Second Fishy Tale
 of my Summer Travels   

It was a family trip to the Alsace-Loraine region of France, where we were to stay in a French family’s house while they stayed in ours here in Bala Cynwyd. One of the day trips they had suggested to us was to visit some small towns in near-by Germany along the edge of the Black Forest. To my delight we crossed many perfectly clear, cold streams where trout could be seen. Imagine my regret that I’d left my fishing gear behind!

By the time we made another trip into Germany it was late in the day and we took a different route.  The blue lines on the map that looked like they would be streams of size with fish in them turned out to be trickles. Even so, the countryside was stunning and we took a long hike until dusk.  On the way back I noticed small darting forms in a small pool of the map’s blue line trickle we had parked near. Knowing this would be my only opportunity to fish before we were to spend our last few days in Paris, I decided to bring out the gear and have a go.

The gear in this instance is sparse. It’s the “back burner” version I take when I don’t think I’ll actually have the occasion to fish and when space in the suitcase is limited. For me this version consists of a collapsible telescoping rod of 5 feet (rod-lette), which has enough flex to throw the 3-4 weight line which normally goes on my 8-foot rod. (Ya’ gotta” work it, and it’s not a pretty picture, but I have managed to fling a fly out about 35 feet.) I also take my strap-on chest fly box with nips, floatant and forceps dangling from it, and a belly bag containing extra tippet, natural strike indicator, additional larger flies and sun block. The whole mess fits into a small canvas bag and weighs about 4 ½ pounds. ANY trip can accommodate that, yes?

Thusly equipped, I walked down-stream (stream-lette) of the pool I’d spied, and worked my way up, learning the limitations of my rig in the very tight quarters this tiny stream offered. By the time I got to the pool, I’d snagged lots of trees and bushes and gotten no hits. Following my first cast into the tail of the narrow pool, which was no more than 10 feet from the spill falling into the head of the pool, I thought I detected a tug on the bead-head I was using. A cast to the middle sent small trout scattering. The third cast was aborted by branches behind me as was the forth. At last I got a good cast off to the head of the pool-lette, neatly dropping in just in front of the spill. Suddenly there is a fish pulling and with authority. To my amazement, what leapt totally out of the water at the end of my line was a remarkably big fish considering its supporting water…a trout of at least 12 inches,…fat and healthy as can be. I was so tickled to have enticed the “king of the hole”, the fact that fat-so got away before I could get a closer look, and that I was not able to arouse another strike, was almost okay. Such surprises lay hidden beneath the surface! Such anomalies! I think I will forever be dreaming of what German trout awaits me in the larger waters of the Black Forest.

- Judith Palmer - 
 Winter 2002 Issue