Sklep
Stories
Festiwal WFFF
Kontakt
Maciek Rogowiecki called him "a dinosaur of Polish angling in the best possible sense"
Marek Szymański - author of over a thousand articles, pioneer of catfish trolling on the Vistula River, a man who fished this river before it became fashionable. Or before it even started flowing! ;)
We invited him to our podcast because we wanted to hear the truth about how the Queen of Polish rivers has changed. And we heard much more... The only question is whether this is what we all expected from a conversation with someone who remembers fishing on this river almost 40 years ago.
Despite our conversations being rather informal and always trying to maintain that atmosphere, this is not an optimistic diagnosis - it is a brutal diagnosis of the state of Polish rivers from someone who saw them in their best times and observes their decline today. After such conversations, we always hope that someone in a high position listens to this and clutches their head thinking - what have we done... but let's get back to reality!
WILD FISH STORIES COLLECTION
Check out our outdoor clothing
Dead Vistula at night
When Marek spoke about night catfish fishing years ago, it sounded like science fiction - "Every time a flashlight was turned on, every flash of a camera, there were millions of bleak. There were so many of these fish swimming near the surface."
Today? Silence. A dead river at night. Hearing this from someone who remembers the Vistula's glory days really brings home the scale of the changes. The entire philosophy of night catfish fishing collapsed along with the bleak population.
The consequences are obvious. If there are no small fish, then there is nothing for not only catfish but all predators to eat. And if the fish are not actively feeding near the surface, then surface lures, the iconic Le Dorado or those famous rattles, lose their meaning. Honestly, we didn't expect these fish to be caught with surface lures! We always associated it with something exotic, most closely with the Ebro or the Po River. But this simply highlights our lack of experience. Fortunately, we are not the ones to tell the stories from the water in this podcast!
End of the trolling era?
Marek's accurate diagnosis: catfish trolling is becoming a dead end. And it's not just about the lack of small fish.
"Our Vistula fish, unfortunately, no longer react well to a boat moving overhead. This applies to all methods."
Specifically. Fishing pressure has taken its toll over the years. Catfish have learned to fear boats. And trolling is a method that, by definition, means boating over fish. If fish flee from the boat, then trolling stops working - as simple as that!
Marek returns to his roots: "I am a spinner. I only started trolling in 1997 when trolling became permitted."
Spinning offers more possibilities - you can fish from the bank, from a kayak, you don't have to motor over the fish. In current conditions, it makes sense. Tomasz Pietruczuk, who is probably the most widely known person who fishes from a kayak in Poland, is a living example of this. He is able to quietly approach fish that have become unattainable from a boat. Silence on the water is back in favor! And this is not about music from a JBL!
Where did the bleak go?
And here is the problem, which in our opinion is key to understanding the crisis of the Queen of Polish rivers - the Vistula. Bleak - this small, insignificant fish - was the foundation of the entire ecosystem.
Marek has a theory:
"For many years now, there have been practically no spring floods. Bleak need flooded willow bushes, flooded willow roots."
River regulation, dike construction, lack of natural floodplains - all of this affects fish that need shallow, overgrown areas for spawning. But Marek warns against oversimplification: "When formulating theories about high water, one should avoid simplifications, because usually the causes are more complex."
He's right. It's not just a matter of hydrology. It's also water chemistry, pressure, climate change. But the effect is one - the lack of small fish means the collapse of the entire food chain.
A wanderer who goes everywhere
Honestly? What impressed us most was Marek's philosophy on exploring new places. Michał's father, Dariusz Czuber, said about him: "He was such a wanderer, he'd go anywhere and catch that trout."
“Everywhere I couldn't enter, couldn't reach, that's where I was drawn. The vision of a spot where no one had cast a lure yet was tempting.”
This is the true spirit of an angler-explorer. Most of us fish in renowned spots, on well-trodden paths. Marek sought out places where no one had ever been. Sometimes he came back empty-handed, but sometimes he caught the only fish in the area.
From our experience, this is true. The best catches are from places no one knows about. And the SATISFACTION FROM SUCH A FISH FROM SUCH A SPOT! We loved discovering the unknown from the beginning, as evidenced by our first film, "Forgotten Predators." We refer you to it because it's exactly about that. But you need courage to leave proven fishing grounds and go into the unknown. Marek had that courage throughout his career and still does!
Photo from our first WFS expedition - "Forgotten Predators"
The future of river fishing
In our opinion, the conversation with Marek is an important voice in the discussion about the future of Polish angling. A man who saw the best times of our rivers now says it plainly - things are bad.
But he doesn't give up. He returns to spinning, learns new methods, seeks solutions. A punt, a barge, and a plan for 150 days a year on the river? Show us another such enthusiast of life on the Vistula! He transferred river trolling to the sea and with great success. Salmon are Marek's second "addiction." Check out his offer and go fishing. You will surely have the opportunity to talk to him in an angling atmosphere!\
At an age when others only reminisce about old times, Marek is still developing, writing books, and spending every free moment by the water.
This is a lesson for all of us. You can't just live on memories. You have to adapt to new conditions, look for new methods, not give up. Rivers have changed, but you can still fish on them. You just have to be able to read these changes and draw conclusions. Here, it was a great shock for us to hear Marek's opinion on the live method of fishing. He hardly uses it at all! And what? He catches very good fish! In our opinion, it's simply a matter of his immense experience. Nowadays, people who start their fishing adventure with a Panoptix or other underwater viewing screen, after disconnecting the power, can go home. Don't do this to yourselves, because you lose the best part of fishing. And what's more, you'll learn what addiction means…
Perhaps we won't catch those spectacular catfish from the 90s anymore, but it's important not to lose the passion and curiosity that Marek represents. And that's probably the most important message from this conversation.
We leave a link to purchase Marek's book, because it is definitely a must-read!
https://sklep.szymanskiwedkarstwo.pl/
FAQ
Why is catfish trolling becoming ineffective?
Fish have learned to fear boats due to fishing pressure. Additionally, the lack of small fish means that catfish no longer feed as actively as they once did.
What happened to the bleak in the Vistula River?
Probably the main reason is the lack of spring floods - bleak need flooded thickets for spawning. River regulation means such places no longer exist. Wody Polskie, we hope you are reading this!
Is spinning the future of catfish fishing?
According to Marek Szymański, yes. Spinning allows avoiding boating over fish, which in current conditions gives a better chance of success.
How has the Vistula River changed over the last 30 years?
The number of small fish, especially bleak, has dramatically decreased. At night, the river is practically dead, whereas it used to be full of life. So, as we've mentioned many times, everything depends on small fish! That's all there is to it!
Sources
- Wild Fish Stories Podcast, episode with Marek Szymański
Szacunek dla Pana Marka
Leave a comment