Street Fishing Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a hot mess! A beautiful mix of cultures, food, near endless canals, museums and…fishing. The city, of course, is well known for a couple other things, lol. If you haven’t ever traveled there, I highly recommend visiting. Some of the cheapest airfares from the United States and Canada are found flying into Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS). Buy on the price dips and you can find very affordable flights. I’ll do a blog on this process later. After landing, you take a train from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station. There is a lot of canals…165 of them to be exact! Then add in more than 1,200 bridges (MORE than Venice, Italy) and you have a lot of water to fish.

 Checking with local fishing regulations is important. In the Netherlands, you need a VISpas for the majority of waters. It only costs about $40 USD for the entire year.

My friend Christian Drost helped me out getting my VISpas sorted. He runs Esox Only and has caught some MONSTER PIKE in Dutch waters! Be sure to give him a follow.

Now I only had one day to fish in Amsterdam. Got some advice from Christian about Dutch fishing and hoped to catch my first zander. One thing I know for sure, doughy bread on a single hook is always a safe bet for any bottom feeders. With that being said, I was rigged up with a VMC Moon Eye jig (swimbait trailer) and a single VMC Wacky Hook (bread). Carrying one piece or even two piece rods while flying is a pain. This is where St. Croix’s 4-piece Triumph Travel Rods shine! They easily fit in a carry-on bag or back pack.

This is a common approach for fishing new waters for the first time when there are “carp” (ide, roach, bream, etc.) and smaller predators (perch, zander, bass, etc.). I was FREE SOLO on this day targeting fish I’ve never caught before in a foreign urban setting. Couldn’t feel more at home! I live for this type of challenge. Simple approach was casting along the walls and bridge intersections with either a slow retrieve or snap jigging the Moon Eye/Swimbait. Then I would soak a small bread ball for 5-10 minutes. Had no bites the first few spots. Then…

This was a very small one and they do get very BIG, well over 20 pounds. Also, caught my first European perch in that spot too. It was tiny, but those color patterns…

Made my way near Amsterdam Centraal Station and spotted some mullet along the way. They were feeding up on a very shallow rock lip. Worked them for a good hour and did end up with one. They are a touchy fish to catch!

Left that area and made my way to the Centraal Station. I did get stopped by a police officer who asked to see my license and passport. My papers were in order! Make sure you have your VISpas if you’re going to fish there. At this point, I switched to just soaking bread and wasn’t disappointed. Got into some Ide and Bream (had some Dutch help for identification of these fish).

Before the sunset, I hit up one last spot and landed a couple decent bream.

It was a very fun day and caught FIVE different fish for the FIRST TIME! For lodging, I stayed in the Ecomama Hotel. Great place, and make sure to get one of the Double Private Deluxe overlooking the canal! You could fish right out the window…

For the full You Tube video, you can see it here: