Fly fishing for native brown trout in Belgium

After I decided I wanted to see where brown trout come from and catch one in their native range I ran into a stone wall of information blockage on the internet.  There really is very little information about where to fish, the rules in each country and the rules regarding private and public land.  I first looked in Germany for places to fish.  A number of sources say there is no public water in Germany.  Each fishing spot requires a separate permit from a land owner and , of course, none were available online.  Plus, there apparently is no catch and release.  I have no idea how accurate any of this info is but that was what pushed me to a new area.  There was no way I was going to bring back trout to a hotel room or whatever I would have to do with the fish I caught.   France was a little too far away but Belgium was pretty close to Amsterdam, where I was traveling to first for a conference.    If you search for fly fishing in belgium you pretty much get one site.  http://www.flyfishingbelgium.com/  Sebastien is the guide I worked with and he is an excellent fisherman.  He also specializes in river restoration and after seeing the size of the fish in the streams he guides I bet he is really good at that.  I fished the upper Bocq and La Molignée river.  The water was a little off color due to some rain so it was hard to tell how many fish were in the river.  If I had to guess I would say there were fewer trout than I am used to in both Minnesota and Colorado but they are much bigger on average.  The average fish was a husky 15 inches and there were very few smaller that I caught.  I managed to hook, fight and break off the biggest trout I have ever seen on this trip. 

 I got into position about 15 feet behind a rising trout.  The cast was awkward, like they all were on the upper Bocq.  I was fishing a emerger pattern on 5x that Sebastien ties.  It is very sparse and all black.  I managed a few casts, two of which were right over where the fish was rising, with no response.  Sebastien calls out, form the other side of the stream, I think he is eating caddis, do you have a dark caddis to tie on?  I did and I switched flies.  While I was tying on I got a better look at the fish during a rise.  It wasn't a whole body flip but just a sip of the surface film.  I saw what looked like an alligator head poke out of the water only an inch.  The head was as big as my fly box which made me wonder what this fish was interested in my #18 Elk hair caddis for.  Later I would regret not changing to a heavier tippet.  I laid out a cast right over the beast and again, just a sip.  I set the hook and it felt like I snagged a log.  Nothing.  barley a wiggle.  He settled down to the middle of the pool like a log.  Then, with a flick of the tail he was alive and all over.  He headed towards the bank Sebastien was standing on and I yelled NET, NET!!!! Sebastien said it was too early but he didn't realize how big the fish was.  Then he came up and flashed us broad side; he looked like the size of a king salmon.  Thick and at least 30 inches long.  He took line like a tarpon and headed up stream.  I got some back and it was going well.  Then, he headed for the overhanging roots of a big tree, Sebastien shouts Watch the roots!, a slight twinge of my line hand, unconsciously.  Snap.  I checked back and never saw a rise in that spot again.  I tried everything later and the next day in that spot.  Nothing.  Just another fish story to you but I know what happened and even though I didn't land him, it was awesome.  

There was an intermittent hatch of giant yellow may flies.  I just missed the  madness that hatch is supposed to bring.  

I'm not going to tell you its easy to find a place to fish in europe but it can be done.  My advise?  Get a guide, get a gps (I didn't have one), make reservations way ahead of time and book through Sebastien.  He was great and knows how to fish the area. I would have been skunked without him.   You will have to rent a car wherever you go and the freeways are very well marked and easy to get around on, the roads in town however are not really marked and you will get lost.  Other places I looked into but were too far away for me were Slovenia and the Black Forrest in Germany.  If you are going on a strictly fishing trip go to Slovenia.  If you are just on European vacation and want to fish for a few days book through Sebastien. Its great to get out of the cites and see the country side in Europe.  The south of Belgium is beautiful and there are hundreds of small towns to explore, great biking and lots of great restaurants to check out.  It really reminds me a lot of the bluff country in South eastern Minnesota except with Roman ruins, castles and better beer.   

