Fly Fishing Fabisch, the Weekly Picture Archive 3 - 2015
Weekly pictures Archive 2015 three
Weekly pictures archive 2015 part three
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Weekly picture archive at Fabisch Fly Fishing 2015 part three. Here again collected pictures from the areas fly fishing, fly tying and nature. The pictures were taken in Europe as well as North America including Canada.
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Different Flies
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Big Stonefly
Weekly picture KW 26 2015
It can be fun to spend a week in our neighboring country Austria, even without a flyrod. We did so along the Salzach river in the area of Taxenbach. Hiking and gold panning are fun, too. If you turn from Rauris into one of the smaller valleys, you can walk as long as your legs will carry you along gin-clear mountain streams. For our first hike uphill we felt 4 kms to be enough, considering that our camera equipment alone weighed 8 kgs.
On our way back it happened: we stumbled upon this giant archaic stonefly. Hiking back to our car we saw about a dozen more on the trail. Giants among flies, that's what they are. We are fortunate to be able to still witness these archaic insects. Rather unfortunately, about half the stoneflies on the trail got squashed the next day by vehicles transporting supplies uphill to the alpine hut.
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The Thompson River
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The Thompson River
Weekly picture KW 28 2015
Near Kamloops, the North Thompson River and the South Thompson River join to form the Thompson River. From the confluence near Kamloops to where it runs into the Fraser River, the Thompson is about 170 kms long. On its journey, it runs through one of the world's smallest deserts, where its deep blue waters show the most striking contrast to the arid environment.
The Thompson is a top steelhead river with a rather late steelhead run. From mid October on, dries work really well on steelhead. With an average flow of 750 m3/s (26.500 cubic feet/s) it is not exactly small for a salmonid environment, and should be waded with extreme caution only! The prize to win for fly fishers is extremely hard-fighting steelhead.
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Near Spences Bridge
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The Color Purple
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the color violet
Weekly picture KW 29 2015
Sometimes you're driving along and all of a sudden you realize that something's different, not the way you'd expect it to be. It could be just about anything: a building, a combination of natural elements, a situation. It happened to me last week while I was driving along the river Fichtelnaab in Northeastern Bavaria.
All of a sudden it was there, the color purple, so dominant I stopped in my tracks and turned back to see it again. An entire field full of flowers of that very color. Google and a friend's cross check took me to Phacelia. Originating in the New World, it gives us many a pretty colorful spot in our Old World's nature. Besides that, it's a pretty useful plant, check for yourself on Wikipedia!
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Some Diversity in Otherwise Green Uniformity
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A Little Bit of Canada
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pretty similar to Canada
Weekly picture KW 30 2015
In Germany, we have a few rivers that can match those in Canada as far as beauty is concerned. Some of them even have fish that can match the size of those you find overseas. This comparison has to include huchen (hucho hucho) - the world's largest permanent freshwater salmonid - which may reach about 55 lbs in our waters. You might compare that to winter steelhead runs, just about the right time for huchen, too.
Rivers to fish for huchen are Lech, Tiroler Ache, Berchtesgadener Ache, Königssee Ache, Ammer, Isar, and Loisach. For almost any of these rivers day permits may be obtained, at least for certain stretches. Other parts can only be fished accompanied by a member of the local club, or the number of guest permits may be exhausted very early in the season. The picture below was taken on one of these rivers.
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Top Alpine River
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Buildings in Alpine Style
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Alpine houses
It isn't exactly easy to find old and well preserved buildings in alpine style. Sometimes they are surrounded by newer buildings, sometimes they had to make way for modern buildings. So much more you will enjoy some of the few surviving ones once you find them. The photograph gives an example of an entire street front of old but well kept historical buildings.
In Austria, in areas like Seidlwinkl and Raurisertal, you may still find some of these historical treasures of architecture. One can hardly imagine how many generations have been born, have lived, and have finally left this world in one of these houses, some of them several centuries old. Let uns enjoy these monuments while we still can.
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Old Alpine Houses
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Giant Trains
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Very long train
Weekly picture KW 32 2015
On several occasions I have already informed you about the Thompson River. This is at least partly due to the fact that the Thompson incorporates so many superlatives. These superlatives are not limited to positive ones, though. The first time you face one of these seemingly endless trains may be pretty impressive but after a while you will tend to consider them annoying.
