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A Column of Water

On the next day, September 2, 1996, after having breakfast in a relaxed mood, Mary Anne and I headed for the River Em in Sweden. The bright sunshine was pouring down on us like in Norway. It seemed to dry up everything on the earth.

When we reached the River Em, approximately ten anglers had already been fishing around Home Pool. The River Em has got a scarce bank, that means lack of back space, but very few of them tried Spey cast.

In Norway, almost all anglers in this year used Flat Beam, which made long casting easy and also avoided causing drag due to its good performance of putting the fly on water. I think that is why Flat Beam had spread there in a high speed. Even so, I was surprised to know that many anglers used Flat Beam in the River Em in Sweden, too.

Why is Flat Beam used here? Desire to cast the fly farther might not be a correct answer because the river is narrow in the River Em, unlike salmon rivers in Norway. I asked an angler. He said that he did not make Spey cast because he preferred to fish quietly. Now I understood that anglers here hated making noise in such a calm river even when they fished such wild sea trout that came upstream from the sea.

First of all, I wanted to fish Home Pool. But there were already too many anglers. Instead of just waiting, we walked down to see the river condition again. I hoped to know something more about the inside of the water under the sun.

Going through the forest and passing the smoke house, we got to the sea. Unexpectedly, a strong wind was blowing. Waves were lapping at the bank of Sea Pool one after another, which gave me an image of winter scene. Absence of other anglers added more reality to my image.

I watched Sea Pool for a while but I got no feeling that I could catch fish. Giving up Sea Pool, we started walking upstream along the bank. When we approached the Pier Pool about 50m upstream, I found a strange shadow on the river bed. I walked near to it carefully. An over-60cm-long sea trout stayed in the stream. It stayed so near to me that I could have patted its head with my 16ft. rod! I watched it for a while but it showed no sign of moving. I cast the fly as a trial but sure enough, it made no response. Probably fish are inactive in the daytime.

Lawson Pool was an attractive pool. The centre part looked very deep and narrow and it flowed fast. Both banks were covered with giant rocks that lied here and there at random. Only walking was difficult. If I try to fish here in early morning or after evening, I will have to be very careful. The next morning, just as I had feared, we saw an angler stumble over the rock and throw himself into the water from his head. I realized that I should fish a little apart from the waterside for safety.

Farther upstream black rocks spread like the lava belt around Mt. Fuji in Japan. I walked nearby and found that countless deep channels ran between big rocks. Water was transparent but the river bed was difficult to see through because of black rocks. To make the matter worse, fresh green weed covered the channels, which meant careless wading would make me slip and sink into water in a moment. Actually a few days later an angler sank into water, only leaving his hat on the surface.

Home Pool in front of the manor house always looked good. It was wide and deep. We could see a lot of giant rocks in the river bed around the head of the pool. Around there, large columns of water sometimes rose from the water. In Lawson Pool there were several rises but they formed only big ripples. On the contrary, in Home Pool there were not only ripples but also such big jumps that the whole figure of fish appeared on the surface. It's big! A nice sized fish! I saw nearly-1m-long fish several times. Fish's jumps looked very powerful because they jumped near and also in such quiet surroundings. They splashed water about as if to say "Go ahead and try if you dare to catch me."

Pike Pool farther upstream was also fascinating. It was quieter because the current flowed calmly into the pool. At the river side we could only hear bird singing. But within 5 minutes, big sound broke the stillness and a huge column of water rose. It must be at least 22lb fish that jumped.

The River Em is open to anglers for a month and a half twice a year in May and September. At most 15 anglers a day are admitted. If they are scattered into the whole area, the river will be almost completely empty. But actually, anglers crowd between the river mouth and Pike Pool, so each pool has got some anglers.

A Fishing Pocket under the Bridge

As I mentioned before, a lot of anglers had gathered around Home Pool in the morning. But when we came back, only two anglers remained. They were fishing at the head of the pool, facing each other across the stream. Fish jumped most often at the head of the pool. I wanted to fish nearby but neither of them seemed to give up fishing. Therefore, I turned my eyes to the space between big rocks that were dotted in the head of the pool. Several small-car-sized rocks appeared on the water surface and there was a deep channel between rocks. I could not guess how deep it was but surely it must be a good place for fish to hide in when water was low.

How should I fish this fishing pocket? I planned my strategy while I was looking around; I want to fish from the upper reaches of the pocket but there is no standing place since tall trees occupy both banks. Alternatively, I could cast my line from the lower reaches of the right bank. But there is the heart of the stream on this side, so the line would be pulled downstream as soon as it settles on the water. That means I cannot gain time before the fly sinks. What should I do to fish from the overlooking spot? I wonder if I get off the bridge and walk through the central river. That would sound ridiculous in medium water but now in such extreme low water wading looked easy.

After checking my route in the water several times, I climbed down the bridge girder into the river and started walking very carefully. Fortunately, wading was rather easy. Soon I could stand just up the head of the pool. The lightning was just right here and I could see clearly how the channel was nearby. My fishing pocket lied only 15m down the river. It had a small mouth of 3m by 4m among the rocks under water at the heart of the stream. Some weed grew from the river bed.

I cast Em Shrimp tied on size 4 hook in the same way as I cast the wet fly in the head of the small pool in mountain streams. That was a debut of Em Shrimp and I believed that it would make a good performance in such low water.

At the 5th casting the leader and the line tip were extended. I felt that they were drawn into the head of the small pool. Em Shrimp seemed to be placed perfectly on the sinking flow.

I lifted the rod quietly at the right moment. The fly line and then the leader appeared from water. The angle of the line taught me that the channel was rather deep. When the leader tip also appeared a little from water, I felt a little pull.

Without delay I lifted the rod quietly. No more leader tip appeared on the surface. I lifted the rod higher. The line was tightened. No sooner had I worried about snag at the bottom than something began to move at the leader tip.

Scrubbing

It is a fish! A rather big one. For a while I felt as if a log rolling at the river bed caught my hook. Then the fish went out of the fishing pocket and headed downstream. Usually, fish run downstream after being hooked. But now my fish moved very slowly on the river bed as if a cat whose sleep was disturbed looked for another sleeping place. It seemed that the fish did not mind the hook in its mouth. I lifted the rod and the reel rotated slowly on the rod. Sometimes I felt my line caught on something. I found that it touched weed and rocks. I lifted my rod higher so that my extended line came into the air as high as possible. Nevertheless, the line stopped going up, leaving me a nasty rough feeling.

I tried to pull the line quietly that had been tightened in the air. But nothing happened except for the rod bent. When I pulled the line strongly, knowing that the line might be cut, I was suddenly pulled back. That was the last response from the fish. Since then however hard I pulled the line or loosened it, there was no sign of hooking off. I came back to the bank slowly and pulled the line again from the different angle but in vain. There was nothing else to do but pull the line with my hand. After I dragged 30cm of it, I suddenly felt no more tug.

I wound the line only to find no fly on the line tip. The leader was damaged from its butt and the leader tip was split in white. If the fish slips through those rocks after being hooked, those things will be inevitable. ---So I had imagined. Alas, those things really came true.

-- To be continued --

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