Paul Procter wrote us a short river report:

The San river greeted us with autumnal sunshine and a gentle breeze.  That first lunchtime is something I will long remember as Blue Winged Olives hatched like I’ve never seen before, literally thousands of duns streamed off the water.  As for the fishing, it doesn’t get any better than standing in one place, picking off rising grayling with small dry flies.  However, what a difference a day makes.  From somewhere an Artic blast rolled in over eastern Europe?  I reckon it was Wojtek doing one of his strange weather rituals!  Anyway, the next three days saw heavy snow and coupled with biting winds, it almost reached blizzard conditions.  Admittedly, our hands and toes suffered, but the olives hatches kept coming, treating us to some superb fishing during the afternoon periods.  If that wasn’t enough, spinners returned to egg lay late in the day, extending sport into near darkness.  Naturally, frequent breaks had to be taken to warm up.  Thankfully, our guide Richard tended a nice warm fire and was on hand with coffee to keep us going.  Despite the weather, the fishing we experienced really was second to none. Paul Procter

JT's river report:

My autumn trip from 2008 was so good that I simply had to come back this year. The San river looked perfect as we arrived with low clear water and plenty of rising fish. My party agreed to wait until the morning before wetting a line. We must have albatross blood on our hands though, because some faceless chap in Warsaw decided to generate some electricity over night and by breakfast time the river was a foot higher and running like brown sludge! Wojtek assured us that we shouldn’t worry and that the river would clear very quickly. He was right. The influx of cold water didn’t help though and the fish were definitely off their grub to start with. The flies must have sensed this because they hatched with a ferocity I have never witnessed before in my life. Blue Winged Olives streamed off the surface as if there was going to be no tomorrow. Their spinners returned (also in massive numbers) throughout the late afternoons and have I mentioned the sedges yet? Awesome fishing. Dry fly reigned supreme for me, but some of the others opted for spiders and duo tactics. All methods were working and we caught plenty of grayling to 45cm plus a few bonus trout that didn’t realise they were out of season. We went home exhausted but ridiculously happy every night and I have already booked for next year! John Tyzack

I last fished the San river in 2005 as part of the England Fly Fishing Team. We were there for the European Championships. Ever since that trip I have wanted to return. So I arrived on September 20th with a party of six anglers from the Grimsby Piscatorials.
They have fished with me many times on the River Ure in North Yorkshire (England), therefore, had some experience of river fly-fishing, but of course, nothing prepares you for the San river! During the week we had bright sunshine everyday and a low, clear river, far from ideal fishing conditions. However during the week everyone caught fish and some had fish of a lifetime. Some others lost what would have been fish of a lifetime! What I remember from the trip in 2005 was the fly hatches, well in 2009 they were just as good, in fact awesome is the only word that can come close to describing what we saw. Blue winded olives and caddis all making an appearance with the BWO spinners the stars of the shows each evening. However, I think what caused the greatest surprise was when a wild boar just came across the river right in front of one of our party. We fished mainly with “duo” during the day and single dries in the evening with the locally tied flies head and shoulders above ours! Wojtek and Richard were just amazing, nothing was too much trouble. What with great fishing, great company, great food and a wonderful river what more could you want? I have already booked for next year.

Stuart (“Skippy”) Crofts

This won't be about the river..

You can meet Jeremy Lucas on the spring show in Newark. You can find him on one of the following stands - Fish&Fly, Hardy Greys or GAIA. Feel free to ask him everything about our holidays to the San river.