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We had promised Tom, the president of our flyfishingclub to take him on a
guided tour to the waters we frequented just over the border .... that was five years ago.
So finally after five years a date was set to redeem our debt to him.

We started fishing in one of the headwaters of the stream we fish in.
You should have seen the Tom's face when we entered the forest and came
to the creek that resembled more a ditch.
His face red something like "you fish in that :huh: "
Like all non-jungle flyfisherman he foremost battled with the shrubs since he
was used to places with a little more headroom.
Still he was utterly surprised when he saw a fish and behold after some casts
he managed to catch a little trout in that "ditch"





After showing him around some more spots of the upper stream we moved
further along the stream. 
It was late in the morning when we stopped at a bakery for breakfast with
some good coffee and eggs and bacon omelettes.

The afternoon was spend way downstream from the place we had started the day.
The small ditch had turned now into a small river and flowed through the open landscape. 




One of my friends had scouted the place a week before and had caught some
nice chubs, now only minnows where around.
We tried our best but the fishing gods seemed to be against us.



Do we need hundreds of dollars of fancy equipment for this :kook:

The river was also frequented by quite a few people with canoes so the shy
chubs where probably gone.
I decided to toss small zonker streamers in the river and was rewarded with a
few little perch.




In the evening we checked out a few other locations but the fishing was slow
to say the least.
With upcoming thunderclouds it was time to make it to our final destination - dinner at the pub.
The pub used to be the old haunt of my German fishing club built way back in 1794.
Recently reopened and very popular with bikers it was also rediscovered by
us, good food at good prices - you can't ask for more.




We ended the day with good food and good company, once again a perfect
fishing trip in my book.

One of the annual trips that was still on the to do list was a trip to
the port of Rotterdam fishing for shad.
The shad roam the port in the summertime months until September
and can be caught on small flies in the salt.

After a three hours drive we arrived at our spot, one fisherman was
already fishing on the dam in the waterway.
Shad where busting baitfish in the surface, some of them jumped clear
from the water.
By shear luck I caught my first shad of the season.




Then one of the locals appeared and while we where catching nothing
he caught one after the other shad.
The good man was willing though to enlighten me and after a quick
course on shad fishing in the harbor I started to catch fish.

We fished the outgoing tide, then the fish were active.
When the tide turned everything went dead.
At incoming water we still tried to catch fish but the shad where gone.
With the fast rising water and the heavy shipping we had to leave the dam
Because the wakes would sweep you of your feet.








We decided to wait until the tide went out again.
For a moment we saw jumping shad and thought we would have a nice
Evening fishing session but the bite never materialized.
The locals complained that the fishing was not up to standard, near
sunset we decided to call it quits.



low tide - high tide

I managed four shad, bycatch where a couple of crabs and a little flounder.
My buddy got three shad and hooked himself in the process, luckily he could
remove the hook by himself.




Shad fly from one of the locals


Low tide again.

Fishing was not so hot but we learned quite a bit from the locals, next year
we will be better prepared….

Since the last trip to the Harz mountains turned out
so well we still had a follow up trip in mind.
Despite the risk of very low water tables in high
summer we went and where not dissapointed.
Normally we would catch mostly small trout there but
this time we appearantly arrived after the streams had
been stocked heavily.
So we spend four days in flyfishing valhalla as we
caught loads of fish in very nice weather.
Most fish where caught on nymphs and streamers but on
the last day I also did extremely well with a balloon caddis
pattern.
The pictures will tell the rest of the story....

Yesterday we made another visit to the Möhne river in Germany to see if there where any fish around.
Well, to be to the point the fish where there but we got the feeling that the general size of the fish is going down from what we where used to in the past.
With a hefty price tag for the fishing permit we had expected something more.
Since this particular river is the first nearby real trout stream for us we still are stupid enough to shell out the money every time.




We started the day at the senior citizen stretch aptly named fort he easy access and the always present fish.
The stretch is a canalized part of the river in front of a Watermill, it looks more like a canal than a river.
I did see fish there but somehow I could not stomach fishing there so I left into the forest to see if anything was going on in the more natural stretches of the stream.
Since part of the river was diverted to provide power to a stone quarry and it was high summer there was not much water left in the original river bed.
I spotted a trout rising in a fast run, since I saw no insects flying around I tossed a nymph into the water and hooked a small brown trout right away.




The rest of the river was so shallow that I decided to check out the weir at the stone quarry.
In hindsight I should not have taken the route through the fields since the stinging nettles had grown man high – it was like a jungle out there.
When I finally arrived at the weir I was sweating like a pig.
The weir itself was pretty dead – no flow below it and no fish above.
I decided to fish the turbine channel to the stone quarry and was right into a fish.
A rainbow trout had taken a small streamer.
A few minutes later I hooked a brook trout but that fish managed to throw the hook.



The time flew and since it was almost noon I decided to check up on my buddies because they would surely wanted to get something to eat.
We decided to visit the beergarden at the restaurant of the Niederbergheimer hof.
Since the beergarden was adjacent to the stream we could get something to eat and drink and checkout  the trout at the same time
There was actually a rising fish when we at there and I vowed get that fish when we where done.






So in the afternoon I went to the river at the beergarden and launched a nymph in the water.
It was an immediate hook-up but once again the fish came off.
I spotted another rise so it seemed to me like the place was loaded with fish.
The second attempt yielded yet another rainbow trout.
I spend the whole afternoon fishing a short section of the stream there and had hooked
many fish but only one more stayed on.




In the evening I checked out the other guys that where still fishing the rather boring senior citizen stretch.
They had caught their share of trout on dries and nymphs.
I tried in vain to catch some of the trout that where rising like crazy in the shallow bypass of the watermill.



At first I was fishing a common dry fly pattern but that was totally ignored.
When I fished with an emerger I got takes.
It was fun fishing the dry fly but somehow I could not stay connect to the few fish that I actually hooked. 
The spot had potential but I only managed a little chub from that place while the trout
where rising all around me.

Around eight o clock in the evening we called it a day.
The fishing was good on this day but with the high ticket prices we might have to look
for an alternative place to fish in the future.

Last Sunday we made another visit to the lower part of our stream in
the area we call the Prairie because of the open landscape.
With clear blue skies it was soon darn hot and we had hoped that the warm
summer weather would provide us with some dry fly action with the numerous chubs.
Since we came along a bakery on the way to our fishing spot it made sense
to take a break first and get some coffee and a bunch of Kaiser rols for breakfast.


The stream, after a couple of hours in the sun I just stepped into the stream and cooled down besides the pilings.

The next stop was the bridge for the mandatory bread test when I tossed
some pieces of a Kaiser rol in the water to see what would happen.
When a big piece of the rol suddenly disappeared from the surface it was
obvious to us that the chub where present and not only the small ones.
When we launched our dry flies however nothing happened, they where on to us.


Chub


Small fish

At the end I just dumped a pheasant tail nymph upstream and let it ride close
along the fields of crowfoot which yielded a chub.
My buddy tried to get some fish with a dry fly but only the guppies where
active in the surface.
My buddy mentioned he had spotted a bunch of yellow perch near a bridge so
naturally I had to go and investigate that by tossing a streamer along the
pilings of the bridge.



Chub caught on a streamer

Dragging the streamer under the bridge was succsesfull, it did not yield the
spotted yellow perch though but to my surprise a chunky chub – no problems with that.
I did spend an another hour or so scouting the stream but only wasted my
time at a couple of bream, common bream that is.



Common Bream - Abramis brama

I saw a few canoes coming by which I had not noticed in the past.
It seems that someone has started a canoe rental at the stream, not good for fisherman.

The last day of our Harz trip was upon us.
Since we had to travel 4 hours back to the west we knew it would be a short day.
After the excellent breakfast at the hotel we decided to take no chances and thus
headed up to the place we fished most during our trip.
I noticed the waterlevel had dropped and clarity had improved, not that good for
close quarter nymphing but what the heck.

At first I wanted to fish the section near the reservoir but somehow my buddies
beat me to that spot.
So I decided to fish upstream from them and found myself back at the pool where
I had so much success the day before.
The deep nymphing paid off with a nice grayling.
Besides the grayling the trout where also present and for this stream of reasonable size.


Grayling

Brown trout

Off course since we where fishing upstream from the reservoir we ran into the non-game fish
species like the Roach.
I always liked to catch every fish species that took a fly so I did not mind the variety of fish species around.


