Fly Fishing Winter Nights

During the past week I was working on further details about fly fishing for Zander (pikeperch) in winter time - especially during night time.

It's a tough game because of a) the weather and b) the fish.

A) The weather comes with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius often. Ice in the rings are getting normal in this time of year. That combined with a strong wind or sometimes snow and the conditions will man you up for sure. Of course Paul would be killed by these conditions! ;)

and then

B) Zander slow down a lot. Mostly all kind of strikes are finished within less than one second! That asks for an excellent connection between the fly and my line and rod hand. The rod by the way can't be a soft one. Otherwise I am out of the game immediately.

So far a short line between the fly and my hands worked best. Not too long casts. The line should be in a very low weight. A 4wt. seems to work a bit. The heavier line weights are too heavy to be pulled and the Zander spits out the fly before I can feel the take.

What is so fantastic about this kind of fishing?

Well, first of all it's a tough battle with myself - every time I go out. I truly love this battle.

Furthermore it is quiet, really quiet in these cold winter nights. No other fishermen and even the big cities calm down a lot in the middle of night. Sometimes it feels like I would be fishing in space. This is exactly what I like the second most.

The best part of course is, when a proper fish offers me a fine take from time to time. These takes somewhere out in space are FEELING really hot!

During the next weeks we will also work with an underwatercamera to watch the fish and what exactly happens down there. There is still a lot to learn for me. I'll keep you updated here every wednesday!

Oh and finally of course not fishing in the winter time wouldn't be an alternative anyway, would it?!

Warm week and merry Christmas to all of you!

All my best

Bernd

The last pike I caught on Rügen this year.