Ourthe - Trout

Date: 27-29 September 2016
Country: Belgium
River: Ourthe
Nearest city/town: Nadrin
Fish: Trout
Technique: flyfishing
Gear: 6-weight rod, floating line, 9-foot 4x leader, 5x tippet, dry fly (caddisfly)

We have been taking our students on a teambuilding activity to the Ardennes for almost 10 years now, where they climb and hike next to the Ourthe river. This year I decided to take my fly rod and do some fishing while I was waiting for the next group of students.
I caught some small trout and a medium- sized chub fish (kopvoorn, chevaine). However, the biggest fishes I saw were barbel (barbeel). They were lying in groups in a quiet spot next to a rapid. I tried a nymph (because they were not surfacing) but couldn't catch one.
Definitely a place to come back to!

Freshwater bass - Muysbroeck

Date: 21 September 2016
Country: Belgium
River/Water: Muysbroeck (De Putte)
Nearest city/town: Ekeren
Fish: Bass, Pike, Carp
Technique: Spinfishing
Gear: Spin rod with braided line + 18-35/100 nylon + jighead with twister or small softbait or spinner

This was the first time we went fishing in this location, which is actually nearby. To our surprise the bass in the little pound vigorously attacked the lures we threw in the water. We only fished for 2 hours but we caught 4 bass. Good to know that we don't have to drive long distances to have a fun day fishing!
It's a bit of a shame that vegetation surrounding the pound is not maintained. It's difficult to find a good spot to cast because of all the trees and bushes. We are hoping to fly fish for carp here some day...! :-) 

Oosterschelde - Sea Bass

Date: 16 September 2016
Country: The Netherlands
River: Oosterschelde
Nearest city/town: Tholen
Fish: Sea bass
Technique: Spinfishing
Gear: Spin rod with braided line + 35/100 nylon + softbait (black minnow)

Today we went fishing for sea bass with Tom and his colleague Yannick. We started fishing around 10.30h in the morning. It was a cloudy day and the wind picked up in the afternoon. We started with three different colours of softbait but Yannick caught his first big sea bass on a shiny blue black minnow (size 3 - 25 gram). We all switched to blue lures and we all caught some fish.
Afterwards, Tom went to Bass Hengelsport to buy the remaining stock of black minnow softbaits... :-) 

La Lesse - River Trout

Date: 9 September 2016
Country: Belgium
River: Lesse
Nearest city/town: Tellin
Fish: Trout
Technique: flyfishing
Gear: 6-weight rod, floating line, 9-foot 4x leader, 5x tippet, dry fly (caddisfly)

My fishing buddy Ulf and I went to the south of Belgium to flyfish. First stop was near a place called Anseremme where the river called the Lesse meets the Meuse river. We found a nice spot near Pont-de-Lesse but unfortunately there were so many kayaks on the water that it was near impossible to fish.
So we continued driving South and left the highway when we crossed the Lesse again. We looked on the map how we could reach the river and ended up on a bridge near a place called Tellin. We were very lucky to discover this beautiful stretch of the river. I went upstream and Ulf went downstream. We managed to catch 5-6 river trout each (and lost a few). I even caught a crayfish in my net.
We released all fish back in the river and finished this beautiful day with a beer in the pub, exchanging stories with 2 french-speaking flyfishermen.