Fly Fishing Fabisch, the Weekly Picture Archive 1 - 2017
Weekly pictures Archive 2017one
Weekly pictures archive 2017 part one
.
The weekly picture archive at Fabisch Fly Fishing part one 2017. Collected pictures in 2017 - 1 from the areas fly fishing, fly tying and nature. This pictures were taken in Europe, North America including Canada.
.
.
The Current Situation in Franconia
.
Weekly picture 03 2017
My latest weekly picture was supposed to bring a little snow and ice into a rather autumnal setting, but to our surprise, we have both snow and frost in abundance right now. We should enjoy it, because these days you can´t take it for granted. Now we can use the season closed to fishing to maintain and brush up our equipment for the next season, to tie the patterns missing in our boxes, and to tie a few new ones, too.
All our rivers are frozen and we´re in no hurry. I managed to finish the new stainless steel tool set that is supposed to simplify your tying. What I´m working on now is a modification of the Norvise which will be presented shortly. This week´s picture I shot this morning on my way to work. Currently not only the nights, but also the morning hours are clear and brilliant.
.
On My Way to Work, January 20th, 2017 - 08:30 a.m. minus 10 degrees
.
Weekly picture 04 2017
In September 2006 I shot Vancouver from the plane approaching the airport. I didn´t yet use a Canon, but my very first digital camera. Which make? I don´t know anymore, but where I got it was Aldi, a German discounter selling mostly groceries but sometimes also technical products. The picture size was then limited to 6 megapixels, but the photos weren´t bad at all. You may ask why I´m writing about the old days? Well, for one they weren´t as bad, and what else would you be writing about around this time of year?
Guess you´d like to read that the Wiesent - like many other rivers - is losing dozens of fish every day? No, they´re not dying from hypothermia. Our well known black-feathered bird of the year (the cormorant) , however, is suffering for lack of food. Well, only the very best is good enough for this celebrity, and of course we´re happy to give the best we have - trout and grayling from our favorite rivers! As to myself, I prefer looking at the photographs from way back when...
.
Approach to Vancouver in September 2006
.
Weekly picture 05 2017
Many rivers in British Columbia are not only huge, but also pretty remote. Even if the river can be reached by helicopter, the problem of getting around on it remains unsolved. Many anglers drive with their SUVs and trailers as far as possible and then continue by boat. These jet boats sometimes travel at incredible speeds. If the motor fails, the captain is in deep trouble, because without propulsion the boat is practically not maneuverable.
The boats´ high speed has disadvantages, too - especially for anglers wading in the river while they are fishing. In theory, the boaters are supposed to slow down when approaching wading anglers, but not all of them do. So, if you´re wading deep, a fast boat´s wake is practically guaranteed to give you a full bath. Luckily, many boaters do respect wading anglers and drive responsibly. The angler on the picture demonstrated how to get his boat onto the trailer singlehandedly. Not a simple maneuver in my opinion.
.
An Expert at Work
.
Weekly picture 06 2017
Winter still has an icy grip on our waters, and cormorants gorge themselves on grayling and trout in all rivers without protection by hunters. Considerable stretches are practically cleared of fish completely. It is still too early to evaluate this year´s damage. Years ago when grayling were still open around this time of year there used to be anglers on the water which might have disturbed some of our feathered foes. So, shortening the season for grayling seems to prove rather counterproductive. After all, cormorants don´t respect size limits.
Let´s change the subject. As diverse as fishing options in BC may be, there aren´t many rivers yielding steelhead caught on dries cast upstream. I´m not talking about an occasional catch but fish taken regularly, year after year. I happen to know only one of these rivers, and that´s where the fish on the photograph comes from. This one measured a little over 60 cm, fish above 75 cm are rarely caught this way. The two biggest ones I caught this way took my fly on the Copper and measured 86 cm each. Unfortunately, they are remaining exceptions.
.
Not a Giant, but Nevertheless a Beauty
.
Weekly picture 07 2017
It is hardly believable, but the length of daylight has increased by 50 minutes each both in the morning and in the evening, so that gives us an hour and 40 minutes more sunlight per day. Around noon the sun heats our area near Nuremberg to over 10°C. This is warm enough to take your flyrod outside for a little casting practice. Two more weeks and you can start to actively fish your little neighborhood stream. There´s no guarantee, though,
against one or two snowflakes dropping by yet.Despite climate change some of the old sayings still ring true, like red evening sky bodes fair weather´. It was confirmed the morning after I had taken this picture. Now let´s look forward to those evenings when we can sit around a campfire with our friends after a long day of fishing and recall all the good things the day has given us.
.
.
Weekly picture 08 2017
The tour I am proposing I have traveled twice in the past as part of my trips in Western Canada. The entire trip is over 6000 km long, the part I´m describing here goes over a distance of approximately 2500 km. It starts out in Vancouver, leading to the Crow´s Nest Pass via Hope and Fernie, which amounts to about 1000 km. The pass takes you from British Columbia into Alberta. The distance from Crow´s Nest Pass to Calgary is about 250 km. You now have several alternatives for your return trip, one of the best being the one from Calgary back to Vancouver via Kamloops, Lillooet, and Whistler.
You may fish for steelhead in Hope, for monstrous bull trout on the Elk River in Fernie, and for big browns and rainbows on the Bow near Calgary. The area around Crow´s Nest offers several good trout fisheries. Please keep in mind that you need different licenses for the provinces of Alberta and of British Columbia! On this tour, you will drive through magnificent scenery like the Rockies, the Coast Mountains, and Banff National Park on your way back if you follow my proposed route. Take your time for this tour and enjoy! The photograph has been taken near Crow´s Nest.
