Fishing Holland August 2026

Trip Preparation This is now my 3rd and Garry's 2nd trip so the usual prep (deciding what to take, ordering bait, getting all location details together etc) is getting easier. This time we pre-ordered our maggots and casters from Zunnebeld tackle shop in Zwolle. We had heard that they now sell red maggots and so that's what we ordered. We ordered 7 litres between the 2 of us and 14 litres of casters. We also ordered 4 x 2 litre bags of worms from Fons Albers . Late-breaking news a few people questioned whether red maggots can be used in Holland. On my return I did a bit more digging and found out that it is not against the rules to sell red maggots or possess them BUT IS against the rules to use them. How bizarre! So please be warned, I wouldn't want you getting into trouble. As the departure date grew closer we were getting concerned about the potential impact of this years hot & dry summer on the fishing. The rivers Ijssel and Vechte were our main concern. I took it u...

Sat 22nd August Uh-oh! We arrived to find a couple of cars in the car park. That is not the reason for the Uh-oh as they were fishing but were lure fishing on the far bank and moving around frequently. The more significant problem was that the water had almost no flow and there wasn't anything flowing over the weir. Still,we persisted and drew to see who would be upstream and who would be downstream. I drew upstream so went as close to the weir as possible and Garry went a few pegs farther downstream. Very quiet start ... but might be improving Neither of us had a bite in the 1st hour. Garry rang me and, whilst on the phone, I had a bite - hit the fish and then my hooklink broke an inch or so from the hook. I was gutted as it must have been damaged. We continued chatting whilst I put on a new hook and Garry then caught a Bream. Just a couple of minutes later (whilst still on the call) I also caught a Bream. We finished the call as we both thought that the Bream had arrived. Alas Ne...

Sun 23rd August A small part of Garry's catch Draw and setup We had chosen a peg where we would both be in the water on our platforms and at left & right extremes of the peg area. We had pre-baited a single area the night before and had spread the bait enough for us to both fish that area without us being in each other's way. Garry drew the left-hand side of the peg and I the right-hand side. We introduced 10 more balls into the area whilst we got ourselves set-up. We would be fishing the feeder at around 45m. I had both a method feeder and window feeder setup whereas Garry stuck with the window feeder. Initial Impressions The Bream were not putting in an appearance early on. Garry was getting quite a few Roach (some quite sizeable) but my tip wasn't moving. It took quite a while before I had a Bream. The morning was very quiet - I only had 2 Bream in the 4lb bracket whereas Garry had just Roach - no Bream. At lunchtime I had a walk to see how Bertie was getting on in t...

Mon 24th August Anticipation We were expecting good things following on from the excellent weights caught by all anglers here just 2 days earlier (several in the 50 & 60 kilo region). The morning had quite a lot of low mist especially around the river. We could see whisps of mist obscuring the mid-portions of the wind turbine towers. Also, the bridge at Kampen was shrouded in mist so that only the tops of the towers were visible above the mist - I really should have taken some photos - mental note for the future! As we approached Ketelmeer there was a delta-like area as several rivers opened up into Ketelmeer. These were ostensibly very shallow with just a few deeper boat channels. They were so shallow that we could see wading birds stood up hundreds of metres from shore. Ketelmeer - where rivers converge Ketelmeer is a large expanse of open water where several large rivers converge. On the left you can see  a bridge where Ketelmeer opens out into Ijsselmeer, Ketelmeer is tiny ...

Tue 25th August Bertie's shot from the road across the lake Preparation Upon arrival we made up a bait mix. Today we would introduce the initial feed with bait-up feeders rather than the catapult. The wind was already gettiing up and we didn't want to be scattering it too far. We clipped up to 30m. I started with 20 feeder fulls laced with chopped worm, mashed corn, casters and pellets. The photo shows me sat on the white box/platform with Garry to my right. Time to start Finally I was ready to start. I cast in, tensioned the tip and got a bite immediately that resulted in a Bream. The signs were good and I just hoped it wouldn't be like the Vechte with an early Bream then nothing. Happily, a few minutes later I had my next Bream. This continued and I had 4 Bream in the net before Garry really got started. Garry's woes Garry was having one of those days where everything was going wrong. He pulled out of his first Bream near the net . The second got into a huge bed of su...

Wed 26th August Not the swim I wanted We decided to try another lake today that had been kind to me last year even though it had been dreadful when we tried in April this year. Upon arrival we cast out the Deeper. To our shock, the braid broke as the line hit the clip and the Deeper bobbed freely in the lake. Thankfully the line clip had arrested it's progress so it was about 30m out. There was a wind blowing right to left so I had to make a quick decision - strip off then get in the water and chase after it. One benefit of the recent hot spell is that the water was quite pleasant. Whilst swimming back I shouted to Garry that I could have pre-baited whilst I was out there. Cheaper than a bait boat Fish everywhere We re-tied the Deeper, took off the short line-clip and re-cast. It immediately located masses of fish in both swims. Hopes were raised for a good day. Fish galore We decided not to feed in the fear of putting the fish off so decided to start fishing and adapt as dictated ...

Thu 27th August Sunrise over Zalk Back to Zalk We fished the same peg as we had on Tuesday but swapped around, me on the right, Garry on the left. So I would have the submerged weedbed this time. Bertie joined us and fished the next peg. We hadn't pre-baited the night before and started with just bait-up feeders again. Slow start Initial indications weren't good as we were getting Roach bites, the odd small-ish Roach and no Bream. Perhaps the pre-baiting was essential. However, we persisted regular casting of heavily laced groundbait and just hoped the Bream would turn up. They did, eventually, but were of a much smaller stamp than they had been on Tuesday. Garry with a Bream in the net My 1st weed catch of the day Weather on the change again Initially the weather was very bright and sunny with light winds. As the morning went on the sun vanished and the cool stronger wind returned similar to Tuesday - from our left (easterly). In the afternoon the sun started to come through m...

Fri 28th August We had to fish the Ijssel One of the main things that led us to this area was the Ijssel so we had to wet a line in it before leaving. Our expectations were very low as we had not heard of any good catches other than night fishing. What do you know I cast out three casters on a size 14 hook to 50m (trying to find an almost non-existent flow). It had only been in for about a minute when it started rattling and resulted in a Roach of about 5oz. This was already more than I expected - especially coming so soon. Garry caught a couple of Bullheads/Loach early on. They're getting bigger I then had a very positive bite that resulted in an Ide of 2lb 4oz. Bertie turned up shortly afterward and was pleased/surprised that we were catching. Garry had caught a few small Roach and then had a nice one of 10oz. Garry then had a Perch over a pound before I had a pound Roach. I don't know if that Roach was being hunted because it nearly tore the rod from my hands as I hit the bi...