Fishing October 29th.

Last Sunday we held the first leg of our annual pike fishing contest.
This event was held at one of our small streams here in the Netherlands.
I fished with a light outfit and small streamers and was actually trying to
catch a nice perch instead of a pike.
During the contest that lasted four hours I had no single hit, most of my
fellow fisherman shared the same fait.

The only thing I almost hooked was one of many mountain bikers that rode
along the riverbank.
I was sure there was a large nest of them somewhere because they
came in groups of 10 to 20 riders at a time.
I disliked the location more and more by the minute and was glad that the
contest was finally over.
I vowed to skip this venue in future if it would be held at the same location again.

Some of our party where smarter than me and left the designated location to fish
elsewhere in a less crowded environment.
That action paid off because there most fish where caught.
At the end of the contest two pike of 18 and 25 inches where caught,
the by-catch consisted of two large perch of 18 and 18.5 inches.

The end of the contest would not be the end of the fishing day for Joop and me.
We slipped over the border into Germany and met up with a fellow member of our German angling club.
This particular person was also member of the angling club in the village he lived in.
He thought that his home waters would be of interest to us so he arranged a grand tour
for us to see if we where interested in a membership of his hometown club.
The stream we visited was normally off limits to outsiders but on this day we where allowed to fish there to check the place out.

Our first stop was at a pool below a watermill, it was a nice location but with many spectators.
The water was quite clear but the low levels and the minimal flow where a bit difficult for me to cope with.
Joop did better because he actually spotted some rising fish and before we knew it he was battling a roach.
I fished the outflow of the mill and was sure I would catch a fish there, it did not happen though.
Our guide fished with a worm and when he dropped his bait in the place I fished before he immediately hooked in to a standard size rainbow trout.

We moved further downstream when I saw a rising trout in one of the river bends.
A rather clumsy cast resulted in an empty pool.
In the mean time Joop was targeting a school of perch further along the road.
The perch where not fast enough to crab the nymph, a rainbow trout was quicker.
The river below the watermill looked a lot better than we had imagined, a small stream winding through a forest with many deeper sections that would surely hold one or the
other fish.

After a while we left the mill to see how the river looked further upstream.
Upstream the river was straightened, small weirs provided interesting angling spots.
The water was clear and I noticed that the bottom was covered with vegetation.
Our guide told me that the weir I was fishing would have a couple of trout in them,
he stocked fish so he could know.
My usual streamer setup did not yield fish and the nymph setup also failed to produce.
It was obvious that the streamer did not go deep enough so I dug up the heaviest streamer in my collection.
The heaviest streamer I had with me was a purple/pink coloured zonker that had never produced a fish for me.
After a few strips through the fast flowing water I surprisingly got a hit on the fly.
Before I knew it I was battling a nice rainbow trout, it was not a big fish but it sure put
up a good fight.



Rainbow trout nr. 1

Our guide said there would be more than one trout in that pool so I tried again.
The streamer drifted trough the fast flowing water, after a few strips another fish hit the fly.
The second trout was also a rainbow and made a few nice jumps out of the water.



Rainbow trout nr. 2

We learned that most stocked fish where rainbows of the standard size of 12 inches and that
a few larger specimens up to 24 inches where also present.
Besides the trout perch where stocked and off course the mainstay course fish like roach, rudd
and bream where available.
There was also talk of the many eels in the stream but as flyfishermen we had little interest for that species.

On our tour we also visited two of the local ponds, these ponds where small lakes with lots of tree cover around the banks.
Our main interest was of course the river so we continued our tour until we ended up at the beginning of the leased stretch.
Beyond was a small castle where the fishing right where in the hand of the local baron.
As daylight faded we walked through the meadows along the stream and concluded that it was a worthwhile trip.
We told our guide we would love to be member of his club and so things where set in motion to enrol us in another German angling club.

With the new membership we have extended our fishing season in Germany because the new clubs waters are open all year because it is not classified as a trout fishery.
In wintertime we could always go there to fish for the pike, perch and shiners and there would always be a chance to catch a stray rainbow.
This trip was the silver lining of the day, new fishing grounds where discovered and fish caught.