Möhne River / Germany June 8th


Yesterday I made a successful fishing trip to Germany’s Möhne River. This time I fished with fellow flyfishingclub members Bert and Eric. With bright sunshine and a temperature in the 86F range it was actually to hot for trout fishing but at least some fish where cooperative.

In the early morning we fished the river from point where it entered the large Möhne reservoir at Vollinghausen to the mid section of the stretch at Niederbergheim. Some fish where feeding at the bridge in Vollinghausen but they where not trout. I got one solid take at a deep pool in the first stretch. A substantial fish took a deep fished nymph and went like a freight train downstream. I lost the fish quickly though because the hook came out. On this river barbless hook where mandatory so the chance of losing a fish was to be expected.
On the way back to Vollinghausen I tried to catch one of those rising fish near the bridge
At Vollinghausen. A small pheasant tail nymph did the job. A few casts under a tree and a fish was on. I caught a little chub this way; it was the first time I got one of these.
After the disturbance the fish scattered in all directions. Low water and open banks made them very wary.

Later in the afternoon I managed to catch two rainbow trout in the deep section of the river
Upstream from the watermill at Niederbergheim. I even got two shots at very large rainbows cruising in the surface. Missed both fish though because the hook came out. Maybe I should check the hooks and sharpen them. I was dying in the sweltering heat with my waders so I walked upstream to shady part of the river in the forest. In the cooler water I managed one nice size brown trout on the nymph. I also managed to startle two deer who where lying in the high grass on the river bank.

The other boys did well also. Bert caught a huge rainbow and a real fat Chub. Eric was busy catching rainbows. I think at the end of the day he had six or seven of them.

With the hot weather the trout where not very eager to take the fly. In the deep stretch several rainbows where stationary in the flow. Sometimes they would rise to something undefined in the surface. We tried every fly in the box to get a take but failed every time we presented something. We very happy though with the fish we had already caught, it was not easy fishing
under these conditions. We took our usual lunch break at the Niederbergheimer hof and enjoyed some good eating. What is better than sitting in a “Biergarten” aka beergarden in the
bright sunshine drinking good cold German beer, it sure beats working


Eric in action at the Möhne Bridge in Vollinghausen


My first ever Chub at Vollinghausen


The ideal spot to cool off with a nice glass of cold Warsteiner beer


Enjoying some good food at the Niederbergheimer hof


There was no brook trout present at the Niederbergheimer as last year but in front of the small bridge over the river I did get a shot at another trout. Just like so many other fish on this day it managed to throw the hook.

Here the fish that Bert landed.


Fat rainbow trout


Fat chub

It's a good thing I just had lunch, because that pile of french fries and cold beer look so good I can taste them! I cannot believe the size of your friend's rainbow-it's so fat! The other day you caught a pike-are they common? It looked to be a good sized fish, which I'm sure fought well. I know how hard it is to keep a trout hooked when you have no barb, it can be very frustrating. What size tippet are you guys using for the trout? What size did you use for the Pike? Were you targeting the pike or did it eat a streamer intended for a trout?

Henley

You missed the roadkill under the red sauce . There is one thing consistent when fishing in Germany. You can find a good pub at every small village you enter and you can bet they have good food and a cold beer ready for you.

The pike I caught recently was by accident. It was a rather small one, barely 1.5ft max. The reel on the picture is a Battenkill LA-1, the rod the superfine 7-11. I was casting in a deep pool where I saw a trout rising. The pike got the streamer first. Actually all pike have to be removed from the stream according to my fellow German members. I have not seen that statement in the rules or in writing so I returned the pike. Maybe I'll meet him later in the season when he has grown a little.

The trout caught by Bert on the pic is a typical farm job. Trout swimming day in and out in the river do not get so fat. There are plenty of nice normal size and shape trout in the river so the pigs are an exception.

There are strict regulations for fishing the Möhne river. Minimum rod weight is #5 for dry fly fishing and #6 for streamer fishing and nymphing.
Unlike in the UK tippet strength is measured/displayed by diameter instead of weight. Dry fly minimum 0.16mm (0.0063in), nymph minimum 0.18mm (0.007in) and streamer 0.25mm (0.01in). Barbless hooks are mandatory. Since there are huge trout (2.6ft) in the river the rules make sense.

Catch and release fishing is illegal in Germany by law so the owner of the stretch has installed some clever regulations to keep his river full of fish. The slot limit of trout is between 1.15ft and 1.5 ft. It you want to take a fish it will cost you about 12.7 dollars above the price of the dayticket, the dayticket price for this river is about 36 dollars. If you take a fish fishing will have to ceased since you have caught your daily limit. I guess most trout have sizes above or well above the slot limit. If these regulations where not in place I suspect the river would be either fishless because everything would be killed off on the spot and fish would never reach a larger size than the 0.8ft federal size limit for brown trout.

Normally we choose tippetsize depending on the size of fish we can expect and the local enviroment of the stream (brush andsoforth).
When I fish for shiners I usually go down in fly size and tippet. For trout fishing with streamers I use heavier tippet. After all some of the deep pools that see no fishing action because they are located in thick forest and brush might house some monsters. Maybe I will have a go at the monsters this weekend.

Well Henley, forgot to put in the picture of the local food.
But here it is, standard meal when fishing in Germany:

Porkchops, salad, fries which all will have to be flushed down with
a cool glass of Warsteiner Beer