Vantastic Lukas: The road trip continues

Because of the bad weather forecast, Bruno and I decided to head south in the second week of our “road trip”…

Stuck

A little unsure, I drove up the destroyed forest path, which was in even worse condition due to the rain from the previous day. With Bruno's help, I maneuvered my overloaded van out of the forest onto the paved dirt road. The new route went to a slightly smaller lake that was unknown to me, only about an hour away. The poor signage at the lake led us into a narrow dead end from which we could only get out by slowly reversing. When I wanted to use a small meadow area to turn around, I once again skilfully drove my van. There was no going back and forth as I cursed my front-wheel drive as I had so often in the past. Luckily I wasn't alone this time and we were able to recover my car with the help of my tow rope and Bruno's car. In a bad mood, I had already ticked off the lake in my mind when my sat nav navigated me along the road to the main part of the lake and it stretched out in front of us in a completely different picture. The fire in me was ignited again and we immediately looked for a slip point to get as close to the water as possible. The cloudy, shallow area of ​​shallow water that we first approached became one of the clearest and most turquoise waters I have ever seen in the large body of the lake. We definitely wanted to try this lake and quickly loaded our boats. While loading, my euphoria was again dampened by the message from two passers-by: cars are regularly broken into at the lake and we should be careful about our vans.

The jungle site

With a queasy feeling, we went out onto the lake, looking into the clear water. A visibility depth of easily three meters gave us a perfect view of the sandy, partly rocky shores of the lake. We were able to see some fish while crossing over, but we still headed towards the murky shallow water area. The conditions there seemed ideal due to the many overhanging trees and the shallow, even warmer water. After extensive location, we decided on probably the most uncomfortable spot the lake had to offer, but it scored points with the opportunity to fish two interesting small bays in which we could see most of the carp in the overhanging trees during our location. It wasn't until 9 in the evening that the rods were ready and just an hour later Bruno and I got a bite, almost at the same time as a sudden wind started pushing through the water hose. Both fish landed in the landing net at completely different spots and, after being unhooked, also landed directly back in the water, as both fish were smaller specimens. We constantly caught carp in our jungle area, very few of which exceeded the ten kilo mark. One of Bruno's spots went so well that the rod was usually less than 15 minutes before the next fish got on. After two nights we asked ourselves whether we should fish our way through this “kindergarten” or try another open water spot, so we unanimously decided to change locations. The loss of comfort and the permanent shade at this point contributed to our decision. We crossed almost the entire lake to the dam wall when we quickly decided to change the water again because we agreed that we had fished the best area of ​​the water.

As erratically as this spring, I also changed the destinations during our tour, so after stowing our tackle we got into the cars...

The trip continues

A few days ago we had our sights set on a lake as the final destination for our three-week trip together, which I have fished several times and where I felt more and more comfortable. On the way to the “Holzsee” there were a few small, inconspicuous rivers that were signposted with night fishing zones and invited you to a quick night. Since it was Pentecost weekend at that time and the weather was also excellent, many other anglers came to the waters and after a long search we found no unfished spots or direct access routes to the river banks. In the late afternoon I threw out the planned stopover for a “short night” at the river and we drove straight to Holzsee. Fortunately, I was in contact with Michael, who was at the lake at the time and informed me of the current job situation. So we drove another 1.5 hours until we toasted our reunion with a cold beer at Michael's in the evening. In our presence he simply cranked a big mirror out of the wood!! Bonne merde my friend!!

Last stop at Holzsee

Hot from the action with Michael, Bruno and I set about setting up and laying out the rods at a nearby location. Until it got dark, I presented three montages along the edge of a tree, which, as in most cases on this lake, I placed in “hook and hold style”. Three pipits in the morning startled me from my lounger. With my rod bent in the worst way, I ran back a few meters to pull the angry fish away from the wood. Then I had to get into the boat to safely land the fish on the bank. The strong wind made the boat drill even more difficult, but by backing up against the waves I managed to keep the boat on course. When the fish lay exhausted on the surface, I wanted to let it drift into the landing net with the waves - a short moment later the running motor caught the net, causing the rod to break. Unable to maneuver with the bent rod in one hand, I tried to free the net from the motor with the other. Drifting dangerously close to the underwater forest, I managed to tear the net out of the propeller just before the beginning of the trees and steer away from the obstacles at full speed. Luckily, Bruno noticed the unfavorable situation and came towards me at full speed with his landing net. The fish was already more than ready to be netted on the surface and was netted by Bruno as he drove past. What an action!! Completely excited, we drove slowly against the wind to our shore and photographed the Schuppi. Two more bad bites followed on the first morning. Since we were able to catch fish at irregular intervals over the next few days, we decided to stay at the lake completely for Bruno's last week. The fishing activities were distributed fairly, so we saw no reason to leave the spot again. The last few weeks have been less relaxing and I was a bit tired from the frequent sea changes within a very short period of time. Always with the ulterior motive of pleasing my visitor, I quickly found myself neglecting myself and so I was more than ready for a fishing break and excitedly looking forward to the coming time when I would be out on my own again.

During the last few weeks in which I had constant visitors, I noticed again how my views and behavior change as a result of traveling alone. Even though I don't have a typical "working day", I have gotten used to a certain daily routine that allows me to go through the day feeling satisfied and balanced. If this is disturbed, my inner balance becomes more and more out of rhythm and I become increasingly moody and unbalanced, which may be noticeable to those around me. Many people have lost the time to deal with their own “self” in their hectic everyday life. Due to the flood of information from various media, it is becoming increasingly easier to distract yourself; you are constantly bombarded by unnatural stimuli. As a result, you unnoticedly distance yourself further and further from your own personality. An aspect that I have become more and more aware of while traveling, which is why I consume media more and more consciously and have been avoiding all kinds of news for a long time.

Early departure

In addition to an extremely compact scale that was just as high as it was long, we were able to catch a Spiegler that had bitten Michael, Bruno and me three times in different places within 6 days, what an eating machine!!

When on the penultimate day the wind was so strong again at the lake that it made our fishing almost impossible because the tension on the lines became so high that the swingers stuck under the blanks, the rods were permanently bent and we got the bites through the hook and hold We could hardly tell the difference between fishing and a strong gust of wind. After losing a few fish, we decided out of common sense to leave the lake the next day - one day before Bruno's planned departure. Neither of us were angry about it. We spent the stormy last day in a cozy atmosphere with Michael, isolated behind our cars at the grill. For me it was finally time to go to the Atlantic region the next day. This goal had been clear for a while, but kept getting pushed back due to spontaneous visits. A previously completely unknown part of the country lay before me and awakened my thirst for adventure again. But first I needed a short fishing break...