Fishing Rinchnacker Ohe

Another fishing expedition in Deutschland. Again I selected a stream in the Bayerischer Wald. Rinchnacker Ohe small tributary to the Regen snakes its way through a beautiful green valley between the tiny town of Rinchnacker and Naigermuhle near Regen stadt.

It's not easy to fish relying only on train, bus and foot for transportation. I got up at 4:30 AM to make a 5:52 train to Zwiesel. Although I bought my day ticket to fish the stream in Zwiesel, the stream was at Regen, two stops back down the line. From the train station I walked 2km to Naigermuhle and another 2km to reach the waterI wanted to fish.

In Zwiesel I had a stroke of luck—the station master was a fly fisherman. He sketched a map of the stream, showing where the best water was and a shortcut – a wander weg (forest path) that would lessen my hike.

He spoke no English and my German is broken (to say the least), yet two fly fishermen can always find a way to communicate. Before I left, I gave him a fly I had tied, one that is unique to North Carolina, a grizzled palmer called the Smoky Mountain Widow.

I didn’t get to the stream until 11:30. The weather report had promised the only rainless day this week. Nonetheless it was overcast, cold and spitting rain. Still I changed into my old tennis shoes that serve here as my waders and stepped into the cold water.
Within a short time an Äsche (grayling) hit—a tiny one but it seemed promising. Thymallus thymallus, a memeber Salmonidaean family that includes trout and salmon, tolerates only very pure waters, and is notable for its sail-like dorsal. Gradually, the sun emerged and shone brightly the rest of the day—the first sunny day I’ve had in Bayischer Wald. I caught two dozen or more small Äsche, several fairly large, and two whoppers about 13 inches and perhaps a pound (a 5-pounder would be a record breaker). I also caught a dozen or so Bach Forellen (brown trout), the largest about 12 inches.
At the end of the day I found myself along a slow moving section running through a green meadow above Pfistenmuhle where I was defeated over and over by trout rising selectively to hatch of mayflies so small as to be almost invisible.

Finally, as the sun dropped, passing from late afternoon into a spectacular sunset, I admitted I was licked, packed up and hiked 8km back to Regen just in time to catch the train to Regensburg. Worn, achy, exhausted, I realized I hadn’t eaten since I got up. But it was worth it.