The trains following the Thompson River on both of its shorelines may be over a kilometer in length. Up to 4 locomotives will pull 180 or more cars, and the noise that comes with that is absolutely nervewrecking, especially when these monsters are moving on either side at the same time. Only thinking about the Thompson's steelhead will motivate you to endure that noise.
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A Monster Train
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The Countdown is on ..
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With the Nymph
Weekly picture KW 33 2015
Sure, OK, there's almost six weeks left, but next month we'll be leaving on our next trip to Canada. Flights and RVs are booked, and we're busy getting everything ready. Even though we've made the trip many times, there is always lots of pre-start excitement. This year our team will consist of four anglers in two RVs, and there are bound to be several deviations from the standard tour of past years.
Some of the new places will be new for me, too. Well, 23 days should leave some room for experimenting. Unfortunately there is already one piece of unfavorable news: I had hoped to start on the Coquihalla near Hope, but this year it will be closed to all fishing. Since last year, the steelhead run has been blocked by a rockslide, so we'll just have to wait until the situation improves. I'll let you have more info with the following weekly pictures.
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Steelhead Caught on a Nymph
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The Coquihalla
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Coquihalla River Steelhead
Weekly picture KW 34 2015
For over ten years, we have been spending our first night in BC in Hope. That is where the Coquihalla joins the Fraser River. It seems to be the ideal place for travelers from Europe to adapt to the jet lag and to start getting used to fly casting again. The Coquihalla is clear and not too complicated to fish with a flyrod
Unfortunately a rockslide has been blocking the steelhead run since last year. I have contacted the authorities only to find out that the situation is still unchanged. Last year the local natives have carried about 100 steelhead upstream by hand to allow them access to the spawning grounds. We can only hope it will work out and will be repeated this year.
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Coquihalla Steelhead
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Nymphs for Steelhead
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Steelhead Nymphs 2015
Weekly picture KW 35 2015
Time keeps passing and my flyboxes hold a growing stock of nymphs for steelhead. Of course I have enough leftover nymphs and dries from past years, but it's just so exciting to tie new ones, and then there's curiosity, and great expectations! It's almost like the night before Christmas many years ago.
This year I have a little anniversary of my own: it's my fortieth trip to BC. This year is going to be the first year we'll be fishing for arctic grayling north of Prince George. It is great to be able to find something new every time, even after so many trips to BC. On the other hand, it is also fun to move on familiar ground, more or less.
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Steelhead Nymphs
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Swiss Grasshopper
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Colorful Grasshopper
Weekly picture KW 37 2015
Every once in a while something unexpected pops up in front of you. It might be an unusual situation, unknown animals, meteorological phenomena or what have you. In many cases your camera isn't ready and you might miss your shot, and the moment will be lost. It has happened to me so many times that I have made a point of always having my SLR camera at hand whenever possible. Modern smartphones can do lots of things, but when it comes to long shots...
While taking a break during a hike in the Swiss Alps at altitudes above 6,000 feet I saw this colorful grasshopper. Its color reminded me of a fire salamander at first. I tried to find it on Google and thought it might be Omocestus Viridulus, but I admit I wouldn't bet on that. Isn't it great that we still run into that kind of surprise? Greetings from Switzerland, yours truly, Wolfgang.
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Colorful hopper
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Weekly picture main
The Weekly picture main page
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Weekly picture archive 2014
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Weekly picture archive 2015
2015 part one, - 2015 part two, - 2015 part three, - 2015 part four
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Weekly picture archive 2016
2016 part one, - 2016 part two, - 2016 part three
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Weekly picture archive 2017
2017 part one, - 2017 part two, - 2017 part three, - 2017 part four, - 2017 part five
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Weekly picture archive 2018
2018 part one, - 2018 part two, - 2018 part three, - 2018 part four, - 2018 part five
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Weekly picture archive 2019
2019 part one, - 2019 part two, - 2019 part three, - 2019 part four
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Weekly picture archive 2020
2020 part one, - 2020 part two
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Weekly picture archive 2021
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Wolfgang Fabisch, Nürnberger Str. 45, 90542 Eckental/Germany
✆ DE 011 49 9126 288640, Fax 011 49 9126 288643, Ⓒ Wolfgang Fabisch