Once in a while in our series on fly fishing around the world we’ll go into a little more detail about locations we feel merit special attention. The first of these is Bulgaria, and we will post several blogs on that country alone. However, I admit that I have a slight prejudice, since I now live in Bulgaria!
Bulgaria is very accessible to the UK, and cheap once you’re here (provided you don’t get snarled up in the commercial resorts). Let’s begin by dividing the places in Bulgaria into: high mountain lakes, middle-sized rivers, small rivers, streams and chalk streams.
Bulgaria is mountainous. It has a good many small rivers and streams. Wild brown trout have for years been swimming in almost every one of the streams. The ones in these streams are not especially big, but you may find the odd surprise. The average size up to 30 cm, but anyone who loves fishing in such locations will will appreciate every fish, big or small.
Such streams can be desolate, even extreme. Which makes for adventurous fly fishing. You may able to fish as high as 2300 metres above sea level, or more, since there are also places untrodden by man for many years, if ever. It’s worth using a GPS to navigate in such wild places.Some streams are overgrown with coniferous bushes, which can be hard to pass through. Brown trout have been known to survive well in such wild, hostile areas, and it’s got to be worth the fly fishing challenge to seek them out.
