09-03-2025

17 March 2025 admin

I had not been out much this season yet, weather conditions where not favorable so far.
Too often it was cold and miserable so fishing made not a lot of sense.
But we had some sudden outburst of spring when temps skyrocketed like on this day.
I went out pretty late in the morning as the nights are still cold.

Most pools I checked where empty but one or two had fish in them.
Dace where active as I noticed several fish moving about.
The water was clear and a little higher than expected for a period without much rain.
Some small mayflies where buzzing around but nothing to get fish rising as it is still
way to early.

I managed several dace on the pheasant-tail nymph and even landed an out of season brown trout (season starts middle march).
Migratory birds have returned like lapwings, oystercatchers and the likes and I have
heard great cranes heading north in the night sky.

My go to pub had gone down the drain during the winter so to get anything to eat I had to go to plan B.
I still found a place nearby that was open so I could end the day with a warm meal.

Germany 21-02-2025

22 February 2025 admin

Last Friday I had to extend my license at one of the syndicates I am in.
With the sudden warm spring weather it seemed a perfect opportunity
to take the day off and go fishing.

Since it had been cold for a long time I did not expect much to move.
The water was slightly higher than usual and visibility was good.
I only tried the most likely holding spots but all where void of life, could not spot anything.

The last hope was put on the dead arm of a feeder stream.
That spot always held fish but when I arrived I missed the telltale signs of moving fish.
It took a while before I spotted a dust cloud in the stagnant water.

At first I suspected a muskrat or carp but then I spotted an actual pike parked in the bank.
Not soon after that a second pike appeared and a whole racket started.
The pike where obviously in spawning mode.

A diving kingfisher showed me the location of fish.
I dropped a squirmy in the water and got many nibbles from small fish.
I could spot a lot of these tiny fish moving about and in the end I managed
to catch one small roach, mission accomplished.