streamer fishing Archives - Flyfishing FWSW

Last week I had an extended weekend due to a public holiday and a day off.
The early success at the chub spot motivated me to visit that spot again.
The section above the weir / fish ladder was again empty with only some tiny
bleak (smallest shiner species) picking up stuff from the surface.

The best I could do was one small chub from the bank.
Fishing a dry like a sedge or large mayfly pattern was futile so I switched to
tossing small black streamers in the pools of the fish ladder.
That worked but not as intended, I hooked something but not the desired species.

I had actually hooked a pike and it was quite big.
With no trace and not that strong tippet I thought I would be cut off any minute.
But for some reason luck was on my side and I could counter all sudden runs of the
pike. I even managed to keep up as the pike went over two of the boulder weirs.

At the second weir the pike was showing signs of tiring and just maybe I could land
that fish. That landing proofed to be a challenge as my landing net was designed for
chub and not a rather large pike.
In the end was able to slide the fish on the bank, a post spawn fish so pretty skinny
but still measuring 70cm.

When I battled the pike I noticed a second pike be it smaller in the same pool.
Not what I wanted but I commenced fishing and when I hooked the second fish
in that pool it turned out to be a nice chub.
After the second fish I had one chub following the fly but no take, action then died down.

Looking at the skies I saw thunderclouds brewing so I moved to a spot where
in case of a downpour I could shelter.
There where plenty of chub moving on this spot but the dry fly only yielded one small fish.
I switched to a small mop fly and that yielded another larger chub, no luck with the monsters though.

The skies opened and boy it poured with thunder directly overhead, luckily I could shelter
under a bridged.
It seemed wise to wait out the storm and call it a day as other storm cells where en route.

Germany 10-05-2024

10 May 2024 admin

The combination of a mandatory day off from work and bright sunshine and warm water called
for the first mission of the year to the chub spots.
Now it was way to early as the chub probably would not yet be in their summer haunts or surface feeding but it tried anyway.

What gave me hope was the fact that numerous mayflies where hatching, such a big morsel would surely be tempting for any chub.
I checked out one of my summer haunts and found it completely void with life, no fish at all.
My break came at a bridge where several fish where moving about.

In the surface tiny bleak where feeding, on the bottom I spotted chub and dace.
A dace was the first fish that I caught, on a small mop fly.
I spotted chub following the mop fly but only hooked a small one.
Next I tried the squirmy and again I hooked a chub this time a little larger.

Obviously it was not yet the season for surface feeding fish.
The last stop was a wide shallow spot at a weir and on a positive note I spotted a large chub.
But… there was also a pike and it messed up the scene as it was in attack mode.
Then I spotted an even larger pike moving in the shallows.

So next I tried for the pike but the trace on the leader was so heavy that I only caught weeds.
The only hope to get something larger was to fish the deeper pools of the fish ladder.
Weapon of choice was a small black streamer with an orange tungsten bead.
I dropped the streamer in the fast flowing water and retrieved it slowly.

Suddenly I got a hit and it was something big.
At first I thought it was a big perch but when the fish came to the surface I noticed that it was
a nice size chub.
After releasing the chub I tried the same spot again and to my surprise I hooked another big fish.
Turned out an even larger chub had taken the streamer.

My day was made, mission chub was a success.

Germany 04-05-2024

5 May 2024 admin

The quest for the trout continued last Saturday.
At first I tried one of my regular spots just to see if any fish where present.
The water level had dropped considerably since last week.
Although it was early morning insects where about and I even spotted
many insects on the water.

I fished with nymphs first but got no hits, subsequently I fished a sedge
to coax any of the dace to take the fly.
When I spotted a mayfly I tried one of those hoping the odd trout would
be keyed in on them and rise, it did not work.

I visited some other marks but did not spot any fish activity.
Since one of my friends often has success with streamers I tried that type of fishing.
I tied on a small black streamer and retrieved it past some submerged tree roots.
To my surprise I got a hit and could land my first brown trout of the season.

