Adventures of fly angler in Poland

I was in fly fishing competition on river Warta (Poland). It's annual event near city Częstochowa, sponsored by local fly shops and businesses. Warta is one of the longest Polish rivers but in the upper section it's typical overgrown small stream. It's tough for fly fishing, very few places with good access to water and space for overhead cast. Organizers made it even more difficult, and banned wading, so you can fish only from the bank. Exceptions are for crossing river to the other side or dealing with snags. Weather was cloudy with chance of rain. River was at low level, 71 cm and flow 2,2 m3/s. I arrived to my beat early and waited for the start time. Registration of catches electronic - you need to send photo of the fish to the organizers by phone. Photo shows the fish against the measurement tape. Only fish caught in the timeframe 9.15-13.15 is counted, if the length is more than 30 cm. I got nothing except small perch (doesn't qualify). The winner got 48 cm brown...

 Today I was in the city park with kids. There is a small stream in the park. The stream is called Prądnik, a Wisła tributary. It goes through the northern part of the city. There's theoretically a brown trout in it. Also chubs are presented in the lower section. I was a bit sceptical about this stream. There was historically brown trout population, but majority of it in the Ojców national park, out of reach for anglers.   While my girls were playing in the playground, I assembled a tenkara rod and attached a nymph to it. I'm using euro nymphing method with tenkara rod in such streams.  The tree branches pose a great danger for the rod, so I should be very cautious.  There were lots of snags on the bottom, due to many logs and dead tree branches in this stream.  Particularly the place near small tributory inlet looked very perspective.  After few attemprs and snags, I got a little brown trout in it. First trout on Daiwa Expert LT36 tenkara rod. So this...

 First time I was in the North-East part of Poland, in the region called Mazury.  My primary purpose was participation in orienteering competitions.  But, I took my fly rod and associated gear with me, just in case of the opportunity.  I got a hint from a friend, that there are some streams with graylings, not so far from the camping where I stayed overnight. These streams are small and not widely known.   The stream flows in the forested canyon. I left my car in the nearest village and hiked along forest trail. The lower part of the stream looked very clear, and shallow. No signs of the fish presented.  The water didn't look like proper grayling habitat. The river banks are swampy, and the bottom covered with sand. I need to look for the gravel bottom. So I hiked further upriver. From the high point, I spotted some gravel patches in the river and faster water stretch. I descended down and started fishing.  I caught a couple of small chubs, 4-6 cm...

On the way back from Wejherowo to Kraków, I stopped near another nice Pomeranian river.  It was very low and clear, so I was able to spot shools of graylings through polarized glasses. Unfortunately, it is very popular kayaking route. Which means, there's huge traffic of kayaks. Every 1-2 minute someone floats down the river and ask: "Got fish?". Many of them were drunk, or shout very loudly, so the atmosphere was a bit nervous. There's a lot of graylings in this river, but mostly they are small.  Also, fishing is very challenging because of low hanging tree branches.  I lost a lot of flies on these trees. I used euro nymphing method with short glass rod Echo Glass 8'6" 4wt. Normally this is my dry fly rod. But I needed shorter rod on this stream, due to tight space and many obstructions. Here's I captured moment of grayling take on the video: Then I found one nice place, where I spotted bigger graylings. Unfortunately, it was extremely hard to cast into....

 I spent 3 days in Kashubian Tricity - an aglomeration of 3 closely spaced towns: Wejherowo, Reda and Rumia.  Reda is a small river which flows through Wejherowo and joins Baltic sea nearby.  The river was running very low and clear. The depth is less than knee-deep in many places, with occasional deep holes up to 1-2 m.   Dominating species in this area are grayling and brown trout.  Once I started, I caught a grayling. Most of catches were very small brown trout, a lot of them. Also I caught perch.  I tried to avoid too much wading, in such small river it spooks fish. Deeper spots near undercut banks are perspective for holding larger trout. Unfortunately, I caught only small fish. It was a hot day by Polish means (+27 C), but most of the river is covered by dense treeline, so it was very pleasant experience. I caught 30 or maybe 40 fish in 3 hours. They all were small. Nothing to brag about from fishing prospective. But I love special atmosphere of ...

 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...

My next day I dedicated to the river Rega. My Facebook friend Łukasz contacted me, and suggested that he can show me the river near town Łobez. Rega in Łobez is quite a small river. Water was low and clear. Level at Resko station was 288 cm, flow 4,8 m3/s. I met with Łukasz in the morning, and we had breakfast in his apartment. I also was greeted by his friendly dog. I do love dogs. I hope when I'll get old, I'll have my four-legged fishing buddy, who will accompany me on trips. Rega goes through the city, and surroundings look like city park, with many people walking around. Some trees pose danger for fly fishermen. I lost couple of flies on the trees. Łukasz already got few fish. Trout, graylings, and chub.  I had nothing yet. I used small brown and green nymphs. Finally, I got a fish, a small brown trout.  We walked upstream, fishing all the way. Then we found an excellent grayling spot. I caught a couple of graylings and another small brown tr...

I have a 2-week long vacation and decided to make a trip to yet unexplored part of Poland - Western Pomerania.  I booked on Airbnb an apartment in the suburbs of Kołobrzeg on the Baltic sea.  The road trip is about 760 km and 7 hours, by Google maps estimation.  But, it took much longer for me, because I planned a few stops to explore small rivers in the Szczecin area. I drove through Katowice, Opole, Wrocław, and Legnica by A4 motorway. This road is very familiar to me, as I was already a few times in the Wrocław area.  But after Legnica, I stepped into unknown territory.  S3 motorway, or European road E65, is quite new, and there are few parts still in construction near towns Lubin and Polkowice. But from Polkowice to Szczecin it's excellent, and traffic is moderate. The road was long. Near 17:00 I arrived to the first small stream in the Szczecin area.  The river looked dark, with brownish turbid water. For such conditions, I always use s...