looking west south, in the middle of lake (a point of soil is out of water) is where I was fishing last year, when water level was so low!

For 3rd year on, I decided to go to Laar lake at Damavand peak foot fishing for the rare brownies, yes these are really rare, at least in Iran, where this lake is the only lake holding them.

Line of cars waiting to enter the protected area and get permissions, Fog everywhere.

Well past 2 month have passed very hard in my country, so I really couldn’t go sooner, and it is about the end of the legal fishing season (for this species of course).   I thought I need to go there before I totally miss this year’s chances.

after environmental post, I am waiting for Sepehr to take the permissions.

My cousin and I got on road at 3 in the morning and went along Haraaz road.  When we were about to turn to the Laar road at Polur, 3 hitchhikers asked us to give them a ride to the lake, and we made friends along the way.

Before reaching dam, fog everywhere

They were enough enthusiastic for this species that they have been came all the way from Amol at northern province of Mazandaran.  From Imamzadeh Hashem peak The way was all in the fog, and it continued to be the same along the Laar road.  Near the environmental post, it was a long long line of cars waiting to get permissions and enter the area.  Believe me, some of those are so eager they almost race this last part which is not much paved and has no asphalt.  They all want to get to the lake to get the best place and also to not lose the morning, you will find out why this one is important later.

Delichai river

In that day, they started giving permissions at 5:30, so everybody lost at least 30 minutes of valuable time. I guess we lost even more, as line was long.  So we continued towards middle of the lake.  This year the lake contains much more water due lots of rains in the spring, and my last year’s fishing location was totally under water.  That is good news for Tehran of course, we have enough water this year.

camera looking south, My cousin Sepehr, we are walking toward the lake.

After parking at side of road and 20 minutes of walking, I decided on a location eastward which was under a hills shadow at least for an hour or two, we started at about 7:00, finally.

looking east, still foggy, but sun has rose and still ok for fishing

Some other people have been reached there before us, and their lines were casted already, but we had a 100 meter area to our own.  I used a 3 string trout rig (a last night’s work), used earth worms on two bottom ones and 1/4 of Kilka (some kind of Caspian Sardine) on the top hook set.  Casted about 50 meters and started to prepare the second rod.  The first fish was caught in a few seconds.

looking east, laar lake, still foggy, cool, best conditions for brown trout fishing.

It was not a big catch, but very encouraging.  Kilka bait worked there. and as it was still foggy and cool, I believe this was the perfect condition.  caught the first one, again caste the line and tried to prepare the second rod, again the first one caught some fish!  I was really feeling lucky

a 39 cm brown trout, with black and red dots, and almost green top

This one was 39 cm long, and kind of heavy for this species, maybe about 1 kg or so, I didn’t weight it as sun was raising and clouds were disappearing.  Then it seemed no luck, and I was also trying different combination of baits.  Nothing except Kilka seemed to work, and overall we got another big brown trout which was both big and fighting.  Unfortunately (for me, not for the fish )  after I removed hooks from her, she put 2 of hooks in my finger and jumped in the water, and danced all the way to the deep lake

My fishing rod still waiting more fish, but no fog and it is getting warm

We got nothing as clouds were gun, and nobody in our area caught anything.  We stayed untill 3:00 p.m. and at the same moment the small one found a way in my keep net to get out, right when we were about to get back.  As it was too small, we didn’t anything serious to stop him, and he went back to the lake as well.

Overall, this time it was much more fun than those times before, and also warmer.  weather is so clean and cool, so wind is cool, but sun burns your skin.

Damavand peak inside clouds.

And last but not least, as always, I bought a few big rainbows from a Haraz river fish farm, it is always nice to buy fresh from the source!

I am not sure if I can og again this year, but I will if I can.  only one week remains from the legal season.

Paymaan.

I tried to get some sleep the Sunday 8th June, as I didn’t get a good sleep for a few days before, thinking I needed to gather my strength and wake up very early and I was to drive about 90 Km to the Laar reservoir and Damavand peak.

I waked up at about 3:00 a.m. Monday 9th and get ready, I drive towards the gas station at about 4:00 filled the tank (for USD2, you won’t beleive it no?) and got to the road at total dark. an hour later I have been passed the Emamzadeh Hashem peak, were people stop to take a rest, buy things, do their prayers etc. etc. after riding such a hard ramp road. The sun was not yet up, as it was hidden behind the beauty of Damavand peak. about 15 km after Emamzadeh Hashem, you reach the Polour, were its mineral water is so pure and famous in Iran.

before you leave the Polour, you have to turn to the left and get out of Haraz road, there is a sign about Laar Dam and also an statue of a mountaineer so nobody can miss the entrance. You have to go about 20 km more in a very calm and pretty asphalt road. normally at fishing days, it is not so calm, but I was an hour late from other faster enthusiast, so I was almost alone in the road).

