Gorgany Race, 2012

Earlier this summer my friend Evan and I took part in an adventure race in the Carpathians. There was no fishing involved, but it was definitely an adventure.

The race includes 16 control points scattered around the mountains, particpants have 30 hours to find as many CP's as they can. Scoring is based on the number of control points found, time, and completion of "technical tasks" (rappelling, a high ropes course, river crossing, etc.). All that said, we didn't do so great, Gorgany kicked our buts. But we were satisfied with what we accomplished, namely improvement on Evan's result from last year (with a different team), and summiting the highest peak in the area, which we managed at night. All in all we found 5 of the 16 control points, and completed two technical tasks. So, here are a few
photos:

Carpathian meadows.

This bridge on an underused road was washed out by a flood at somepoint.

Haystacks and fields.

Bridge across the Limnytsya River on the way to Mount Vysoka.

The Lymnytsya River in the moonlight.

At the summit of Vysoka (1805m), 4:30am. We never did find the CP in the dark, that was a bummer.

Twilight below the summit. This place felt like a moonscape in the dark and fog.

The trail on the way down.

Sunrise.

More Flies

Here's an old unfinished post I found in my "drafts" folder of some sakasa kebari I tied with different hackles. As I remember I really liked the golden plover hackle - it's very supple and has a nice combination of colors. The waterhen was good too. I'm not sure what else I wanted to say when I started this post so long ago, but the photos aren't bad:

Sakasa Kebari with golden plover hackle

Ruffed Grouse Hackle

This time with waterhen hackle

Pheasant hackle with a body of olive UNI-Yarn

Sakasa kebari tied for smallmouth bass - size 8

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)

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!

3 Months in Ukraine (& Happy New Year!)

Wow... It sure has been a long time. Well, after not having posted for 3 months I'm sure not too many people will be reading this! Internet access at my training site was spotty at best, but now I am blessed with dial-up!

I guess this will be a generall "all's well" sort of announcement post. So, with that said, all is well! I've successfully finished training and moved to my permanent site where I'll be teaching English for the next two years. I'm in a beautiful little town in far western Ukraine, and I think I'm going to be pretty happy here. I probably won't be able to fish whenever I want, but I am within reasonable distance of the Carpathian Mountains for weekend trips.

I'm really excited about teaching in the New Year. I'm lucky to have some very enthusiastic students, so it should be a lot of fun. I suppose my New Years resolution is to work hard and enjoy everything Ukraine has to offer!

Happy New Year!