How to get plenty of bites when seatrout fishing!

[Guest Mike Connor]

Here is one to remind you all of summer!

 

 

Although temperatures here at the moment are very high indeed, ( as I sit

writing this at 02.20 am, it is still 28° C in my office, one reason I am

unable to sleep!), and not conducive to good fishing, I allowed myself to be

inveigled by a friend into going fishing for a couple of hours yesterday

evening. I have not been fishing for a while, for a number of reasons, and

I also hoped that it might cool down somewhat towards evening, and bring the

chance of a seatrout. ( It didn´t, at least not for me!).

 

Continuous warm weather recently, coupled with frequent rain, has also

allowed many bugs to multiply far more than usual. I will be obliged to

visit the doctor on Monday morning, as a "zecke" ( a type of tick, a

bloodsucking insect), managed to bore into the soft flesh of my right foot

just above the ankle, and the swelling and itching are now driving me nuts.

I removed the creature, but these things can unfortunately be quite

dangerous, and carry all sorts of nasty diseases. Borreliose, and

encephalitis being but two of these! My forearms and hands also have a few

swellings which are the result of "mücken" bites ( bloodsucking midges,

similar to mosquitoes).

 

My face and head are OK, as I wore a head net over my hat. My companion did

not laugh very long at this measure, the first few swelling welts on his

neck and forehead convinced him that I was not being overly cautious. I

have to be careful in any case, as I am allergic to some bites, and am

obliged to carry an emergency injection kit with me at all times. Horse

flies ( Bremsen), and similar insects knock me over as if I had been hit

with a hammer! Hornets and wasps are also extremely dangerous to me, bee

stings are merely uncomfortable for a while, strangely enough.

 

Most people, when asked, would reply that there are no dangerous creatures

here. Don´t believe them! If you fish anywhere in Europe, you should be

most careful of things like ticks, and if you are unfortunate enough to get

one, visit the doctor immediately!

 

Hornets must also be treated with very considerable respect. They are not

usually aggressive, but slapping at one will likely cause it to sting you,

and this is no laughing matter. Several stings may well kill a man. In many

cases, one will suffice. Best to ignore them, move slowly, and not indulge

in any wild gyrations in futile attempts to escape, or kill the insect.

 

In some areas these creatures ( "zecken") are far more dangerous than in

others, as they are almost certainly infected. You should however assume the

worst, wherever you are, and act accordingly.

 

We arrived at the water, sweating like navvies after only a very short walk,

and commenced to assemble our gear. Because the chances of large seatrout

are fairly good on my local river in late summer, I use a comparatively

heavy rod, especially for night fishing. In this particular case, a nine

foot #7 weight with a #7 sink tip. Fish of over ten pounds are quite

common, and as these fish usually fight very hard indeed, it is somewhat

foolhardy to use lighter gear. My leader was a seven foot piece of .25mm

Nylon, ( about ten pounds BS ), and I had a "Baltic woolly" as a fly, which

is basically a shrimp imitation, tied on a #6 longshank hook.

 

One thing which has become increasingly apparent to me over the years, is

that fish do not read many books. Or at least not the ones I have read, as

they very rarely behave as the books say they should!

 

We had elected to fish the same pool, taking turns. One of us fishing for

ten minutes, and then the other. This is a fairly small river, and there

are only one or two larger pools which allow this in any case, but it is

better to do this than stumble around in the dark. Any sign of light usually

puts the fish down for the rest of the night, and is to be avoided at all

costs. Even lighting a cigarrette will put the fish down. Many refuse to

believe this, and consequently go home empty handed.

 

We waited for full dark, my companion moaning that he was not able to light

his pipe in order to drive the swarms of insects away, which had discovered

he was not wearing a net, and cursing monotously at every bite. This only

punctuated by the reports, caused by him constantly slapping at various

parts of his anatomy.

 

Unfortunately, the usual drop in temperature towards dark was not

forthcoming, and we simply sat there for a while, being broiled in our own

perspiration, soaking wet, and being attacked by various insects.

 

Just after full dark, I moved into the head of the pool, ( we had tossed up

for it, and I won), and proceeded to pay out line into the fast water.

Casting is also not advisable on some pools, in fact quite often, it simply

puts the fish down. Far better to pay out line, and then manipulate it in

the current to reach your chosen lies.

 

After a remarkably short time, my stint was over, with nary a touch, and I

waded very carefully and slowly out. My companion slipped just as silently

into position, and commenced his turn.

 

He had barely started to pay out line, when a good fish, gleaming bright

silver even in the practical absense of light, which looked to be about the

six pound mark, jumped not ten feet away from him, and he realised almost

too late, that it had taken his fly. Heaving back, and striking far too

forcefully, probably as a result of the surprise, and imagining that he had

far more loose line out than was actually the case, he hooked the fish

badly, and after a fairly short fight, characterised mainly by two fairly

spectacular leaps, taking line all the way, the fish came off at the bottom

of the pool.

 

His monotonous and forceful cursing recommenced, even rising somewhat in

pitch, and seeming to take on a more desperate note. Although my knowledge

of German obscenities is fairly comprehensive in the meantime, I am always

astounded to discover that there are variations of which I had not even

dreamed, and that one of the best opportunities to learn these is to be

present when a companion loses a good fish.

 

Under normal circumstances, this gentleman would not think of issuing such

comments, and is indeed a gentleman in every respect, but "losing" a fish

seems to bring out the absolute worst in everybody!

