Find the right area
Every year is different because of its bad weather, the lake we fish for barbel is not at all like the previous years.
The level of the lake is very low, but the rains and the water releases of the last few weeks have raised its level by about 50 centimeters. All the plants that have grown on the edges in the last few months are now in the water and make fly fishing impractical as some areas are covered with rapeseed sometimes two meters high.
The other team dropped us off in their car before heading back to their fishing areas, leaving us with only walking as a means of travel. However, I know an area that also usually works well and hopefully is not cluttered with plants. After a short hour's walk, we finally arrive, relieved to see that we will be able to fish.
Clever fish
As soon as I arrived on the spot, I spotted a few fish active on the edge. Equipped with a small streamer that sinks quickly, I attack half a dozen fish, but none seems interested.
A little disappointed, thinking that it is not yet the good season, I continue the border, changing fly after each fish correctly attacked refusing the fly. After a few hundred meters, we arrive in the bottom of a bay where the water is surely warmer, but especially more cloudy, because of the wind which rises little by little.
As soon as the first fish is spotted, at the first landing, I see the fish turn around and grab the fly, a little photo session and the fish leaves. As I get up to retrieve my rod, I spot a second fish. Again, the fish bites at the first landing, I am jubilant and begin to take confidence in my little fly.
Beautiful fights
After having gone around the bay, we arrived on a zone of several kilometers long, with the wind in front of us, where the sediments taken off by the waves had slightly disturbed the water and brought a quantity of fish that I had never seen before. For my greatest pleasure, the fishes follow one after the other until the sunset.
It was for me the first full day dedicated exclusively to fly fishing, moreover, with a strong headwind. It allowed me to progress a lot in this technique, to learn how to place the fly in the right place in relation to the fish.
Being able to witness the different reactions the fish have to my actions was very enlightening. Of course, the first thing I thought of when I left the water was: I want to do this more often! I can't wait to go back to practicing this technique, with better equipment and more experience to get the most out of it.
