Trip Report – 16 May 98

Trip Report – 16 May

Jagst River (vic Krautheim)

Saw this one listed in a book on Fly Fishing locations in Germany. Left home early because I wanted to arrive at 0800 when I assumed the store should open. With a Power Bar and a travel mug full of German coffee, I hit the autobahn at 65 mph and maintained it the full hour and a half it took me to find Krautheim. No I didn't get lost, its an hour and half from my house. Padded the time for the "lost boy" routine so I arrived at 0730. A great sunny day, but windy with the temperature between 55-70 degrees.

I got to Krautheim by traveling east on A6 and then north on A81 just past Heilbron. Got off A81 at exit 6, made a right, and followed the signs. In town, I made a left at the yield sign and the store was on that sells permits is on the left about two building down (Sportfischeri Depot). The sign on the door said the store opened at 0730. Alright, but boy was I unprepared for what I walked into when I went in the door of the fishing shop.

There was a German man cutting a lady's hair in what appeared to be a beauty parlor! I thought I made a BIG MISTAKE, but I knew I saw fishing supplies in the window of the building. As I started to make the hasty exit, I caught sight of a back room with the good stuff. Got the courage up to say two words to the hair stylist "Tages Karte?" Hoping against hope I heard him respond "Ja, fur Huete?" or in english "yes, for today?". Cool.

So between two of his hair appointments the fishing store owner/hair dresser sold me a permit (16 EURO plus a 10 EURO deposit that allows you to get the 16 EURO permit for the rest of the year). The permit allows you to fish about 2 klicks of the Jagst. Also bought a couple of Brown Sedges (16s), a #16 Bivisible, and two of the cutest little Irresistibles I ever saw (#18). Didn't ask but they seems to want to get in the water.

Drove over to the closest point to the river, parked the car and headed out. Started the day on a grayish bead head nymph (my own creation and I saw some similar ones in the store) as I started up the river. The trees on the my side of the river made casting a challenge, but it opened up as I went over a ridge line on a big bend. There was even some faster water that look fishy. Got a couple of strikes on the nymph but couldn't hook anything. Kept that up for about an hour or so. I really wanted to get to the other bank so I crossed the little bridge and started down the river.

Switched to the "egg thing" (see Neckar River story), and hooked into a big something right after I saw a big brown do a cartwheel about 10 feet in front of me. Whatever I had on the line put up quite a struggle and looked BIG. As I reeled it, I knew it wasn't a trout. Yikes! A German Weissfisch! Not pretty, but definitely not a Carp. He was about 16 inches and seemed pretty motivated. Let him go and eased on down the river. I wanted trout darn it!

Waded in about 100 meters from a false read where I saw fish sucking little brown critters off the surface. Trout! I thought. I tied on the Irresistible and got to work. Boom! One cast one strike. Missed it...

Tried it again. On my third cast, I had "fish on" and it felt like a good one, for a second. Then it felt like another WF. About the same size and looks. Let him go the hard way. Don't ask me how, but he was in the net when shazam he was gone and so was my fly! Good thing I bought two.

Got four more WF fish on the Irresistible in almost the same spot. Hey, they're fish and the trout weren't playing. Kinda fun once I got over the fact that the trout were being difficult. Caught a few more on the way down the river, and decided to call it a day, almost. Made a few more attempts at the opposite bank of my first cast of the day using the bead head again.

You guessed it. Got a little brown! I even put him on the reel to make it feel good! I put the rod and reel away at the that point, because I wanted to end the day on a high note. It was 1430 and I was starting to get hungry and thirsty. Wife was due back from a business trip at 1800 and it was my turn to do house chores.

What did I learn?

1. There are other fish that like dry flies, and they can be fun to catch.

2. Do a good RECON before you fish. That way you can fish the good bank and not waste two or more hours looking for the little breaks in the brush line.

3. Hair dressing and fishing do mix (at least for some people).

4. I will fish here again.

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