Here we go again


Initial Preparation

Having spent 3 weeks in Holland last May, I had booked with a friend (Garry) to go back in late August this year. However when the deep, dark winter was upon us, I got the urge to visit sooner so booked a trip for the beginning of April. As there are 2 of us this year, the AirBnB I used last year was not big enough so we have booked into Molecaten De-Koerberg for both trips. This was on the advice of one of the many helpful people that made contact with me after last year's blog. The accommodation is close to Hattem, Zwolle and Zalk so should be ideal.

Before we set off for Hull I had a chat with Bertie. He told me that the Roach fishing was great on certain sections of the Ijssel at the moment and that the river Vechte was flowing nicely and fishing well. I really hoped to fish a flowing Vechte on my last visit but it was static for the whole 3 weeks.

The journey

The drive to Hull (about 90 minutes) and the ferry crossing were easy and uneventful. At Rotterdam there was no-one in attendance at the inspection point so we just drove straight through. This was a welcomed change from last year where I was subject to an inspection involving getting everything out of the car and re-packing (no easy feat). Having 2 cars this year it would have been a chore had we both been selected for inspection.

The drive from Rotterdam to the Zwolle area was surprisingly quick as we hit no congestion the whole way - especially since we docked around 8am so would be hitting rush-hour in Rotterdam.

On arrival

We went straight to the bait/pet shop (De Boer'nschuure) in Wapenweld. This was very close to the accommodation and was recommended by Richard Woollard. Richard has reserved a bait fridge for us on site and we were able to get the bait in there straight away. Check-in at the accommodation was supposed to start at 4pm for chalets. However we asked at reception on arrival (around 1pm) and were able to check-in straight away.  That gave us time to drive around a few venues before heading off to the worm farm around 4pm.

Garry had not been fishing to Holland so we had a drive to the following locations: -

  • River Ijssel - Railway stretch. There was no-one fishing there. My first observation was that the river seemed about 1 metre deeper that it had been on my visit last year. I am sure I remember clambering down more rocks to get to the water level.
  • River Ijssel - Mad German stretch. There was one guy fishing. He was Dutch and lived about 30 minutes away. As we found with everyone we spoke to - he was very approachable and chatty about the fishing. He also explained how to find the Power Station stretch which I had not found on my previous visit. He had a few Bream earlier in the day but was now catching Roach. We saw him catch a couple and they were of a good size compared to what we normally catch back home.
  • River Ijssel - Cornfield stretch. A few locals were having a knock-up including Richard Woollard. I had not yet met him in person but had a few text messages and a nice long call with him. He had been very helpful. We found Richard and had another good chat. He was catching skimmers and Roach. We could also see others catching regularly too.
  • Big & Little Zalk. There was no-one fishing the lakes but we had a good look at a few pegs. I was hoping to see Bream gathering in the shallows ready for spawning but saw nothing. We then drove around the back of Little Zalk to see the river. 
  • River Ijssel - behind Little Zalk. There were 4 English anglers who had fished it for the past few days. They had caught a few good Bream and some big Ide. However they also reported that a trawler had been netting in the river and inside Little Zalk as it is connected to the river and they have a licence to net it. Thankfully that licence expires at the end of March each year. There was a very cold wind blowing directly into the anglers' faces.
  • River Ijssel - Cornfield stretch. The match was over and some of the anglers were sat having a chat so we went to see the results. The match was won by an Ijssel expert (Bennie) with 21kg, Richard being 2nd with 18kg. Well done guys.

As is often the case when chatting to fishermen, time was getting away from us so we need to pick up our worms. Fons had asked that we turn up after 4pm. (Fons Albert is located at https://w3w.co/absorption.undisputed.strain ). I got my worms from him last year and was very pleased with them.

On the way back from the worm farm we stopped at the supermarket in Wapenweld to stock up on some essentials. We hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now after 6pm so getting peckish. 

Went back to the accommodation to unload luggage and get the cars and gear ready for fishing tomorrow. We had planned to have a beer and eat the Pizzas we had bought. Uh-oh, there was no oven in our chalet. We had booked a 6-person chalet (Zonnedauw). A quick internet search showed a nearby restaurant billed as All-you-can-eat. This was in nearby Heerde and was called De Veluwse Berg (https://www.develuwseberg.nl/). All-you-can-eat can mean low-quality food or food left out too long. However we found the food and choice of cuisine excellent (Chinese, Sushi, Grill for steak, burgers etc, Pizza, Soups, Salads and Desserts). You pay a fixed price (43 euro each) and this also included drinks (soft, beer and wine). It is open until 10pm so I am sure we will be back as it will be great after a late fishing trip. We had a chat about our venue for tomorrow and decided on the Railway stretch. The cold wind is forecast to drop significantly tomorrow and the sun might warm us by the afternoon. 

Time to try and get some sleep now (never a problem for Garry) but I still wake early due to excitement that I still feel after fishing for most of my 62 years - hence me writing these blog notes at 5am :-)