I Love DH, annual meeting on Drwęca

Every year in the middle of May I go to the river Drwęca near the city Toruń to the festival "I love DH".  It's a meetup of Polish double hand fly rod enthusiasts. This year it was kind of special because it was not organized as a festival, more like meet of friends.  There were not so many people.

I traveled alone from Kraków. Started at 1:30 AM and drove all night on empty roads. No police, no other cars. I didn't see other drivers in 40 minutes of driving, which is unusual. 

At 4:20 I arrived to the city Łodż, where I picked up my friend, Tomek.  We planned to arrive early and spend some time on the river, before the meeting.

First, we arrived to the site called "Plaża/Glinki" (The Beach/Clay). For me this name has a special meaning. 2 years ago I fell into the water from the cutbank while fishing, and dipped up to my chest.

This time, river was very low, about 15-16 m3/s. It's possible to cross it to the other size below Glinki, it's waist-deep in the deepest places but less than knee-deep in the middle.

I thoroughly fished deep hole under the left bank. I've seen some fish splashed (probably European barbel), but I had no contact.

There were a few very big snails near the river bank. They are the same types of snail Helix pomatia, which are very valuable as delicious food named Escargot in France.  You maybe don't know that there are snail farms in Poland, which mostly serve to the French market.

We moved to another location, named "Straszna góra" (scary mountain). This place is my favorite, it offers fast water sections.

I spent a couple of hours casting my fly. No fish. Since I was very sleepy, I took a nap for 40-50 min. The old fallen tree served as my "bed".  I think it looks very strange from the side when the fisherman goes to the river and looks for the place where to sleep on the bank :-).
But, after a short sleep, I felt much better.

We moved by car between different fishing sites along the river. For double-handed rods, magnetic or vacuum rod holders like this are absolutely must-have. It allows you to carry assembled rods on top of the car.

The next location was "Skarpa" (The Cliff). A scenic place with pine forest on top of the cliff with river overlook.

Here I bet another fellow fisherman, Bartek. He caught one small fish - a perch.
We had a short talk, then I continued casting down and across.

Another fisherman I met on the river, used homemade "double handed" rod, converted to fly rod from the long pole, used for fishing with bobber-and-bait method.  Very resourceful.

At 2 PM we arrived to the hut at the bank of Drwęca. We had a friendly meeting with fellow fishermen, ate grilled sausages, and had a beer. I missed these meetings so much because we had to stay at home for two months.

The weather changed many times during the day, from light rain early in the morning, to bright sun in the middle of the day.

 I didn't had any fish, as most of the other guys too. It was not a "fishy" day. Bartek had a small perch, and Tomek had a pike on the end of the line, but his fly was bitten off :-(

But it was not about fishing. Mostly we all missed so much these days of fellowship, how it was in good old pre-COVID times.

Goodbye Drwęca, and many thanks to all the guys and girls, that this meeting happened. Special thanks to Robert, who is a mastermind behind "I Love DH" movement.