Adventures of fly angler in Poland

 First time I was in the North-East part of Poland, in the region called Mazury.  My primary purpose was participation in orienteering competitions.  But, I took my fly rod and associated gear with me, just in case of the opportunity.  I got a hint from a friend, that there are some streams with graylings, not so far from the camping where I stayed overnight. These streams are small and not widely known.   The stream flows in the forested canyon. I left my car in the nearest village and hiked along forest trail. The lower part of the stream looked very clear, and shallow. No signs of the fish presented.  The water didn't look like proper grayling habitat. The river banks are swampy, and the bottom covered with sand. I need to look for the gravel bottom. So I hiked further upriver. From the high point, I spotted some gravel patches in the river and faster water stretch. I descended down and started fishing.  I caught a couple of small chubs, 4-6 cm...

September is the last month, when we can fish in most of Slovak trout and grayling rivers. I decided to give a visit to Slovak river Vah , first time in this year due to COVID, which disrupted many fishing plans and trips. I arrived early at 6:00 AM to the license shop in the village Ivachnova. I had plenty of time to assemble my rods and dress up in waders and boots. The shop owner, a lovely lady, arrived at 6:40 AM. Water was low 35 cm in Besenova, and quite warm, +16 C The first hour I spend with Euro nymphing, using various nymphs. Nothing. Looks like a dead river. Quite unusual, because I usually had trout bites in this place.  I crossed the river to the other side. Fished along the edge of the fast and slow current.  No bites at all. My polarized glasses fogged. It ended up in the wading incident. I tripped over a rock under the water, which I didn't see, and I fell into the river. All my clothes became wet, water penetrated inside waders, and even to my baselay...