Adventures of fly angler in Poland

Today is the last day of trout season in Poland.  I decided to spend it on lower section of Dunajec river, which is perfect for streamer fishing.  I really love streamer fishing, how I will live without it 5 months till 31th of January 2020? :-( Unfortunately, river was very dirty. Maybe it was a result of recent heavy rain. Level at Gołkowice 160 cm and flow 40 m3/s, which is OK. But, the water was almost opaque. There's very minor chance that fish will see my fly. But I had a backup plan. If fishing will be so-so, I planned to visit Obidza waterfall, and make few shots with tripod and Nikon DSLR camera. There were no fish takes on streamer on lower Dunajec OS (C&R section).  I moved to the upper section in Krościenco nad Dunajcem.  The river looked even worse, like coffee with milk. Anyway, I tried my favorite hole with streamer. To my surprise, fish took my fly so aggressively, almost pulled rod out of my hand.  Fish jumped like a rocket, be...

The post is not really about fishing. I wanted to checkout upper section of small stream.  I wasn't sure there is a fish, but who knows - maybe.  The stream is very cold and clear.  Mostly, the water is very shallow. If there's a fish, it should be in some deeper water. I found plunge pool under the weir (artifical waterfall), with plenty of water. There should be something in this water. Let's try There's small trout in it!  Tiny, nicely colored. But my goal wan't really fishing (or not only fishing). I took a tripod, Nikon DSLR camera, and neutral density filters.  ND-filter slows down shutter speed , to achieve effect of blurred moving water. That effect often used in calendars and photo books. Waders and wading boots are not only for fishermen. To make these shots, I set up tripod with camera to the water in the middle of the stream. After that, I drove another 40-50 km to another remote stream. There's no fish, but ni...

On the return way from Slovakia trip, I decided to stop near the stream, which I passed by many times. There's a cascade of rapids above the highway bridge. I walked there, and made few shots, using tripod and ND-filter on my Nikon DSLR camera. I drove few kilometers downstream of the river. There's very inviting place near the road.  An artifical waterfall created big and deep plunge pool. If there is a fish in this stream , it should be there. I decided to give it a try with my nymphing rod.  The water was super-cold in this stream. Much colder than in Raba, Dunajec, or other rivers I usually fish.  I caught one small brown trout.  I believe there's more, but it was too cold, and I decided to leave. The stream looks fantastic. I don't think there's trophy fish in it. But the scenery is very wild and beautiful. 

I planned short vacation in Slovakia. Two days I spent hiking in the mountains. One day I devoted to fishing on river Vah. Conditions were perfect - 46 cm at Besenova and 16,6 C temperature. First, I started at Besenova stretch. This river is famous for big rainbows. So I expected to catch few of them, especially on dry fly.  There was almost no takes on nymph. Only two small fish. I moved to Hotel Summit bridge.  There I spotted one decent rainbow trout, just under the bank. It was eating small insects from surface.  I tried to approach it with dry fly. Fish was very close to the bank, and in shallow water. I positioned myself, so fish don't see me. I made few casts, without reaction. Fish was still there, but I wasn't sure where exactly. I returned to the bridge and spotted this fish again. It moved a bit farther upstream. Probably disturbed by my casts.  I changed my position to upstream from fish.  I cast my fly few times downstream. Once fish struck i...

Another famous stream in Roztocze is Tanew. Not because of fishing, but rather as a natural landmark. Part of this river goes through the natural reserve area, called "Reservat przyrody nad Tańwa". In this stretch, river has cascade of numerous small waterfalls. They are like steps in the riverbed. This post is not about fishing, which is rarity in my blog. But I decided not to fish in this river, didn't have much time for it.  I only did a short hike. Tourist trails go along the stream from both sides. The path has it's own names "Szlak szumów", or trail of cascades. I'm not sure about fish in this area. The stream is too shallow. But im sure it exists somewhere in this waters. The place was a bit crowded on weekend. In the beginning of the trail, there's sign for fishermen that fishing permitted only from left side of the river. It is strictly catch and release area. Fishing is possible with spinning and fly fishing ge...

Roztocze is hilly area in eastern part of Poland, near the border with Ukraine. It characterised by many small streams and rivers. Main rivers are Wieprz, Por, Tanew, Szum. I dreamed to visit this area quite ago. But it is quite far from Kraków, about 280 km or 3 hours to drive. At this time I was in the city Rzeszów, which is in 130-140 km from Roztocze area. So I decided to give it a try. First river I visited was Wieprz. It is typical lowland headwater stream, originating in the forests and hills of Roztocze.  Water was very low at this time. Level 47 cm at Michałów, and flow 2,3 m3/s. First I came to one of the bridges, to check how the water looks like. Water was so clear and shallow. Mostly between ankle-deep and knee-deep. When I walked over the bridge, I've seen many fish running away upstream. Ooops, that's a big challenge! If fish is so spooky, it will be very hard to catch them in the river like this. The bottom is mostly sandy, with patches of grave...