Fly Fishing the Regen (Catch-and-Release)

When I came to Germany I brought my fly rod, reel, and flies intending to fish. Soon after I arrived, I went to the Rathaus, presented my American fishing licenses (Kentucky and North Carolina), filled out the proper forms with a passport photo, paid 17.50 Euro and got my Auslanderangelschein. Then I went to the local Regensburg fishing shop, Angelsport Muggenthaler, located (where else) near Fischmarkt Platz to but some German-style flies and a copy of Angelfuhrer Bayern to find the good (and affordable) trout streams. Affordable because in Germany, as in most of Europe, the fishing rights to streams are privately held. In order to fish you must buy a day ticket for the water you wish to fish.

NOTICE: I am a catch-and-release fisherman--something that has just begun to catch on in Germany. No fish were harmed in the making of this blog.

My first outing was to the Schwartzer Regen at the little town of Viechtach. The guide book said it had rainbow, brown, brook trout and grayling. The day ticket was reasonable--11 Euro. I fished all day and caught three 20 inch Barbe, making me the big winner among the three of us hardcore enough to be on the water on such a nasty day. Barbe are a hard fighting fish but ugly. A booby-prize for die hard tout fishermen like me. But I did find a cheap gasthaus that had a great restaurant where I had a great dinner.

The town was pretty though it had clearly seen better days. It is the only place I've seen in Germany where the train did not run on time. It left the station 20 minutes late.

So this weekend I bit the bullet and moved up stream to the Grossen Regen at Bayerisch Eisenstein in the Bayerischer Wald where the day ticket cost 29 Euro, or so said the guidebook. When I got to town I checked into a cheap pension near the river, then went to the Grenzwald Gasthaus to buy the ticket. The young Fraulein waitress did know what to do, however , so she gave me a blank form and told me to fish and come back at noon. The owner would be there and could pay then.









So I fished and caught several trout before it began to pour rain. I returned to the gasthaus and waited an hour for the owner to arrive. When he did show he became upset that I had elected to stay in a cheap pension rather than his pricey hotel and informed me that day tickets were only for those who stayed at his place. But he would bend the rules and sell me a day ticket for 35 Euro. I was steamed but, having come so far, took it.The next day was overcast and threatened rain, but only threatened. The fishing was great. I caught about 40 trout, most toward the end of the day when the trout started rising to a huge hatch of tiny gray mayflies. So now I have a problem.

Do I submit to the proprietor's arm-twisting and stay at his hotel? Or do I return to the down-at-the-heels pension where I made friends with the owner, an ex-pro tennis player and his elderly mother and confront the Grenzwald owner and make him honor the prices posted on his website and in the guidebook? The latter I imagine. We’ll see.