Alpine delight
the take
River Ybbs , Austria
The alps are magnificent. The scenery is breath-taking, the air cool and scented by pines and larches. There may even be the Sound of Music. This much we all know; but the Alps also have some tremendous fishing, in rivers that are a delight.
The reason is that much of the Austrian, Italian and Slovenian Alps are composed of limestone. And this lovely rock makes for rivers full of food. And so you end up with crystal clear rivers, lots of fly life and plenty of big fish. The Ybbs is just one of many rivers that flow both north and south out of the mountains and down (eventually) to the mighty Danube. The river has deep mysterious pools that require great stealth to approach, as well as faster water with pockets and riffles. In addition it has gutters of deep water flowing though caliche conglomerate. An unusual and highly productive water.
The river has brown trout, rainbow trout and grayling. The grayling are all wild, whilst the rainbows are normally stocked at a small size and grown on, and the brown trout are a mixture of wild and stocked fish. This is a river that repays careful casting with dry flies and nymphs. A word of advice – don't fish too light there are some big fish in this river, like the brown trout that appeared from the bottom of a pool to eat the 12" rainbow trout on the end of the line !
Alpine delight
the take