Four Rivers / VierStromen
(Fly)Fishing the lowlands

Lures

 and how to fish them

I like to fish with lures, preferably flies but any other type if need be. I like it mostly because lures fish selective. What I mean by that is that lures tend to catch big fish. The reason is that lures, for the most part imitate small fish and big fish eat small fish, little fish don't.
The big exception to the little fish rule are flies. Flies can imitate almost anything. (The latest in this regard: a piece of algae imitated with some green marabou and foam to catch mullet.) But of course there is a species of fly, named streamer that imitates fry.

All kinds of lures

The question how to imitate a small fish has been answered in many ways leading to all kinds of lures, like:

(As with any list this one is not complete, but for now it is fine. You must know that lures are like music: every second person invents his own genre and claims it unique...)

Lure fishing techniques

Most lure fishing techniques have been developed to catch one specific kind of fish. But it is almost impossible to design a lure that only one species of fish will take, what can be done is design a lure that has an action that triggers a specific kind of fish and that dives to a depth where that kind of fish likes to swim. What we see on the walls of our friendly local tackle store are attempts to come up with a working mix of action and diving depth.

Every kind of lure must be fished in its own way to bring out its designed action. I don't really want to write a book about the subject so on this page a limit myself to those lures and techniques that work well on the rivers.
Basically there are three kinds of techniques used on the boat: casting, trolling and bottom-up techniques (dangling, maybe?)

casting

Casting is used to potter off those hard to reach spots. Even with the lightest lures up to 20 meter can be cast from the boat, which means that the boat can be in deep water while the lures work the shallows. This is a good thing, not because the boat will disturb the fish, because fish on the rivers is not easily disturbed, but because staying clear of the banks increases safety.

Fluo spinners work well in the current.
Spinner: willow blade #4, 8 grams.

The biggest advantage in casting from a boat is that the lure is fished from shallow to deep water, away from the bank. I presume that a predator mistakes our lure for that one careless little fish that strays to far from the safety of the bank. No surprise that this technique works best when the lure lands on or just before the bank and is fished fast. The first meter or so is the strike zone. Much further from the bank is the change of a strike much less. Having said that there are exceptions. The head of a crib is one. (Crib: little dam at a right angle to the bank that directs the flow of the river. Krib in Dutch.) Even the flanks of the cribs are good swims but in summer the heads are best. What happens is that when less water flows through the rivers the current lessens and at the same time the water heats up. Warm water contains less oxygen. In the current however air is beaten into the water raising oxygen levels slightly. For fish it now takes less energy to stay in the full current and they get more oxygen there. In other words they move into the current and so do all predators. So in summer the hot spots on the rivers is about 10 meter below the heads of the cribs. Especially perch congregate here and it is possible to catch 10 15 in a row. What makes this great fishing is that perch are like wolves they operate in a pack and when one has something all others want it too. The result is that a hooked fish brings all its mates with him to the surface. In clear water an amazing sight.
The downside of this technique is that it cannot use plastic or wooden lures because they will burst when thrown on the rocks, instead use (cheap) metal spinners and spoons. The risk of loosing a lure is always there but remember that a meter from the bank the depth is already over a meter so the risk is only in the first 10 to 20 cm. I would recommend using quick starting spinners because the spinning blade makes them stay high. A weighted spinner can be used to lure the perch from the bottom when fishing the head of a crib.

• Spinner D.I.Y.

Trolling

The trolling plug par excellence: the Super Shad Rap. It will catch those meter long pikes.

Trolling is the method of choice for big open water. A lot of water can be covered in little time to find the fish.
This method entails hauling lures behind the boat. There are only two variables in this method: speed and depth. And you guessed it, they are connected. Given a lure the speed determines how deep it will dive, for most lures, the faster the deeper. The skipper will use the speed of the boat to direct the lures to the depth the fishfinder shows the fish are. What makes it more difficult is that fish will not take a lure that is to fast. So there is a sort of workable speed range in which a lure will attract fish. This means that the choice of lure must be adapted to the fishing depth needed.

Luckily anglers are allowed two rods on a Dutch licence so with four anglers and a skipper 10 rods can be fished at the same time. BY choosing a variety of lures several depths can be fished at the same time.

Every kind of lure can be trolled. In my opinion taste and confidence play an important role in choosing a lure, as long as its working depth is right. Trolling allows for a lot of experimenting.
What is great fun but not always successful is trolling poppers. Poppers are lures that work in the surface. At times pike will oblige and take these. When they do it is heartstopping. I have seen anglers nailed to the deck, unable to move their eyes wide, jaws dropped in disbelieve when their lure suddenly disappeared in a big, big swirl: priceless.

Verticaling en diagonaling

Forgive me these neologisms and I do agree they are ugly but they decribe the methods very well.
These are bottom-up techniques, mostly used for zander. When verticaling a shad or twister is lowered to the bottom directly under the rod tip (in other words, vertical down). When diagonaling a shad or twister is cast some distance and allowed to sink to the bottom.
These are subtle techniques that rely on the movement of soft plastic lures. In all other lure fishing it is the angler that makes the lure move in a specific way by jerking on the line or varying retrieval speed. Not here. Here all the angler has to do is to move the lure gently through the strike zone. It is the current that makes the lure move. Less is more when using this technique.

A floating plug and a pike. Is it just me or does the pike look surprised?

Only soft plastic shads and twisters are used for this technique. These are made to react to the tiniest movement in the water. What the angler needs to do is move the lure up a short distance and allow it to dive down again. The key is control: at all times the line must be kept taut. You must always be able to feel the lure. Takes are often delicate affairs were you must detect the absence of expected weight or movement instead of feeling a possitive pull.
While verticaling the lure is moved by sharply moving the rod tip up and slowly let it go down in a wrist action. What happens is that the lure dances of the bottom in a darting fashion like a small fish. Because it is impossible to keep a boat in one place the gentle drift of the boat ensures that every time the lure is lifted it moves a little bit along the bottom. The strike inducing movement of the lure comes from the water pushing against it, like a flag in the wind.

When diagonaling the current is used to 'kite' the lure down, as it were. When the lure reaches the bottom the rod is brought down to a horizontal position and the line is reeled in until taut. The next step is to bring the rod up to vertical in one swoop. What happens is that the water pressure on the line will force the lure up. The rod is kept vertical until the lure hits the bottom again. This can be felt by a light thud. The rod is brought down to horizontal and line is reeled in to start the cycle again.
What happens is that the water pressure on the line will keep the lure up for longer than when it was free falling increasing the time the lure is fishing. Diagonaling is used to cover a larger area than would be possible when verticaling.

What always helps me to control my urge to move the rod too much is imagining zander as an old fat ginger cat. Of course it wants to play but a toy out a paws reach requires way to much effort and a swift moving toy only scares it. So remember: move slow and deliberate, keep the line taut and let the current work its magic.