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...

This is my third excursion to river Warta in Poraj/Częstochowa area. It's a strange place for me. I never caught a fish in this river, but still have a hope. Why? I love that kind of small stream fishing in solitude. Warta was running low (55 cm , 1,5 m3/s), and water was a bit coloured. Clarity about 50-60 cm or so. Water temperature was +12 C, too warm for this time of year. I heard bad prognosis for Warta as trout stream. Too low water level and high temperatures in the summer make river unsuitable as trout habitat. So, all fish  stocked in early April or March will migrate downstream, and there's really nothing to catch during the summer. But I have a hope, that all these big brown trout which were stocked for competition, still there. I started my exploration from the river stretch near town Kamienica Polska. Near the trail to the river, there is a private house, guarded by dogs. These puppies were so curious, even tried to lick me through the fence. Down t...

This year I participated in Warta Cup - open fly fishing competition in friendly format (no strict FIPS rules), held on river Warta near town Kolonia Borek. There was no draw and no dividing river to sectors. The whole river was open for fishing. You can start in any place, but respect other anglers who came first. Part of the river was freshly stocked with brown trout 35-50 cm size. I was thinking that stocked trout is easy target, and everybody will have many fish on the hook. But, reality was far from this. The river was very low, level 55 cm at Poraj and flor 1,5 m3/s. It means, that many parts of the river became very shallow and not safe for fish to stay. Fish was , probably, distributed very unevenly along the river, so it was not trivial task to locate them. Another obstacle is that river is very hard for fly casting, surrounded with brushes and trees. Careless approach to water, or wading, can spook the fish as well. I started from the top of "no kill" ...

My previous visit to Warta was exactly year ago. I was there two times, and returned empty. I still have a belief that there is some fish, even if it looks like empty water. This time I decided to check the river and get more familiar with it, to prepare to upcoming fishing competitions - Warta Cup. This annual event usually held in March, but in this year it was moved to April, because there's usually frigid water in March. Conditions were good. Level 75 cm at Poraj, steady flow 2,4 m3/s during last month. Water temperature was +6 C, which was promising. I parked near the bridge on street Nadręczna in the town Poraj. River looked good, with reasonable clarity. On the left bank, there's hotel-like object or lodging facility. They built fence around the river bank, so it's not possible to access from left side of the bridge.  Fortunately, the river is shallow and wadeable under the bridge. Below the bridge, there's couple of small rapids. It's always go...

Surprisingly very warm weather in the end of March. +15 C , plenty of sun. When it concerns fishing, sun isn't best fisherman friend. Fish became spooky, and hides in the shadows, under cutbanks and obstacles. This time I discovered different part of Warta, from the bridge in town Jastrząb. Convenient access road starts from the bridge, and goes along right side of the river. There are few curves with steep cutbanks. The places look "fishy" , but there was no contact. 400 meters from the bridge there is S-shaped curve and two good pools in the corners. First is tricky, because of many snags. Second very suited for fly fishing. But it requires wading in shallow part of the river to make a cast. After S-curve. there's very shallow part of the river, mostly knee-deep and you can see waves of sand on the bottom. Another interesting pool, hidden between trees.  It requires wading to make a cast, but there's shallow water near right bank. There...

There's a geological formation in Poland, called Kraków-Częstochowa Upland , also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or simply Jura . The term related to Jurassic geologic period. There are a number of rivers that originate from the Jura, among them the Warta, Biała Przemsza, Pilica, Dłubnia, Szreniawa, Prądnik, Wiercica . Jurassic rivers have something in common. In their upper part, they are mostly small streams, 3-15 m in width. Bottom is sandy with patches of gravel.  Access to the water is challenging for fly fisherman. Banks are covered by dense bushes, or forest, and there's a lot of logjams in the stream flow. Warta is one of the longest Polish rivers. It's length is 808 km. But in the upper part it is a typical small trout stream. Before this trip, I investigated access points to the Warta in Google maps. It is not easy task. River is surrounded by dense bushes , and there's a lot of private property around, and no paved roads going to the river, wit...