This year, after the Bulgarian National Championship, a national team was chosen to represent the country at the Adriatic-Danube Cup—a prestigious tournament bringing together teams from countries along the Adriatic coast and the Danube basin. Sixteen teams competed this year, including Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, proudly represented by our team: me, Martin Kolev, Lusi Dremalov, and Tsonyo Savekov.

The drive from Sofia to Blagaj was long, but well worth it. Blagaj is a beautiful and tranquil village, where the Buna River emerges and winds its way for several kilometers before merging with the Neretva. Soft-mouthed trout dominate the Buna, and our whole team was lucky enough to catch plenty of them during both the training sessions and the competition. The river also held rainbow and Balkan trout, adding variety and excitement to our fishing experience.

We arrived in Blagaj two days before the competition to get some practice in, and I think it made a real difference for the team. The first round, however, didn’t start as we had hoped. We had focused on the local fish, using small flies and fine lines, but it quickly became clear that the river had quite a few stocked Balkan trout. Adjusting our strategy in the second round, we managed to climb from eighth place to second, and by the end of the third round, we held onto that position, finishing as runners-up as a team.

Personally, I was lucky to be assigned favorable sectors, which allowed me to shine. I ended up winning the individual competition with just 6 penalty points, catching a total of 27 fish—4 in the first round and 1 in each of the next two. It was an incredible experience, and the combination of preparation, teamwork, and a bit of luck made all the difference.

Congratulations to all the participants, and a huge thank you to the organizers! It was a fantastic competition.

Applause to my teammates, who gave their all and each contributed greatly to our success. Next time, we’ll be taking the gold as a team!

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Base Camp – our main sponsor, a chain of mountain gear stores that brought in almost the entire fishing range of the well-known brand Patagonia.

Filstar – importers and manufacturers of fishing equipment, representing Stonfo, Snowbee, and many other brands in Bulgaria.

Sinia Dunav – a fishing gear store in Ruse.

BFC – our friends from the Bulgarian Fly Fishing Company, who hardly need an introduction.

And, of course, the Bulgarian Fly Fishing Federation itself.

A huge thank you to Alexander Djukich for the logistics and support.

These are the photos taken by me and Lusi Dremalov, where you can also find the team and individual results.

We are all thrilled with the victory and eagerly look forward to the next competition, where we will proudly raise the Bulgarian flag once again.