Waiting for the next bite
The ice fishermen of Lake Sils
Two different hunters feel very comfortable in Plaun da Lej. Both love fish, both love Lake Sils. But only one of them goes from being the hunter to being the hunted - in winter, when ice fishermen claim the lake.
A scraping sound like a carrot grater chases up the mountains to the left and right of Lake Sils. Antonio Walther is busy drilling a small hole in the sixty centimetre thick ice. He makes one last turn – and the drill is through. The water splashes over the hole onto the ice.
Normally, the colourful jackets of the ice fishermen on Lake Sils can be seen from afar, but today there are no people. A good day for the fisherman, a bad day for the fish. The frozen lake is covered in glittering white flakes from last night, when perhaps the last snowstorm of the season swept across the valley. It is March and the ice fishing season, which began in mid-January, is slowly coming to an end.