Fish tended to rise in what Sebastien called special places.  See that tree on the left and that huge ball of roots? A fish was rising right in front of it.  As you can see below, I got him.  I used a down stream presentation with one of those monster yellow may fly patterns and he took it just after it sunk beneath the surface.  

Average size native brown on the upper  Bocq

There were 3 fish rising in this run.  My favorite part of the whole trip was working my way up and catching all three each larger than the last.  

The Bocq as it passes through the town of Spontin

Dinant just south of where I was staying in Ahnee.  

Native Trout

A native brook trout stream in Minnesota.  This tiny spring creek was likely only spared brown trout infestation because of its size.  Somehow, fish have hung on here for hundreds of years.  

I have spent a lot of my time fishing for brown trout.  I started fly fishing in Minnesota where most streams or creeks that would historically have brook trout are now brown trout fisheries.  Only once in 6 years did I ever catch a brook trout in a stream where brown trout were abundant.  There are remnant populations of native brook trout and also newly resorted streams with stocked but wild brook trout but most of the trout or cold water habitat in Minnesota and the rest of the drift less region has been overrun with brown trout.  Mostly due to the water quality and slightly warmer than historical temperatures brook trout are no longer suited to survive in the drift less area streams and creeks.  At least, that's what the DNR and TU says.  My feeling is there is a lot of habitat that is good enough for brook trout but brown trout are a more desirable sport fish.  Since brook trout and brown trout both spawn in the fall there is a greater likelihood of interspecies competition for spawning beds.  A similar situation exists out west where the introduction of rainbow trout to cutthroat habitat has lead to a reduction in cutthroat numbers.  Each of these unnaturally cohabitating species can interbreed creating tiger trout in the case of a brook trout/brown trout cross and a cutbow in the case of a rainbow/cutthroat cross.   However, the tiger trout is sterile and the cutbow is fertile which makes introduction of rainbow trout to cutthroat habitat more damaging due to  genetic pollution of the native cutthroat population.  

A Native Minnesota brook trout

Heavily camouflaged brook trout.  Even the orange belly is hidden behind black pigment.  

All over the country in all types of water there are non-native species decimating native fish populations and it's all our fault.  We move fish from waterway to water way for many reasons.  Sometimes it is a handful of ignorant people who do the damage, like whomever put lake trout in Lake Yellowstone, and sometimes its the government  who imported brown trout from europe in the 1800's which lead to the decimation of countless brook trout populations nation wide.   My problem is that no one even knows what their local stream was like before we messed it up.  I live in Fort Collins, Colorado now and mostly fish the Cache de la Poudre river.  At one point, there were nothing but green back cutthroat trout in the Poudre as well as all other eastern slope streams like the Big Thompson, the South Platte and even the Arkansas.  Green back now occupy less than one percent of their native range.   Their once immaculate habitat invaded by rainbow and brown trout, damed and diverted into vestige of what it once was.   I often wonder what it must have been like before the front range grew to the point that mother nature needed some rearrangement to accommodate all the inhabitants.  I also realize I am part of the problem.  I moved here from Minnesota for many of the same reasons people from all over the country find the front range so appealing.  Ironically, it's the outdoor recreation opportunities that make Colorado so great.  For all the damage rainbow and brown trout have done to native fish I still enjoy catching them.  I felt like I needed a little more appreciation for brown trout.  Even though I scorn them for not even being native to this continent I feel like they have a place here now.  They entertain millions of anglers and are likely better suited to some of our warming and changing river ecosystems.  I decided I needed to see brown trout in their native habitat to better appreciate the species that has given me so much enjoyment and caused so much harm to our environment.   I recently got back from fishing the Bocq river in the south of Belgium where I was surprised to find the habitat was eerily similar to where brown trout thrive in Minnesota.  

Haven't we learned our lesson? Government agencies and tribal representatives want to "restore" the Elwha river with hatchery fish

Its a sad day when conservation organizations have to file suit against government agencies such as Olympic National Park, NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure the right thing is done for endangered and native species.  We expect these government entities to do the right thing based on the most sound science but too often that is not the case.  Are they not the agencies that fund the science that is analyzed to make decisions on ecosystem restoration?

