Adventures of fly angler in Poland

 Skawica is rather small mountain stream , a tributary to Skawa, which originates on slopes of Babia Góra mountain, and joins Skawa near Maków Podhalański.  The upper stretch of the river in Zawoja has "no kill" section, which is particularly interesting for fly fishermen. Unfortunately, the best time for this stream, when it was stocked intensively, passed. Lack of protection, poaching, and low water periods, made fish population scarce. But, the stream itself is very picturesque.  The river runs in deep canyon. The access is limited, due to rugged terrain, and lack of parking space. The river surrounded by private property, and there's very few places, when fishermen can leave a car and descend to the water.  Skawica in headwater section is very high gradient stream, with many small waterfalls and rapids. Plunge pools behind the waterwallf usually are obvious holding spots, because between the rapids river is very shallow, especially in the mid-summer I used euro n...

Today is the last day of trout season in Poland.  I decided to spend it on lower section of Dunajec river, which is perfect for streamer fishing.  I really love streamer fishing, how I will live without it 5 months till 31th of January 2020? :-( Unfortunately, river was very dirty. Maybe it was a result of recent heavy rain. Level at Gołkowice 160 cm and flow 40 m3/s, which is OK. But, the water was almost opaque. There's very minor chance that fish will see my fly. But I had a backup plan. If fishing will be so-so, I planned to visit Obidza waterfall, and make few shots with tripod and Nikon DSLR camera. There were no fish takes on streamer on lower Dunajec OS (C&R section).  I moved to the upper section in Krościenco nad Dunajcem.  The river looked even worse, like coffee with milk. Anyway, I tried my favorite hole with streamer. To my surprise, fish took my fly so aggressively, almost pulled rod out of my hand.  Fish jumped like a rocket, be...

The post is not really about fishing. I wanted to checkout upper section of small stream.  I wasn't sure there is a fish, but who knows - maybe.  The stream is very cold and clear.  Mostly, the water is very shallow. If there's a fish, it should be in some deeper water. I found plunge pool under the weir (artifical waterfall), with plenty of water. There should be something in this water. Let's try There's small trout in it!  Tiny, nicely colored. But my goal wan't really fishing (or not only fishing). I took a tripod, Nikon DSLR camera, and neutral density filters.  ND-filter slows down shutter speed , to achieve effect of blurred moving water. That effect often used in calendars and photo books. Waders and wading boots are not only for fishermen. To make these shots, I set up tripod with camera to the water in the middle of the stream. After that, I drove another 40-50 km to another remote stream. There's no fish, but ni...

On the return way from Slovakia trip, I decided to stop near the stream, which I passed by many times. There's a cascade of rapids above the highway bridge. I walked there, and made few shots, using tripod and ND-filter on my Nikon DSLR camera. I drove few kilometers downstream of the river. There's very inviting place near the road.  An artifical waterfall created big and deep plunge pool. If there is a fish in this stream , it should be there. I decided to give it a try with my nymphing rod.  The water was super-cold in this stream. Much colder than in Raba, Dunajec, or other rivers I usually fish.  I caught one small brown trout.  I believe there's more, but it was too cold, and I decided to leave. The stream looks fantastic. I don't think there's trophy fish in it. But the scenery is very wild and beautiful. 

Another famous stream in Roztocze is Tanew. Not because of fishing, but rather as a natural landmark. Part of this river goes through the natural reserve area, called "Reservat przyrody nad Tańwa". In this stretch, river has cascade of numerous small waterfalls. They are like steps in the riverbed. This post is not about fishing, which is rarity in my blog. But I decided not to fish in this river, didn't have much time for it.  I only did a short hike. Tourist trails go along the stream from both sides. The path has it's own names "Szlak szumów", or trail of cascades. I'm not sure about fish in this area. The stream is too shallow. But im sure it exists somewhere in this waters. The place was a bit crowded on weekend. In the beginning of the trail, there's sign for fishermen that fishing permitted only from left side of the river. It is strictly catch and release area. Fishing is possible with spinning and fly fishing ge...

Early in the morning I drove to Raba, to test leaks in my repaired waders, and maybe catch some fish. I arrived at 4:10AM, it was still dark. The river was calm and very low (220 cm). While I unpacked my gear, darkness gone, and I started fishing with first light. First 30 minutes was empty. I got couple of strikes on my colorful wooly bugger, and landed only one small fish. Then I changed gear to my nymphing rod, and got few small trout. Fish started to bite more actively with more sunlight. It took quite small brown nymph on size 16. I got few fish, but all were small. I alternated from time to time nymphing and streamer rod, to work the run in different way. Upstream with nymphs, then down and across with streamer. Something should work. As the sun raised higher, fog cleared. I went upsream to check another run. There were no takes, so I returned to the riffle. Bigger trout often hangs where riffle enters deeper hole. I caught couple of good ones on streamer i...