The trout were sure a bit more active in the biting department during this time period which was a nice boost to the fisherman ego. It was a turnaround from what it was two months ago when it was just cast after cast after cast and just getting a few bites and 2 lands. Due to the cold weather spells in England and in general for all of Europe (mostly), the fishing targeting had to be aimed at other locations in order to get more willing biters. That’s the great thing about fishing due to the constraints fishermen are given – if the fish are not biting then different tactics should be utilized in order to get fish to respond. It almost reminded me of the time that I went piranha fishing in Peru – had to use a different rod, line, and method of fishing to hook those fish up. Once I was able to get the fishing motion down, I started catching those red-belly piranhas over and over again with no problems. Just needed to get over the learning curve hump.

Compared to the previous day’s fishing success (and over the past year), I had the thirst for some massive big trout since I’ve caught quite a bit of them in the 1-3 pound category mostly. I’ve caught a few big ‘uns here and there in the past with double-digit fish such as the Lingcod in California, Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado (and probably Pargo) in Mexico but gosh, I need to break some weight scales somewhere for the trout. And I wanted to do in somewhere in Europe if possible. Well, I got my wish as the fishing gods listened to my pleas but I better be damn ready for it because the gods weren’t going to give me a second chance, period.

Another day, another chance for a big fish.

So instead of going to the usual places that I know there are fish (but likely to be smaller), a new destination was required. By going to this unknown area, there’s always that fascination and new expectations, kind of like getting a brand new toy that’s never been seen or played with. At first, it was the “ahhs” and “oohs” and then they quickly turn into, “What the hell is going on? I cast that perfectly!” I admit that I was going through the same emotions and after about 15-20 casts, I got a big hookup! It was a rainbow trout and it was a brute. Compared to the smaller trout that I’ve caught taking me at most a minute or two, this was a monster, a double-digit trout, requiring several minutes of going back and forth – I would see the fish up-close and then it would take off. I see it up-close and it was gone again.

After getting tired out, I was finally able to land the fat slobber of a rainbow trout which after weighing it, showed its true colors of being a 12 pounder (almost 5.5 kg)! This was my first 10+ pound trout in a long time so it was quite unreal to get such a big fish. I think the last time was either the Steelhead or the Brown Trout, both caught via fly fishing in New York. The closest trout to that weight range had to be a brown trout around 6 pounds that I caught a few months earlier in England.

Finally! A trout in excess of 10 pounds! It took awhile so it felt great to finally land one after several years of not getting one. Just look at how big that fish is in my hands compared to the smaller ones that I’ve had in recent past!

You can easily see that it’s a big fish just by looking at its gut. It has a beer belly for crying out loud! Or more like eating too much fast food and not enough swimming around.

The fishing gods listened to me! Unfortunately, that was the only time that the gods listened. But that’s okay. Beggars cannot be choosers and they listened to me once so I cannot waste the good opportunity or relishing such a biggun’ fish!

After having a great first start by fishing New Year’s Day for rainbow trout and then later fishing out in the Baltic Sea via Rostock, Germany, I’ve come for more fishing in England! Despite the limited success in Germany fishing for sea-run brown trout, it was time to go after something more freshwater since I think the ocean fishing can be hit or miss during the winter time. I really think that the season for trout was going to be a good one considering that in England, some of the bodies of water have a closed season on some of the fish species out there.

There’s me casting off the bank into a large pond filled with fish and more water. I was hoping that a big fish would take my fly/hook.

So when the fishing seasons are usually back open in February, a lot of the fish have probably not been eating that much during the winter when there is a lack of bugs and the fingerling fish becoming smarter in escaping all those the predator fish from being fed on. In addition to those factors, some bodies of water also begin to stock more fish which further decreases the dwindling food supply for all the fish and increase the overall competition. Combine that with a closed fishing season where people are not taking fish out (to decrease the demand) and the fish have not seen a fly or hooked bait in awhile, the fishing becomes easier than just a catching a few rainbow trout like I did on New Year’s Day will make almost anyone feel like being a fishing god. Well, maybe. Being there at the right time, right place is always important because having the perfect cast but no fish around doesn’t really help at all.

Fly-fishing on the bank… and hoping for a bite.

In this case, I was able to get bites and overall landed 7 rainbow trout. Not bad as the weather was a bit cold and slightly windy, but nothing super cold and extremely wet. What started off not so promising, I ended up with a far better day in the end.

It took several hours and a broken fly rod but I finally landed one! A decent 1-2 pound rainbow trout as my first fish landed for the day.

My first rainbow trout of the day and I could finally put my name on the scoreboard.

I think this was my sixth fish out of seven for the day! Not bad for an afternoon after going 0 for 1 in the morning.