We're pleased to say our good friend Stan Mankov is back this month telling us about a trip where he headed up into the Southern Bulgarian mountains looking for fish.
I consider the high mountain lakes situated in Pirin and Rila mountains in Southwest Bulgaria to be the best fly fishing destination in the country. I have visited them for some seven to eight years now and although I travel all around and fish all types of water those lakes have very special place in my heart. I am going to share a few pictures and try to explain what the fishing 2500 meters above sea level looks like.
The ice cover is usually gone in the beginning or middle of July but the water and the weather conditions are still too cold. The best time to go up there is from 1st of July to end of September when the season finishes. There are more than 150 lakes in the two mountains mentioned. The lowest one is situated 2200 meters above sea level and the highest one I know there are fish in is 2512 m. The insect life is not so rich like on the rivers, but during the summer there are enough insects to fall on the water.
This year the season has started a little later as the spring was long and rainy. When I first went to the lakes there was still ice around the water. There were fish feeding and I was able to see a few very early in the morning when the water surface is still and the lake looks like a mirror. It is like this until the sun comes and warms the atmosphere and then follows the wind. I prefer fishing a dry fly. Big winged ants are one of the best patterns, royal coachman works great as well, some wet flies as the bibio are great when there is a strong wind. It is so gin clear I don`t want to bother with the nymph. But some time small buzzers and micro nymphs work great. One of the most important things is to use looong leader – 18 ft will do well. I prefer using hand tied leaders as they turn up really well. Fluorocarbon tippet is essential and it is very important to make it sink so only the fly stays above the surface. This is not always an easy task as after we put some gink on the fly our fingers are still greasy and I use 90 % alcohol and a small cloth to clean my fingers and then clean the leader. Usually it works and the tippet starts to sink after a couple of casts. Most of the sinkants on the market doesn`t really work. The best one for me is the Loon Snake River mud. This one works. It looks like I started with an explanation about the fly, then the leader so here comes the fly line and the rod. I prefer using stiff rods as there are plenty of bushes around the lakes and we want to have a high back cast. I use 9 ft 5 wt rod and a 4 wt triangle taper fly line which shoots well. By using a lighter line on a heavier tackle I give myself and the line a little bit of extra time in the air, and I avoid hooking the bushes. Well not always.
Fish are usually found near the bank, sometimes right next to the bank, where they cruise and look for food. The best way to start covering the water is to start from the very edge of the bank with only a few feet of your leader in the water. Then slowly cover more and more water but generally follow the rule: never step where you haven`t cast already. After we cast a really good thing is to wait. Yes wait and wait. I have caught fish after 15 or more minutes. As I mentioned fish cruise around and they are very spooky so if you see a fish rising have a cast somewhere in the area where you saw the rise but please not on the head of the fish. Two to three meters away is more than ok. Then wait for a while and hopefully the fish will take.
Fishing the high mountain lakes is certainly not an easy task but if you are patient and insistent you will hook your fish and as it will be a wild brown trout that grew up in this tough surrounding it will give you hell of a fight.
I hope my brief article gave you an idea of one of my favorite places to fish. I have no time to do much more lake fishing as tomorrow I`m going to Bosnia to fish for some grayling on some of the beautiful rivers there and then I`ll participate in the European championship in Slovakia for which I`ll tell you about in the next issue!
Thumbs up and tight lines to all the readers of ESF!
Stan Mankov runs Trutta Tours please visit his website for more details.