Indian Summer at Salza River (AT)

Although nymph fishing is my true passion, I like to switch to the dry fly as soon as larger fish show up at the surface. Dry fly fishing is especially beautiful when in addition to the deep blue autumn sky the kitchy leaves of the deciduous forests proclaim the Indian Summer and form the perfect background to it. This happened only recently when I made a weekend trip to Salza River in Styria (AT). I used to fish in the part of the Salza formerly owned by the Count of Meran (now Baron Fink), which is run by Rudi Heger. Through my connection to the Austrian Fisheries Association (www.oefg1880.at), which regularly hires me for their annual fly fishing courses, in recent years I regularly fished the part below the little lake at the Presceny Klause which is called the Salza Gschöder.

The OEFG manages this water, which is one of the most beautiful waters you can fish in the Alps. On such beautiful autumn days, insect hatches usually start around lunchtime and continue throughout the afternoon. It is the time when beautifully coloured brownies and rainbow trout as well as large grayling suck little duns from the surface. When the sun disappears behind the steep mountains it almost immediately gets colder in the Salza Valley and this means to switch to the nymph again. Since this part of Austria is practically unaffected by external factors, nature is still in order and despite the changing climatic conditions there are still good numbers of insects inhabiting the beautiful river. If you are lucky to be at site at such a beautiful autumn day, you will be remembered of the past when nothing but a dry fly was needed to catch huge fish. Here are a few impressions of my short trip.