The renewal of the N18 in the Achterhoek region had not yet penetrated my navigation equipment. So getting to the indicated address in mid-September took a bit longer than planned. But by 10 o'clock Bart de Vries was able to open the entrance gate for us and we were sitting down to coffee with Cora and Maykel van Beek. Fishing buddy Geert Goorman followed fifteen minutes later.
We had had light rain on the way, but it otherwise promised to be a dry day with temperatures up to around 20 degrees. "The lake will be further enlarged in the coming years," Bart told us, "and will eventually become 54 hectares. The house and farm buildings where we drank coffee will disappear. The sand here will be dug away to make way for even more water. Closer to the road, a new restaurant with a terrace will open, which will also be accessible to walkers and fitters.
IMPRESSIVE FISH STOCK
The lake is 23 metres deep at its deepest point and has existed since the years
'70. The fish stock is more than impressive. Besides a nice stock of carp, there are catfish and sturgeon swimming with lengths well over 2 metres. The catfish have been on this water from time immemorial and also appear to reproduce here; small catfish have already been found. There are 35 beluga sturgeon living on the water with lengths exceeding 1.5 metres....
Of more interest to the fly fisherman are the large pike, zander and perch that find a richly laid table of roach, bream and loach on this water. The largest bream in the Netherlands was once caught here, weighing 9.2 kilograms. Last summer, a record catfish was caught here - this record stood for only 1 day, but made it to the TV programme Hart van Nederland. Fishing on the water is only allowed according to the catch-and-release principle.
White anglers get impressive catch weights with the feeder rod here. For carp anglers, juggernauts of over 25 kilograms are swimming here - so for them, too, there is a personal record to be improved. And what about the large lake trout, Danube salmon and other trout species that will be released here in 2020!
OPENING APRIL 2020!
With its fish stock, Fishing Adventure targets Dutch and Belgian anglers as well as the German market. Bart has been working on obtaining permits, changing the zoning plan, setting up the water and releasing fish for at least eight years now! The official mills often turn very slowly and then often in a direction you would rather not see. But in April 2020, Fishing Adventure will open after all! It will be a sport fishing complex for every fishing method, where everyone can enjoy catching magnificent fish. The fact that the fish are sometimes longer than the lucky catcher is a nice bonus.
For carp and catfish anglers, Fishing Adventure produces its own line of boilies under the name FA Baits.
The grounds are fully fenced and you can safely park your car in the designated spaces. Only walking pace is allowed on the site and in the car park. Six more floating jetties of 84 m2 will appear along the south bank. Accessible only by boat. A 24 m2 fishing hut will be placed on the jetties. Nice for carp anglers who can cast their lines from the rafts, but not suitable for sleepwalkers!
REGISTER
Upon arrival, each angler must register at the Fishing Adventure fishing café. In the months of January to April, and in May if there is enough space, it is possible to fish for pike, perch, zander, lake trout and beluga sturgeon with a belly boat. During the rest of the year, a belly boat is also allowed, but only on your own spot - if you have reserved it. And possibly on free parts of the lake, always by prior agreement. When registering, you must register on the Fishing Adventure group app. This app is only used for announcements by Fishing Adventure, such as a boating ban due to bad weather conditions.
The app is not intended to communicate among themselves about catches and the like. It is compulsory to wear a life jacket in the bellyboat at all times. Each angler remains responsible for his or her own safety at all times.
After two cups of coffee each and taking note of all the information, we finally got around to fishing. We chose our light nymphing rods first, combined with floating lines and leaders of about five metres.
On the thin leader tip and a side line came two weighted nymphs (goldhead nymphs, flake lobster imitations and/or leadheads). A bite indicator was to display the bites. The roaches remained out of reach for us, on the swims we fished. But it did produce some nice bass. Several times a school of perch moved along the bank where we were standing, and then we could temporarily arrest a few specimens.
EXPERIMENT
In the afternoon, I took my bellyboat out on the water for an hour or two to do some experimenting with fast-sinking fly lines, combined with streamers for perch and zander. A heavier #9 streamer rod plus streamer line with a fast-sinking tip and a hefty pike streamer also went with me into the bellyboat. Using the #7 tackle, I cast some distance from the bank and also fished some deeper sections, but no fish came up. I think I did have a few bites, probably from zander or coarse perch, but the fish were not baiting eagerly enough to hook them.
I saw some big fish turning in the water surface, but could not recognise which species it was. Fishing a promising angle with the pike streamer did not yield any response either. Using a fish finder/depth sounder is definitely a plus here to be able to look for deeper channels. But this one was still, as the Germans say zu Hause.
All in all, we had too little time this first day to be able to try out all kinds of spots and fishing methods. A bigger fish would have been a stroke of luck. This more than interesting water can expect another visit in the near future to explore it further. At least on the Fishing Adventure website and on YouTube, you can find several films of big fish caught on this water using other fishing methods.
At Fishing Adventure, very large fish swim around with lengths well over 2 metres and weighing over 120 kilograms. These fish should logically be approached with caution. Fishing Adventure BV and the owner of Rutbekerveld cannot be held responsible for accidents caused by these large fish!
ADRES Fishing Adventure BV Rutbekerveldweg 275 - 7548 PP Enschede info@fishingadventure.nl - www.fishingadventure.nl
Source: The Dutch Fly Fisherman
