Friday, June 05, 2020

VLOG#16

No need to travel miles when you have such a nice playground right on your doorstep!
The travel restrictions have some good, it's forcing me to rediscover old grounds! Finding new features, studying them, recording them, fishing them and  finally trying to understand them. This is what being a guide is all about...

Water temperatures is at a steady17º / 18º on the surface, so fishing 6 to 8 meters deep you know the water is just at a nice temperatures down there. The fish are at their fittest at the moment, stronger than a doped athlete they are a joy to fight.But make sure that the fights are short (i only fish 10 weight) and minimize to maximum the time a pike is out of the water. Better if you can leave them in the net, unhook them in the net and let them go.
I managed to fly fish most of the day, before the wind got too strong, i had a little fun with soft plastics and jigflies. In my opinion its the best option because i can keep on using a single hook making it so much better for the fish welfare.


Sunday, May 31, 2020

Vlog#15 Jigfly madness


Dry, hot, low water don't usually make for good fishing, but this time the pikes were on the feed. That south easterly wind was strong and warm, but it moved the water well activating the pikes into a large feeding window ( around 1 hour after the peak of the morning major).
I started on the fly, but the wind got worse making the open spots where the fish were feeding nearly impossible for a decent fly presentation.
I had anticipated those conditions, so i brought with me a medium casting rod to test my latest jigflies. And i am glad i did! A 25 grms jigfly was hitting the perfect depth to tempt these fish into eating. A slow retrieve with stop and go mix with long pauses was the right combination on the day.
Water temperature was a steady 18º /19º making the pikes fight really hard and giving their all. When the water warms up i like to bully the fish to the net, minimize the fight so i can release the fish fast and in the best conditions. This was working fine, until the hook pulled out of the best fish of the day..It came twice to the surface, so i had time to get a good look at it. A nice meter fish for sure!
Ha well, i rather missing that fish than having it go belly up on me.
Most of the action came shortly after the morning major (moon phase). The afternoon slowed down a good bit and the wind got stronger. I then decided to go home and enjoy a beer in the sun.
16 pikes for the morning and 4 in the afternoon, all similar sizes (60/70cm) . It's great to see a local water fish so well as i am still restricted to 5 kms travels with the covid restrictions.