Fly Fishing Fabisch, the Weekly Picture Archive 3 - 2018
Weekly pictures Archive 2018three
Weekly pictures archive 2018 part three
.
Weekly picture archive 2018 at Fabisch Fly Fishing part three. Here six pictures from the areas fly fishing, fly tying and nature. The pictures were taken in Europe as well as North America including Canada.
.
.
Entomology in Fly Fishing Clinics
.
Weekly picture 18 2018
Despite all the water harvested from the Pegnitz by the municipal water works along its course, there still is some aquatic life. Unfortunately some people work on making that disappear. The periodic change in water levels - up to 20 cm - kills many aquatic insects. The considerable slowdown of the flow is responsible for an increase in siltation and a reduction of oxygenation. By the time these damages become obvious to everyone - a few years from now - no one will be held responsible any more.
I make a point of including some entomology in my fly fishing clinics. The insects of the Pegnitz in Velden profit from a number of underwater springs, some with a considerable yield. Over 6 km of river the quantity of water almost doubles. Around these underwater springs you will find a flora and fauna well different from that in the rest of the river. Unfortunately, some of these springs can no longer be found, so some insect species depending on pure and cold water will probably go extinct in the future.
.
It´s not easy to see the European Bullhead (sculpin - cottus gobio) on the river floor. If it hadn´t moved, I would probably have missed it, too. Like insects, these water dwellers are also facing a future of increasing threats to their existence. If you have trouble identifying it: it is slightly to the right of the center..
.
Weekly picture 26 2018
Hard to believe: although I had only planned to help out in Nuremberg Airport over the winter of 1999-2000, I´ll complete 20 years on this job next year. I´ll retire from actively working there in the first trimester of 2019. Then, at the age of 61 after all, I want to make a dream come true: prospecting for gold and fishing on the Yukon. The preliminaries were taken care of this year. Two friends and myself started our trip on May 14th and ended on June 12th. We traveled up North to secure a few claims for prospecting.
From Nuremberg we flew to Vancouver via Amsterdam. There we picked up an AWD-car and went on our way towards Whitehorse. In Hope I picked up my crate with equipment from a friend who stored it for me in his home. Shortly before reaching Quesnel we stopped for some sleep - some 26 hours after starting out in Germany. The next morning we took a little detour towards Barkerville to pan for gold in a little river for the first time, and we found some, too.
.
Two hours later we continued our way towards Whitehorse where we were supposed to be by May 17th to pick up our RV. When we got to Quesnel we had completed just 700 km out of 2400 km. The second night we spent on Highway 37, aka Steward-Cassiar Highway, some 1500 km away from Vancouver.
.
Weekly picture 27 2018
The transit from BC into Yukon is all but spectacular, a sign at the side of the road, and that´s it. Nature, however, in Northern BC and in Yukon is absolutely gorgeous! Traffic fades away, but you encounter bears and moose more frequently. Than you traverse an enormous stretch completely destroyed by a forest fire - the fire even made the news in Germany. Now we were facing our third consecutive night in the car. Next day we were supposed to pick up our RV in Whitehorse - looking forward to a bed to sleep in and a table to eat our meals etc.
This last night reminded us we had been traveling towards the North for days. Nighttime temps dropped below zero degreese C. We had had some indication of things to come when we drove by the lake in the picture which had been frozen for months. Even the waves are still visible - shockfrostet! The next weeks had more experiences with ice in store for us, but more about it later. We picked up our RV without the slightest problem and proceeded to go shopping - another chance for mistakes.
.
Had we known what was waiting for us in Dawson City, we´d have shopped a lot more. Yukon is one and a half time as big as Germany, but has only 38,000 inhabitants, 28,000 of which life in Whitehorse. This part of Canada is really not densely populated at all!
.
Weekly picture 28 2018
The trip from Whitehorse to Dawson City is a mere 530 km. The road is ok and allows for a relatively fast ride. Readers of Jack London´s novels will find many familiar names along the road: Carmacks, Yukon Crossing, Pelly Crossing and Stewart Crossing. The Highway is called Klondike Highway and brings memories as well as expectations. On the way north you find many occasions to try a litte gold panning. When doing this, look out for markers of existing claims, which will have to be respected by all means. We tried panning in a few places but still made it to Dawson in time.
On the weekend of May 18th and 19th, Dawson City hosted the gold show, so it was no surprise we run into a few well known faces. I had a chance to talk to Mrs. Beets and her daughter, and I could contact a few people of the TV series Yukon Gold. The main purpose of these contacts is the search for information. The most interesting news we got later, some from members of the First Nations, some from foreigners. The locals usually don´t react much unless you have one or two millions to start with.
.
Actually you can buy almost anything in Dawson, prices, however, are about four times those in Whitehorse. 12 cans of Coke cost can$ 2,49 in Whitehorse and can$ 9,90 in Dawson. When shopping up there, make sure you check the expiry dates of vittles!
.
Weekly picture 29 2018
As a rule I spend 15 - 18 out of 25 in British Columbia on the water, the rest being needed for driving or just breaks. On this trip to Yukon fishing was not top priority, as we wanted above all to find and register claims for next year. Anyway a visit to Yukon without any fishing at all was unthinkable. Licenses can be bought in the Trading Post in Dawson City. You have a choice for 1 day for $ 10, 6 days for $ 20 or the entire season for $ 35. Any questions as to what may be done, and where are answered by friendly clerks, and you receive free brochure on top of it.
A six day license was enough for me, as the list for open species was still rather limited. The first salmon run was due in a few weeks, but by then we´d already be home. The spawning run of lake trout into the rivers, which would draw also dolly vardens and other trout was due much later. All that was left was fishing for arctic grayling. Unfortunately, I didn´t manage to hook one over 40 cm but 4 fish per hour was not a problem. I fished nymphs I usually fish for steelhead.
.
It seemed to me I was the only person for miles to use a fly rod in June on the Klondike. There were also some fish rising to dries, so it wasn´t a surpries that a few tried to eat my strike indicator.
.
Weekly picture 30 2018
We have staked three claims in the Yukon near the Alaskan border and we will very likely spend over two months working them next year. On the basis of the results we get then we will decide how to go on. By now there is an elaborate plan where and how to stock the tools and vehicles. So we were ready to head back home for this year. In Whitehorse we left our RV and then drove from Whitehorse to Hope in two days. There we had yet an appointment to do some gold panning.
On our way we had many encounters with all kinds of wild animals. What surprised me was the number of mosquitoes on the Bulkley. Whereas you can count on three to five bites in two weeks when you arrive towards the end of September, you may get the same number in a minute in June. While we were gold-panning in Hope the situation was not as bad. I suppose our smoke-intensive campfire helped us some. It was Hope where we finally packed up for the trip back home. We drove right to the car rental on Vancouver Airport, gave back the car and boarded our plane home.
.
To end this Yukon story, a last look (for the time being) on the Yukon River. I may repeat myself, but those wide empty spaces up North are very impressive, and I´m looking forward to seeing it all again next year!
.
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