I love to fish but making fishing better though stocking non-native species in an ecosystem that can clearly support the native species should be out of the question in my mind.  The crux of the issue is that most people don't know the difference between wild steelhead and hatchery steelhead and they don't care which one inhabits the stream they fish.  They just want the tug of a silver bullet on the end of their line.  What I can't understand is how the government agencies tasked with managing the ecosystems don't understand the difference either.  Hatchery and native steelhead and salmon are in some ways like the difference between maize and domestic corn.  A hatchery steelhead will grow big, strong and provide quite a meal or fight but if challenged with a climactic anomaly they no longer have the genes selected over millennia to survive and reproduce.  Much like domestic corn would fair without the careful eye and hand of a farmer.  Moreover, hatchery steelhead have never naturally reproduced and scientific evidence has shown that not only do they fail miserably when they try in the wild but they actually hurt the reproductive capacity of native steelhead by occupying prime spawning habitat (Kostow, K.E. and Steven R. Phelps. 2001).

The genes that have been selected for in both native maize, steelhead and salmon allow them to thrive and reproduce in the wild.  Hatchery fish and corn may be good for the economy but have no place and will not thrive or survive in our wild places.  No one is advocating for the mass decimation for corn throughout our National Parks; that would be ridiculous right?  But, that is exactly what the Park Service, NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe are advocating for hatchery steelhead.  One would think that the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the federal agencies tasked with this restoration would understand the difference between restoration of a sporting industry sustained by stocking and a native and natural reproduction of salmon and steelhead.  I bet they wouldn't restore a forest with trees they would have to replace every few years.  

Our environment is not an amusement park for humans nor are our National Parks.  If the native steelhead come back to the Elwha river in high enough numbers that we can fish safely for them again (and they will if allowed to) we should feel blessed for the experience.  If you are in favor of increasing stocking programs to catch a bunch of hatchery steelhead take your money and time to Ohio and the great lakes where there is no native steelhead or salmon run to ruin or South America where there are no native salmonids to begin with.   But remember, there is always an ecological price to pay when a non-native species is introduced and often it is not clear until it is too late. 

Here is the press release from the Wild Fish Conservancy:

For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 9, 2012

WILD FISH CONSERVANCY

PO Box 402 Duvall, WA 98019 • Tel 425-788-1167 • Fax 425-788-9634 •

info@wildfishconservancy.org

Contact: Kurt Beardslee, Wild Fish Conservancy, 206-310-9301

Brian Knutsen, Smith and Lowney, PLLC, 503-287-4194

Citing warnings from agency and independent scientists, four conservation groups filed suit today against several federal agencies and officials of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (in their official capacities) for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and ignoring the best available science and threatening the recovery of killer whales, Chinook salmon, and native steelhead by funding and operating fish hatchery programs in the Elwha River. The groups agree with federal and state scientists and a recent review by the Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) that restoration of the lower Elwha River and recolonization of the pristine upper Elwha River above Elwha and Glines Canyon dams should prioritize recovery of wild fish. The proposed reliance on large-scale hatchery releases undermines ecosystem recovery and violates the ESA. Wild Fish Conservancy, The Conservation Angler, the Federation of Fly Fishers Steelhead Committee, and the Wild Steelhead Coalition have brought the suit against the Olympic National Park, NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and representatives of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

The federal government is spending nearly $325 million for the dam removal project, opening nearly ninety miles of pristine riverine habitat in Olympic National Park, much of which is designated a wilderness area. Rather than allowing wild salmonids to naturally colonize this pristine habitat, the agencies and the Tribe are going ahead with a plan that will release approximately four million juvenile hatchery salmonids annually throughout the recovery, including the continued release of non-native steelhead during a five-year fishing moratorium. The hatchery releases will be supported by a new fish hatchery on the Elwha River built with $16.4 million of Stimulus Act funds. State and federal agency scientists pointed out that the current plan gives no measureable goals for wild fish recovery, provides no timetable for ceasing the hatchery production, and that ultimately, wild fish recovery is going to be hampered by the hatchery fish. A review released this week by the independent Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG), which was organized and funded by Congress, has echoed these concerns.