I continued fishing the streamer and soon had another brown trout be it a small one.
The small black streamer did the trick.
I spotted one large trout tracking the streamer but it would not commit.
There was more trout action at other spots but only small fish.
In the end I lost two brown trout, landed three of them.

There was a lot of debris on the water, flowers from the blooming chestnuts.
I noticed some big dace rising and tried a few casts with a sedge pattern but
they would not have it.
At an inflow of a small brook I noticed an aggressively rising fish.
Hoping it would be a trout I tried the dry fly again but no take.
When I fished the squirmy it only yielded a roach and a gudgeon.

My last fishing spot of the day was the upper reaches of the stream where I had
spotted a large trout last week.
With the water level so low all the fish had moved elsewhere and I could only
access one spot that I deemed deep enough to hold fish.
After several drifts with a squirmy I got a big roach, alas no trout anymore.

It was a pretty good to be out and about.
The weather started out fine but in the afternoon some shower passed.
After the showers cleared the weather improved again.
Late afternoon I called it day and went to the local pub for dinner.

Germany 29-05-2022

29 May 2022 admin

With the weather going downhill and rain forecast in the morning I started late.
I opted for a short session at river nr.2 where the mill pool was always interesting to fish.
My goals for river nr.2 where a. catch a trout b. catch a large pech c. get one a large pike.

When I arrived at the pool nobody was fishing.
Water flowed over the weir so the turbine was out of action.
I floated a squirmy along the current seam and got a tiny perch as first fish of the day.
Despite the shallowness the water was murky, I could barely make out the debis and stone
on the mill pool bottom.

What I did notice was a really massive pike swimming just in front of me.
Like a submarine it slowly glided past me … a big sucker.
Just I was about to switch to a streamer the landlord of the pub switched on the turbine.
The water level suddenly rose and tons of debris came floating down.
Visibility was now almost zero … could not spot the pike anymore.

I fished a small streamer in perch livery with a trace but had no hook ups.
Just once I noticed a large perch pursuing the fly but at a secure distance .. not fooled.
I figured maybe the trace put the perch off so I tied on another streamer straight onto the
tippet.
Off course the next thing was that a small pike hit the fly and severed the tippet.

So trace went on again this time with a nice small streamer with some flash.
I tossed the fly in the same area where I had lost the pike and behold a second strike.
I was pretty sure it was the same pike due to its size.
A few moments later I noticed the large pike again, it had returned to the end of the pool
and was right in front of me.
I fished the streamer right past it but the fish moved slowly backwards upon seeing the streamer.
Guess that size did not come because the fish was stupid.

With the pike not cooperating I tried the stream itself with the squirmy and the perdigon
nymphs but besides a small dace I only got bites from the pesky gudgeons.
I had hoped for a trout but those where a rarity in that stream.

Before I called it quits I tried the head of the pool right under the mill weir.
By now the water had dropped and some clarity had returned.
A cast perpendicular to the turbine outflow yielded a strike from a bigger pike.
The pike missed but I was hoping the fish would still be around for a second try.
A few casts later the fish was on and it fought pretty well for a pike.
Off course fun on a 4-weight glass rod.

The work had been done and so it was early off to the pub which conveniently was
located next to the mill pool.
There was a lot more action going on than at the African pub even though the
weather was pretty poor.

I opted to sit at the bar with one of the regulars and decided to do a little beer tasting.
I started with the Benediktiner Weizen dunkel.
When I saw a tray leaving the bar with an unfamiliar beer to me I asked what it was.
Rolinck Westfalisch Alt … so I had one of those.
As it was chow time I switched seating to a table and ordered the soup of the day.
It was the so called wedding soup and it went down well.
Main course was the Chili burger and happy to say that it had the nacho’s and peppers.
To flush away the main course I opted for the Th. Konig Zwickel Keller beer just to make
my beer tasting complete for the day.
Off course I could not go home without the obligatory cake and koffee (cheesecake).