Adventures of fly angler in Poland

 On the way back I decided to stop at Dunajec special Catch and Release section, known as "OS Dunajec" in Poland. I woke up at 3:15, packed my stuff in the car , and drove to Krościenko nad Dunajcem. It was cloudy, and the river was of medium clarity, like 60-70 cm. The river was at medium-low level, 177 cm and 19'3 m3/s.  First I tried the place near adventure park and auto camping.  I spend 45 min, maybe a hour. No fish.  Strange, because this place was always productive to me.  I sat in the car and wanted to fish in Księdzowe Pole.  Unfortunately , there is only one parking nearby, and it is marked as private - violators will be towed at their own expense.   I skipped that place.  On the "Second Wall" also no parking now. It is changed to the bicycle lane.  Looks like provincial government likes cyclists, but hates fishermen.  11 km part of the river, uber-popular among fly fishermen from the whole Poland. The license is not chea...

 First time in this year I came to Dunajec river.  The river was low and clear, 191 cm and 31,1 m3/s in Krościenko nad Dunajcem. I arrived to the river at 5:00 in the morning.  The first location I tried was the end of Dunajec special C&R section in Ochotnica.  It was good in previous year during higher water level. We caught few big trout just under the bank.  But , during low water this place changed. I think fish located to the middle of the river. I had couple of small trout on streamer. Nothing special. Moved to Krościenko nad Dunajcem, to the stretch between new foot bridge and first wall. New footbridge created great opportunity to fish both sides of the river. Actually, you can cross the river in wading boots too, but it can be dangerous, because of swift current and very slippery rocks in this area. I fished the hole below the bridge with my trout spey rod multiple times. I rigged it with brown zonker on the end, and wet fly (Irish wingless style) o...

It was 3rd of June, Corpus Christi holiday.  I woke up at 3:00, loaded into the car at 3:10 and arrived to Tylmanowa at 4:15. This is my personal speed record , 93 km for 1 h 10 min with average speed 89km/h.   The river dropped to 204 cm, with flow 45m3/s and temperature +10 C.   I started at the same place, where I got big trout in my previous visit. The story about it is here: https://polishflyangler.blogspot.com/2021/05/pb-brown-trout-of-this-year.html But, due to low water, there were less fish in this place.  I caught 2-3 small trout, nothing really exiting.  Moved to other place, near sawmill. It's the same place, where we had guiding trip with Wojtek and Jaroslav two weeks ago.  I fished the place, where I hooked and lost nase (świnka or pigfish in Polish). It's a waist-deep run with moderate speed, and a lot of rocks on the bottom. I'd call that "boulder garden". It's tricky to fish because of many potential snags.  Soon, I got a big...

This season has not pleased me with big fish yet. In my previous trip, I lost 3 big fish due to negligent handling.  Weather report promised mix of sun and clouds in the morning, and rain in the second half of day. I woke up at 3:15,  loaded my stuff into the car, and headed to Tylmanowa village on the Dunajec river.  At 5:20 I dressed up in waders and started to fish. The river was a bit high , 216 cm and 63m3/s. The small trail between concrete wall and the river was under the water. Water was turbid, but not opaque, with 70-80 cm clarity.  High water means that fish can move from main current to the areas close to the bank, which often has quieter water.  I started with euro nymphing rig, pink silicone worm nymph on the bottom, and small brown one with orange head on the dropper.  Fish were very active. Immediately I caught 3 or 4 small brown trout.  It is good start, but I had a hope for something bigger.  And it's happened.   Immedi...

 On the next day, we booked guiding session with Wojtek Kudłacz, an owner of "Fly Fishing in Poland" hotel and guiding service. Despite of promised rain, the weather was nice, a mix of clouds and sun. The river level raised a bit compared to yesterday, it was 214cm and 60m3/s. Temperature around +10 C, which is very good for fish activity. After breakfast, we boarded to Wojtek's van, and headed downstream to the very end of Dunaec C&R section, near Ochotnica Dolna. The place is known as "Aquarium".   I was fishing in the middle of the river, and got only two small trout. In the meantime, Wojtek and Jaroslav moved close to the concrete wall , and I saw that Jaro is fighting big fish.   I rushed to see it, and here it is - proper Dunajec brown trout.  It took the fly just near the bank.  Then we moved more upstream, and found very nice deep and fast run, "with big fish", as Wojtek promised. But, only couple of small fish were caught there.  I go...