Fly Fishing Fabisch, the Weekly Picture Archive 1 - 2018

It is easy to get to Vancouver Island from Vancouver; BC Ferries offers several alternatives: south of Vancouver the terminal of choice is Tsawwassen , north of Vancouver it is Horseshoe Bay. I have been using these terminals over 30 times in either direction since 1990. The only times I didn´t cross the Strait of Georgia were when the island´s rivers were unfishable. This year and next year I probably won´t visit the island. With one of the next weekly pictures I´ll let you know why. For now so much: from May 17th, an RV will be waiting for us in Whitehorse...

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The hike along Lake Obersee has many beautiful scenic views, but the trail isn´t altogether easy. It requires the hiker´s full attention, especially in tight or steep passages. Hikers taking it on calmly as well as concentrated will make it all the way to Fischunkelalm on the upper end of the lake. An optional 1.5 km can take you to Roethbachfall, Germany´s highest waterfalls at about 470 m. On the way back to St. Bartholomae you should stop at the local guesthouse for a Brotzeit (Bavarian snack), and take a look at the giant lake-run brown trout a taxidermist has prepared many years ago.

In town you can find a nice carpark divided in spaces for daytime parking and a campground for travelers wishing to stay overnight. Overnighters are requested to pay a fee whereas daytime parking is free. The photograph shows the daytime parking section with our three RVs, the village is uphill from the park. In town, you can find restaurants that serve any meal from breakfast to supper, and in good quality, too. I cannot recommend to spend the night on the campground, though, because the railway runs right alongside it. This railway is the busiest connection between Prince George, Smithers, Terrace, and Prince Rupert!

On the photograph you can see the inside parts of stainless steel inside the filling tube. The stocking tubes - we have two of them - are closed, of course. They are each mounted on a heavy concrete block and are already inside the water. Each tube holds over 5,000 brown trout eggs. As we have two of them, we´re talking about 10,000 eggs. Once the insert is charged, the tube is taken inside the water, the insert with the eggs is taken out and charged into the tube already in place in the current. The eggs are always submerged during the entire action. We´ll see the results in due time.

Just to name three of them: there´s the Aufseß that runs about 30 km, the Püttlach is about 28 km long, and the Trubach about 21 km. The Trubach forks into two branches, which both run into the part of the Wiesent my friends and I have leased. Each of the above three tributaries offers excellent fly fishing. There are still more tributaries, e.g. the Leinleiter. Whenever driving from my home to the Wiesent to fish I drive along the Trubach for the last twelve km. A small brook which holds some rather good trout. Anyone wanting to fish it has to search for places that issue permits.

For gold panning e.g., local fees have been introduced. You may purchase permits for a day, a week or for an entire year. So you´ll have to do a lot of panning just to cover the cost of permits. Shortly after, the roads you´ll have to take to get to the place where you intend to pan have been converted into toll roads. Looking at those facts, you get the impression that gold panning is supposed to be reduced as much as possible without outright forbidding it. On the other hand: the spot where the photograph was taken is on a road closed to automobiles. When asking the locals, I´ve been told: drive on up, that´s what we all do!

Which would be the best way to do it? The best way to release a fish is to do so without taking it out of the water. A prerequisite is to use barbless hooks. In this case you may use the tip of your rod to release your fish. Special care is needed for Grayling and their soft mouths. Soft? If the hook sits deep in the cartilage, getting it out properly may be a little complicated even with a barbless hook. With a barbed hook, your grayling will most probably not survive the operation. If you absolutely need to take photograph keep your fish safely in your landing net. This way you may get prepared, get your hands properly wet, and lift it carefully for this magic moment. Snapshot, release your fish, done!

On the way from Egloffstein to the Wiesent, right after the village ends, you find this beautiful mill wheel. The valley is so narrow that the sun rarely reaches the bottom of it. So the frost and the frozen spray can remain in place. The little box on the wheel´s left side contains - what else - a little generator. The side of the box not facing towards the camera is has windows, so you can see the generator. It yields 300 kwh in 24 hours without any pollution whatsoever.

      ✆ DE   011 49 9126 288640,   Fax 011 49 9126 288643,     Ⓒ Wolfgang Fabisch