Friday, February 24, 2012

Нахлист!

I've done a little digging around on the internet today for information on fly fishing in the Carpathians. Now that I know Ukrainian pretty well, this is a lot easier. It's still difficult though because many Ukrainian fly fishing sites and forums are in Russian, or a frustrating mix of Ukrainian and Russian - especially forums.

I'm kicking myself for not figuring out what the Ukrainian is for "fly fishing" earlier - нахлист. While fishing is wildly popular in Ukraine, fly fishing is not. When I explain how I like to fish, I usually say something about fishing for trout in mountain streams. If the conversation goes on longer I try and describe a fly. Most people nod with familiarity, but aren't particularly interested in fly fishing because A) trout are simply not present in most of Ukraine, and B) the fishing most Ukrainians have access to is warm-water, for carp and related species. Given those constraints, bait-fishing for carp is where it's at here, and that's what most people are interested in. 

That said, there does seem to be a dedicated community of fly fishers here in Ukraine. Here are few sites I've found today:

Нахлист у Карпатах (Fly Fishing in the Carpathians, blog)

Флайцентр (Flycenter, forum)

Клуб Львівських Нахлистовиків (Lviv Fly Fisher's Club)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Hello! It's been a long, long time. I'm not sure what prompted me log in today, but here I am.

I've been in Ukraine as a Peace Corps Volunteer for well over a year now. It's been quite a time. That's really all I want to say right now, otherwise this post could turn into a book.

I've been busy with a lot of stuff, but unfortuneately for this blog, not tenkara. That's not to say I haven't been keeping up with the world of tenkara. Quite frankly, I'm astounded with how tenkara has developed over the last year and a half. It's fantastic, and honestly, sometimes I do get a bit bummed that I'm missing out. So, to all you tenkara enthusiasts out there; every-day anglers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs alike, keep up the good work! 

With spring and summer finally on the way, I promise to do some fishing and post more updates this year.

With my 8th graders on the first day of school - they don't dress up like this everyday, and neither do I!