.
Near Crow´s Nest
.
Weekly picture 09 2017
I can´t remember exactly how many times members of my Canada tours have stood stunned on the shores of one of these out-of-this-world rivers. Stunned because it was beyond their understanding that these beautiful rivers hold practically no fish a good part of the year. During salmon runs the rivers are full of salmon up to the brim. When no salmon are running there isn´t a lot going on in these rivers. The fact of the matter is shown clearly in rivers without salmon runs. Take the Bow River for example. Its water flows eastward from the Rockies, all across Canada down to the Hudson Bay.
The photograph was taken where the Bow River has run only about 100 km. Only another 150 km, and it will reach Calgary, where it is going to change completely. The upper parts of the Bow, i.e. from its springs to Calgary, hold only very few and relatively small fish, the reason being that the water is just too clean. Too clean to produce sufficient food to support a large fish population. This is also a reason for all Pacific salmon to die after spawning, and to fertilize the river with their decaying bodies, so it can later provide food for their offspring. As the Bow has no salmon runs, the fertilizing is done by Calgary´s sewage plants.
The Bow River - Gin Clear And Oligotrophic
Weekly picture 10 2017
The Isar River upstream of Bad Tölz is one of the most beautiful fisheries Bavaria has to offer. Unfortunately, fishing licenses are only available for very few parts of the Isar. A pretty stretch of water belongs to the town of Lenggries, which sells permits for single days or for the entire year. Day permits are limited to Monday through Thursday (i.e. never on weekends!), and are only sold to tourists residing overnight in hotels or guesthouses in Lenggries. For up to date news on licenses for the entire year I suggest you contact Fischereiverein Lenggries e.V., regulations may have changed since I last bought a license.
Some of my friends and myself held permits for the year over several years. At that time, the price of € 250 for one year of flyfishing on the Isar was a real bargain we just couldn´t resist, and it offered excellent fishing for large trout and grayling. Moreover, the rule of "no fishing on weekends" did not apply for holders of yearly permits. After a few years, however, we decided to take a break because the drive from the Nürnberg area where we live to Lenggries is around 250 km. The picture you see was taken downstream from Lenggries, where some eccentric has made his mark in this peculiar way.
When people have lots of time at their disposal, they might do things like this...
.
Weekly picture 11 2017
Twenty years ago my wife and myself seriously considered immigration into Canada. We chose the little town of Gold River on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. You should know that Vancouver Island to Canadians means about the same thing the island of Mallorca means to Germans (although Mallorca is and will remain Spanish, it usually is crowded with Germans in summer). Except for the immediate shore, the climate on Vancouver Island is very mild. There is some skiing on Van Island, but the snow practically never falls down as far as sea level. We had planned to buy the slightly rundown Lions´ Campground and add some buildings and a fly-shop. We even had already negotiated with a construction company and we were about to schedule talks with BC Hydro who would supply electricity.
Along the campground runs a high-tension power line we had planned to tap to supply electricity to our campground-to-be via a little transformer in a separate building. Then came the day I went fishing with the local Economic Development Officer, and my wife accompanied us to the Gold River. During our lunch break the officer asked me if I really intended to transplant my German wife into the town of Gold River. When I said yes, he seriously warned me that people not accustomed to 5 to 7 meters of precipitation per year would definitely go nuts. And so we still live in Franconia today but visit Gold River as often as we can - preferably on days without rain.
The Gold River, A Very Beautiful River
.
Weekly picture 13 2017
Last weekend we had our annual flyfisher´ meeting, in brilliant weather. Some very nice fish couldn´t resist our flies and nymphs, among them two northern pike, who were coaxed into taking nymphs. Nice as the weather may be here, it can lead to serious problems in other areas. Right here the fly fishing season is gaining momentum, the water temperatures are on the rise, and our fish are hungry.
Our neighbors to the south face a different outlook. Like every year, the snowmelt is bound to bring enormous spring runoff and widespread floods. As I have been holding a little claim for gold panning on the Salzach for over a year, I keep monitoring stream gauges down there. Last year a stretch that normally had less than 15 m³/hour of water was measured at 120 m³. The boulders being moved through the riverbed by this amount of water could scare the wits out of you! A little farther uphill, in the Seidenwinkel Valley, the sun woke up this alpine salamander.
Alpine Salamander Next To Us On A Bench
.
Weekly picture main
The Weekly picture main page
.
Weekly picture archive 2014
.
Weekly picture archive 2015
2015 part one, - 2015 part two, - 2015 part three, - 2015 part four
.
Weekly picture archive 2016
2016 part one, - 2016 part two, - 2016 part three
.
Weekly picture archive 2017
2017 part one, - 2017 part two, - 2017 part three, - 2017 part four, - 2017 part five
.
Weekly picture archive 2018
2018 part one, - 2018 part two, - 2018 part three, - 2018 part four, - 2018 part five
.
Weekly picture archive 2019
2019 part one, - 2019 part two, - 2019 part three, - 2019 part four
.
Weekly picture archive 2020
2020 part one, - 2020 part two
.
Weekly picture archive 2021
.
Wolfgang Fabisch, Nürnberger Str. 45, 90542 Eckental/Germany
✆ DE 011 49 9126 288640, Fax 011 49 9126 288643, Ⓒ Wolfgang Fabisch