On Sunday it was off to the chub section for a second try at the chub. First stop was just outside a small village where I had success in the past. The plants at the bank were now about man high and you had to take care where to step because of the holes dug by the muskrats.
The lack of aquatic vegetation was probably the cause of no visible fish. I could spot nothing on the clear sand bottom except for one small fish. That fish was target practice and it took the sedge I served with gusto.
Since I was not new to this spot I sought out the section with the most cover where I spotted several medium sized fish with one behemoth amongst them. To bad that even the landing of the fly on the water caused the fish to bolt.
The presence of mayflies was minimal and only the small blue damselflies attracted some of the small fish. Time to move to another spot where I found a school of chub moving upstream almost in casting range.
My first cast with a big fly yielded a strike from one of the fish but it missed and the racked caused the school to move downstream again. After a little wait they came in range again and this time I landed the fish. Not a monster but a progress from fish nr. 1 of the day.
The final spot was a good stretch void of any disturbances, well I thought it would be but reality was different. I had forgotten that it was “Schützenfest” season in Germany, a tradition from the past when villagers where enrolled in militia’s protection rural areas. These days a social event involving fair with a shooting competition and off course a lot of drink.
At this particular spot it also involved canoe trips for the kids at my intended fishing spot … There was just one thing left to do … off to the pub.
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.
For last Sunday I had planned an early trip to a section of the stream that is beyond the stretch I am allowed to fish. I purchased a day ticket and was at the water around 06:00 watching dozens of fish rise.
As with the trip last Friday the banks where virtually inaccessible. The only way to safely reach the water was by means of the steps at the small gage house. I fished a small blue dun pattern and the first fish of the day was a small bleak. Most of the fish rising where small bleak but some chub where mixed in.
The water was just too deep to move around in hip waders. Next stop was the fast riffle above the weir that was accessible by wading from the bank. No fish where rising in that section and blind casting a big mayfly or dropping nymphs in the current yielded no bites.
I moved down to the end of the riffle where the weir started. On the calm water I noticed one rise so I made a few casts with the mayfly. One one of the cast a fish came up and nailed the fly, it was a trout. I only got one jump out of the fish as it threw the hook, bummer.
Further downstream in the shaded part I noticed a couple of chub behind a tree in the water. Casting from the bank would not cut it so I had to go in. The sediment left over from the recent water was tricky though and I landed faster down the bank than intended … in the drink again. With only some wet waders and a covering of mud I continued fishing,
The part of the stream that flowed through the open landscape had no visible fish in the surface. Too early in the season I guessed. I noticed one big chub under a tree but the banks again overgrown with a very steep incline. The water was also deep, once you fell in almost no way to get out. I tried one hot spot upstream but nothing present so I left for the home waters.
At the home waters again no fish visible. I blindcasted a know hotspot with the mayfly and a very big chub came up to suck the fly in. Unfortunately that was at the end of the drift and when the fly began to drag the chub disappeared into the depth.
Next stop the feeder stream, talked with a guy who walked his dog and he told me some big chub where present at a bend in the stream. I went there and behold a few big ones where moving around but rather deep in the water column. Fished from the steep high bank in the outer bend was no good so I had to go to the other bank. I guessed the depth would be just right to wade through but I was wrong, anyways I was focused so I moved on,
The big fish would not surface to intercept the mayfly, I only managed small fish. Obviously these fish where not easy to fool and I guess they did not like my presence. Last stop was the clubhouse where some fish where present in the wide shallow section. Again the mayfly did not generate enough interest for a strike. The only big chub I spotted in the open was not interested in my mayfly as it was pursued by a rather large pike. Both fish disappeared out of my vision, hint for the next time to run a streamer through there.
At the shallow section I noticed small baitfish jumping out of the water and suspected a perch or pike might be present. It turned out to be a chub so I tied on a woolly bugger and blind casted some spots but no hits.
Got a call from my friend that they where fishing the main stream and where taking a break at the pub later so obviously I had to go. Left the pub late and a steady run back home until I came on the bike path through the moor. They had recently installed a set of gates with a cattle grid to give the cows access to the pastures at either side of the bike path.
The cows had decided the bike path was a good place for a blockade. Cows a big and stupid so there is an element of danger, I was locked in a stare down with them. I had no intention to around several miles so I slowly pushed forward and was ganged up by the lot sniffing and inspecting my fishing gear. They made way though in the end … no bulls present this time.
