Fishing in Poland - where to go, what to catch?

Hi all,

The missus and I will be travelling to Poland in about June or July this year. Are there any keen anglers out there who can tell me where/where not to go, what I can catch, rigs to use etc?? Thanks for the help.

You can find carps and szczupaks. I've heard the fishing waters have deteriorated in the last decade.

which areas are you visiting? that may help getting you the answers you seek. pike and eel fishing used to be great in the moraine lakes up north.

Thanks guys,

We'll probably go to Warsaw and that area. I'd like to visit Stanislawow, as that's where we're from, so around there too if there's any rivers or lakes nearby.

What is a szczupak?

I'm strictly a catch and release fisherman if anyone's worried about telling me of a spot to go.

I take it most of the fishing would be fresh water based too.

I was even thinking of doing a spot of small game (rabbits, pheasants etc) hunting if I get the time.

Well one thing you will not find wild rabbits in Poland, at least if you do find them they are in VERY isolated areas, and another thing is that the hunters have almost extinguished the pheasant species here in Poland.

Shooting is a very exclusive club in Poland, and has two years of slavery for the shooting club, beating, cleaning, feeding the prey, even before you pickup a gun.

And there are some idiots shooting as well, at least there are around our area where I live where they shoot pet dogs, which they can even on the owners property, if, they are 200 metres away from the home and without a collar on.

Their argument is that they are protecting the wildlife from being destroyed by the dogs, BUT, because they have shot all the wildlife, they get bored and shoot anything that is around including dogs.

My neighbour has lost two dogs in this way and tried to take the "hunter" to court, but lost because they were too far away from his house even though they had collars on, but guess what, when my neighbour found them the collars had been removed.

I used to do a lot of shooting in the UK, competition and hunting, and I was tought by my father at the age of 12 to only shoot what you can justify killing, but this rule in Poland is out the window.

One sickening example was the culling of wolves in the mountains where the hunters wanted a licence to hunt them for fun, when this should be done by trained park rangers and not for some rich city guy.

UK, thanks for the information. I'm a bit disturbed anbout what some of the shooters are doing in Poland - that's simply atrocious. It's sometimes the same story here in Aus - some idiot shoots a kangaroo or something. They ususally do it with bows and arrows though.

If there's hardly any game left in Poland, I certainly won't add to the problem then. I used to shoot clay pigeons. Also used to shoot my friends DE.50 - very noisy.

Cheers, Dan

as a vegetarian I shouldn't be posting any advice for you ugly hunters/fishermen, but I don't want you to go in jail or risk a fine, so make sure you're allowed to be fishing in Poland, because (in theory) you'd need to buy a licence for that, if I'm not mistaken

dont worry, they will be punished when their time comes

as to hunting for foreigners ... all you need is $$$ ;)

hunt.pl

Thanks again for the info guys.

Sadek, thanks for the link. I think seeing that website puts me off having a hunt in Poland. 800 pheasants in one day - disgusting. Wonder how long that will be sustainable.

ukpolska, this is horrible and very disturbing what you wrote.
What happened to my beautiful kieleckie forests full of hare, deer, wild boars and beautiful red foxes? As a daughter of forest ranger walking through the forest daily, I was often startled by variety of wild animals. They always ran out of my way... they scared more than me (besides one 'fresh' fox who dared to come close to sniff me).

There was such thing as a hunting party in our house, organized by the District of Forestry, but only during early winter. Mostly pheasant, deer, hare.. It was forbidden as of February or March(if i remember correctly), when the females could be already pregnant). My father was always checking the most favorite angler's spots. They were given tickets (or he got drunk with them).

I can't believe in this gloomy picture you painted. Not to mention the dogs. I hope people get severely punished when caught.

New laws have made Poland a sanctuary for animals compared to other animals in Poland. Wolves, bison, and other key animals are making a comeback, and in some cases are only left in Poland. 1% of Poland is protected land.

I know this can't possibly help you out when it comes to places to hunt, but I don't want it to look like Poland is such a lawless place.