Imagine this, a great peak at your right Damavand stays still covering the sun at 5:40, at the left side you see a huge field of wild tulips, specially at these time of year. It is a great experience. And believe me, the temperature was so cold I was shaking, I didn’t want to forbid myself from feeling the pure oxygen in the air.

After reaching the Dam entrance, asphalt road ends and you enter a very very bad road to the right which goes towards the lake and peak (there are other ways to the peak as well). Preferably you need a 4×4 not because the road is not suitable for normal cars, but becuase there are a lot of stones in the road you don’t want them to hit below your car, and also that on a higher car you can go much faster, I had to keep the speed under 20 km/h but still the sound of ride was so annoying.

After 2km in the bad road, you reach to the environmental post which you have to obtain both fishing license and entry permission. I have a one year permission for fishing, but for this special kind of trout you have to obtain a one day permit as well (for about USD 3.60). I got it in Tehran the day before, so I only had to pay about USD 1.20 for the entry and entered the area. From this point on, you can see the lake at your left side, and the sun still was hiding behind Damavand. Here, the wild tulip fields are ended and many other plants are seen, mostly yellow flowers, but also Lavender and others which I don’t know their names.

You go down and down very slowly, until you reach the Delichai river. It is an small but very fresh river, the first of about 250 waters which enter the reservoir, and you can start fishing right here. Most people prefer to go were this river enters the lake, about 500 meters to the south of road, but some also prefer to continue to explore the 11Km northern border of the lake, many like me go about 3 km more from this point, but I wish I hadn’t. I could park the car here and go on foot to the beginning of the lake, because all my plans were changed as water level was unbelievably low even at this time of year.

I have been planned to go 3 more km from Delichai river, were there is a cut in the water, and then go about 170 meters on foot, sit at lake side and start fishing. Unfortunately, although I go were I was planned, water level was so low I had to go about 1 more km on foot walking in the now dry part of the lake to reach the water and all good places were occupied by then

At about 6:36, I was reached the water. I was pretty hungry by then, but preferred to set up my rod and reel and attached one of my mepps lures and spinners to try a few times and also wet my line in a shallow part.

Then I went to an stationary position which was still not that deep and set up my trout rigs. I tried that location for an hour or two, using my spinners and lures, and also tried my MisterTwister plastic lures both as jigs and also as trout rigs to no avail. nothing happened, even a professional spinner fisher man came by and used his proven Mepps #3 or #2 Aglia with red dots (faking the exact same species we are looking for in Laar Lake; Brown trout) and still he caught nothing at my location.

So I tried to change the location and went somewhere closer to those who could be able to catch some fish since early morning.

Other than not being able catch fish until 18:00 which I left the lake, I really enjoyed of being right in front of a gigantic, 360 degree, wide screen view of Damavand peak. It was a really great view. The weather went from very cool to a little warmer, to windy, and finally to windy and so cool I couldn’t stay.

I found some new friends there, and they had much better skills and baits and they caught fish up to 40 cm untill around 11:00, but fish stopped feeding until 15:00, nobody caught any in that period.

After talking to those friends, I found out that these Brown trouts are seem very smart, unlike rainbow trouts down in Haraz river which are mostly around a few monthes old, these Brownies (or as we call them red-dot trouts) are around 3, 4 years normally. They seem to know the tricks, and they don’t get attracted to fake lures and silicon and plastics!

The bait people were using was parts of Kilka (a kind of Caspian minnow or shad) plus night crawlers and earth worms. I got a few from friends and tried them, and although I caught nothing, fish were biting actually, and they ate all the worms so fast.

The other problem was fish were at very deep waters, after 8:00 there were almost no surface feeding. Most results were at deepest parts. spinners got good results, but you need a shorter and faster rod and a thinner line, say 0.20 mm was the thickest possible. otherwise you could not get the farthest distance needed for light spinners.

Back to the car, I picked a whole bunch of several species of herbs, which had pretty flowers, and then after I reached the wild tulip field, I also grabbed a big bunch of that as well. 2 hours of driving to the home, and the moment I entered the Tehran area the heat was so high breathing was hard.

I also got a lot of sun burns at ankles and face even having a hat.

Next time, I will not forget to bring my Kilka and earth worms, maybe I find it even more entertaining and funny. I may also park the car at entrance and walk all the way down, as it was so hard to take out all the dirt out of the car. A 4×4 car is a must.

Paymaan.

Hi everybody,

Monday 9th June 2008, the fishing season at Laar dam reservoir will start.  I see people are planning to be there for brown trouts (native to Iran and specially to Laar river), so although I have been at Caspian shore just a few days ago, I am planning to be there, probably to also participate in the season competition.

I am not sure if I can really be prepared in 3 days, but everything of my tools are in my car’s trunk and I am really eager to start the season wih everybody else.  I also had the opportunity to take some pictures during my past trip to the Caspian, including a few from the road, which is very beautiful in this time of the year.

I will try to put these on Google Earth as soon as I can, so everybody else enjoys.

Paymaan.