 

He left the pool head nevertheless silently, apart from the cursing, and

invited me to take his place. He had hooked the fish on a large black zulu,

without any appendages like tags etc. It is surprising how effective this

whole range of "palmer" type flies is, the wolly buggers, various "woolly

worms" and quite a few other similar flies are consistently successful in a

number of situations, and may often be relied upon to produce when other

flies fail dismally.

 

Unconcerned, as I know my "Baltic Woolly", which is also a bugger variation,

is very reliable, I stayed with it, and fished the pool down again. All the

books say that you should rest a pool after such a disturbance, but this has

not been my experience. As long as the disturbance is not the result of

light, or sloppy casting, it does not seem to make a lot of difference.

Seatrout often jump, presumably to rid themselves of sea-lice ( quite a few

books offer this theory), or because they feel like it, who really knows why

they do it?

 

Twice during my stint, fish jumped in the darkness, and I tightened, without

result. These fish may well have been nowhere near my fly, but it is best to

assume so in any event. I have often caught fish simply because I heard a

splash, and tightened, without seeing or feeling anything at all. In fact,

on reflection, quite a high proportion of my "night" fish have been caught

in this manner

 

Once again my stint was up, not a touch, and I relinquished the pool head

position to my companion.

 

He paid out line once again, and again a largish fish, which we could not

see, leapt beneath the trees on the slow left hand side of the pool. Quite

a commotion ensued, and one of the trees started rustling and vibrating.

Even when it is pitch black, one may often discern movement, and so it was

here.

 

Very loud cursing commenced again, and I asked, "what´s the matter?", "The

$§$&& &%$§§ %&$§$ &§$§&)/==/ "$"$"$ fish has jumped over the %&$§%& =(?=

$"$"! he &%$§&%$§& tree branch" was the somewhat less than temperate

reply!

 

So it was, the fish had taken the line over one of the overhanging branches,

and it was now impossible to do anything much at all to control it. This

very thing has happened to me on a number of occasions at this same spot,

and it would not be the first time that I took a bath in hopes of remedying

the situation, but it was still too early to even consider this, the fish

was freshly hooked and lively, and it was unlikely that it could be tired

out enough to get anywhere near it with the net.

 

I offered to try anyway, but my companion said " let´s wait a bit, and see

what happens, perhaps it will tire itself out". He tussled for quite a

while with the fish, which was apparently well tethered to the flexible

branch, and the tree continued to shake and rustle at its plunges and

swirls.

 

"Looks like I will have to break off", he said, "You can try to net it if

you like, but I don´t want to leave it tethered to the branch".

 

I waded slowly and carefully into the fast water, supported by my staff, (

it is best not to fall down here, the bottom is rocky and dangerous), and

slowly fought my way across the current at the pool tail, and then tried to

make my way up the side of the pool where the fish hung, still making a

commotion. Up to my chest in the cold water, even more of a shock than

usual considering the ambient temperature, and with my net fully extended, I

could almost reach the tree, but there seemed no chance of landing the fish,

as I was simply unable to hold the net in the current single handed, and

could not see anything anyway.

 

Communicating this intelligence to my companion, resulted in another round

of inventive cursing, which seemed to taper off into resignation, and he

then said "Can you reach the line below the branch to break it off?".

 

My chest waders were slowly but surely filling up, as the belt could not

prevent water seeping past, but I had a go at fulfilling his request. I

managed to snag the line below the branch on the net frame, and twisted this

to wrap the line around it. A couple of good strong pulls resulted in a

break, which I felt through the net handle, and I assumed the line had

snapped at the branch, and I began retreating steadily, allowing the current

to bounce me back down towards the tail of the pool.

 

Arriving at the gravel bank, at the pool outlet, I discovered that the fish

was still attached to my net by a short length of line, and seemed not

overly enamoured of this fact, as it proceeded to leap and twist and make a

hell of a noise in the shallows.

 

"Bring the net", I shouted, "What for?" was the reply. "The fish is still

attached to my net frame" I replied, "Don´t ask such bloody stupid

questions!".

 

After some antics which should best remain undescribed, not the least of

which was the fact that my companion decided the best way to get to me was

directly, and launched hinself into the fast curent at the head of the pool,

apparently completely forgetting that the water there is at least ten feet

deep, and nearly getting washed away, almost drowning while trying to remove

the net slung over his back, while not letting go of his rod, and attepting

to maintain equilibrium in the fast water, half swimming half walking

towards me, and nearly bowling me over, he finally managed to net the fish.

 

Scrambling out onto the bank, I fetched my headlight, and we looked at the

fish. A magnificent fresh run seatrout of over ten pounds, ( it actually

weighs exactly five kilos, which is more or less exactly eleven pounds).

The leader was caught in the hinge of my landing net, along with a piece of

branch and a few leaves, and despite all the messing about, was still

attached to my friend´s fly-line. I had simply dragged it off the branch.

 

"It´s your fish", he said, "You landed it", I would never have got it", he

ventured, albeit with a noticeable tinge of regret in his voice. " Not at

all" I replied, "It´s your fish. You hooked it, I only assisted a little. We

might just as easily have lost it, it was pure dumb luck that we got it".

 

"Ok. Thanks a lot. My wife will be overjoyed" was his reply, "She still

talks about the one you smoked for us last year".

 

I dropped him off at home shortly after, and arrived at home myself not long

afterwards.

 

It is now just after 03.00 am, and the fish is sojourning in a marinade. I

will put it in the smoker in the morning.

 

One of those memorable trips where I caught nothing, but are nevertheless

unforgettable. Notwithstanding the "zecke", and the various other

discomforts involved, a most interesting trip.

 

Quite apart from anything else, although I caught nothing ( at least I hope

I didn´t), I can still quite truthfully say, at least I got plenty of

bites!

 

TL

MC