As expected, the river in the afternoon received the glacier melt. Fish loses appetite in the murky water and reactions to the dry flies are few. We enjoyed walking up the stretch, catching many plump rainbows in our memories.

In the afternoon it warmed up to nearly 30c. We parked in the shade, to laze away the heat of the day with a nicely chilled can of beer each.

Next day we spent as enjoyable a time up in the mountain hiking. It was only one short day, or in fact, several hours of fishing. But the reunion with Kalsbach was a happy one, its fish and its charming surroundings.

- Back

　

Half a day's fun fishing. Taking turns, we caught and released about a dozen fish - not too many but just enough.

We climbed down the cliff and waded into the frigid water, 8c. As if to dispel our worries, feisty brownies soon snatched our #12 Caddis and Ant patterns.

In our recollection the river had more rainbows than browns. But on this visit, or in this particular stretch perhaps, we were entertained by browns and more browns - with big ones around 40cm.

The 3rd visit - June '18

13 years since. We finally came back here.

Not an easy task to plan a short holiday of 10days in a country where we have so many places of memories. One place we could not afford to miss was Kals am Grossglockner.

Just before the road ends at the foot of the rocky cliff, stood Hotel Taurerwirt basking in the sun - just as we remembered it.

Before wetting our lines, we had to visit our favourite chapel, Sankt Georgkirche.

Kalsbach suffered from a serious flash flood in Aug 2017. The fish stock was damaged and has not recovered, explained Christoph apologetically. Well, we did receive a pre-warning at the time of booking, but you just have to stand there and drift your fly, whether or not fish does rise.

The river shining in the strong alpine sun, looking all good and inviting.

This lonesome, yet charming chapel made a strong impression on us as we first visited back in 2003. One step inside, the 15 years that passed lost its meaning. It's humbling, and comforting to know some things just don't change even if we do.

Well I have to admit, with a deep regret, life on the secular side never stops. Peter, the friendly owner of Taurerwirt had passed away meanwhile.

His son Christoph has grown up to be a fine young man, and an avid flyfisher, running the hotel just as well as his father - or to be honest, with some extra touch of quality. Life goes on, may God be blessed.