Romania - September 2018

  I've been gone for more than 13 years, but every time I get back I realized that a piece of me is still there, in northern Romania, and it's going to be there as long as there are forests and rivers, and people and traditions. 

  Fishing there is not about catching fish or not, nor about the size of the fish. It's about breathing the air and smelling the spruce trees, it's about detachment and solitude and it's about respect for these little creatures that continue to survive against all odds.This is my last trip, September 2018:

 

 

Bugs

 If you are involved in fly fishing and/or fly tying, you will inevitable start paying attention to another world: BUGS.These little critters are almost as fascinating as fish and the more you watch them, the more interesting they seem. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hope

I always used to look forward to a trip to Romania, and I kept hoping that fishing is sometime going to get back to what it was back then .... And with every trip it seemed that I was drifting further and further away from that. And finally a pleasant surprise. Despite the fact that the waters of the Mara River are probably forever gone, there are still some streams where the wild trout and grayling continue to fight and even thrive. 

Increased awareness and involvement of the general public and fishermen, decreased poaching, are all factors that could help bring some of those streams back. We are seeing some of that. The rivers are not asking for much, just to be allowed to heal. And with great happiness I saw some of the healing happening. I was great to witness numerous and even some big grayling feeding in the sunset, and catch wild brown trout in small streams where they almost disappeared in the past from excessive poaching. 

This is the photo story of my journey:

The places:

 

The fish:

 

 

And the bonus: