As tradition dictated the German fishing club held its annual fisher king tournament last
Saturday.
We always dubbed it the great trout slaying contest since all fisherman where expected to kill their limit of five trout during a two hour fishing spree in the normally off-limits pool below the watermill


The pool behind the mill.

We where not that eager to attend the contest but several German club members had been asking us for weeks now if we would attend the contest and the following party.
We could not afford to be absent on this event so early morning we attended the traditional breakfast with the other club members.
This breakfast was organized at the local pub which doubled as home to the fishingclub.
After breakfast we would gather at the pool of the watermill to start the tournament.

Flyfishing was not allowed at the mill so the worm brigade had an advantage.
We brought ultra-light spinning outfits with us and fished streamers and nymphs in combination with strike indicators.
At the end of the contest I wondered why there had been so little activity from the worm bathers.
I had caught my limit with three browns and two rainbows while fishing buddy Joop managed to haul in three browns and one rainbow.
At the weigh in at the pub it turned out I had 30 grams less weight caught than the number one of that day.
They had weighed the fish three times to make a final decision.
Luckily I missed the number 1 slot and was relieved from wearing the complementary fisher king chain and title for the rest of the year.

At least the fisher king was not required to deliver 130 gallons of beer like the winner of the shooting contest from the hunters would have to do.
After the new fisher king was crowned we all had dinner at the pub.
The locals would go home for a nap to be fit for the so called kings ball later that evening.
We went fishing in a local sandpit to try and catch yellow perch and pike.


Nice weather at the sandpit.

The weather was very fine, calm sunny weather with a few light showers mixed in.
The morning started chilly with temperatures around 40 F but later in the day it topped the lower 70 range.
The sandpit was surrounded by trees so casting large streamers was not that practical.
Armed with our light spinning rods we chucked out small twisters in the lake.
The locals had told us that the pontoons used to hold the pipe from sand extracting barge where a hideout for the perch.
We started fishing the pontoons first.


The pontoons, home to yellow perch and pike.

I was fishing with ultra light gear and as reward I caught ultra light yellow perch.
Those big guys had to be present in the lake, but where the heck where they hiding.
We probed the shores of the lake and hauled in a few more of these little perch.


Small yellow perch.

I walked around the lake until I reached the shore where the sand extracting barge was operating.
There was a steep drop-off between the new dredged part of the lake and the old lake bed which looked very fishy to say the least.


A perch from the drop-off.

I soon had a take from something bigger.
Unfortunately the contact was short because my leader was severed.
It was bitten trough; apparently Mr. pike was present in the lake.
We fished the remainder of the day at the lake and hauled more small perch.
When the sun was about to set we where ready to join the party or kings ball at the pub.


A nice end to the day.

My last action on the lake was taking a picture of the rainbow that had formed in the clouds some distance away.
Just before sunset we left the lake and went on route to the pub for the evening festivities.
There was a lottery in the evening where prices ranged from crude fishing tackle to halve pigs.
We where opting for the pigs but luck was not on our side, we blanked.
It was interesting though to see one fly reel among the crude tackle, there was hope for those guys after all.
I was sure we would convert some of the worm bathers one of these days.

We had the intention to stay just for a couple of hours but as we left it was already midnight.
Parties down there lasted as long as the last drunk had left the building and I was pretty sure
that would be at daybreak. For next year the locals told us they would arrange a place to sleep for us so we did not have to leave that early
[smile]