Viktor Schauberger – A Forgotten Genius
By John Bailey
It is with enormous excitement that I have recently discovered one of my books, presumed lost. I’ll give you its precise details because, if you’re interested in more about fishing than simply catching fish, it’s a book you really should get to grips with. The title is ‘Living Water’. The subtitle is ‘Viktor Schauberger and the Secrets of Natural Energy’. The author is Olof Alexandersson. My edition was published by Gateway Books, in Bath in the UK. It first came out in 1982 in the UK and my edition was reprinted in 1995. The ISBN number is 0-946551-57-X. There. No excuses.
But why the fuss? Why my excitement? Viktor Schauberger was born in June 1885 and came from an ancient Bavarian, aristocratic family. He rose to prominence in the 1920s and 1930s for his work, primarily, in transporting timber by means of water chutes from the forests where it was felled. So far, so absolutely uncompelling you are thinking. Not so. In fact, Schauberger’s entire genius lay in understanding water and comprehending the central, dominating importance water has upon our lives. As early as the 1920s, in his speeches and in his articles, he warned us of the environmental crisis that we are now caught up in. Our degrading of the planet he saw as early as then though, through much of his life, he met with little but derision and scorn. So, if you like, he was one of the earliest prophets warning us where our greed, our short-sightedness and our ignorance would lead us.
But again, you’re saying, so what? What’s this got to do with me as a fly angler? Well, essentially, Schauberger was just fascinated by water and its properties. His entire life was consumed with the study of water’s health. He came to realise the difference between thick water and robust water. And, be quite sure, there is a significant difference between the two. It was Schauberger ninety years ago that realised deforestation is environmentally, criminally insane. Without forests, without tree cover, water is fatally wounded. And how many times on every continent have we seen this? Strip watercourses of the trees surrounding them and in months, not years, that river, that stream, that rivulet is destroyed.
Schauberger saw the huge importance of the river’s essential meandering course. He realised that rivers create their own form. A snaking passage through the countryside that is absolutely essential. Destroy these meanders through dredging and you destroy the vitality of the river, its capability to support meaningful life.
Of course, today, in the UK, we’re fortunate to have a body like the Wild Trout Trust. Or the Usk Wye Foundation. The men and women who lead these organisations understand how rivers tick. They realise that gravels must be cleared, that riffles must be created, that bank-side vegetation must flourish. But I wonder if even they see what true water vibrancy is all about. It’s almost something more than you can put into words. As you read this book about Schauberger, you realise that a true intimacy with water is almost like a love affair, or a belief in a God. I don’t wish that to sound pious or over the top. Read the book and you’ll realise it’s not. Read the book and you’ll realise that water has properties you’ve never even guessed at. And this realisation, as a fly fisherman, can be astounding.
Read this book and, probably for the first time, you will come to see how salmon can leap waterfalls. You’ll understand why trout, when alarmed, flee away upstream rather than downstream. You might come to a new perception of why sea trout – and eels – tend to travel at night. You’ll certainly view trout lies afresh. The importance of water temperatures, in particular, will impinge with a new urgency.
Let’s say you do as I urge and search out the book. Within pages you will be seeing exactly what I’m banging on about here. But, you might just focus in on the piece where he describes stones dancing in a cold river at night. This might just make you pause. That Schauberger could believe something so far-fetched might make you question the central tenets of the book. I’ll confess, ten years ago, I wasn’t sure about this myself and then, truthfully, I met a guy in the Scottish highlands who swore he’d seen this very thing. Yes, stones not just rolling but bouncing in a cold, gushing, night stream.
Personally, I’d like every serious, committed, intelligent angler to get hold of and to read this book. The fish we love live in water and there has never been a more important book written on that particular element than this one.
If you would indeed like to read more then please click on the link below to purchase a copy from Amazon.