Fly Fishing Fabisch, the Weekly Picture Archive 2 - 2019

Weekly pictures Archive 2019two


The Weekly pictures archive 2019 part two

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Here is a new weekly picture archive 2019, part two at Fabisch fly fishing. Most posts in this archive will be weekly pictures from Canada. The Themes are nature, fly fishing or fly tying and panning for gold. Look forward to pictures from British Columbia and the Yukon.

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Spring on the Wiesent

It has only been weeks ago that I wrote about hibernation of the Wiesent. Every year it is fascinating to watch nature come to life again in early spring. The photograph shows that vegetation is just beginning to come back, but the additional sunlight every day will accelerate things. Even two days will make a visible difference. The speed at which fresh green and buds are moving ahead is breathtaking.

As far as fish are concerned, there seems to be a complete chaos. Some species have finished their spawning long ago, others are just beginning. Grayling are in the middle of their run to the spawning grounds upstream, still some of them may be interested in a nymph. Anglers should be aware of this and react quickly to avoid playing a spawning fish unnecessarily. The grayling will need every bit of strength they can master to spawn. Once in a while you see rather large mayflies, large enough anyway to induce an occasional rise.

Spring at the Wiesent in impressive light

Weekly picture 14 2019

Doesn´t this photograph convey a wonderful mood on the Wiesent? You are almost able to hear the calm, and you´re able to feel the warmth of those early rays of spring sun. I wish you all a wonderful spring season, preferably on a beautiful river.


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Our Great Adventure Is to Take Off Soon

No matter how many times you have spent holidays somewhere, planning a three month stay is a different story. If it´s Yukon of all places you have selected, your preparations better be meticulous! After all, you´re going into an area where you cannot shop your daily needs just around the corner. In fact, the logistics of such an enterprise are breathtaking: vehicles, caravans, water pumps, an ATV! Furthermore you´re working in a permafrost area, so you need a jackhammer, generator, chainsaw and what have you ...

Three weeks to go to takeoff. My partners and I will then have until August to find out if, and - in the affirmative - how much gold can be found in the claims we have staked out. What is definitely waiting for us is lots of hard labor in one of the toughest jobs on Earth. After all, we´re not starting out with heavy equipment, but with the work our bodies can master. I´m looking forward to the experience. Should I need a timeout, I´ll head out to the Klondike and catch a few grayling to supplement our diet. Wouldn´t that be great for a change?

Looking east from the Skeena Bridge in Kitwanga

Weekly picture 15 2019

The photograph was taken from the Skeena Bridge at Kitwanga last year. To get there you have already made 1,300 km from Vancouver Airport, and you have another 1,700 km to go until you get to Dawson City, and still another 120 km from there to get to the claims. I can´t wait to get there ...


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Electrofishing on the Wiesent

We have been leasing the fishing rights on the lower Wiesent for five years now. Now it was time to survey the fish populations as to numbers and sizes. Three experts from the Fisheries Advisory Council from Bayreuth had come equipped with an aluminum boat, outboard engine and generator. Together we launched the boat and got started. As soon as the outboard and the generator were running we slowly picked up speed. Before that we had checked the water and the current.

After a few 100 meters, we turned around and started looking for fish to collect with our electrified landing net. In the beginning there wasn´t a lot of action but then more and more fish were kept in our plastic tub. Beautiful browns, rainbows and grayling were netted, and some of them were trophy size. We also caught lots of juvenile trout; juvenile grayling, however, were missing. The opinion of our experts was very positive, they stated that the river had a good number of specimens and a good distribution.

Fishing with electricity at the Wiesent

Weekly picture 16 2019

The fish in the Wiesent aren´t easy to catch. As I have mentioned before, the availability of trout foods in the Wiesent is so abundant that the fish don´t really need to take our imitations. Let´s hope for their curiosity...


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Annual Flyfishers´ Meeting 2019

Again the venue for our annual meeting is Velden on the Pegnitz. For 35 years our Fabisch Flyfishing School has been located in this quiet little town in Upper Franconia.The Pegnitz in Velden is ideally suited for flyfishing clinics. Absolute beginners may learn to handle a flyrod in quiet pools with no stress at all and applicants for an instructor´s exam will find challenging spots, too. Easy stretches with plenty of elbow and backcasting room alternate with places that offer hardly any freedom of movement at all.

