Fly Fishing

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

Yesterday I was on the road with fellow fly fishermen Wiebe and Thomas to visit the Flyfishing Europe shop and fish the Möhne river in Germanys Sauerland region,
At work it was busy so getting time off required some creative actions.
Wiebe’s motto “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” was put into practice.

The Flyfishing Europe shop was our candy store and we usually left that place with monetary damage.
Thomas was looking for a Winston flyrod but left with an Abel reel.
I managed to obtain jet another “on sale” Teton Tioga Magnum 10 for my fall striper trip while Wiebe kept it civilised by leaving the shop with just a Simms chestpack.

We started fishing at the lower end of the river section close to the off limits section where
the river flowed into a large reservoir.
The water was extremely low, some of the gravel beds where high and dry.

At the bridge

One trout was feeding actively under a tree but the dry fly I served was obviously not the right one since the fish refused to take it and moved off.
Further upstream a lot of small rings indicated that an other fish species was actively feeding, most likely chub.
After a few probing casts with a nymph the first tiny chubs came to the surface.
When I fished close to the bank I got into the first decent fish, another chub in a more respectable size.

Chub

While Wiebe and Thomas moved far upstream in search of fish I tried the deeper pools and edges near the bridge.
Under a few willows the nymph was finally intercepted by a good brown trout.
After a short fight I managed to slip the fish into the net.
Regulations required barb less hooks so staying in contact with the lively trout was not always easy.

Brown trout

The river further upstream yielded no fish for me.
First there was not a lot of activity in the surface and secondly the low water and high banks probably meant that the fish had long gone when I would peek over the river bank

Low water

Wiebe and Thomas moved off to the deep water upstream from the watermill in Niederbergheim.
I joined them later in the day and noticed that there was a lot more activity going than below.
Plenty of rising fish to be seen, I knew however that those fish where also very educated.
Thomas was doing good business on this stretch.

Thomas in action

It did not take long before I got the first take on a nymph but the fish threw the hook
after a short while.
I had hooked at least five fish and every time the fish escaped at the last moment.
Still after some time I finally managed to stay in contact with a fish all the way.
A big rainbow was taking me all over the place, every time I figured the fish was ready for the net it would shoot off like a rocket to the adjacent bank.

My rainbow trout

Wiebe was enjoying himself with the rainbow trout and as the icing on the cake he caught his first ever brook trout.
The whole day dark clouds and strong winds threatened to dump heavy rains upon us.
Finally later that evening the clouds opened up and fish activity ceased.
Before the rains Thomas managed to catch the last fish of the day which was surely also
the largest one.

Biggest fish of the day.

It was a very enjoyable day and when we arrived close to midnight back home we vowed we would do this soon again.

Seabass · Location: Waddinxveen, The Netherlands

Nice trip Marcel ! My birthday is always a good day to go fishing....
I never went to Germany to fish...the saltwater and pikefishing is pulling to hard.... ( the lightest outfit i own is a 6 weight..)

Seabass

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

We'll I also like the salt but it takes about three hours to get to the coast from here while it only takes 1hr and 30 minutes to get to German hills for troutfishing.

Where you are living it makes more sense to go to the coast or lake Oostvoorne, down here Germany makes more sense.
And allthough I like the Oostvoorne rainbows the beer and food are a lot better and affordable in Germany Very Happy

jinxed247 · Location: Henderson, Ny

Again, absolutely beautiful fish and scenery! Love your posts!

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

The brown trout was good, the rainbows had these hatchery tails.
Still nothing to complain about since the rainbows fought exceptionally well.

TroutBone · Location: Bavaria, Germany

Great post Marcel, Im heading up North torward Bremen this weekend to see if I can find a spot or location to fish around that area, I'll be Staying in Bremen, ever been around that region to fish?

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

We'll what I cooincidence, I am going totally into the other direction this weekend.
We have a 5 day trip planned to Baden-Wurttemberg close to the border with Bavaria / Austria / Switzerland.

Bremen - not quite a flyfishing place, it is on the wrong half of Northern Germany.
There are a few put-and-take ponds and a few lowland rivers (Oste) but I do not have up-to-date information on that.

We only head into that direction when we are aiming for Hamburg to get to the Baltic coast of Denmark to fish for searun brown fishing.
That fishery is also possible in the German part of the Baltic a whole distance to the east from Bremen.
But it is summer and that is not a good time to be at the coast there.