Fishing during a Carpathian autumn

Autumn is for a fisherman a special period for many reasons. First, exactly in autumn most fishes feed actively before bedding in hibernation. They go on the hook. The occasion for a rich catch is most realistic at the end of August and the beginning of September. Secondly, there is a chance in this period to test a new tackle, another bait or another method of fishing. The fish actively demonstrates what it likes and what not very much. Thirdly, a young fish grows until autumn extensively (and big fish grow even more), so that one catches generally respectable examples.

A small fish is to be returned.

The conditions of fishing are unchanged. In reservoirs of general usage, the applying of five hooks per person and a catch of 3 kilograms is allowed. A small fish is to be returned. You caught more than the allowed norm, also throw it back. A single larger fish, that weighs more than the norm, you can keep it. When a reservoir, a private lake or pool, requires payment, one fishes according to the written local terms. In the rule, one buys the right to possess the trophy, paying for every kilogram of the caught fish in addition to payment of the fishing rights on the reservoir.

Cordages

An ideal variant is a small, easy, compact equipment, that consists of a three-meter-long, two-handed spinning rod equipped by a fast-response spool. It can be used as a two-handed spinning on a spoon-bait or by throwing and spinning. One can try to throw the fly. Those who want to fish or salmon.

For a fisherman with experience we can recommend on highland rivers class 4 to 5,, spinning 1,9 to 2,4 meter long, casting 2-10 gr. Good have proved themselves the spoon-baits of the manufacturer Meppa number 00,0 to class 1 called Black Fury with yellow or red dots. On the Dnister river sheat-fish, pike and perch bite well dzig-heads with a twister, spinning 2,4 to 3 meter long, casting 20 to 30 gr. What is still needed? A bit of luck with all the tackle and a comfortable equipment.

For those that are interested in fishing in Carpathian rivers it is to take into account the nearness of the mountains and the unpredictability and changing of the weather. Autumn days are still warm; however, the nights can be frosty. During the day there can be a totally cloudless sky and within minutes clouds can appear on the skyline and it can shower with thunder. Therefore, a raincoat is necessary. In addition, an exchange of warm clothing is needed and shoes with thick soles. To walk on stony riverbanks is not to be compared with fishing on grass – half-shoes are inadequate in the mountains.

It is worthwhile to choose a light and comfortable rucksack, since the whole equipment has to be carried for a long time. Here is the main difference when fishing on Carpathian rivers. On rivers of the flatland, the fisherman sits for hours waiting for a catch. On highland streams, the fish has to be searched, constantly wandering along the reservoirs of water. At first there can be a few =empty= kilometres, but later in a hole or near a fallen tree, where fishes tend to concentrate, the fisherman is rewarded for everything. Neither scale nor tail!

When the fish bites

Fishing in the Carpathians has certain seasons. There are times that the fish is hungry and feeds actively – then it takes the hook. But then there are weeks or even months of almost absolute stillness, when the fish dozes at the bottom and does not react to any, even most delicious lures.

The first and shortest fishing season of the year is in the spring. It last from the end of February to 1st April. The sun shines warmer, the fish wakes up and begins to eat.

In all reservoirs of general use of the Carpathians, fishing is forbidden.

The second period, which runs from 1st April to 10th June, is the time of spawning. In all reservoirs of general use of the Carpathians, fishing is forbidden. However, the inspection authorities of the region of Ivano-Frankivsk as an experiment have allowed fishing almost on all sections of the Dnister river. There is only one precondition: the fisher can use only one rod with one hook.

The celebration of the Day of the Fisher in the Carpathians coincides with the opening of the third fishing season, which lasts to the beginning of the winter period. In this period, one fishes all types of fish. The most generous fishing is in August and September. Notably in autumn the royal or brook trout spawns in some sections of highland streams. The fishing of the trout is absolutely forbidden.

From the 1st December runs the winter period, during which fishes becomes less active and does not hunt. Fishing allowed on sections of rivers, where there are no winter holes. The times of ringing frosts when reservoirs freeze a few meters and the fish doze due to lack of oxygen, there is one fish that is spawning. It spawns namely in winter. It is the only example of the species of cod in the Carpathians. Its posterity will be the first in the spring that goes out into the rivers.

Fishing Reserves in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk

The general majority of the rivers in the Carpathians begin in the highlands. At a height of 1500 meters above sea level from a mountain source flows the Dnister, the largest river in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk. Almost all the tributaries of the Dnister are formed in the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains – the Nadvirnyanska and the Solotvynska Bystritsa, the Lukva, Syvka, Svicha, Sukil, Mizunka, Limnytsya and the Chechva.

