Fish of the Saale
Salmonid water up in the riffles, calm coarse-fish swims further down - the Saale has something for every angler. Each card shows the closed-season calendar and minimum size at a glance; tap a species for its full profile.
Rich water, moody fishing
Electro-fishing surveys above the Gemünden campsite found 17 species in 2007 and 15 in 2011 - a varied river community. But the Saale gives nothing away easily: on average only about a third of the fish that are stocked are ever caught.
The nase - the river's keystone fish
The nase is the central target of stocking here. It grazes the algae off the gravel beds and so keeps the riverbed healthy - ecologically priceless, which is why it was named fish of the year in 2020. Alongside it the river is stocked with burbot and eel, grayling, brown trout and carp.
The aim is never to tip in catch-ready fish, but to help the river carry itself: young fish, new spawning gravel from the reopened meander and the groynes, passable weirs. Tending the water, not filling a larder.
An invasive goby has reached the river from the Danube; perch, pike and zander are its natural counterweight, so perch are stocked on purpose. Survey figures: Bavarian environment agency, above the Gemünden campsite.
Eel
Anguilla anguilla
Grayling
Thymallus thymallus
Brown trout
Salmo trutta fario
Rainbow trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
Barbel
Barbus barbus
Perch
Perca fluviatilis
Bream
Abramis brama
Pike
Esox lucius
Carp
Cyprinus carpio
Nase
Chondrostoma nasus
Tench
Tinca tinca
Burbot
Lota lota
Zander
Sander lucioperca
Bullhead
Cottus gobio
Roach
Rutilus rutilus
Rudd
Scardinius erythrophthalmus
Closed seasons and minimum sizes follow the Bavarian AVBayFiG; binding are the current ordinance and your permit. Rules & closed seasons.