Six years had passed since the European Fly Fishing Championship held in Slovenia — Bohinjska Bistrica in 2006, when Bulgaria took its only team part in an international championship. This year, the World Championship was held at the same location, from June 3 to 10. Dani Krilov and I decided to attend the event to watch some of the best fly anglers in the world… and, of course, to fish ourselves. It’s quite hard to just sit on the bank and watch without being part of the competition, but I think there’s a lot you can learn from observing. And we weren’t complaining — we fished on some of the most beautiful rivers in Europe: the Sava, Sava Bohinka, Baca, and Idrijca. The river that left the deepest mark in my memory, and still appears in my mind when I close my eyes, was the Soča… but first, let me tell you a little about the championship itself.
The Competition
Thirty countries participated, making it the largest championship ever held. Four of the five sectors were rivers — Sava, Kokra, and two sectors on the Sava Bohinka. The fifth sector was a lake called Most na Soči, a magnificent spot no less beautiful than the river feeding it. Fishing on the lake proved very difficult and ended up being the key to the competition. Often, just two or three fish could secure first place in a sector. Many marble trout were caught there. On the rivers, it was much easier — for first place, anglers typically needed just under 30 fish. A competitor from the French team, however, performed a miracle and landed 76 fish in three hours. Incredible, isn’t it!?
I mainly watched the Czech team, expecting them to win, as they usually do — and that’s exactly what happened. They fished mostly dry fly, significantly more than nymphs, roughly 70/30 for dry flies. Their flies imitated mayflies with red tags and CDC wings, tied on size 14 and 12 hooks. They fished upstream, covering the sector with dry fly for about an hour and a half, then switched to nymphs to catch a few larger fish. As soon as the fish stopped taking the nymphs, they returned to dry flies. Their nymphs were tied on jig hooks, size 12 and 14, mainly targeting rainbow trout. In a competition, you always try to catch the easiest fish first.
One aspect I didn’t like was that wading along the riverbed was allowed — the so-called “kicking” method. This was a key tactic used by many anglers who won sector victories. For those unfamiliar, this method simply disturbs the riverbed with your feet, releasing thousands of insects into the main current, where they are defenseless and fish come up to feed on them, seeking the source. Gradually, more and more fish appear and grow less cautious, coming almost to your feet. You just need to present the nymph, and fish are caught one after another. In my opinion, this practice destroys the riverbed and its insects and should be prohibited.
Other leaders after the Czechs were France, Italy, and Spain. All these teams and anglers performed incredibly, with determination and will to win, but they lacked that little extra that the Czechs always seemed to keep up their sleeve. Howard Croston from the English team was steps away from becoming the new world champion. He was in 4th place until the last session, when a less-than-perfect result pushed him to 4th overall. In the end, someone has to take the painful fourth spot. There were simply too many strong anglers — it was a tough competition.
The end of the championship arrived. The hotel was quiet; everyone was having dinner, eagerly waiting to see the results. And then they appeared. A crowd formed around the sheets… the Italians began celebrating as if they had won, but no — they were second. The Czechs took the gold medals once again. Italy was second, and Spain third in the team standings.
But then something happened… everyone was hugging, kissing, and shaking hands with a young man. I saw his eyes for a moment before the tears streamed down… only 21 years old, the new world champion in the individual ranking — David Arcay from the Spanish national team — had made history in fly fishing as the youngest competitor ever to win gold at the largest World Championship held to date. Congratulations, David!