This way anyone wanting to flyfish for salmonids will find interesting stretches. The Franconian cuisine is very attractive and prices are very moderate! As usual, some of us will be tying flies, and casting demonstrations will take place on Saturday and Sunday. We´re looking forward to spending three days with old and new friends, and there´s always the option to flyfish on the Pegnitz. Some flyfishing and tying accessories will be on display and for sale. Marco Reisen will present new rods by Vision.

Annual Flyfishers´ Meeting 2019 on the river Pegnitz in Franconia

Weekly picture 17 2019

We will spend a pleasant three-day-weekend and will enjoy being with you on that occasion. Just drop by, even though you may only be planning to take up flyfishing later on.


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Yukon 2019

Yes, we´re still alive! After an incredible series of failures during the first 4 weeks over here in Canada, we have finally succeeded in establishing a working routine. The most severe loss, right in the beginning, was the passing away of my faithful laptop. This is also the reason information from our side has been only trickling instead of flowing. At present our routine is as follows: we start working at 08:00 a.m. and quit at 04:00 p.m. That is just about what our bodies are able to yield, as we are presently only working with shovels and pans.

As soon as our period of waiting expires, we will be allowed to use more equipment. The ride from our claims to Dawson is about 110 km. This is as close as we can get to a shop. The local shops are aware of the situation and the prices reflect that. The largest town in Yukon, Whitehorse, is still 500 km farther and can thus not serve as a source for provisions. Our cars and trailers are functioning, which is more than we expected due to their relatively low purchasing price.

Yukon mining operation

Weekly picture 26 2019

In the Yukon, you see many huge installations for gold mining, and they absorb huge investments. One should keep in mind that there´s always the chance of not striking a bonanza. In case you’d have to sell one of these installations, you would have to face huge losses.


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Yukon gold

Yukon Gold is what we are here for. There is, however, another Yukon Gold available in Dawson City: a local beer consumed in awesome quantities. Hard to believe: we even found some real gold already. We´re not rich yet, but the fact that gold is actually to be found on our claim gives us hope. We still have some time here before we have to return home. The work here is unbelievably hard. I didn´t believe it at first, but you can´t eat enough (no matter what) to avoid losing weight.

Tomorrow we are going to get a fishing license. I have known from last year that there are lots of Arctic Grayling available, today I also saw a Northern Pike. Even though it was a small one, it proves the existence of Northerns around here. The license costs can$ 35.- per year which is much cheaper than in British Columbia. Your choice of waters is as great as in BC, but some species of fish don´t exist in the Yukon any more. I believe the long winter with incredibly low temperatures may be responsible for that.

Area in the indian river valley

Weekly picture 27 2019

After huge areas have been passed through the washing installations, the miners are supposed to return their claims to their natural situation to the best of their ability. Thus lakes like the one in the picture are formed. They look beautiful, but they mostly lack vegetation.


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Yukon forest fire

The part of Yukon near our claims looks almost like a desert. Rainfalls are rare and small and the surface consists mostly of washed gravel, and the little precipitation there is sinks into the surface immediately. It is not going very deep, though. Today we were digging a new hole and hit permafrost after a mere 4 cm. This frost keeps the water from penetrating deeper into the ground and circulating. We´ve been having over 30°C during daytime for weeks now. At night temperates drop to about 8 degrees C.

Early in the morning we went shopping to Dawson. We also buy drinking water in plastic bottles of 18 liters each. Then we do our laundry and shower. The shopping for provisions comes last, so the groceries arrive at our camp fairly fresh. On our way back on Bonanza Creek Road we saw a huge column of smoke. We realized we would have to pass nearby, so we drove a little faster. Unfortunately my partner´s car had a blowout which took some extra time. Meanwhile the fire moved towards our valley.

Yukon forest fire near by our camp

Weekly picture 28 2019

We were lucky, the firefighters gained control of the fire in time. After the wind had rekindled the flames a few times, the fire was finally put out completely, and we could return to our valley along the Indian River.


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Weekly picture main

The Weekly picture main page

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Weekly picture archive 2014

2014 part four

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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

2021 part one

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Wolfgang Fabisch,    Nürnberger Str. 45,    90542 Eckental/Germany

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