Bernd Ziesche | Wednesday, 22 January 2020
All about Fly Fishing for me these days!
During the past days I was busy teaching fly casting both single and double handed as well as lecturing about fly fishing for coastal Sea trout. Thanks a lot to the great audience for such an overwhelming positive response for my lecture. Much appreciated! Looking forward to see all of you again next year.
Besides teaching and lecturing my friend Hansi and I were fishing for Zander again. At the moment we mostly catch small Zander. Fishing pressure during the past years was too high. Too many Zanders have been taken for eating by other anglers, which is why at the moment I am fighting to get new (stronger) limitations approved within our fishing club soon! Not easy to change old traditions, but always well worth to fight for it, since it will help the stock of fish to grow again!
After all the only thing all anglers do have in common is, that we all want to catch proper fish. So obviously we have to take care of the stocks. Not too hard to understand, is it?
During the past months I learnt a great deal about catching fish, that gently suck in the fly and immediately spit it out again. Most of us fly fishermen have no clue how many fish are inhaling our fly for less than a second without us ever knowing about it. That is, because our fly lines are so heavy, that they absorb most takes - making them impossible to be felt for us!
Doesn't matter what species I look at, most often I find us fly fishermen using relatively heavy lines in order to have easy casting. Of course a heavier line usually is a stronger motor to drive the fly to the fish. But it's worth nothing, if the same line keeps us from hooking the fish, I think.
Too often I saw stiffer and stiffer fly rods entering my lessons and then being over-lined with a relatively heavy fly line. Learning how to cast an under-lined rod-line combination fishing wise often is a much smarter solution in regard of catching fish. Lots of advantages like not spoking the fish so easily, making it easier to suck in the fly (less resistance) and improving the level of force arriving at our line hand, when the strike happens to just name a few.
Yet the fly fishing industrie offers very little if any gear combinations here, that do the best possible jobs. In fact I hardly see anything but opposite gear combos being offered. Good for me though, because I can teach how to improve and simply catch more and especially bigger fish here. Lots of happy clients for sure!
During the next days I again will be busy teaching fly casting and fishing.
I hope you are making some time to fly fish, too!? ;)
Great week to all of you!
All my best
Busy during the last days...
