What's the best part of fishing in May? Hungry trouts? The increasing warmth of the sun? Nature getting ready for a new season? For me it's the end of a long period of waiting. Getting the rod out of the rod sock, gearing up and the anticipation of the first cast to a trout.
The final week of waiting prior to the trip was nerve wrecking as we saw the weather predictions showing more and more rainy clouds as our fishing week approached. The memory of the rained out trip of the Isar was glooming around the corner... Fortunately the weather gods made a small U-turn during the final few days before heading for southern Germany. Heck, we had some superb sunny days.
Eventually one morning with a slight drizzle and a night with several short showers were all the rain we saw. The water level was a bit higher than usual. My guess is that the river condition was as good as we could hope for considering the situation. Probably 80% of the ideal level.
My friends Rolf and Martin joined me this time. My Germany buddy Andreas couldn't make it this week. Make sure you join us next time!I promised Martin that the rivers we were going to fish would be a dry fly fisherman's dream: crystal clear and nice stretches of slow runs between the riffles. Well, the river was pretty clear all right, but some how no insect activity worth mentioning to trigger the fish to rise. Fishing with weighted nymphs was as usual the ticket. The end of the week we saw a massive hatch of yellow sallys. But that's what we call 'mustard after the meal'.
We fished several stretches of the Traun as well as a sweet little creek. It's amazing how strong these fish are. My buddies were laughing about me playing the fish too long, but they were soon to explore the strong trouts themselves. 4-5 runs were more rule than exception. These fish look like they're on steroids!
What's the best way to end a nice day of fishing? A nice long meal at my favorite Italian restaurant! Just have a look at the wonderful dish our Italian friends made for our final evening of the trip.Rolf's favorite dish, the grilled squid, was pretty amazing indeed. The revelation for my friends was the simple but tasty starter called Bruchette de Pomodoro. A piece of toasted bread with a dressing of olive oil, lots of garlic and pieces of tomato. So basic, yet so tasteful!
Well, enjoy the remaining pictures!
Next stop: end of July.
Destination: Northern Austria!
