Right, so this is a bit of an unusual one.
A few months ago, I got talking to a contact who has, shall we say, interesting connections in the European competition fishing world. I'm deliberately being vague here - because apparently that's how it works in these circles. You don't ask too many questions, you don't broadcast where the patterns came from, and you definitely don't post a step-by-step breakdown on social media.
What I can tell you is this: in 1989, a Polish angler named Władysław Trzebunia - known to everyone simply as "Vladi" - walked into the World Fly Fishing Championships in Finland and proceeded to absolutely dismantle the competition. The method he used was a short-line, tight-contact nymphing style that nobody outside Poland had seen before. The flies he used were dense, precisely weighted, and fished with an almost unsettling level of control.
The Poles and the Czechs spent the next two decades trying to keep their best patterns to themselves.
Patterns changed hands at world championships like state secrets. Anglers would spend entire evenings with a competitor's fly under a magnifying glass, trying to reverse-engineer what they were looking at.
Some of those secrets are still secrets.
The three patterns contained within this email are inspired by that tradition, and they've been tied for us on Hanak H450BL jig hooks in sizes 14 and 16 - the same hooks used by serious competition anglers across Europe.
We're calling the selection the Early Season Polish Nymphs, which is understated to the point of being slightly comedic, given the backstory. But there we are.
The three patterns:
The Black is probably the one I'd reach for first in cold, early-season water. Black tungsten bead, black body, red hot-spot collar at the thorax. That hot spot is doing serious work - it's a trigger point that trout key in on when they're not fully switched on yet and need something to make the decision for them.
The Light Olive is the subtle option. Black tungsten bead again, but a slim, pale olive body with another red hot-spot. It's closer to a point-fly pattern - fished as the lower fly on a two-nymph rig, getting right down to the gravel where early-season fish are sitting before the hatches kick in properly.
And then there's the Red. This one is the most overtly attractive of the three - a red and gold body with that black bead sitting heavy at the front. It's not imitating anything specific. It's just asking a question, and trout in April are surprisingly willing to answer.
How to actually fish this style of Polish nymph
- in the early season
A few thoughts:
- Fish them deep - In March and April on most northern rivers, the water is cold, the metabolism of every trout in the river is running at a fraction of summer pace, and they're not coming up to chase anything. These patterns are heavy for a reason. You want the fly to tick along the bottom, not hang three feet above it. If you're not occasionally bumping gravel, you're too high.
- Go shorter than you think - The whole point of the Polish approach is contact — knowing where your fly is, feeling the drift, detecting takes that amount to little more than the line going slightly slack for half a second. That doesn't happen with fifteen metres of fly line piled up in the current. Get closer, fish shorter, keep the rod tip high and the line tight. You'll feel the difference immediately.
- Start with the Black - In cold, coloured early-season water — which is most Yorkshire rivers in March — I'd fish the Black as the point fly almost every time. Add the Light Olive as a dropper if you want two flies. The Red & Gold comes into its own as the river drops and clears later in April, when there's a bit more colour in the light and fish start becoming more active.
- Switch sizes before you switch flies - If the pattern's right but fish are short-taking or ignoring it entirely, go from a 14 to a 16 before you reach for something completely different. Early-season trout are cautious and the smaller hook often makes the difference. Both sizes are included in the selection so you've got options.
- Don't neglect slower water - It's tempting to work the fast runs and pocket water with nymphs like these — and yes, they fish brilliantly there. But in April, a lot of trout are holding in slower, steadier glides where they can feed without spending much energy. A controlled dead-drift through a slow pool, with these flies getting down to the bottom third of the water column, can be quietly devastating.
Generally, the water levels at this time of year are average to high, so we've added a 3.5mm tungsten bead to the superb Hanak H450BL Jig hook for that little bit of extra weight.
This selection of 'secret' nymphs includes 3 different patterns, with 3 each of the following in both size 14 & 16:
- Black - Size 14 & 16 Hanak H450BL Jig
- Light Olive - Size 14 & 16 Hanak H450BL Jig
- Red - Size 14 & 16 Hanak H450BL Jig
Please Remember: We've only 40 of these selections available, so if you want a set, you will need to be quick - This style of fly always sells out within a few hours of being released!
Or, buy your 'secret' nymphs individually:
Go on, treat yourself - you know you want to - at only £30 for the full selection, these will not hang around for long!
Fishing in the early part of the season (March and April) can be very challenging, depending on which part of the British Isles you are located. Generally, the further South and West you are the better the fishing will be at this time of year - the North and Scotland always seem to lag a couple or three weeks behind the South of the British Isles as far as hatches and river fish activity go.
- Manage your expectations – You’ve probably been waiting for the first trip of the season for a while, and if you’re anything like me, thinking of nothing else but those first few (very rusty) casts! Don’t go expecting to ‘bag up’, once the season opens, the water is generally still very cold, and the fish are less actively feeding. River choice is a key factor at this time. If you're lucky enough to have a choice of rivers, it’s always best to target the smaller streams where possible; you will stand a much better chance of success. It’s also best to time your trips to when you are more likely to see active fish in front of you – between 11am and 2pm. So, now is the time to act accordingly, have a nice and leisurely breakfast - a Full English is my preferred option - at a local cafe - got to support those local businesses. Arrive at the river for around 10:30 and get set up - always keeping an eye on the water for any movement.
- Early Season Watercraft – Searching for those early-season fish is where watercraft comes into play more than at any other time of the year. Watercraft is the art of looking, listening and watching the water (and the environment around you) and then decoding the signals to give you an indication of what is happening, then using tactics based on what you see. A typical example of this is seeing a Wagtail on the riverbanks. These birds are notorious for arriving on the river just before an Olive hatch starts. If you see one - tie on an Olive emerger and wait! Watercraft is far too big a subject to go into detail here. If you would like to read more, we've published an article on our NEW Learning Centre - you can read it here.
Finally, even though we are forecast for some nicer weather over the next few days, don’t let any bad weather put you off, so long as the water is fishable, ignore the conditions - some of my best early-season days have been when there’s a gale blowing, and it’s about to rain.
Tight lines & have a great day.