Roach

Time flew by and before I knew it I had to go.
I took some deep breath from the mountain air and pondered about what a great trip this was.
On the way back to the car I noticed that the windflowers where now full in bloom.


Windflowers

It seemed like this year everything in nature was a month behind schedule.
Lucky for us since the crew that went a month earlier came back home virtually skunked.
We however where lucky enough to run into fish even in semi flooding conditions.
Everyone had a great time and we would surely go back there again.

Today I went to work early, not to work off course but to check out the little marina on the way to work.
Goal was to check the marina for yellow perch and just fish half an hour or more before work.
It paid off to check the place out since after a long time I finally caught some nice yellow perch again.
I had luck that the pike I came across was very small so I could put it back easily.

This morning we went for a short fishing session to one of the streams we fish.
The main goal was to check if the chubs would be present and willing to take flies.
Before fishing we went for the obligatory stop at the Bakers for coffee and bread.
With the football mania going on the Bakery had a lottery going on, main prize a football in the German colours.
I actually won something, one Kaiser roll.
When we came at our fishing location I offered the Kaiser roll to the stream, just to see if any chub where around.
Oddly nobody was picking up the bread from the surface, not a good omen.




Crow foot.

The stream was full of water crow foot, a beautifull sight to see.
My buddy spotted some rising fish among the crow foot and tried to nail them with the dry fly.
I started nymphing a riffle that was bordered by the crow foot which surely would hold fish.
After a few fruitless casts the nymph was intercepted, to my surprise by a brown trout which was very rare at that location.


Brown trout

The spot I fished yielded only one fish but this meant the day was saved and I could now spend time finding out
where all those chub where gone.
I walked quite a distance along the stream and was pleasantly surprised to see several storks circeling high above
me in the sky.


Storks

After a long walk I saw fish, maybe fifteen of them of a species  I could not indentify exactly.
Due to the high banks the fish also spotted me and they all ran off.
In hindsight those fish where either large chubs or barbels.
When I spotted some smaller fish I made my way down the banks and entered the water.
Once I was standing in the stream the fish had all but gone, plan failed.
I headed back to the place I started fishing, along the way lots of mayflies where flying along the river bank - not on the water.



Mayfly

At the first location I tossed dry flies at the rising fish but I only caught one mini size Dace.
There where plenty of chubs swimming in the clear water, mostly small but also some sizable fish amongst them.
The odd thing was that they just would not take nymphs or dry flies, only the small stuff fed on the surface.
We ended the fishing session early in the afternoon, maybe we will hit a different spot next time to get more fish.

Harz 2010 day 3 – May 22nd.

Fishing was good the day before but one of the members of our party had a serious mishap, he lost his full box of flies when he left the river late in the evening.
A search party in the dark yielded no flybox so it was decided that we would return to the upstream section for a second time.
After breakfast we headed back, my buddies sent me off to fish while they backtracked to find the flybox.



En route to one of the pools near the reservoir.

The stream was still running high but this time the water was a little clearer.
The pool where I did so good the day before still produced fish.


Roach

Grayling.

Allthough fishing was good I noticed that it was not as productive as the day before so I went upstream in search of more fish.
I eventually ended up at a nice pool where I caught a row of small brown trout.





Brown trout.

Wondering what the fish ate I turned over some stones and saw creepers and other stuff scurry away. Curious as I was I took a caddis nymph out of its case evergreen needles to its coloration.


Caddis nymph.

Well I figured my nymphs had the same size and looked like the real deal so I would probably fare well.
The pool I fished was not very deep but deep enough to hold many fish.



The pool.

At the front of the pool the water was deeper, I took quite a few trout and grayling from the fast flowing water.





More fish.

In the afternoon one of my buddies called that it was time to get a grab to eat.
The good news was that the lost flybox was retrieved intact.
Not so good was that they had parked the car at another carpark.
I got the tip to proceed on the mountain path to get to carpark, as I went higher and higher
I had the feeling I would get lost big time.




On the mountain path.

