THAMES VALLEY

FLY DRESSERS

BRANCH OF FLY DRESSERS GUILD

Phil Goes Dutch July 2023

Having discovered that I would be staying on the banks of the River Geul with my wife and some friends near Valkenberg in southern Holland, I secretly packed a little smuggler rod, Rimfly reel, five flies and Polaroids in my bag with minimal expectation of casting a fly as we were in Holland to attend an Andre Rieu concert in Mastrich that weekend! The River Geul, famed for wild trout, rises in hilly country on the border with Germany, flowing past our accommodation though a landscape similar to the Chilterns. 

Rising early on Saturday morning well before others, a short walk at 7am led me to a promising riffle and pool. With nothing but bird song and a feeding heron in the adjacent meadow I cast a Grey Wullf into the head of the pool with little success other than catching a high branch behind me! Four flies left! Changing to a March Brown nymph allowed me to explore the length of the pool more effectively but again with no luck except for a large fish shewing at the top of the pool. 

This convinced me that there must be fish to be caught and I changed tactics with my final available nymph; a red tailed cruncher. Success! A small wild brown trout lunged for my fly at the throat of the pool and was quickly brought to the bank. Clearly fish were in the oxygenated water below the riffle. Two more casts here resulted in a heavy tug  deep down and definitely a large fish! After 15 - 20 minutes I was able to beach a wonderful brown trout of 3lb or more for a quick photo and release back into the river! This was to be my last cast and I walked back to my outdoor breakfast at 8am with a great feeling of satisfaction whilst looking forward to Andre Rieu and plenty of beer later! Going Dutch had never felt better!