“While the Tribe played an essential role in removing the dams,” said Kurt Beardslee, Executive Director of Wild Fish Conservancy, “their intent to now plant millions of hatchery fish in disregard of the scientific evidence undermines salmon recovery in the Northwest and the goals of the ESA. However you look at it, it’s a horrible precedent if left to stand.”

Will Atlas, chair of the FFF Steelhead Committee, stated “The science does not support planting of hatchery fish into this productive, pristine habitat.”

“This action is necessary,” said Rich Simms, president of the Wild Steelhead Coalition, “so that wild, not hatchery, steelhead will be restored to the Elwha and the Olympic Wilderness."

“Their plan is vague and uncertain about how and when these hatchery interventions will end,” said Pete Soverel, president of The Conservation Angler. “The Elwha deserves far better but will end up compromised like most of our other rivers if this plan is implemented.”

The groups believe that spending $325 million to open a wilderness watershed but then stocking it with hatchery fish is poor public policy and will likely provoke taxpayer skepticism toward salmon recovery and future efforts at dam removal. The groups support the right of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to harvest salmon and steelhead, but argue that intensive hatchery production throughout the recovery will reduce the capacity of wild salmon and steelhead to recolonize the newly available habitat, harming ESA listed Puget Sound steelhead, Chinook salmon, and southern resident killer whales that depend on Chinook salmon for their survival.

The groups are represented by Smith and Lowney, PLLC, of Seattle.

The down stream presentation

The down stream drift is becoming one of my favorite tactics.  Often in slow clear water the slap of the line is enough to spook every fish in the pool.  A long (really long like 16 foot) leader can over come this too but if your line spooks fish closer to you that you are not targeting and then run up to the fish you are targeting its game over anyway.  Plus, who can turn over a 16' leader?  Not me. 

A down stream drift can be made far enough up stream that the fish can't see you AND you don't have to cast at all so more water is opened up that was unfishable due to trees or what not.  It works with dries and nymphs.  All you have to to is strip off enough line at your feet (you should be crouched low so the fish don't see you), not get it tangled in the brush, get some line on the water and flick your wrist up to put more line on the water.  Watch carefully and put out just enough line to maintain a drag free drift so when you get a strike the line it free enough from slack that you can set the hook.  It will be hard, but wait a half second longer than normal if you get a strike on a dry fly with a down stream presentation.  I have pulled enough flies out of trouts mouths to remember this rule and I still do it about half the time.  Also, if you don't supply enough slack with a down stream presentation with a dry fly it will go under immediately.  It can be very frustrating.  It is, however, not the end of the world.  Just give another 3 feet or so of line then pinch it off and swing the fly though the current.  Retrieve slowly but know that you may only get one shot at a drift because dragging your fly and line back though the hole can really put fish down for a bit.  Using a down stream drift at a lake inlet is also a great way not to spook fish in still water.  This technique will also make you fight fish up current which makes them feel a lot bigger than they are.  Great for brooks and small stream Cuts!

"Shouldn't you be crouched down?" He never listens to me.....

The Poudre in my backyard

I'm sitting here in my new office in Fort Collins at Colorado State University looking out the window at a perfectly sunny winter day.   I have been here about a week and after more than a little hassle I am mostly moved in.  I took about 2 hours yesterday to explore the new stream which is nearly in my backyard.  The Cache La Poudre flows right though the city of Fort Collins and about 1000 feet form my from door.  The Pourdre for short (pronounced 'pooder', yeah and they know it rhymes with other funny words and they don't care) runs east down the slopes of the rocky mountains in its headwaters and though the foothills near the Fort.  I drove up the canyon a ways and was stunned a the scenery less than 30 minutes from town.  While out fishing yesterday I ran into a few other people out and I was amazed at how nice everyone was.  It was a beautiful day and sometimes, I guess, that is what really matters.  I bet they were in the same mood I was in.  I wouldn't have mattered if people were shoulder to shoulder or if not a single fish saw my fly.  The warm sun and the sounds of the stream were all I was out looking for. 

