Adventures of fly angler in Poland

I was already on Skawa couple of times, and I like it very much, because trout in Skawa are very keen on dry fly. This time, I decided to explore unknown parts of Skawa, where it meets Skawica. There's no access roads going to the river. I found nearest parking spot in the field. The river was close, but separated by line of forest from me.  I assembled my rod, and headed to the water. After some bushwalking, I met the Skawica river.  It is large tributary to Skawa.  Fishing in Skawica closed from 1st September to 31 of January, because it's a spawning stream for brown trout. Water in Skawica is very clear. But in the main river, Skawa, it's always a bit turbid, and has green tint. On the junction, there's fast pocketwater. I covered all pockets with small nymphs. No reaction. I proceeded downstream, casting nymphs almost perpendicular to the current, and let it swim downstream. There was a deeper hole between these rocks.  Sure there must be a t...

On Sunday we had one more spey casting training session in the morning. After lunch, the course officially ended. We thanked Piotr, Igor and Gosia for organization of the training and accommodation. All was very well organized.  On the way home, I decided to hit the river again in search of graylings.  Marcin, another student from the courses, accompanied me . We drove to the very picturesque area, where river winds, surrounded by wall of forest. There's few riffles with fast water, and some deeper holes. I started to fish with nymphs in the slow run, under the overhanging tree branches. I immediately got 3 strikes by graylings, but all fish were lost. I moved downstream to the fast riffle.  I got couple of fish, but all was small. Behind the riffle, in the deep water, I got "proper" grayling. That was very beautiful fish. I walked upstream. The colors of autumn forest are fascinating. This place was so beautiful, that I wanted to stay there l...

In the Friday evening, I arrived to my destination and perfectly accomodated in Tartak. The hotel located in very beautiful area, right on the bank of the river Bóbr. It has spacious rooms, common living area, big dining room, and even holders for fly rods inside. Near the house, there's steep footpath to the river, to the so-called "beach" . There's a dam on the river, with old power station building, which is a kind of tourist attraction. Many people come here to look at the dam and make photos. On the Saturday, our spey casting course officially started. Piotr Talma brought some double handed rods, lines, rod holders.  First, he told some theoretical introduction and demonstrated roll cast on the grass in front of the hotel. Then, we repeated this exercise. Later, we descended to the river, and actual training started. The program was built from simple to more complex excercises: roll cast, switch cast (no direction change), spey casts wit...

Couple of months ago I was invited by Igor Glinda to take part in 2-day double hand casting masterclass. Igor and his wife Gosia run "Tartak nad Bobrem" - rural hotel in the picturesque valley of the river Bóbr. This place often chosen for fly fishing events and training courses.  This one was a two-day double hand rod spey casting training course. It was provided by two-handed casting instructor Piotr Talma. River Bóbr located in the western part of Poland, near city Jelenia Góra. It is 375 km from my home. The road took 4 hours, with short stop in McDonald's somewhere in the middle. Biggest part of the route was 4-lane motorway A4 with speed limit 140 km/h, so it was quite easy. Only the last 60 km was through some winding rural roads. When I was already at my destination, 8 km from Tartak, I decided to check river Bóbr, and stopped at the bridge to look to the water. The river was so nice and inviting, so I decided to stop there for fishing. Bóbr was running ...