Squirmy Archives - Flyfishing FWSW

Gave the stream a try again last Saturday.
The previous week was quite cold and off course rain was often on the menu.
In the weekend the temperatures would be on the rise so good for fishing.
Once at the water I was unpleasantly surprised at the height and color of the
stream, higher than expected – visibility lower than expected.

My goal was to finally get a trout, after all it was almost May.
To find trout I fished some of the spots I normally do not frequent and tossed
a black streamer through the murky water.
That only resulted in lost streamers as I could not spot any brushes and deadfalls
in the murky water.

There was no response from fish, nothing to be seen on the surface.
I tried many spots, tossed nymphs and dryflies to no avail, almost no bites.
This day started smelling like skunk.
Last option was to hit the upper section of the stream where it was formed
by the junction of two small brooks.

I could not believe my eyes when I actually spotted a very decent trout in this
very tiny stream. My choice of fly for this skinny water was wrong though.
The squirmy made the trout bolt.. should have used the dry fly.
I tried to locate the hiding spot of the trout but did not manage to find it.

I continued fishing the squirmy and actually caught quite a few nice shiners.
Pleasantly surprised about the size of the fish and the aggressive takes.
This upper part was really shallow but any depression or root work held one or
the other fish. It was a good thing I opted for a short short 6.5ft trout bum.

I even crept up into one of the feeders.
A struggle to get even at the water with all the shrubs, brambles and so on.
Alas, only some nibbles there.

Germany 28-01-2024

28 January 2024 admin

The end of the season last year has not been particular good for fishing flowing water.
Endless rain made the streams I use to frequent unfishable due to high flows and muddy
water. The start of the new year did not really bring better conditions.
At the beginning of the week things looked like they would improve with a steady drop
of the waterlevels.

Alas on Thursday and Friday the heavenly sluice gates opened again and it did not take
long for levels to jump up to unfishable status.
I tried to catch my first fish of the early season on Saturday but after crossing stream nr.1 it
was obvious to me that it a miracle was needed to make it happen.

I could barely get into the water due to the high flow and the visibility was beyond poor.
Fly of choice was a squirmy usually good for roach or dace in high water situation but
not on this day.
I tried another stream but the results where the same, not a single hit.
The season is early but the appearance of the first snowdrops indicates spring will
arrive sooner or later.

The day ended in defeat, at least dinner in the pub was good as usual.
Just keep hooping that the temperatures do not bottom out and that the streams
will reach their regular levels one of these days.

Germany 27-04-2023

28 April 2023 admin

Yesterday we had Kings day here in the Netherlands so a day off from work.
A perfect day to go fishing at the neighbors.
With the clear skies the night before temperatures had plummeted to below freezing.
Went late to start my fishing session with some warmth.

A tad windy and not many bugs around but numbers where increasing.
Fished the good spots first with the perdigon nymph to no avail so quickly
changed to the squirmy.

That fly change helped and I got a small roach to show for.
Fish where present but not that eager to bite.
Had the luck to catch two brown trout from the pools where I knew they would hang out.
One of the browns went a few times ballistic, must have thought it was a rainbow.

Stayed not that long at stream nr.1 because I was eager to catch one
of those tiger trout that apparently had been stocked in the mill pool of stream nr.2
First though it was chow time… I was hungry.

Second session only brought a roach, a rudd and a small perch.
When I fished the streamer I had a hit from a pike but the leader was severed.
There where a few bait guys around but I did not see them haul in any trout either.
Left the mill pool late as the clouds rolled in from a rain front.

Germany, 08-01-2023

9 January 2023 admin

Went on the first session of the year last Sunday.
After a dry summer and fall the weather finally brought some much need rain.
The border stream out of the moor carried water for the first time since spring.

The first larger stream I crossed carried a lot of water so I opted to fish a stretch
where I knew I could catch fish in high water conditions.
Fly of choice was a pink squirmy that performed well in these conditions.
Takes where plenty and although the catch consisted out of small roach and dace
I was happy catching the first fish of the year.

The partly blue skies did not last and at noon light rain started.
Combined with the wind it was not exactly comfy but temperatures where pretty
high for January.
I headed for a more sheltered spot in the forest and suddenly got a take from
something bigger.
When I noticed the size I figured trout and as it was light in colour I wondered if
it was a rainbow trout … it was.

