Bernd Ziesche | Wednesday, 8 June 2016
It's a tough kind of fly fishing. You may be lucky to catch one right in the beginning when just having started to fish for them. But then you will have to pay the bill afterwards. In the end it's always a strong fight. Not with the fish but with ourthelves!
Ok, to be fair the fish can be a great fighter as well. ;)
Since Saturday we are fly fishing the famous river Mörrum in Sweden. This year it's loaded with Atlantic salmon. It really is! BUT the water temperature stays between 18 and 20° Celsius, which is way too high in order to have some fish being in a striking mood. Additionally the water level is way too low. We want the river to be around 20m³. Instead we have 10m³.
We have sight fishing in the day and night fishing for those fish who just enter the river - coming directly from the Baltic sea (ocean).
I landed one fish right on Sunday. And until now there hasn't a single other one being caught on the whole river! So obviously I was very lucky. Yesterday I saw two salmon standing next to each other. I offered them a dry fly - dead drift + skating fast and slow. Then I offered them a nymph - dead drift + rising in front of their nose. Of course I presented a lot of different flies in the good old classical down stream swing as well. For about several hundret times they must have seen my flies. Then (after three hours) I decided to let them win - this time. Today... I'll be back!
In fly fishing for Atlantic salmon there is always a fight going on - not to give up. Sometimes we hit perfect water conditions and still don't catch a single fish. And then pretty often we hit the wrong water conditins and though at least have a (more or less) proper explanantion why we don't catch a single fish. What has linked the best fish to me always was to win the fight never to give up and then sooner or later get the one strike of the week and with some luck (and a lot of concentration) being able to hook and land that fish.
We will fish the river Mörrum until Saturday and then drive home. Let's see if we can get linked to another fish HOPE-fully. Yes, it's precisely this. Keeping the level of hope as high as possible and always fish full concentration.
Whatever your fight may be about this week - proper strength to all of you!
All my best
Bernd
Some pictures of the last week....