Polish names of artificial flies

Polish names of artificial flies

by Robert Kostecki

In this article, I would like to address the issue of giving Polish names to hand-tied flies, and in particular those names that later enter official circulation in all kinds of publications, including those available online. It can be said that the vast majority of flies currently considered Polish inventions have their origins in classic English patterns, which were already known among interested anglers in Poland as early as the late 19th century. These flies were modified and sometimes given Polish names.

For example, the numerous versions of the so-called „March Browns” found in many publications are no longer the classic March Brown (MB), but at most variations of it. The original recipe is being replaced with all sorts of materials and colors, resulting in flies that are practically different, yet still called MB. Conservative fly tiers believe that this approach undermines what is most valuable: the classic patterns. This view is not dissimilar to the negative attitude held by some people in general toward business methods (competition and rivalry) that influence the shaping of the world by imposing an incredible pace of civilizational development.

However, it seems that the original patterns aren’t as dangerous as the variations created, which have a single goal—to catch as many fish as possible in a short amount of time. These oddities can, in fact, be considered exclusively Polish flies! It would be nice, however, if, before creating his fanciful visions, the „fly tier” first familiarized himself with traditional English fly patterns. Afterward, the discussion about the flies created becomes an academic one, because—is the resulting handiwork a variation on a classic, or a fly never before described anywhere?!

We know that the common „brązka” is derived from the Pheasant Tail (PT) fly created by Frank Sawyer, except that it is tied on a hook with a barb and features a black fly. On the other hand, the highly effective fly known as the „Skawica,” described in the Kraków Cooperative’s in-house standard published in the previous article, is considered a purely Polish design and is said to be the equivalent of the Stone Fly (SF), commonly known as the „stonefly.” As a side note, the aforementioned cooperative standard is a document “riddled with linguistic and factual errors (e.g., the completely incorrect recipe for Hofland’s Fancy).” [info: J. Jeleński]

There is also a theory that the Skawica is a version of the Sam Slick fly that has been slightly modified by Polish fly tiers. Since fly tiers did not have access to orange pheasant tippets for the tails, they tied them using the same method as for the March Brown. The name „Skawica” dates back to the interwar years, when fishing clubs managed the stretches of Carpathian rivers. The Skawa and Skawica were under the jurisdiction of the “Potok” Sports Fishing Club “Potok” in Kraków, whose members included Tadeusz Godzicki—a famous figure in the history of Polish fly fishing and the teacher of Wojciech Piziak, the first postwar Polish fly-fishing champion.

The name of this fly comes from the Skawica River. According to legend, the Skawica was invented and designed by Mr. Woźniak before World War II. Apart from the youth of the YMCA chapter based on Krowoderska Street, he was one of the few residents of Kraków who were involved in tying artificial flies at that time. After the war, the Skawica could be purchased at a fishing tackle shop on Sienna Street in Kraków. Mrs. Woźniakowa made very effective wet flies, in contrast to Mrs. Gutowa, who later so valiantly supplied the shop on Sienna Street with this assortment.

Another legendary pattern of a classic Krakow fly, developed in the Polish Carpathian fishing grounds, is the Siemieniatka. Its name comes from the wings made of „siemieniate” brown hen feathers, featuring black or dark brown, distinctive elements. The Siemieniatka, like the Skawica, is also said to be an original fly pattern by Mr. Woźniak, although it appears to be one of the modified versions of the March Brown Female.

The aforementioned Tadeusz Godzicki is said to have invented the wet fly, which Wojciech Piziak brought into widespread use under the name “Godzicki Fly.” Its design is as follows: a size 10–14 hook, short and straight; a burgundy silk body, wound fairly thickly; body wrapped in gold or yellow thread or lamé; thorax made of partridge neck feathers; wings made of the tips of partridge back feathers; no tail; black leader; the fly has a distinct, black head. Malicious tongues claim that the prototype for this fly was a worn-out March Brown, to which Mr. Tadeusz Godzicki attached new, makeshift wings made from partridge back feathers, simply because those were the feathers he happened to have on hand.

Among this range of „Polish” flies, the irreplaceable Babka remains at the top of the list—a fly that is particularly popular in the Podhale region. It is an imitation of a caddis fly, whose wings are made from feathers—most often pheasant feathers—glued to a stocking and tied to the hook so that they wrap around the entire shank. Finally, let’s add that in the 1960s, the pages of „Wiadomości Wędkarskie,” a series of articles by Stanisław Koziej, M.Sc. Eng., was published in which he attempted to introduce Polish names for a number of flies previously known by their English names. Let’s judge for ourselves how well he succeeded.