The Poudre in the city of Fort Collins

I walked a ways out and saw a number of pools that were decent.  Most would have been better in the summer when the fish are in more energetically taxing stream locations.  I tried a few slower pools, mostly with a down steam presentation and had no bites.  In one deeper section by an old foot bridge I spooked what was at least a 20 inch brown trout.  He turned and headed back to the deeper, slower water that was mostly frozen over.  I walked a little farther but came back with wooly bugger tied on for a run at him.  I fed line down towards where I thought he would be but got no take.  After a few attempts at a down stream drift in a very slow and clear pool I gave up.  One drift would have been enough; I guarantee I spooked him after I retrieved the first drift.   

I headed back to the car and tried one last pool with that big ol' bugger still tied on.  I just wanted to cast a bit to shake the rust off.  Casting a cone head bugger and a strike indicator with an 8' 3 wt can be an adventure but I did okay and got a few good drifts.  I even caught a 6 inch rainbow for the effort.  I think it was Colorado giving me a welcome trout. I appreciated it more than you know.  So there you go, 1000 feet from my door there are trout.  So far, I love this state.

Specialty fly lines: How to pick a fly line

In the last year fly fish line manufactures have gotten completely out of control  There is now a specialty line for nearly every situation and species.  Some of the more ridiculously specialized lines are a shooting  head specifically for great lakes tributaries, a hover lake line for fishing just below the surface, a even a specific line for Carp.  You can get wind cutter or streamer and warm water line.  It never ends.  You can even buy a line made to replicate old fashion silk lines.  The casting technology of the 1800's is BACK!  YES! 

While we are at it I have a few suggestions for the line manufactures

Double-tip 3000.  Sinking and floating line in one!  Just switch form left to right handed retrieve that the line floats!

Water slapin-hopper line.  Extra wide and flat tip section that splashes down like a cannonball.  Finally you can splash down your line like you mean it and get the attention of those BIG fish!

Race for the cure pink line ( I seriously think it is in development)  Real men cast whatever color line they want. 

Season 3 fly line.  Why wait three years for that sinking tip and guide abrasive feel? This line feels three years old right out of the box!

Muskie line  This line has a kevlar welded tip with 10,000 pound break point for chuckin some serious hair and feathers!  No more busted loops.  The line is 200' long for those super long casts and comes with a beer bottle opener that replaces your fighting butt (I already have one!). Best of all, it only comes in BLAZE ORANGE!

Okay, I'm getting carried away.  I used to think rods and reels were getting out of hand for cost but actually, I think I spend (and in the future will spend) more on line than anything else. Here is my best breakdown of line choices

There are essentially two types of tapers double taper and the more popular weight forward.  Each manufacturer has a specific length of each section and taper between those sections depending on what the line is used for or the wt of the line. 

Weight forward lines have a sections that start thin, get thicker (~30') then get thin again.  Once the thicker (and heavier) section gets out of your guides and in the air it helps you cast farther. Also, the second thin part (running line) shoots faster through your guides than a thicker line would (less friction). 

Double taper lines start thin, taper to thicker for almost the length of the line then taper the same way at the other end.  So, they are reversible and, therefore, last twice as long.  They are good for delicate close range presentations and excellent for mending. 


Trout:  1-5wt rods.  One reel one spool. 
I don't over line these size rods and I use weight forward (WF) for my 5wt and double taper (DT) for 3 and down. I don't have a 4 wt but I would go for WF line there.  My logic:  You don't cast 3wts and smaller very far or fish them in the wind.  They excel where DT line excels.  Easy lay downs and delicate presentations.  I fish weighted flies and cast farther with my 5 wt so I like a WF line.  If you have to mend a lot on the river you fish go with a DT.  The thinker belly section mends a lot easier.   "Trout" series lines just mean the taper has been designed to lay down easy.  What they don't say is just get a double taper because it will last twice as long!   WF lines are for casting farther.  DT lines are for soft presentations and better close range casting.  Just pick one of those two styles. 

