Yesterday I was out on a trip to the Möhne river in the Sauerland region of Germany. It was very hot on that day with temperatures topping 86F. The river was carrying little water when we stared down the bridge at the beginning of our stretch. It was hot, even the cows wanted to cool down. We waded the river on the first section between the villages of Vollinghausen and Niederbergheim. There was no action from rising fish so we had to look for deeper pools in order to have success. Most of this first part was relatively flat. The sparse fish that I encountered saw me first though and that was enough for them to swim to safety. The first major pool near a bridge contained fish. While fishing a bead-head pheasant tail nymph upstream I hooked my first fish. Before I could see what it was it spit the hook. A few casts later I felt had another take. After a short fight I landed a little rainbow trout. It was rare to catch small trout in the river but I managed to do so, it was good that I had hooked my first fish. I was sure others would follow. We had to collect our fishing licenses from the local fly-fishing store so we left early for the car park. We wanted to fish at the start of the stretch under the first bridge since there were always fish down there. Unfortunately the sewage treatment plant at the river was dumping some kind of wastewater in the river. Floating brown stuff was all over the river. We did not want to find out what it was since it did not smell like roses so we headed straight to the car. At the store we collected our licenses and bought some tying materials to stock up our supplies. A chat with the salesclerk brought us up to date with the best locations and patterns that yielded the best results in these difficult fishing conditions. There was talk of a substantial rise in the evening so we would have to stay late to witness that event. After visiting the fly fishing store we went for lunch at the Niederbergheimer hof. There we sat down in the beer garden and watched over the river in search of rising fish. A fellow German fly fisherman was sitting on the terrace casting a dry fly to a couple of trout that where laying close the terrace wall. After sipping away on some cool Warsteiner beers and the usual Schnitzel menu we started fishing the river at the beer garden. While the German fisherman was taking a break I took the liberty of launching a nymph at the spot he was fishing. I had an instant hit. The contact with the fish lasted only a short while though; it got away. After a while I saw rings on the surface where I just had lost the fish. The evening before I had tied several foam ants so I wanted to try the flies right away. When the ant-pattern landed on the water there was a sudden explosion. A trout had instantly taken the fly. After displaying some acrobatics I landed a nice rainbow trout. Meanwhile fishing buddy Robert hooked a brown trout at the junction of the watermill outflow and the bypass of the watermill. After I had caught my fish at the beer garden I walked through the meadow evading the landmines that the local cows had deposited. At the end of the fence I saw fish rising at a steady rate. Four times I was into a fish and four times the fish got away. Fishing with barbless hooks sure took some practice. In the afternoon we decided to visit to so called senior citizen stretch of the river. The name was given to that stretch because it was so accessible and easy to fish there. No trees or obstacles to hook while back casting and deep water with lots of fish in it. My honey hole at the start of the watermill bypass was lifeless. That place was best to fish when it was early morning. With the beating sun the fish had vacated that spot and where hiding somewhere else. Further upstream fish where rising sporadic. Robert managed to catch a few rainbows on this stretch. I was standing on that sun drenched senior citizens stretch and was slowly evaporating in my waders. It was time to leave the rising rainbows for what they were and head into the cool forest. I planted myself in a deep pool under a bridge to cool off. Behind my position a trout was rising at a steady rate. Tried to catch it but it refused to take the fly. Close to the bank I spotted a school of chub bathing in the sun. If the trout did not want to cooperative maybe the chub would. They liked the foam ant very much and in a short while I had caught six of them. The chubs were all small. One bigger specimen was swimming close by but I guess he had spotted me first. I could not get the big one. After I had taken so many fish out of the school of chub’s action was over. The school dispersed so I moved further upstream to see what was going on there. The deep pools and steady flows of spring were no more. A small trickle was flowing downstream exposing many of the stones that were covered with water just a couple of months before. Large parts upstream of the river where shallow. I did not want to waste too much time down there. It was time to see what Robert was doing. On the way back I encountered a few more rising rainbows but could not convince any fish to take the fly. How later in the season how smarter the fish became, they had seen it all. I did not see Robert at the riverbank so I wondered what he was up to. I finally found him at the car where he was rigging a new rod. His Elkhorn brand rod had snapped during fishing so he was not very excited to say the least. I had some bad experiences with that brand, as did others of the club. This was yet another confirmation that the brand sucked. Late in the afternoon we headed back to the Niederbergheimer hof to fish that part of the river once more. It was pretty grueling in the heat so we soon had to take another break in the beer garden. In the afternoon the number of rises was declining. We remained fishless for the times being. At 21.00 hrs we where staring at the water to see if the clerk at the fly fishing shop had told the truth about masses of rising fish. Well, nothing happened. But… 15 minutes later suddenly all hell started on the river. Rising fish everywhere while the light was fading. It had been very quiet before but now rising fish where everywhere. Even more frustrating was the fact that we could not hook any fish. Robert was fishing with a dry fly while I was fishing an un-weighted nymph and both of us where not able to catch just one fish. We tried for half an hour but luck was not on our side. Once most light was faded the rise suddenly stopped. Another lesson was learned after we left the river humbled. There was plenty of stuff to think about for the next visit when we would try out our latest fly patterns and fishing theories. I had expected some more and larger trout but with two trout, six chubs and one dace I had no reason to complain. Robert had caught four trout in total so he could not complain either, except for his broken rod off course.