On High and Even Higher Rivers

I was complaining that this spring has been so wet that the high & muddy water was keeping me from having the kind of fishing I wanted. The mother Nature most likely heard me, and decided to show me what really high water means. Most of the Czech Republic (and surrounding parts of Germany and Austria, as Nature cares little for man made lines on the map) was hit by heavy rains and major flooding.

This chart shows volume on a small trout stream nearby Prague, one that is stocked with rainbows each spring. It holds trout mostly in the 25 - 30 centimeters range, as its low summer flow can not provide cover to bigger fish (not to mention the heavy fishing pressure). For most of the year it is easy wading, with the water reaching to my knees at the most - this week the water flow on this little brook hit 100 cubic meters per second, which is roughly a hunderd times the norm, or about the flow we get in Vltava in Prague, a much wider river.

I don't think that my complaining was direct cause for the flooding, but it seems unlikely I will be having much fun fishing the Kocába and other trout streams this season, given the damage done to the fish and surrounding countryside.