6-9 wts  One reel two spools

I would get two spools with any bigger reel you have.  These would fish streamers and larger flies well.   A floating line and a sinking line would be good for different situations.  I have a super fast action 7 wt and I over lined it with an 8 wt line so I can feel the loading of the rod a little easier.  Sort of like training wheels.  GPX line is just a half size up from the size on the box.  Most streamer lines, wind cutter lines and bass lines are probably a half size or more up too.  You can just get a normal line one size bigger instead of a fancy named line for every species and condition. 

One real difference between line in this category is whether they are for warm or cold water.  Cold water lines will stay supple and cast well in the cold.  They will also turn into jelly in the tropical heat.  Warm water lines will stay the right consistency in the heat but be like casting cement in the cold (by cold I mean below freezing).  I don't have a specialized warm/cold line and I haven't noticed that my line sucks in any condition.  Unless you only fish in a certain climate I would stick with a line designed in the middle of the two extremes. 

Bigger?  I have no idea but I would guess casting a muskie or tuna fly on a 10 or 11 weight would benefit from a line size up.  Maybe not. 

Casting aficionados also posit that each rod has a "perfect line"  and they will try out 10-20 lines of the same weight for their rod to find their "match."  I'm not that good of a caster to notice.  I have cast everything form $20 fly line to $99 sharkskin.  My favorites are Scientific anglers mastery series or the Rio gold line.  I don't like textured lines.  They shoot like a rocket but I hate the noise they make going through the guides and they pick up dirt like crazy.  Plus, why exactly are they a hundred bucks?  I thought $70 was out of control. 

Uncompahgre National Forest

The next stop on our epic trip was backpacking in the Uncompahgre National Forest in the San Juan Mountains near Telluride CO.  We drove out Highway 70 though the Eisenhower tunnel at over 11,000 feet and drove past more famous trout streams than you can shake a stick at.  The Eagle, the Roaring fork, the Thunder etc.  No time to fish them all on this trip.  Our plan was to stay out two nights and try to summit a nearby fourteener on the second day. The hike in wasn't long but it gained almost 2 thousand feet in 4 miles.  We set up camp and I got my first chance to fish the lake we were camping at.  The wild flowers were out in full force.  The native columbines were huge and everywhere. 

My dog smells trout

I am by no means an expert lake fisherman but I learned a lot on this trip.  First piece of advise is find the fish.  Not every inch of shoreline on a lake has fish and you can waste a lot of time fishing poor water.  It would be like fishing rapids on a stream.  Maybe fish pass through but not enough to waste your time on.  The obvious places are inlets and outlets.  I happened to find a string of inlets from a creek that held 40 to 50 feeding fish each.  They may have also been tying to spawn in some moving water but it was too deep for me to see exactly what was going on.  The second lake in the chain of three had a number of fish spawning at the outlet (I didn't fish there).  The fish in the lower lake turned out to be some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. They were Colorado river cutthroat in full spawning colors.  Fish of the genus Oncorhynchus (cutthroat, red band, golden trout etc.) spawn after ice out in the spring but at 10,000+ feet "spring" comes in June or this years case, July. 

Male Colorado river cutthroat in full spawning colors

As far as fly patterns go, terrestrials are the way to go. Ants, beetles and grass hoppers out fished any other pattern when there was no hatch.  If there is something specific coming off go that direction if not tie on a beetle and a small dropper. I had tons of fish inspect my parachute Adams and then pass by but the ant got nailed almost every time. 

Female Colorado river cutthroat trout

The water is super clear

This place is absolutely beautiful and is an easy hike in as far as backpacking trips go.  It is typically a day hike for most visitors.  Since the fish are decent sized and the lake gets some pretty good traffic I don't want to name names but the lakes are named appropriately and if you dig enough I gave you enough info to find them.