Adventures of fly angler in Poland

 The heat decreased, and we got fine weather for fishing: +22 during the day, +14 in the night.   I decided to go to Raba early in the morning.  This river is in 30 min of driving from my home. The water is very low and moderately clear. 222 cm and 3,7 m3/s. At sunrise time I was on the water. Short walk to my favorite hole from 2022. There I got some nice rainbows and biggest brown trout on Raba.  The river was calm. No other fishermen spotted. I rigged the euro nymhping rod with two nymphs: small brown noname with 2,5mm bead and hook #16, and pink "parkinson" (silicone worm) on #10.   First two walks through the run from the tail to the head of the pool produced nothing.  There's snag in one place, I lost couple of flies in it. On the third approach I got a fish, and it was a big fish!  When I saw it, I decided it's not a trout. Silvery body and orange fins. Is it big chub? No, it's a nase, or pigfish. Pretty big and fat one.   Th...

 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...

 This summer I planned a trip to Belgium, to fish for barbels in Ardennes region. But, most rivers in Ardennes closed for fishing until September, due to low water conditions and high temperatures. So, I spent my vacation mostly without fishing, engaging in other sports: running, hiking, orienteering. On my last week, I decided to visit Slovakia for 3 days. I started from river Vah near Ruzomberok. When I arrived in Ivachnova early in the morning, I noticed that water was dirty and colored after recent rain. Clarity about 50 cm near Besenova hotel. Level 35 cm. This river part didn't look attractive. I decided to fish lower C&R section in Ruzomberok, because the river is more shallow in this part, and water clears itself a bit after few kilometers downstream. I started to fish deep and fast riffle section below the weir.  Soon, I got some decent fish. It was a great fighter. Due to heavy current , it was hard to pull fish against it, so I ran downstream and netted it 20 m ...

Trout season in Poland has ended. It's time to sum up the results.  I has not so much fishing in this year.  Compared to 2019, the success is modest.   Here are some biggest fish of the year, different species. Rainbow trout - 55 cm  , Vah river, dry fly (tiny CDC emerger no.20) Rainbow trout - 56 cm, Dolina Będkowska, hopper-dropper (micronymph) Brown trout -  54 cm, Dunajec river, black nymph size 14.  Brown trout -  52 cm, Raba river, nymph Nase fish, 48 cm, Dunajec river, nymph   

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...