Our good friend Stan Mankov is back this month and tells us about a lost dog.
Let us start with the story for Gradac River. It is a relatively small river situated in Serbia near the town of Valjevo, not further than an hour and a half drive from Belgrade. It is a fantastic destination known for its beautiful trout and stunning surrounding nature and wildlife in the Gradac canyon. It is also a very religious place with plenty of beautiful monasteries in the area. The best man-made thing situated just on the river bank is Sasa Roca`s lodge, which is surely one of the very best lodges not only in Serbia but among the Balkan countries. My dear friend Sasa is a phenomenal fly tier who had tied many realistic patterns that have won awards all around the world on many international competitions. Some of those flies you can see in the house next to hundreds of others. The atmosphere is relaxing and inspiring for angling adventures. The last thing I am going to say about the house is that it is one of those few places that always look better when you see yourself then on the pictures on the net.
So here is the story. I went there with a group five of Danish fishermen for a week and I have decided to take my dog- Firsty. Firsty is a beagle and really loves to follow his nose. We had a fantastic first four days, caught plenty of wild browns up to 52 cm long on nymphs, streamers and dries. The dog was really good hanging around us. He doesn`t really love fishing but he usually doesn`t mind to be around.
On the fifth day sometime around 10 am we were fishing as usual. I went back to the house to see what the other two guys are up to. Have you seen the dog I asked? No it was here five minutes ago but we haven’t seen him since. Then it all happened again. I lost him before, probably about 10 times for more than half a day and three or four times for a whole day. He was found the other day by someone or he just comes back. I run around to find him and when I reached the first monastery which is roughly 40 minutes walk from the lodge, they told me he was there 10 minutes ago. Yes I missed him for 10 minutes and then I looked for him all day long. I have to leave the group! Thank you guys for your understanding if you are reading this! I went everywhere around two monasteries, on the railway, trough the tunnels, along the river, to the nearest houses… I reached a few fantastic views and shouted and whistled but no dog was found. I went back to the lodge three times. The last time I had to surrender. No dog. Maybe this time I lost him for real. My Danish friends were looking for him as well. They also enjoyed a wonderful day on the river, caught some big browns and a grayling which is really rare for Gradac, but obviously there are some odd population of grayling.
It was about 9 pm when my phone rang and Sasa was calling. He asked me… have you lost your dog today? Yes! Well why didn`t you tell me… he has been found by a guy who was walking his dog and who saw Firsty on the river with us two days ago. Then the guy called Sasa and so on… Yes! That puts the smile back on my face. I had to go back to the monastery for fourth time this day and drive the bus to Valjevo to take the dog. He was happy to see me. So was I. Good finish of the story for all of us this time. Now I just won`t take him again while I'm with clients, I knew I should get a Labrador they never run away from their owners and they love water.
If you need my help about this river or any other Balkan destination, please do not hesitate to contact me. I promise to send back a quick reply if I'm not fishing or trying to find Firsty.
www.mankovflyfishing.com