Trip Preparation
I have always wanted to revisit Holland for a fishing holiday after I went with my sons back in 2011. I was originally planning a trip with my angling buddy but he preferred a visit back to Ireland so we are going there in September.
That left me with an unsctratched itch. I therefore decided to go alone to Holland, specifically with the aim of finding some good coarse fishing that is relatively accessible. I feel like I missed out on the heydays of fishing in Denmark and Ireland and I want to find somewhere similar.
So, I have booked a 3-week exploratory trip (last 3 weeks in May). We often book trips through a specialist angling holiday company like Anglers World or Sportquest but decided to book this all independently. This blog describes my trip.
Accommodation
I have booked a small self-contained "hut" on AirBnB close to the towns of Zwolle and Dalfsen in eastern Holland. It has 2 beds, a small kitchen, WiFi and on-site parking so should be ok for a long stay even though it looks small.
Getting there
I have booked a P&O crossing from Hull to Rotterdam. The drive is approximately 1 hour 20 mins from home and then about 1hr 54 mins from Rotterdam. It is an overnight sailing so I should arrive at Rotterdam just after breakfast.
Why choose this location
Holland is obviously famous for its canals. They do offer excellent fishing. However, I wanted somewhere that offered a range of different venue types e.g. canals, lakes, sedate rivers and powerful rivers. Dalfsen and the nearby city of Zwolle are blessed with all of these. The sedate river being the Vechte and the powerful river being the Ijssel.
I have watched many good videos of fishing the Ijssel and it really does appeal to me. It is one of the few Dutch rivers to contain Barbel but also has a good head of sizeable Bream, Roach and Ide. There are also some famous lakes nearby that can offer magnificent Bream fishing if you find them but can also be frustrating I understand - feast or famine is how they are often described.
Research before I go
Licence
Almost all of the fishing in Holland is covered by their national licence called the VISpas and is purchased online. When purchasing it, you have to join a club at the same time. This is the same price irrespective of which club you choose (I believe). The reason for choosing a club is that some lakes are controlled by a club and not accessible from the VISpas alone. However, the VISpas does include almost all of the canal and river stretches. Mine cost me £44 and covers me for 12 months.
There is also an accompanying app for the VISpas called VISplanner. This shows a map of all the waters that are available on just the VISpas and those that require a club licence along with VISpas. It uses your phone's GPS to show the waters near you.
Note: when buying the VISpas, you get a temporary licence issued to you that is valid for one month. In that time you should receive a credit-card sized plastic licence through the post. In my case the VISpas with the Zwolle club membership arrived in just over 2 weeks. My extra membership of Hattem Helpt Elkander was purchased about 2 weeks from departure. Again I got an immediate 1-month temporary licence via email but I'm not sure if I'll get the postal version before I leave. I was relieved to see that the VISplanner also shows your licences and that includes both clubs so hopefully I can show that if the postal version doesn't arrive in time.
Hot off the press: my Hattem Helpt Elkander VISpas was delivered by the postie whilst loading my car on the day of departure. Let's hope that's a sign of the good luck to come.
Closed season
Having got everything booked, I then came across the dreaded words "closed season" and feared having booked at the worst time. On further investigation it appears that the closed season covers April and May BUT applies to Pike, Perch and certain baits (e.g. lures). Phew, that was close.
Alas, that was not the end of the closed season news - I then discovered that the closed season also applies to Barbel, Ide & Chub. However, the rule only means that you cannot retain them in a net and must release them asap.
The final concern came when I read that worms cannot be used in the closed season. The thought of Bream fishing without worms left me doubting my timing again. Read on to see how this concern was overcome...
Videos and Websites
Facebook groups
I also searched Facebook for groups that may be useful and came across "Fishing in Holland (NL)". This is a private group but I applied to join and was accepted. My timing couldn't have been better as a 5-day fishing festival was just beginning on the Ijssel near Zwolle (20 mins from my accommodation). One of the group's main contributors (Chris Watson) was posting a short video of his peg once he had set-up and before the match began. He also posted the section results at the end of each day. They had one of their best festivals yet with over 6.5 tonnes of fish being caught by the 55 anglers taking part. The best weight being over 96kg on one day - caught by Chris Watson that I have just mentioned - phenominal.
There was also another festival being fished on the Voorne canal in Rotterdam. I noticed that anglers in both festivals were fishing with worm and it was mid-April at this point. That got me thinking.
I therefore posted on the "Fishing in Holland (NL)" group and asked if anyone could clear my confusion over using worms in the closed season. Thankfully several kind people responded to say that you can use worms year-round and that I must have come across an old website because they were banned in the closed season some years ago but that ban is now lifted. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The icing on the cake is that someone replied to my post with a Google Maps view that had been customised to show fishing venues, access points, car parks and even the nearby worm farm - all close to where I am going. This is such a valuable resource because I know from experience that you can spend a lot of time finding venues when visiting new places. Hopefully it will save me lots of time. I later learned that the customised map was created by - you guessed it - Chris Watson. He really is a treasure trove of information.
I also made contact with Ade Kiddell. This was on the recommendation of a member of Boroughbridge Angling Club (my home club). He knew Ade from a past life. Ade now lives in Holland and has been more than willing to provide help.
Hot off the press: The worm farm mentioned on the map near Zalk no longer operates. Instead, I was given an alternate worm farm by both Chris Weston and Ade Kiddell. The worm farm is about 25 mins from my accommodation and is: -
Fons Albers
Bruinsweg 4
8121RW Olst
https://w3w.co/absorption.undisputed.strain
52.346095, 6.141839
Lastly I also learned from the group about the Zalk lakes. These are the ones that are famed for feast or famine Bream fishing. It turns out that they are controlled by the Hattem club (Helpt Elkander). Unfortunately I chose a Zwolle club when purchashing my VISpas so had to go onto the VISpas website to add Hattem Helpt Elkander to my VISpas costing another £25. Clearly I would not have needed to buy that if I had chosen it when buying my VISpas - live and learn.