I'm not sure about small game, but my father and uncles would always hunt in Poland. They would get pretty big fish (not sure where or what kind) and they hunted deer and other larger game animals. Overall I think it'll be a fun place for any outdoorsman. Hope you have fun.

in mountains there is problem with wolves ... they are protected and there is more and more of them so I think that something can be done ;)

My father tells me that the wolves actually got pretty smart. They've learned that while they are in Poland they are safe, but in other places they will be killed. He says that they've learned to cross over and eat livestock in other countries like Slovakia, where they would normally be shot, but when they are done they run back to Poland and get away with it.

Sucks for everyone else :P

I have heard that they will instal kind of sound sytems in places where wolves live in Poland. There will be sound with other wolves it is proved that it works. When wolves hear other wolves they stop to reproduce ;) This system have been checked and works so they will do it in Poland. I think it is good solution there will be wolves in noproblematic numbers and wolves will not be killed. Poles like wolves that is why they are protected but you know we have to do something ;)

as to Slovakia ;) who cares ;)

F*ck those wolf killing b@stard cousins of ours!

I think I'll now stick to observing Poland's wildlife rather than shooting at it!

I'm glad to hear that Pl has taken steps to ensure the wildlife is protected.

Fishing's still on my list though. I've seen pictures of massive sturgeon caught in some of Poland's rivers - are these still around?

:)

there is mith that wolves are dangerous for people but it is not true ... they avoid people, there were some accidesnt in Russia when 1000 wolves atcaked vilage or sth but in Poland ... never :)


fishing is very popular in Poland (brits know sth about it ;) ) you will find place to do it without any problem ... I don't know region where you go but I am sure that sb will tell you where to go (just ask sb in vilage)

Coordinated attack. Who on Earth can honestly say they've seen a pack of 1,000 wolves. That is something different.


Yup. Ask the loacals. Many men in Poland are outdoorsy so they'll relate to you and possibly even take you to a good spot. I know my uncles would. You going anywhere near Lapsze Nizne or Nowy Targ???

Ha ha! No they dont! I used to watch British fishing shows on cable TV. All the Poms used to catch is smelly carp, catfish or other tiny fish.

Here's a link to a site showing some of the fish I used to catch near the area I used to live-

fishingnoosa.com.au/Page29.htm


Not sure Senor Cat. I'll have to check to see where these towns are. I want to go to Warsaw as we have family there, and also Stanislawow, as that's where the family originally came from. I'll let you know.

In the Brazilian Amazon they have 6 ft catfish that have been known to swallow children whole. Just recently they found a catfish that choked on a small local boy that was swimming with his brothers and died. It washed up on the shore and was estimated to have been 6.5 ft long.

Just a fast fact for yuh :]

Wow - that's a big one.

The biggest I caught was about 3 feet long. It weighed about 15kg. I caught it on 8lb line. It took me about 45 minutes to land it - it was pulling the boat we were on!. I was really disappointed it was a cat fish, because i thought I'd hooked a big jewfish.

Lol


In Alabama they catch those with their hands. No lie. It's a freaking sport to those guys. They put their thumbs through their mouths and gills, and then they lift with the legs and see how big it is. Then they let it go.

Maybe you can start this new sport in Poland?

Youre right - they call it 'noodling'

That's what it was. I couldn't think of the name.

:]

they call it trout tickling in England. i caught quite a few trout that way as a kid. now we have american turtles in a lot of waters in the UK, so I would not like to do it now. a turtle can bite your finger off. they have decimated the wild duck populations in many areas

Just took a look at this site:
*Quote*
Duck - Goose - We have an excellent hunting ground next to the biggest European wild birds reserve "Ujscie Warty"

Says a lot for wildlife protection doesn't it lol

honestly they need permition I am 100% sure about that and it is not question of $$$ to get this permition.

Yeah I know it just seemed funny in context :O)

;-) yes it is funny

but serously nature is protected in Poland ... some people think that law is to strict ...

your example is funny