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 First published December 9th 2005 - More than 2 years ago
Vltava-Dobrá Czech grayling
Jan Siman replied, and offered me to show me one of his favorite waters. An offer that I could not refuse. Getting there If you do not get there by car, rent a car! It will be very close to impossible to get to the distant waters without. If possible, rent one with build in navigation. It is a luxury, but very helpful. Of course a map is useful too, but the Czech people hardly speak any English and only a few speak German. So asking for the right direction using a map, might be a confusing experience thinking of how people from the same country can confuse each other. Remember John Cleese – left! Right? No, left. Right? Generally, the locals were very nice, treated us well, did not try to cheat us and were more than willing to communicate. Gesticulations, drawings, signs, everything got used – which often gave us all a laugh. It was wonderful! Prague or Plzeň is good starting point. Maybe even south of Prague close to the German border. Of course, it depends on where you are fishing, how many days you may spend in Prague or other cultural cities. Fishing
Carp fishing is also very popular. The most common method is of course traditional coarse fishing using boilies etc. but even fly-fishers fish for carp in the lakes and smaller ponds. Chub is another fish gaining more and more popularity. For those who have never tried to catch a chub, I can only say: go for it!
Jan picked me up at our rented house early Thursday morning. We had never met, but a broadly smiling guy offered me his hand, and the fly-fishing network had gained yet another connection. We drove almost three hours to get to a fantastic stretch of water running on the rim of a national park. Jan told me about the Czech Republic, the fishing, his business and the streams, ponds and fishing organizations.
Pole position We crossed the stream. Jan offered me to be in pole position as he had fished the stretch for more than 30 years. Nothing really happened and I only saw tiny fish making small rings when they took something microscopic. “Have you seen all the fish?” I heard Jan’s voice from behind. “You have to get close to the bank!” Up until this day I had been quite pleased with myself as a fly caster and considered myself as a - well, not skilled fly caster, but I could get around. My fly landed some 30 centimetres or about a foot from the bank and drifted shortly. “No”, Jan said, “You have to fish close to the opposite bank. Not in the middle of the stream!” You asked for it I tried to look helpless and he showed me. “You asked for it”, he said with a big grin, which is one of his characteristics. His fly landed on the piece of grass closest to the water, fell on to the surface and drifted 3-4 meters before one of those micro fish sipped the fly and turned out to be a grayling just under 40 centimetres or 15 inches. It was a beautiful fish, more brightly coloured than I have ever seen. I practiced Jan told me dos and don’ts as we fished downstream. He fished quickly over the places, which could hold fish. If there were fish he gave it 10-15 casts to see how many there were. I practiced my hook setting and missed a couple. I had to change the fly every time a fish had been hitting on it with out being hooked. So I changed fly a lot during the first hour, but Jan was a great teacher and soon I also caught some and then some more. The fish were holding in the backwater of the small riffles or close to the bank of the deepest curves. Many fish We found two pools, which held many fish. Graylings, trouts and daisies stood fin-by-fin and sipped hatching midges and small mayflies. I caught maybe ten and Jan probably caught five times as many! I was impressed. It is not every day you get the chance to fish together with such a skilled man – but again, he had been on the Czech National Team for some years. After a short break where we had lunch, beer, chocolate and a talk about why we fished we continued for the last hour of fishing. It was getting colder. The fish became less active. The water was only 4 °C, and in the second last cast, a trout took the fly. Again, very saturated colours. The next cast hooked a bush on the opposite bank. That was the sign: It was time to stop for the day, a day that had ended far too soon. As Jan drove me all the way to Prague C, I was already planning October next year.
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Submitted December 9th 2005
River Vltava in Dobra is my very favourite venue especially known for its big graylings and beautiful nature. So it´s nice to find something about my country on your website. If you want to buy fishing permit, you need state licence as described above. This licence can be bought at town hall of bigger towns but some problems are possible. Opening hours are not convenient and language skills of town officials can be very poor. Czech fishing union, which distributes fishing permits, is not very flexible organization so it's very useful to contact particular organization before your visit to arrange an appointment. The best solution is probably to contact some czech guides or common flyfisher as Kasper done. For example www.flyfish.cz or www.czechfly.com can help you. Above mentioned Honza Siman is excelletn flyfisher as well as famous producer of interesting tying materials