Fly Fishing

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

I tried to repeat saturdays performance but failed to do so.
It was even hotter than on the previous day, the maximum temperature was 84 F.
We fished at river nr. 1 but did not encounter any aggressive trout.
I saw a few fish scoot along the stream but had no single take.
My excuse was that it was just to hot.

Since we stocked river nr. 2 yesterday we returned there to see if the fish had settled and where active.
Large parts of that stream where straightened and had no shade from trees so our hopes of catching fish where low.
All this sunshine of the past week had triggered an algae bloom that together with the remains of blossoms created a very dirty river.

We did get a few following fish but nothing took real interest in the fly.
The only spots with some clear water where after weirs and the natural part of the stream where the water flowed faster.

Clearer part of the stream.

I tried my honey hole where I had caught two rainbow trout in the last couple of weeks.
There where minnows moving in the murky water so some fish where present.
Finally a fish hit on the streamer but it was not the intended quarry, only a small perch had dared to attack the fly.

A little perch.

Over the past years I waded in these streams and always noted these small fish that where hiding under the stones and debris.
Since fishing was really slow I decided that today was the day to investigate what species of fish these critters belonged to.
Most of these little fish skilfully eluded me but finally I got one in my landing net, it turned out to be bullhead / sculpin.

Bullhead / Sculpin

No wonder that small black zonkers worked that well on trout and perch in the river.
While I was doing research my buddy caught a small brown trout and then another little perch.
I tried nymphs, wet flies and so on but could not hook into anything else than debris on the riverbed.

In the evening we ended up in the large pool below the watermill.
It was the first time I waded that pool so I waded with care.
The bottom felt almost like paved, it was an old building of several hundred years so it could have.
The pool was shallow but in the murky water you could not see the bottom, since I had no wading stick with me moving was a bit tricky.
At a certain moment I came to the edge of the pavement, a deeper channel was just at my feet.
I stopped and hauled a streamer though the channel.
The channel gave up a larger specimen of perch.

Perch nr. 2

When the sun got low fish where beginning to rise in the pool but these where no trout, most likely shiners.
Our nymphs where rejected by the fish.
We finally called it quits and headed to the nearby pub for some nice cool wheat beers.

Tomorrow the big temperature drop will occur, from a whopping 84 F we will go back to 55 F which is more normal.
At least the new weather pattern will bring some much need rain.
Since I will fish the Baltic coast for sea run browns next Thursday I am glad that it will be cooler, summer like temperatures are not exactly helpful for that kind of fishing.

jinxed247 · Location: Henderson, Ny

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us! I lived in Bald Tolz fro two and a half years and never got a chance to do any fishing.

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

So you lived in the Bavarian Heartland.
Why did you not fish there, was it due to licensing ?

There are some pretty nice lakes and rivers down there
but the whole license / permit can be a pain in the ...
I am going more or less to that neck of the woods in
May for a four day flyfishing trip.

jinxed247 · Location: Henderson, Ny

The license issue was a huge pain in the butt but everybody has their laws for a reason. I wished that I could have had a chance though. Thanks again for sharing. Tight lines.
John

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

The normal procedure for fishing in Germany is that you have to follow a training course and then pass an state exam.
When you pass the exam you get a so called "Fischereischein" which is a state fishing license valid in all German federal states.
Without that document you will not get fishing permits anywhere.
The reason behind this exam thing is to ensure people know what they are doing when they are fishing and behave responsable.

If you live abroad, you like to fish and end up in Germany for a longer period you are in trouble. You can not fish because you have to follow that course which takes quite a while and most likely is in German which might prove to be a big hurdle.

What you can do is to apply for a license when you are still abroad.
The authorities have to issue you a license even though you have not passed the test.
Most likely you will get a one year permit but at some places you can get 5-years permits.
I applied for my license by mail and it was send to me, a five year document.

jinxed247 · Location: Henderson, Ny

I was wondering if that was going to change because of the EU. I wonder if they will ever have a one license fish europe type thing. If they ever do that then I would definitely study up on my german and get one!