On our second day the weather was even hotter and sunnier than on day one.
We would have preferred lower temperatures and clouds, we just had to make the best of the current situation.
We would explore beat nr. 2 and beyond first and decide where to fish after that.
One thing we noticed about beat 2 was the presence of algae on the stones that we did not encounter upstream.




Untere Argen – beat 3 and 4.

Just like yesterday we could not spot any fish from the bridge or see something rise.
This day was really hot and we saw people swimming in the river.
The water downstream just did not look inviting to us so we decided to have a go at the stretch below the hotel.
All that driving consumed valuable time so it was pretty late when the decision to fish fell.
It would make sense to get something to eat first and then fish.



On the road.

We headed back to the town where our hotel was located and settled at the nearest pub for something to eat.
After our break it we stopped at the junction of the main river and the Ach feeder.
Hans would fish the Ach, I would fish upstream from the Ach in the main river and Tom would fish near the hotel.
I waded upstream in the bright sunshine and was wondering where the fish where hiding.



Afternoon on the Argen.

The riverbed was pretty uniform until I reached a deep pool.
First I saw a rising fish at the opposite bank.
I tried to get the fish with a klinkhamer but it would not fall for that pattern.
As I walked a bit further I noticed that the pool was loaded with trout.
It was time to tie on the streamer and probe the depths.
The fish where clearly interested and followed the streamer but instead of grabbing the fly they would just follow and track it.
Only after an hour I finally hooked a fish, it was a large fish.


Nice brown.

Although there were many trout in the pool none of them was to eager to take a fly.
I continued to fish and managed one more brown on a white streamer.


Brown trout.

The casting of heavy weighted flies had some risks as I would soon find out.
During one cast I suddenly heard a nasty sound, the rod broke at one of the joints.
Apparently two sections had separated, on the forward cast the force on the rod was too great and it broke.
I reported in on the radio and Tom was on his way with the car so I could grab my spare rod.
We all assembled at the bridge to discuss the plans for the evening.
Although fish where caught by my fellow anglers they wanted to spend the rest of the evening on the upper part of beat 1.
This was a change for me to finally explore the deep pool at the beginning of beat 1.



Beginning of beat 1, up- and downstream views.

When I came to the beginning of beat 1 I noticed the bridge that marked the start of the beat.
I saw the first rising fish in front of me over the shallow outflow of the pool.
On this evening I finally saw some consistent rises.
It appeared the fish where small so I fished with small dries and managed to catch a very small brown on the dry.
The daylight faded and at a certain moment I could not see the fly anymore.
Next step was to fish a gold-bead pheasant tail nymph in combination with an indictor.
This yielded another small brown and a larger fish for me.



Brown trout.

The fish where very cooperative and I missed quite a few strikes.
As time progressed the last daylight vanished, now I could not even see the indicator anymore.
Fish where still feeding so I tied on a streamer to be able to fish in the near dark.
On the first cast the streamer was taken by a trout, it was unbelievable how aggressive these trout would hit the fly.


Brown on the white streamer.

I hooked two other fish that evening, the moon up in the sky signalled that it was time to go.
I waded through the dark back to the bridge and met up with the other guys.
The change of venue had paid off.
The next day would be our final fishing day at the “Untere Argen”.