Knowing the stream and the fact that those trout could only be recently stocked
I figured there might be more of them.
I checked out an eddy near some fast flowing water and immediately hooked
another fish, again good size.

The party continued until I had caught four nice rainbows, extra fun when
getting them on a 3-4 glass rod.
With the sun setting I called it a day and ended this fantastic in the pub.

Germany 19+20.06.2021

22 June 2021 admin

On Saturday I once again went after the chub, there was more activity and I
had shots at two good fish.
The first big chub had no interest whatsoever for the mayfly I was throwing.
The second big chub was in a school amongst small fish at a feeder just
behind some rocks.

The strong current made a good presentation virtually impossible so I
opted to fish with a heavier streamer.
The streamer landed behind the rock and a big chub plus a small one
raced forward to intercept the streamer.
The small chub was first and nailed the fly.

At other spots I saw fish but could not get them to take the fly.
In the afternoon the heat got to me and I went to the main stream
upriver in the forest.
The shade made it more comfortable to fish.
I had two ferocious attacks on the mayfly by a trout but the fish
missed both and did not return later.

The next day I opted to go after the trout but the weather had turned
as a front with rain, wind and lower temperatures passed overnight.
The stream was up and murky but still good enough to fish.
I opted to fish the squirmy and had many hits from the small gudgeons
that where pretty active in the increased flow.

I hooked a good trout but after a long battle it threw the hook before
I could put the net into action.
Nymphing did not work that well so fished a small blue dun pattern with
a foam post and caught several small dace.

I tried the spot where I lost the trout earlier later in the day.
After many fruitless casts with the squirmy and the mayfly I tied on a
heavy perdigon nymph.
Heavy was the way to go as the fly went deep and yielded an attack of
a trout, a different one than the one I had seen earlier.

Before I left for home I tried to get the first trout out of the pool that I
had lost earlier that day.
I decided to fish a small weighted conehead streamer and to my surprise
the trout I was looking for chased the fly a few times.
The fish did not commit so I called it quits and went to the pub for
dinner.

Germany 27-09-2020

27 September 2020 admin

A few days of rain had put water and color in the stream.
I fished the upper section of the stream as the weather was no good for
chub fishing.

Since the mill pool was open again for members with a special permit I tried to catch some fish there.
Unfortunately the lack of water over the past year had filled in the pool
completely so it was to shallow for decent fishing.
Surprisingly the usual present roach and dace where a no show.

Luckily some other sections of the stream still housed some fish with as
icing on the cake a nice brown trout.
The perdigon produced some fish but with the murky water I soon opted
to fish the squirminator.
A borderline fly but it has it’s moments and the many gudgeons I caught
showed it was fished properly deep.

Drawback of the squirminator or squirmy is that you get a lot of tailbites
and that their durability is minimal.
The plus side is that they are easy to tie so you should be able to tie a
good supply of them in a short time.
I like the original material from Fulling Mill best as it really moves.

Germany 27-06-2020

26 July 2020 admin

Yesterday I met up with former colleges at the pub in Germany.
The company we worked for had been sold to a big corporation.
The new management ran the whole lot into the ground, we left.

I had some time to spare so I fished the stream in the morning.
Weather wise the rains had stopped at daybreak with the water
slightly up and murky.
It was strange that the perdigon did not draw strikes from shiners.
I hooked a nice trout and then knew why it was so quiet in the pool.

The perdigon did not perform liked I hoped it would.
I had to change to a squirmy worm to get things going again.
Mostly from small bottom feeders that bit the tail but I also managed a trout.
I stalked a larger trout when the skies suddenly darkened.
The rumbling sky above my head made me clear out the water fast.

I went to the pub and just as I was getting out of my waders the skies opened.
It poured but I made it more or less dry into the pub.
It did not take long before my former co workers arrived.
We talked about the old times while having lunch.

Off course I could not resist getting back in the stream after the meetup.
During the downpour the stream had swollen and pushed a lot of dirty water.
The squirmy was a producer due to it’s visibility in the murky water.
All in all a nice day, I cleared the premises around bat time aka sunset.