Adventures of fly angler in Poland

 Today I went to Brzegi in the evening.  I wanted to catch fish with tenkara first, because it is my new passion. But it was very windy, with small waves on the lake.  I walked along the shoreline to find a place, free of wind.   Still there was a wind, but moderate.  There were no strikes on tenkara. I had a conversation with a man, who caught 2 rainbow trout on nymph on the fly rod.  I rigged my favorite hopper-dropper setup.  The fish were jumping from time to time, but no reaction to my fly. I decided to go home, but stopped at small wooden pier near the parking spot. There is corner of the lake, always full of fish. This place is shallow, and have rich vegetation.  Previous time, I caught a few trout there. I stayed for a while on the pier, and fished with tiny nymph (hook 18) suspended under dry fly. The distance of nymph from the surface was about 50 cm.   There were bites of small fish (likely, rudd) from time to time. ...

 I visited Brzegi after my work. The fishing was slow. No bites and no fish activity for two hours. But near the sunset, trout started to feed near the surface. I re-rigged my fly rod with big dry fly as indicator, and tiny micronymph suspended 15 cm below the surface.  When I spotted fish rising near the bank, I changed my location to get close to them.  After sunset, I got first trout. The fish became more active. I got another one, but it fell off the hook. There were also more bites, but I didn't succeeded to hook them properly.  So it was only one fish scored for today.

I was in fly fishing competition on river Warta (Poland). It's annual event near city Częstochowa, sponsored by local fly shops and businesses. Warta is one of the longest Polish rivers but in the upper section it's typical overgrown small stream. It's tough for fly fishing, very few places with good access to water and space for overhead cast. Organizers made it even more difficult, and banned wading, so you can fish only from the bank. Exceptions are for crossing river to the other side or dealing with snags. Weather was cloudy with chance of rain. River was at low level, 71 cm and flow 2,2 m3/s. I arrived to my beat early and waited for the start time. Registration of catches electronic - you need to send photo of the fish to the organizers by phone. Photo shows the fish against the measurement tape. Only fish caught in the timeframe 9.15-13.15 is counted, if the length is more than 30 cm. I got nothing except small perch (doesn't qualify). The winner got 48 cm brown...

 Today I have day off on my work. My main goal was a doctor visit in hospital in another town. After hospital, I headed to Raba river. It was very clear water, such water is only in spring. In summer, Raba runs dirty because of silt coming from the dam.   I hit couple of my favorite sports with euro nymphing, and got no bites.  Then I decided to drive home, but to stop on Brzegi quarry.   There was only one man fishing on Brzegi at a time.  The fishing was slow. I started with my Dragontail Hellbender tenkara rod, and streamer.   In the beginning  , there was nothing, But around 16:00, after one hour plus something of fishing, I got a strike.  Short but spectacular fight. It's always adrenaline fight, when using tenkara rod, because it's not forgiving mistakes. But I did it right, and nice 45cm rainbow trout landed in my net. I switched between my rods, alternating between tenkara and Vision Sisu 6wt fly rod, rigged with hopper-drop...

 My Dragontail Hellbender tenkara rod was broken recently. It is broke in my hands, not during fish fight, neither I hit the rod against hard subject.   The manufacturer decided this is manufacturing defect, and offered me to send a replacement part for free.  I decided to try my fixed rod on Brzegi quarry. I came to the site n the evening, as usually. There were no other fishermen, which was suspicious. Usually, my favorite spot is often occupied.   I started with my dry fly rod, then switched to tenkara.  I attached nymph imitating red worm, and slowly worked through the water, letting nymph sink, and pulling it up. Fishing nymph on stillwater more resembles streamer fishing, because you need to animate it.   Suddenly, fish grabbed my nymph. Fish on! The rod bent, and the fight started.   It is a challenge to fight a big fish on tenkara rod.   I held rod low and parallel to the ground (so it bends in the horizontal ...