Text and photos: Michael Plakolb
The first day of our fishing vacation at Bierhotel Loncium in Kötschach-Mauthen in Carinthia came to a successful end with the catch of a beautiful rainbow trout. After we tested the in-house fishing water “Planner” at the Gail, we went to the Grünsee the next day.
For the fishing day at Grünsee, located at the Plöcken Pass towards the Italian border, Karl signaled even much better fishing prospects, especially for Arctic char and brown trout. The fishing license is organized by the hotel and costs € 65,– per day. In addition to the Grünsee, fishing permits are also included for the Mühl-, Anger- and Valentinbach as well as the Valentinklamm. The bait allowed are flies and nymphs with sparing hooks. The Green Lake is a reservoir that closely resembles a natural lake. With lushly planted shores, light green water and great depth visibility, the lake at 1,250 meters above sea level is very idyllic nestled in the lovely alpine landscape. The stately mountains all around are reflected in the lake and make fishing a special natural spectacle.
Catch on sight
Quickly the fly rods were put into use, because we could already observe some fish in the clear water. The incidence of light in the crystal clear water caused a good view of the roaming salmonids. Since the fish did not initially rise to the surface for food, we chose nymphs that day as well. Relatively quickly we had the first successes with this method. Each of the three of us was able to outsmart beautiful brown trout, which we gently put back. Since we were the only anglers that day, we were able to fish all accessible shorelines well. You can quietly do without waders, because only from the shore fishing makes sense.
Beautiful brown trout and char
We caught numerous brown trout of various sizes that day. The most stately of them had a length of almost 50 cm and gave Gregor a good fight. The highlight of the day, however, was the catch of a beautifully marked Arctic char, whose orange fins warmed our hearts at the sight of it. Then in the evening the trout rose after midges. Gregor switched to dry fly and was able to entice some fish to bite with the “roe brown”. Happy and satisfied with today’s fishing day, we trudged back to the parking lot at Plöckenhaus late in the evening.