The river Prut is the second largest water reserve in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk. Its largest sources are located at 1750 meters above sea level – the Black and White Cheremosh, Rybnytsya and Pistynka. The two Chermosh tributaries flow mainly through the Hutsul Carpathians. They are typical mountain rivers with a very steep inclination and a swift flow – more than one and a half meters per second. These rivers, that have rocky banks, a stony bottom and shallow cracks, are recognized as wildlife reserves of local value. Indeed here – on sections with a stormy flow – spawns the trout and swims a fish, that is regarded as a relict, the Danubian salmon.

The third largest river in the region is the Limnytsya. It flows from mount Bushtul, beginning at a height of 1150 meters. With a length of 122 kilometres is the largest Carpathian Tributary of the Dnister. This river is the home of many arts of valuable fish, among them the madder and the stream trout. The area near the Limnytsya is a recreational zone that almost never experienced anthropogenic influences. It is recognized as one of the cleanest rivers in Europe. On the territory of the districts of Rozhnyativ, Kalush and Halytch, where this river flows, a landscape wildlive preserve (River Limnytsya) was created.

The All-Ukrainian rules on fishing forbid fishing on Carpathian highland rivers – in so-called highland sections. In these sections live, spawn and grow rare fish, which are subject to protection by law, the royal trout, the Danubian salmon and the grayling. These fish can be found nowhere else in the Ukraine. One can very rarely see them in the middle section of the rivers, which are licensed for fishing. However, one should remember “Catch such beauties, let them free”.

In Carpathian rivers lives and spawns another fish that is entered in the Red Book – the sterlet. The fisher can photograph himself with the fish, having carefully taken it from the hook and later returning it to the water. On condition of such ways of fishing /which is practiced in all countries of Europe/, when the catch does not land in the pot for fish-soup, but is returned to the water, one could allow fishing even in the highlands.

In all rivers of the region, we meet known and relatively widespread types of fish – chub, pickerel, carp, tench, bream, sheat-fish, madder, perch, roach, loach, sander and wedge. Tourists, who intend to throw a line into the the local rivers, should take into accout that local fishers use different, regional names for the fish species., which are often based on behaviour and external appearance.

The Dnister is the richest river in the region for fishing. It flows more than 200 kilometers through the region. At the beginning, it has all qualities of a highland river, and then it spills out after the foot-hills and grows in width in the low-laying area. The Dnister is rich in fish both in the highland as also in the flat-land.

The Dnister is the richest river in the region for fishing.

Suitable for fishing are reservoirs, lakes and pools in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk. The reservoir on the river Chechva, a tributary of the Limnytsya is regarded as regime-reservoir, because it refers to an object of strategic meaning as a reservoir of clear, clean water. Fishing here is forbidden. However, the largest in the region reservoir, which is next to a power station in Burtshyn, allows fishing. It covers 1260 hectares. One can fish for a low price in a canal, where water exits from the reservoir. The water is permanently warm and there is no lack of fish. Abundant are carm, bream, sheat-fish, silver carp, Amazonian buffalo, apex, pike, perch and many other species.

In the region of Ivano-Frankivsk, there are more than 600 reservoirs of water, lakes and pools. Some of them belong to state companies and others to sportive organizations. Many state lakes are now in private ownership. They mostly have carp and other small fish. A daily payment up to 10 hryvnya one can catch well-fed carps, roaches and perches. A daily payment depends on the amount of fish in the reservoir and the conditions for the catch. In the highland natural lakes like Lake Nesamovyte and Lake Maricheyka there is no fishing. The conditions are too harsh for fish to survive.

The fishing Inspector in the Carpathians is not a negative authority

The state inspector of fishing is a friend, comrade and almost a brother. What is most important when fishing? It is satisfaction! From the adjusting of the tackle, from the expectation when one sits with a fishing-rod on the riverbank, from the smallest movement and ripple in the water, from the struggle with a clever fish, from the tasty smell of the fish-soup. Fishing is a state of the soul, say experienced fishers, as they recklessly show photos with so and such fishes, which they had the luck to catch.

Poaching is something different to violating fishing rules. Poachers use during fishing forbidden tackle and other gadgets –nets, screens, electric fishing-ros, explosive devices and chemical substances. As poachers are regarded tourists who catch rare fishes, that bare entered in the Red Book. For example the fishing of trout during spawning. This cannot be undertaken – so is destroyed the trout population in nature. If one wants unconditionally to taste such a fish, then you do not go to the riverbank, but to a restaurant. The managers of almost all Carpathian restaurants can serve trout on request – fried, stewed, prepared in a friteur or grilled. These trouts one does not catch in highland rivers, but especially in local fish farms – for the table.