Flyfishing FWSW

The plan of the day was to watch the syndicates ladies fishing tournament at the mill pool.
First though I headed to the same spots where I had encountered some leftover trout last week.
Last week I was not alone fishing the trout stretch as a kid told me he had been trying to catch those trout for weeks now.
When I did not encounter any trout anymore I guess he had accomplished his mission.
All I caught where the usual small roach and gudgeons.

I was early at the mill pool and only our syndicates fearless leader was busy arranging the tables and chairs for the obligatory coffee and cake.
I took a peak at the mill pool and watched the carp sunning in the calm water.
Also present the rudd and dace actively feeding.
As usual some trout had found a way to jump on the legde just above the weir and where moving gently in the current.

Meanwhile under the weir the dace where picking off insects in the surface while two very big rainbows where chasing fish in the deeper water.
To be honest the sight of all those fish and the fact that I could not fish for them was to much for me.
I skipped my plan for the day and headed for the pub to flush my sorrow away.

The first day of meteological fall, like clockwork the temperature plummeted 10 degrees and the sky boasted cloudcover.
I visited the upper stretch of the stream where a trickle of water was still flowing.
The shallow water only yielded small roach and dace with believe it or one spot with a certified goldfish.

People tended to dump their garden pond pets in the river so I have seen plenty of goldfish and koi carp.
Fellow syndicate members even caught pumpkinseeds in the mill pool, a feat I have not yet accomplished.
Surprisingly I scared off a trout in the shallow water so there was still hope.
A carefull cast near a tree stump yield a take of another trout but the fish came off.

The last chance I had was at a spot where the resident trout had eluded me
on several occasions.
A nightmare to cast to as it was littered with submerged tree branches.
I managed a bow-and-arrow casts among the trees but the trout went for the indicator while a roach took the nymph.
Off course the trout did not go for seconds.

Again a hot day and so it was off again to catch chub.
My go to spot was again void of fish, at times it would hold fish but the last couple of weeks it was empty.

I was just barely entering the meadow at hotspot number two when a lady walked towards me asking to look out for some escaped cattle from her farm.
When I asked what cattle they where looking for the surprising answer was water buffalo, never knew they had them overhere.

The second spot only yielded one attack on the hopper and I noticed far fewer
fish than usual suspecting the waterbuffalo had choosen this hot day for a
bathing session in the stream.
Anyway I did not spot the buffalo’s but a lot of farmers and cops looking for the cattle.
Not the solitude I came for so I thought I would enjoy a pub visit more.
On my way back throug the fields I saw that the farmers had at least one of the buffalo’s captured.

When I finally arrived at the pub I cherised my dark Weizen beer and off course the tomato-mozzerella entree just to keep in line with the buffalo theme.

Yesterday … about 90F in the fields with little or no wind.
Second day chub hunting and lost my nerves twice when a big chub wanted to nail the hopper.
Big chub meaning 15 to 20 inches.
Once you pulled the fly from their nose they submerged and where gone.
With sheer luck I got at least one larger fish on the hopper.
Also missed two fish who managed to threw the hook.
The cloudless sky was ideal for spotting fish but with the low water the fish where ultra wary.
When I finally arrived at the pub’s beergarden late afternoon I was thirsty … luckily they had a cure for that.

A very hot today in the open fields.
With the clear skies I went for the chub located plenty of fish.
Totally messed up the chance to catch the big one.
Spotted two fat chubs ahead of me and dropped the hopper near the two fish without disturbing them.
One came for the hopper and was about to gulp the hopper when excitement got the better of me and made me strike early … fish gone…
Have to try again tomorrow.

Rain all morning, the trout I missed yesterday nowhere to be found.
Spotted large dace but those where lethargic.
Dropped a segde near the school and fish submerged.
The nymph yielded a lot of roach, no big ones but nice fish.
Carp where also active.

Rain this morning and more than I expected.
The stream still low and clear.
Spotted a trout and got a good strike on the dry fly. Pulled the fly away from the trout instead of hooking it.
Action was pretty lame, spotted numerous big dace but they would not take the dry fly.
Had some small dace and roach with one roach actually taking a sedge.
Tried the sheltered part in the woods but tough fishing in the dark.
Scared another trout out of its hiding place and only caught tiny dace.

A day after the storm the wind had died down a bit and I fished a feeder stream of the main river.
I wanted to target the chub with the dry fly.
The low water table shocked me as I had never seen it so low in years.
With the lack of water I decided to explore the stream in places where I had never been.

With thigh waders it was now possible to wade through all spots.
At open stretches you would know that the water had some depth to it and could hold fish.
I caught several chub that way.

After venturing some distance upstream I backtracked and stumbled over an almost albino muskrat … a novelty to me in that color.
Further downstream someone had found it a good idea to put a wildlife
feeder in the stream.
I could not believe my eyes how many chub where near that feeder.
All sizes of fish from small ones to big lunkers.

With the small fish constantly going beserk on the dry fly I tied on the hopper to coax the big fish for a strike.
It did not work however as the small fish striked the hopper with vigour.
Only when the hopper was submerged by the attacks the big fish would
take a look.
I ended with catching one smaller chub on the hopper, the big fish raced off and that was it for the chub.

When I arrived at the final fishing spot of the day the cloud cover was so
thick that the sunlight was blocked.
I could not spot the chub in time to make a cast without scaring them off
so I decided to end the session and head for the pub for dinner.

With a summer storm passing through I opted to fish the more sheltered sections of my stream. The storm only brought heavy winds and not the hoped rain.

The deeper pools held fish but mostly small roach and dace.
I noticed a larger fish stationary in the current and was not sure if it was a trout or chub.
When I made a cast with a nymph near the fish the sight indicator was attacked.
The fish was gone after the strike but appeared back on station a few minutes later.
Tried a second time and got a brown trout on the nymph.

When I spotted canoeists on the shallow stream I knew fishing was over so I went looking for a spot that provided solitude.
I ended up in the forest and caught some furter small roach and dace.
Spotted a trout again in shallow water but made the mistake of dropping a nymph on it’s head … the fish was gone.
In hindsight a dry fly might have worked allthough with the low water even that approach might have failed.

A day out in the field catching dace on the dry fly and even a roach.
Met up with some former co-workers at the pub and ended the day sightseeing on top of the hill gazing at the landmarks in the distance.
The cooling tower is from a nuclear power plant … no wind today.