From the village of Niederthai, there are many trekking routes prepared with sign posts. We tried one of them, climbing up the hill, 'Narrenkogel' at 2,309meter high.

It looked as if within a stone's reach - on the map. But in reality we had to gain some 750meters in height. The path was quite rugged and steep, not to be taken too lightly!

As we passed thru the pine forest covering the foot of the mountain, we soon hit the tree line at 2,000meters above sea. Continuing through the grass field, some 2hours walk carried us to the Narrenkogel peak, overlooking Oetz valley.

An early summer day in Alps. Not a cloud in sight. Sitting in the gentle breeze, we opened up a can of beer to celebrate the day.


- Next

Once through the town of Umhausen, Horlachbach joins Oetztalerache, a major river system of Oetz valley. During the summer month, the river swells with glacier-fed roaring waters, but this time still in late spring, the river was flowing peacefully..

The river is 20-30 meters wide. Quite shallow, with average depth around a meter, and up to 3meters at occasional deep pools. Unlike Horlachbach where Brown dominates, this river is inhabited mostly by rainbows. As we swung big nymphs in size #4, healthy plump fish averaging 35cm bent the rod.

The river is fishable only early and late season. Perhaps because of that, fish are not too educated and eager to bite. The current is also easy to read. A 9ft rod in #4-5 class will do.
Horlachbach this time was carrying rather too much water to wade in. We walked along on the bank, checking pools here and there.

Air temp rose to 21degrees, and the water to 8c - even warmer than in June last year. On the other hand, the season in the water was still lagging behind. Fish were feeding on nymphs - enormous colonies of cased caddis everywhere. To lure the fish up required big flies, e.g. foam ant in #8.
The part of the river directly below the falls is covered in a thick pine tree forest. In early summer high water made it difficult to fish here, but now in Autumn the stretch offered succession of fishable, and productive pools at every five steps.

That said, spotting fish is not as easy as in the flatter runs downstream. We tried blind casting to, the edges of the flossing white waters, many of which induced vigorous takes of trout up to 40cms.
The 3rd visit - May '04

Half a year since. Niederthai in May was enjoying a most pleasant early summer. The rugged peaks overlooking the hillside settlement were covered in bright shiny white snow. A perfect alpine resort setting!

The generous owner Peter gave us a nice room on the top floor. After sweating out in the sauna bath, chilling out on the balcony is heavenly. Every time we come here, we completely relaaax!

- the previous visit
- Hotel Falknerhof
Squinting eyes and looking into the shallow riffles, sure enough, we could spot handful of trout, of rather nice size here and there.

Of course, it should be just as easy for fish to spot us also. We stepped quietly into the water and made a careful approach. The current, though nowhere near as previous level, was still strong enough to narrow the trout's vision. Approaching the fish within 3-4meters was fairly easy. The careful first cast produced a plump brown of 34cm.
Sayuri pulled a nice one out of a pool in the town stretch. Even such a grown up couldn't refuse a #12 caddis drifting over his head!

Activity was high all through the day. In fact, they were feeding most actively around midday - when the sun and the temperature reached their peak.

For some fish that are not willing to come out to the surface, offering big weighted nymph was often the right answer. All in all, it was a care free fishing as ever, and for a little break from unfriendlier waters elsewhere. Not bad at all I must say.
The 2nd visit - Sept. '03

Here we are, back on the high street Niederthai. What we missed last time (due to our humble stomach capacity) was the fresh milk sold by, what else, the automatic milk-vending machine! You throw 20cents in, out comes a glassful of nicely chilled milk. No better way to start up a day in Tirol I suppose?

This time we headed to the stretch below the fall. Compared with last time (in May), the water was much lower (say, 20% less), making wading easier. The water temperature, at 8c in the morning, sounds perfect for this time of the year.