Our good friend Stan Mankov slips on his neoprene waders and hits the river.
The season for trout in Bulgaria opens on 1st of February, in Greece on 15th of February and in the ex Yugoslavian countries from 1st of March. Those are cold months… well not as cold as some northern places but usually minus Celsius temperatures are present. Make yourself a hot tea in case you get cold while reading this article.
The coldest I`ve fished in was some years ago it was - 22 °C and we fished a steaming at the time chalk stream in Bulgaria which water temperature is around 12 °C. We`ve caught fish on the same stream on dry fly in -14 °C. Some tail water in Bulgaria and Greece also produces proper hatching of BWO in winter months. Do not believe if anyone tells you winter is not a good month for dry fly. The spring fed rivers and the freestones however are tough places to fish at that time although March can be cruel but generous as well. It should be the right nymph there.
Here is some advice for that time of the year which makes some anglers stay at home next to the fireplace drinking their favourite Cognac.
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Fishing is possible in low temperatures as long as you keep yourself warm and wear the right layers.
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I use neoprene waders during the winter and if they don`t leak I`m really warm. Even a good breathable wader will not keep you warm if you don`t have thick underwear or why not two of them?
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Wear a good hat, socks and gloves. I prefer fingerless. If head, hands and feet are warm you are unstoppable.
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When really cold I use heat pads for hands and feet and they really keep me warm a whole session. I also use them when fishing for pike from a boat in cold weather.
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Use lip balm or it can hurt. You can buy yourself a fancy brand angler lip balm or any other usual one.
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When fly line and rod guides start to remind you of Santa it is time to put the rod in the water. Then make a couple of nice energetic short false casts to remove the water drops.
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Try to avoid putting the reel under water as it might freeze. Then the fish you`ve waited for so long will break your line or break/open the hook. Try to keep the drag working if you expect some big fish.
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If you fish the nymph on a freestone river try a good dead drift with nymphs crawling and bouncing on the bottom. Cased caddisfly patterns used to work well for me. Red / orange /green tag on the point and a small PT or HE will do well as a general searching scheme. Smaller and natural colour flies for clearer water. Slightly bigger and hot spotted flies for coloured water.
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If the case is chalk stream then refer to the methods for this type of water but expect some olive hatches to appear especially on cloudy and snowy days.
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A hot drink from a thermos tea or coffee could be a life safer. Some rum or Cognac in the tea wouldn`t make it worse!
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If you become really cold move a bit. Take a walk to another spot or just warm up around. If it is really cold and you don`t feel like you can continue well enough for today they`ll be warmer days. Go home and tie some flies for better times.
I'm sure there is something I`m missing but these were the main points that came to my mind as I prepare myself for the opening season in Bulgaria. When I look through my window it doesn`t look that fishy and the thermometer shows -12 °C this morning. I know some big fish are there and I`m going to catch them. I`ll let you know more in the next issue about what happened in the beginning of the season in my part of the scene.
Stan Mankov is a fly fishing guide based in Bulgaria. Visit his website here
Stan would like to thank Christo Christov for the photos.