The path went uphill all the way until I came into a small village where a small unpaved road winded through little old houses.
I expected banjo playing any minute now, the locals looked … well you get the picture.
From high in the village I saw the car down at the river, I was pretty quick off that mountain.
We took an extend break at our favourite restaurant and pondered where to go next.
The evening session would take place at the river below the reservoir.

In the second half of the day the weather began to change.
Suddenly the clouds came low, visibility and temperature came down.
That evening rise would was surely not going to happen now.



The first pool

The first pool yielded fish right away, it had always been a good spot for me.
What amazed me was the current width of the river, I had never seen it so wide.
When I walked down stream I found that flooding in spring had totally reshaped the river bed.
I could hardly catch a fish there so I doubled back and travelled upstream instead.
The upstream part looked good though.
At one of the pools I finally hooked a large trout.


The big one ….

The fish I had just hooked put a deep bend in the rod, when the fish surfaced I could see it was a very chunky brown dark in coloration.
Then the fish did something unexpected, instead of swimming upstream it went downstream and rolled in the surface.
When the fish rolled the barbless hook came out, bummer …. catching a big fish down there
was like winning the lottery.



Last action of the day.

The rest of the evening went slow.
I still managed a few fish out of the fast flowing water but big fish where not around.
At least I had gotten a shot at a big fish, fishing in such beautiful scenery was already a reward on its own.
When I spotted my buddies coming towards me I knew it was time to get back to the hotel.
We still had to reach our quota of Wheat beer so off we went to get a couple of cold ones and review the day.

Harz 2010 day 2 – May 21st.

After a good nights rest we enjoyed a very good breakfast at the hotel.
Since it was my birthday the other guys gave me the choice where to fish on this day.
I opted to fish above one of the large reservoirs that dotted the river.
My goal was to a catch grayling whom where more numerous in the upper reaches of the river.




Upstream.

When we came to the river I was a bit surprised by the high brown water, clearly not a tailwater upstream. 
I had never seen so much water in that section so I decided to change my tactics and go
Czech nymphing – basicly short nymphing with heavy weighted caddis nymphs.
During the long cold winter I had obtained varies literature and DVD’s  about the subject so I was prepared.
My Trout bum rod with its 7ft length was too short for this type of fishing but with the colored water and heavy flow I would surely get away with it.
After some practice I actually started to get the hang of it and caught my first little brown trout on a green caddis nymph.
I had actually coaxed myself into tying some of my own flies, in this case caddis  nymphs with tungsten beads on a Hanak B300 barbless hook.
Before I knew it I even caught the grayling I was after.


Grayling

I fished several pools and riffles until I came pretty near to the part of the river where it entered the large reservoir.
The banks where often completely dug out by the wild boar, from the tracks they appeared to be numerous but I never saw one.
Being close to the reservoir became appearant when I started to catch shiners.


Dace

Grayling



Roach

At a certain moment I reached the end of the river and saw that the reservoir was pretty full.
The grass on the banks was underwater. 



At the end

I spotted some rising fish at the end but there where not many insects around.
My first guess was brown trout, since the rising where so far inbetween I decided to probe the waters with a small streamer to see who was out there.
The streamer was intercepted but not by a brown trout.


Little yellow perch

Yellow perch was not the fish I was after so I tied on an emerger and launched the fly to where I saw the last rising fish.
That fly was duly taken by a fish, to my surprise a grayling.


Grayling.

In the afternoon we took an extended break at our favorite restaurant in the wilderness and then returned to the river for the rest of the fishing session.

I spend the rest of the day Czech nymphing the lower section of the stream catching loads of little brown trout, grayling and roach.
It was sunny, there where a few bugs around but fish where not rising to any of the insects.
Some insects where maybe a tad to large like a big beetle I saved from the floods.


Bug


More grayling




Scenery

The fish where on the small size but the catching continued throughout the day.
I even caught some of the obvious stockie browns that lacked the golden coloration of the native brown strain.


Stocked brown

Last fish of the day, Roach

Past sunset.

We fished until last light hoping for an evening rise but that never came.
On the way back I took the mountain path carefully watching my steps, you do not want to stumble over wild boars down there.
We ended our day at the hotel with some more dark wheat beers until we reached our quota and called it a day.
We still had to climb up the mountain to reach our quarters, sleep came quickly as it was dead quiet in the village with the only sound coming from the flowing water of the river.