Adventures of fly angler in Poland

Couple of months ago I was invited by Igor Glinda to take part in 2-day double hand casting masterclass. Igor and his wife Gosia run "Tartak nad Bobrem" - rural hotel in the picturesque valley of the river Bóbr. This place often chosen for fly fishing events and training courses.  This one was a two-day double hand rod spey casting training course. It was provided by two-handed casting instructor Piotr Talma. River Bóbr located in the western part of Poland, near city Jelenia Góra. It is 375 km from my home. The road took 4 hours, with short stop in McDonald's somewhere in the middle. Biggest part of the route was 4-lane motorway A4 with speed limit 140 km/h, so it was quite easy. Only the last 60 km was through some winding rural roads. When I was already at my destination, 8 km from Tartak, I decided to check river Bóbr, and stopped at the bridge to look to the water. The river was so nice and inviting, so I decided to stop there for fishing. Bóbr was running ...

This year I visited river Łupawa in Pomorze, northern region of Poland, close to Baltic sea. It's not that different from similar rivers in the area, but it got some international recognition after European fly fishing championship in 2016. It was my second visit. First was not very successful from fishing standpoint, but I beloved in this area. It's kind of magic place, and I was happy just to be there. Łupawa is rather small stream, surrounded by forests and marshlands. Forest rivers like this usually challenging for fly fishing. Overhanging branches, fallen trees, abundant logjams, difficult wading.  Fortunately, Łupawa on C&R section is quite easy for wading. Riverbed covered by sand, gravel or cobblestones. Depth in many places is shallow, around knee level, which allows to cross river or navigate around obstacles with ease. Popular fly fishing stretch starts from the bridge in Osiedle rybackie (Fishermen's village), a small settlement near fish farm. Below th...

Last couple of days I spent on my home river. On Friday 22.06, I went fishing in the evening.  Water level was very low, 221 cm, flow 3,5 - 3,7 m3/s. It's not very good for fishing, when flow is low, cobblestone bottom got covered with unpleasant slimy algae. That stuff constantly clings to flies, and it requires to clean hooks on every second cast. Disgusting!   River was a bit crowded. There was 2 other fishermen in the pool. But they were more talking than fishing, so I got an advantage and occupied the best spot in the head of the pool, where's faster current.  Faster current means less algae, and less necessity to clean the flies.  I set up scud imitation as anchor fly, and pink head micronymph on the dropper. Big rainbow took fly fiercely, short fight, and fish gone.  I didn't mention, which nymph it took.  More attempts, and second fish took the fly. Also decent rainbow. Fish ran upstream, then downstream. I released reel to let it go....

Raba runs catastrophically low. 224 cm and 4,3 m3/s the whole week. That's a result of premature hot summer in April and May. But, water below dam is still very cold, +6,5 / +7 C. I fished early in the morning, and it was very slow.  My gear of choice was Ego Glass rod 7'8" 4wt with OPST Commando 175 skagit head, 7'5" floating tip and 7' tapered leader. I tried few streamers, black and purple wooly buggers, white zonker. Only one fish seduced on purple wooly bugger with pink head. There was a hatch of small insects, but I didn't see surface activity. Only one big trout jumped near the opposite bank with loud and spectacular splash. Later, I tried Czech nymph without success. Floating pieces of grass in the river made it harder, I need to clean my flies from the grass on every cast. Quite annoying. I fished until 8:30, and went home. Praying for the rain and higher level.

There's a geological formation in Poland, called Kraków-Częstochowa Upland , also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or simply Jura . The term related to Jurassic geologic period. There are a number of rivers that originate from the Jura, among them the Warta, Biała Przemsza, Pilica, Dłubnia, Szreniawa, Prądnik, Wiercica . Jurassic rivers have something in common. In their upper part, they are mostly small streams, 3-15 m in width. Bottom is sandy with patches of gravel.  Access to the water is challenging for fly fisherman. Banks are covered by dense bushes, or forest, and there's a lot of logjams in the stream flow. Warta is one of the longest Polish rivers. It's length is 808 km. But in the upper part it is a typical small trout stream. Before this trip, I investigated access points to the Warta in Google maps. It is not easy task. River is surrounded by dense bushes , and there's a lot of private property around, and no paved roads going to the river, wit...