Adventures of fly angler in Poland

 Today Vah river section between Ivachnova and Besenova looked better.  The water was still colored, but clarity about 1 m. River level at Besenova 37 cm, temperature 16 C.  I started fishing from the pool near white bridge in Ivachnova. It is one of the biggest pools in the C&R river section, and it is a home for many big fish. In the beginning fishing was slow. No activity in 40 minutes. Then I got a strike. Fish was strong, and probably big. I think it was a rainbow trout. After short fight, the tension released. I pulled out the rig, and found that the bottom nymph was torn out. What a disaster! First fish, and it's gone.   There were no other takes in this pool. I moved to the other side of the river. There is main current, separated from slow and shallow river part.  Current seams are one of the most trout holding water. The place was just perfect for euro nymphing. I got a strike, and it was rainbow again. Not very big, probably 40-45 cm. But it ...

 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 ...

Today we have a holiday in Poland - Independence Day. I planned a trip to Dunajec river, in attempt to catch Danubian salmon on streamers. When I arrived to known spot early in the morning, I found there's already someone fishing the run. River was very low. Dunajec Gołkowice 137 cm and 14,1 m3/s. I fished this run with streamers when it was 50 m3/s and it was awesome. Many big trout on streamers. But now, it looked too skinny and not attractive.  I drove to the Mostki, to the deepest hole in this part of Dunajec. I spent couple of cours, casting heavy streamer on intermediate line with 9wt rod. No luck.  Since it's a holiday, I wanted to celebrate it with some real fish, not just grass and sticks caught in the water.  Luckily, I had my car packed with various fly rods for different conditions and methods. I headed to the Poprad river , which is close to Gołkowice.  Poprad also was low. Measurement  20 cm, 9,85 m3/s at Stary Sącz, and 98 cm, 6,58 m3/s at Muszyna...

After previous rendezvous with barbels on Poprad river, i wanted to build on that success . Weather was sunny, up to +7 during mid of the day, but early in the morning was -1 C. I dressed up in triple fleece layer under my waders. The river was low and clear, 126 cm and 12,8 m3/s at Stary Sacz, 102 cm and 8m3/s at Muszyna.  I arrived to Barcice at 9:00 and stared to the river from the bridge, trying to spot the fish. I've seen nothing, but place looks "fishy". There's deep hole below the bridge, and nice slow pockets around.  I fished the main current, and pockets around concrete bridge peers. Only one small brown trout lured by my hare's ear nymph.   I alked downstream. 200-300 m below the bridge, river became shallow, and it's easy to cross to the other side at such level.  There's nice, wide run with 1-1,5 m depth and slow pace. i think it's exactly what barbels would like to live in.  But , no contact with fish detected. I returned to my car and de...

 Trout season on Vah closed in the last day of September. So I tried to catch the last train. The river level at Besenova was 53 cm and temperature 15 C. It looks like ideal water level.  I arrived at 7:00 and bought a license in the Korchma Ivachnova. In this trip, I took my new rod Ego Competitor 10'/2wt (really it is 3 wt). I assembled two my euro nymphing rods to compare them. First location is deep pool near the town hall. The main current goes along the bank, and this spot is quite long and deep. 2 years ago, I caught there 8 rainbows in one hour or so.  But this time, there were no strikes. I tried different nymphs. In 30 minutes or so, I got a nice rainbow. The fish was strong, and jumped few times. I allowed it to play a bit and calm down, then grabbed in the net.  The bite was on small "raczki" (cryfish) nymph on hook size 18 and 2,5mm bead. Raczek(Crayfish) is an original Polish style of nymphs. It does not imitate crayfish, and the size is usually small. ...

 On the third day, I had tough choice - what river and part to choose. Vah at Besenova was still high, at 85-87 cm. Not good option. I was about to go to Bela again, but different part. Or upper section of Vah, where I never fished before. I drove to Esox fishing shop again. Now it was normally open from 9:00. We had a nice talk with store owner again. Very sympathetic man. I decided to buy license to Vah section #21 . It's a river between Liptovski Hradok (junction with Bela river)  and up to Hotel Janosik in the city Liptovski Mikulas. Quite long section, 11 km.  The upper section of the Vah #21 starts in Liptovski Hradok. This part, colloquially named "Borova Sihot stretch", is the most wild and senic. River is unaltered by dams and channelisation there. Water is very fast, with many rapids and plunge pools. Level at Liptovski Mikulas 111 cm, temperature 13 C. Unfortunately, from fishing prospective, it's not as good as it looks. I fished from Bela mouth to the Bor...