Once upon a time in the East - part one

While most off the people in the Netherlands were celebrating Liberation Day I was part of a posse of four man heading out to the East in search of the elusive brown trout.
After reaching our destination the expectations of some great fishing went up even more when we had a look at the river. Clear water, nice pools and riffles and the weather wasn't to bad either. Yep, conditions seemed perfect. A little to perfect, like we should have known.....

A warm welcome

I went fishing on a river somewhere in Germany....

-Pause-

...ok, ok, hold it. At times at can be very hard to find the right way to start a new entry but I decided to throw all the stylistic stuff aside and give you a quick look into the notes I make when I go fishing...so here we go again:

Saturday afternoon Quicky

Just came back from a Saturday afternoon quicky. I spoke to Robert this morning and asked him to come along to fish for rainbows. An appointment was made and this afternoon we headed out there together.
We both caught fish.

Crazy Rainbows

I've heard people calling it water-sense, the Flow or being in the Zone.
Well today I was in the Zone. Oh yeah...
And because I was in the Zone, I left half of my polyleaders at home, forgot to eat breakfast, nearly stepped on my rod but made it to the water faster then I've ever been.

The weather? Well, wind blowing from various directions, chilly, clouds, sun and rain, heck it sounds like Ireland and it felt like that too.
I am not going to talk about numbers today, but I can tell you that I've had contact with fish on each and every spot were they should be. The Zone didn't let me down...
Every now and then there's a day like this, a strange phenomenon, a mix between consciously planning a scheme and just feel this confidence that it is going to work for sure. The fishing was great. I got some great takes, a fish that straightened my hook and another one that took off with my dropper. Crazy Rainbows! Cool! May the force be with you!

"So you don't..."

"..so you don't want my flies and you don't want my leaders 'cause there not up to your high standards...."
"Chris, you sound like a woman..."
"Oh Rudy, that's because I AM a woman!"

Sun, clouds and rainbows

After a quick visit to one off my local spots to check for Ide, I had to rush to get my car the the garage in time.
I had made an appointment with a friend to go fishing in the afternoon.
Because the Ide weren't really on the move we agreed on visiting a clubwater nearby to try our luck there and see if we could hook up with some of the resident trout.

Morning Glory

Just a few pics to show you the reward for getting out of bed at an ungodly hour.
The water had rissen about 5 cm and the fish didn't show themselves this morning.
After this early morning quicky I had another appointment to go fishing with a friend in the afternoon.
More about that later....

Just...

…imagine this. Sunday morning. It’s early. At the first light of the new day a there’s someone standing at the waterside. It’s only been a few days since the ice and snow are gone and the first signs off a new season are showing. That certain someone at the waterside is me.

Me being happy that, after a winter of flytying, reading and dreaming about fishing, I can actually go and do this in the real world again.

I do this every year. I know the chances of early succes are slim, but still..

A chance is a possibility.

Even if I don’t  get to feel that familiar rush after the first hook-up it’s ok.

I love to be here,

alone.

Just me and a flask with some nice hot coffee.

I watch the water and see if there’s anybody there yet.

The fish that I am after is the Ide. The Ide is on the move early in the year on the road to its spawning ground.

I just emptied my cup and I’ve seen nothing so far, but decide to fish this spot blind before moving on.

The first few casts are a bit rusty, but I soon feel my muscles remember what I want them to do.

I make some more casts and after a while I even try a few fancy ones.

Today won’t be the day. The fish will be here soon though.

I reel in and walk back.

Just me, being happy.

It’s going to be a great season.