the Bruche in Heiligenberg (1° catégorie-Private) on 16 juni 2023, with low water
On June 16, 2023, I went for an evening hatch on the Bruche upstream from Heiligenberg. the water was clear and very low on this hot, windy day. The river is suffering and we can only hope for the stormy rains expected in the next few days..
Arriving around 7:30 p.m., a few rare rise of small fish on the horizon. I started with an SHP-1, my fly of the month for June 2023. It was quickly successful with about fifteen fish: chub, bleak spirlin (which did not hesitate to swallow a spent on hook 12), graylings ( including 2 specimens of around 30 cm) and some little trout, the most beautiful trout hardly seeming to be interested in insects, yet numerous above the currents: imagos of heptageneids, submagos of ignitas, brown caddisflies and various gnats. I also caught some fish with the TOT, CBF and SEP-2.
A nice evening hatch, even if I hadn’t hit any big fish.
the chubs were hungryI caught aso some little troutsa grayling with 30 cm , who took my SHP-1 on the surfacethe spirlin bleaks take all flies they find..Selection of the season
Fishing on graylings in autumn is one of my flyfishing greatest pleasure. Thymallus thymallus is the Latin name for the grayling, the only representative of the family of thymallids, close to salmonids. It is characterized by a large dorsal fin. It’s been a fish for a long time that fascinates me. I love particulary fishing him in fall, so much so that I dedicated a book to him a few years ago.
A book by Claude Behr
I published this book in 2009. It is dedicated to the quest of a fisherman fishing with the fly the Bruche through the seasons. Here you will read some anecdotes and various reflections on fly fishing, art and nature. You will discover a few fishing spots in Alsace, but also in France and abroad.
In 10 years much water has flowed under the bridges but the situation of the graylings has seriously deteriorated throughout Europe. Predation of cormorants, environmental degradation, global warming, considerable reduction of insects which constitute its staple food, the species is even now threatened in Europe. In 2019 its population has dropped considerably and it is essential that the fly fishermen gently release in the water the thymallids that they are still lucky to catch with their flies.
If you are interested in buying the book, you can get it from Decitre or Amazon, where you can also obtain the digital version.
In 2019, some rare specimens were still available in the Bas-Rhin at the shop of my friend Jacky (Fario in Dorlisheim), in the Haut-Rhin at Passion Pêche (in Neuf-Brisach) and by the shop PLCin Colmar. On the other hand, since 2018, is no longer available in my online shop.
What the critic said
“Autumn graylings” is the title of the book by Claude Behr. Very well written and filled with references, this little book is tasted as an aperitif, by the fire. Article published in the magazin Flyfishing of January-February 2010
“The tribulations of an Alsatian fisherman”. For twenty-seven years, Claude Behr has been unfurling his passion for fly fishing along the Bruche, an Alsatian river that he knows as his pocket. Mixing humour, knowledge of the fish and their milieu, and reflections on a life of fisherman, this book actuated, month after month, the passion of a man for an obscure object of desire: flyfishing. The author also delivers a declaration of love to Nature, a theatre of all his fishing memories. Thus, he evokes his river with tenderness: “The valley of the Bruche is still beautiful in this month which is said to be pretty [may]. The Greens dominate the landscapes, flood the meadows that are constelled with yellow gold buds and dandelion flowers. Claude Behr loves his river and also makes us want to get lost with him. Article published in the magazinPleasure of fishing N ° 82 of January-February-March 2010
