Day 6 : River Vechte - Broekhuizen weir

Mon 6th April

A brigher day with a cold breeze

A cold start

It was a cold morning (frost on the car). However the clear blue skies and much reduced wind hinted at a better day weather wise. When we arrived there was one car in the car park (he was fishing). Also, the river had more flow than when we had a look 2 days ago. I drew the peg near the no. 9 navigation sign and Garry drew 2 pegs up from me (towards the weir).

Steady away

The bites were sporadic but that's fine as I was hoping to build the swim. I fished with 2 rods initially, one down the middle at about 23M and the other closer in and downstream at 15M. I had a couple of Roach early on and then a Bream of about 3lb. As I was netting the Bream, the other rod went and resulted in an Ide of about 2lb (both in the landing net together). I then had a couple of really sharp bites that pulled the tip round but missed them both - I suspect Ide. I then had a couple more Roach before Garry came to see me. He'd had lots of bites, some very positive, but hadn't hit any thus far.

We also went and had a chat with the Dutch angler downstream from me.  He'd had a few Roach and commented that he had seen the rains in Germany a few days earlier and that he always fishes the Vechte 3 days after it rains in Germany. Creates a nice flow that switches on the fish.

Lunch break

I went to sit with Garry and have a chat while we ate lunch. He had put up his brolly vertically to his right. Although the sun was out, there was still a cool breeze blowing upstream from the right. He was now hitting bites and had a few Bream, Roach and a small Chub.

Back to it

After lunch I focussed on the Bream, obviously my earlier one wasn't just a solitary fish. I put double or triple worm on the hook and fished just 1 rod for the time being. This worked straight away and I had a frantic (but short) spell with proper Bream bites and fish caught on the 23M line. However I was unable to keep the Bream going. By contrast Garry seemed to be into a fish every time I looked over to him. It is looking like the usual pattern of Garry making a slow start before accelerating in the afternoon.

I then put in 5 bait-up feeder fulls to see if that would spur them into action. It did result in a couple of fish but bites slowed again. I was still casting around every 2 - 3 minutes with lots of particles in the feeder. I also managed a small Chub.

I then tried pellet and got a few fish instantly. I thought I had cracked it but they dried up too. Garry was still catching regularly. I did go back on 2 rods toward the end. This resulted in my 2nd double hookup. A Roach and an Ide this time.

The weight in

I too decided to put up my brolly as a wind break. It made a big difference in the comfort level as we were now bathed in sun. It was very enjoyable.

All done for today

I had 26lb 14oz but Garry beat me easily with a nice 43lb 9oz.

26lb 14oz for me

Done me again with 43lb 9oz

Current tally is 3 wins for Garry and 2 for me.

We had a chat afterwards to work out why I hadn't been able to hold them but there was nothing specific that Garry did and I didn't. This was our last full day. We will fish the Mad German stretch in the morning before heading back to Rotterdam for the ferry in the afternoon.