Sometimes a competition ends with the final standings. At other times, the standings are just a number behind which much more remains – the preparation, the journey, the difficult moments, the conversations between teammates, and the feeling that when you return home, you are no longer quite the same angler.
That is what we talked about several days after the European Fly Fishing Championship in Italy, where the Bulgarian national team finished in 11th place. The conversation brought together team captain Zhoro Stoyanov, Dimitar Petrov and Sasho Metodiev, and gradually, behind the final result, a much more interesting story began to emerge.
🎥 Watch the full conversationAll photos from the European ChampionshipPreparation Begins Long Before the Competition
The preparation had started long before the championship itself. Information was gathered from the internet, from friends and from people who already knew the Italian waters, but one thing remained irreplaceable – actually standing on the river and fishing there.
That is why part of the team travelled to Italy as early as a month before the championship for a training trip. The Italian rivers proved to be beautiful, typical mountain freestone rivers with large rocks and significant elevation changes. One of them, however, remained inaccessible because of heavy rain and high, muddy water.
Even so, the training provided the most important thing – a first impression of the rivers, fly sizes, fish behaviour and the differences between the individual beats.
The Draw Is Part of the Competition Too
It quickly became clear that the draw would play a huge role. The differences between the individual beats were significant, with some holding considerably more fish than others.
That is why, immediately before the championship, the competitors returned to the river to check the latest tactics and successful flies and to build a common strategy.
Facing Teams with Enormous Experience
But they were up against teams with a level of experience that is difficult to accumulate in just a few seasons. French, Czech, Spanish and Italian anglers included competitors with 15, 20 or more European and World Championship appearances.
Competitive fly fishing operates on a very different scale in these countries – with many more participants, clubs, competitions, sponsors and people who devote a huge part of their time to the sport.
And yet the Bulgarian team did not travel to Italy simply to take part.
They went there to compete.
Knowing When to Change Your Tactics
One of the most interesting moments in the conversation comes when Zhoro Stoyanov talks about the difference between good teams and the very best teams.
According to him, the difference is not necessarily who has the better flies or who knows how to catch fish. The major difference is the ability to realise very quickly that what you are doing is not working and change your tactics in time.
That is a lesson you cannot learn from a book, nor does it come from a single good training session. It comes competition after competition.
A Strong Start on the High-Mountain Lake
The first day starts well. On the high-mountain lake, the fish are active, and the preparation from the previous evening proves decisive.
The competitors arrive with several rods and prepared setups, but the organisation is tense right up to the final minute. After the quick transfer to the lake, there is just enough time to observe – and that is when fish begin rising at close range.
Once the competition begins, however, it becomes clear that the dry fly alone is not enough. One of the competitors notices that the Spanish anglers are already fishing at a much higher pace. He changes his approach and gradually begins to make up ground.
In the next beat, he finds shoals of Arctic char and manages a strong session, including several double catches.
This is competitive fishing in its purest form – observe, think and change your decision while the competition is still unfolding.
When the Draw Is Not on Your Side
But after the strong start comes a difficult day.
The draw puts the Bulgarian competitors in weaker beats and the team drops back in the standings. Some of the stretches have already been fished heavily during training and are known to hold fewer fish. Elsewhere, there are plenty of fish, but they have been pressured so heavily by constant fishing that they barely respond.
And this is where perhaps the most important lesson of the entire championship emerges.
You cannot control the draw.
You cannot control the weather.
You cannot control how many fish are in your beat.
But you can control what you do with the conditions you have been given.
Behind the Strong Teams Is an Entire System
This is where the strongest teams stand apart. They have large support staffs, captains, managers and runners who monitor what is happening in every sector and pass information on in real time.
A competitor may go half an hour without catching a fish, but someone on the bank may already have seen what is working nearby and can give him a direction to follow.
This is not simply a matter of having more people.
It is a system.
And this is precisely the kind of system the Bulgarian team is only beginning to build.
A Team Is More Than Five Competitors
Because there is something much more important in the conversation than the disappointment of a few difficult draws. There is respect between teammates and a genuine sense of being part of a team.
After every session, information is shared. Which flies worked? Where were the fish? What changed? What should the next competitor do?
This sense of cooperation is one of the things the captain values most highly from their participation.
One Result Does Not Tell the Whole Story
And by the time the conversation reaches its conclusion, the final standings no longer seem quite as important.
11th place is a fact.
But the gaps to the teams ahead are small. Sometimes one lost fish can mean several places in the standings. Sometimes a good or bad draw can change the entire day. And sometimes the difference between a medal and fourth place is a single fish.
The Next Step Is Forward
That is why the conversation ends not with disappointment, but with plans.
Next year – Bosnia.
More experience.
More competitions.
More people.
And the hope that competitive fly fishing in Bulgaria will gradually become bigger.
Because one idea that emerges from the conversation goes far beyond this particular European Championship. If, ten years from now, Bulgaria has twice as many fly anglers, more competitors and more competitions, and if the overall level continues to rise rather than only the very top – then the efforts being made today will have been worthwhile.
And perhaps this is exactly where change begins.
With a few people sitting down after the competition and talking not only about what happened, but about what they can do better next time.
And that is why 11th place does not look like the end.
It looks more like a beginning.