Go Fish: An angler’s guide to Ukraine

Fishing: to me it means cold, wet, overcast mornings on a 4-meter boat with my uncles Ted and Ed, my dad, my brother and various cousins, all sitting out by Red Rock Point at Deschambault Lake in northern Saskatchewan, dropping lead leaders over the side of the boat and jigging them till there’s a nibble. It’s about waiting. And patience. And, more often than not, the one that got away.

I also think of “A River Runs Through It,” the classic Norman Maclean novel that Robert Redford made into a great movie starring Brad Pitt. I can almost picture myself hip-wading in the shallows on some quiet stretch of river in the western Montana wilds, and hear the swish-swish of my fly-casting line, and feel the golden light of an early summer day shining on my face. Could fishing in Ukraine be that idyllic?

Why not? Ukraine is a land of rivers (and a few small lakes), many of which contain trout, northern pike, catfish, pike-perch/zander (a species similar to the walleye), sturgeon and many others. To the patient anglers who fish in Kyiv and around Ukraine in summer, fall or year-round, there’s obviously a wealth of pleasure to be had from baiting a hook and casting away.

Starting Up

Licenses are required to go fishing in Ukraine – they cost Hr 30. But you can fish from the banks of the Dnipro River from the Moskovsky Bridge to the village of Ukrainka 50 km south of town, it’s free of charge. It’s legal to fish in most lakes and rivers, but it’s forbidden to fish from bridges, or under them, anywhere in the country. And no fishing from boats till June 13. Call the Kyiv State Inspection Service for Fishery Protection, Reproduction and Regulation (Vyshgorod, 11 Sholudenko, 296-54-854) and find out about the fishing rules at your chosen spot. Also, if you’re going spear-fishing anywhere, no scuba gear is allowed.

Gearing Up

The Fisher’s Market at Dnipro metro station is your one-stop shop for every kind of fishing gear. Rods (vudychky), reels (kartushky), fishing line (leska), hooks, lures, vests, hip-waders and even boats, echo-locators and live bait can all be found in the kiosks. Some are covered, some are not, and they extend for about 200 meters right outside the metro, along the tram line heading back to Podil.

Anglers take note: there are both pros and cons to shopping at the Kyiv Fisher’s Market. Among the pros: accessibility, low prices, the best selection in town, a friendly atmosphere, and lots of friendly, helpful advice. The cons? If you buy it and it breaks, there’s no guarantee you’ll get your money back. And forget about paying with plastic.

Need the latest hi-tech gear? Check out the Russian site www.forvater.ru, which has the most complete and well-laid out Web site for fisherman looking to do a bit of early holiday shopping for everything from GPS locators to boats, depth finders and specialized tents.

Other places to gear up in Kyiv include Ibis (3 locations: 7 Druzhby Narodiv, 268-3782; 16 Lesi Ukrainky, 220-5980; 19 Tymoshenka, 414-5492) and Sport and Tourism (28 Lesi Ukainky, 296-6818). See “Fishing and Hunting” in the Kyiv Business Directory for more listings.

Where to Go

Program Manager Lubomyr Markevych of the UNDP-GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Program has done extensive research on the waters of the Dnipro and Desna Rivers and says that if you’re going to fish in Kyiv, for heaven’s sake, stay on the Left Bank! The reasoning is simple: the waters of the Desna, which begins its flow north and east of Chornobyl, don’t actually mix with those of the Dnipro until far south of Kyiv, meaning it has little or none of the radioactive sediment of the Dnipro.

As it is, most fishing in Ukraine centers on rivers flowing from the Carpathian Mountains, such as the Dniestr and Southern Buh; on major rivers such as the Dnipro, Desna, or the Syversky Donets in Luhansk oblast; or in marshy areas surrounding the Crimean Peninsula. Other places worth checking out (winter or summer) are the Kanivsky Reservoir right near Kaniv, the final resting place of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, and the Kakhovksky Reservoir in southern Ukraine.

As for what you’ll find in these and other local rivers, it’s all pretty much the same, though you will have more luck finding bottom-feeding catfish (som) or carp further south or in the Dnipro. You’ll find lots of zander, pike (shchutka), sturgeon (osetr) and other sturdy river fish in most other spots. See the “Fish ‘n’ Tips” page of the oddly named English site www.maggotdrowning.com for a good idea of what fish generally exist in Europe, where you’ll find them, and what should be used to land the suckers.

When it comes to lake fishing in Ukraine, there are the Shatskikh Lakes near the confluence of the Belarusian and Polish borders, but they’re not like the well-stocked, easily accessible lakes across North America. While small, unnamed lakes abound in Ukraine (especially in the mountains and heavily forested areas), there are few large ones, and so most lake fishing tourism in Ukraine is centered on artificially stocked ponds. Ask a local to see if it’s worth dropping a line.

Planning a Trip

Some rafting and river tour companies can also organize expeditions strictly for fishing, but as far as dedicated fishing tour operators go, one to check out is the T.Eko (tel. 440-6211, e-mail: [email protected]. T.Eko offers tours across Ukraine, Russia and in surrounding countries.

Also worth a peek is the Russian-language site www.fishing.kiev.ua, which is actually far more print than photos. But in addition to tons of information on the different types of fish available in Ukraine, not to mention helpful hints on where to find which fish and where, this all-in-one Web site has one page with sample itineraries for fishing around Kyiv.

Click on the “Information” button on the left-hand side tool bar and then choose the option “Rybolovnie Bazy” (Fishing Bases). Go down the page to the very last link, “Bazy Voyenokhot Ukrainy” (Military Hunting Bases of Ukraine). The page offers various fishing trip ideas for regions in the west, east, south, center of Ukraine and in Crimea. It also tells you which fish you’ll likely catch on various excursions.

To contact the Association of Military Hunting Bases of Ukraine, call 244-0770 or 245-3764, or visit their offices at 49 Povritoflotskiy Prospect #1 here in Kyiv.

Fishing Holes around Kyiv

Left Bank: 6 Raisy Okipnoi, tel. 517-0290.

Izumrudna: last stop of trolleybus #28 on Severna, tel. 411-3240.

Vishenki: second dam on the dam between Osokorky metro and village of Kiylov.

Stare, Hucentsy, Kalnye: Boryspil, village of Stare.

Koznika: Obukhovskiy raion, village of Kosnika, tel. 261-2320.