Adventures of fly angler in Poland

Today I explored tributaries of Skawinka, river which joins Wisła near Kraków. Skawinka starts from junction of two small rivers, Głogoczowka and Harbutówka. Głogoczowka is quiet stream. Bottom made from sand and fine gravel in some places. The banks are steep, and covered with trees and bushes. Water was very low and clear. I spotted one fish on the sandy bottom. It was a chub, as I guessed by bright orange fins. Nice chub, 35-40 cm. For this small river very decent fish. I tried to cast to that fish, but it was very spooky, due to low water conditions and sunny day. The river is generally shallow, water is below knee. But there are few deep holes, like this one, near the fallen tree.  I was hoping there's some fish hiding, but there was no reaction. Also, it's very hard to wade in such streams without scaring fish off. Small island, and deep slots under the bank.  Then the river became deeper, and I climbed to the steep bank. I made a shortcut throu...

Fly fishermen in Kraków area usually ignore lowland rivers with "coarse" fish (by means not trout or grayling). Usually lowland rivers not well suited for fly fishing - water is opaque in the summer, bottom is muddy and unpleasant to wade, and the flow is slow. But , there are exceptions. Skawinka - big tributary to Wisła, which joins the main river, above Kraków.  It's lower part in city Skawina receives big portion of cooling water from power station, which makes river warm year-around. Bottom composed from fine gravel, which makes it good habitat for fish such as barbel.  It looks like trout water in some places, but trout cannot survive in such warm water. So, river is inhabited by warmwater species: chub, barbel, asp, perch, pike. First fish was a barbel. They live in deep holes with fine gravel bottom.  Another one was caught by spinning fisherman nearby. Another "trophy" fish was a bream... or baby bream. It took micronymph. Water was alm...