The Fuscher Ache runs beside the road up to the Grossglockner, which means most people see it through a windscreen on the way to somewhere else. Their loss. From its source in the Käfertal beneath the glaciers to the Salzach at Bruck it gives you around twenty-eight kilometres of fly water — a high, open glacial valley at the top, then a quick, stony mountain river down through Ferleiten and Fusch. Brown trout are the point here; the grayling are protected all year, so any you meet go straight back. It is fly only with a single barbless hook, and above the Tauernhaus bridge in the Käfertal the streamer box stays shut. One practical matter outranks any fly choice: weirs and a power station on the river can lift the level without much warning, so keep half an eye on the water and an easy line back to the bank.

• Schist metamorphic

• Ecology: Good
• Chemical: Failing to achieve good