Philipp Goralski

My name is Philipp Goralski, I live in Cologne, and originally came from Bochum. As so many, I began fishing as a child. Fly fishing was long in the future. As most, I began with bobber and lure fishing.

I became aware of fly fishing during our first fishing trip on the Lenne in Sauerland. I was fascinated by the elegance of fly casting and fishing with those small flies which so closely resemble the natural fish diet. No twisting and turning metal to stimulate a bite; simply success through an imitation of the actual diet.

What can I say? Finally, as the only one of our little angling crew, I took a casting course and have been completely captured by fly fishing ever since. My old spinning rods are gathering dust in the cellar and the fishing boat is mostly used for swimming. This history I probably share with many others seeing as how few are born with a fly rod in their hand. Even though I hardly ever use my old fishing methods, they taught me a lot about fish behavior, fish holds, and reading the water.

Today I fish mostly for brown trout, grayling, and chub in my home waters, the Agger and the Lenne. One of my passions remains fishing for sea-run browns and salmon in rivers as well as in the Baltic Sea.

I try to make it twice a year to Denmark to try my luck. My success varies, but we all know that Salmo salar is not always our friend. That is what fascinates me, sometimes you are skunked for a week and sometimes you fish for an hour in the evening and catch within five minutes two large sea-run browns.

Fly fishing brought me quickly to fly tying which gives me about as much pleasure as the fishing itself. Joining the “Fliegenfischenfreunde Sieg” group brought me together with many having the same interests and they taught me a number of things which improved my fly tying.

Today I most enjoy tying streamers and flies for my salmon fishing. I like to use tubes, which I also use for my trout streamers, employing primarily natural materials such as silver fox, arctic fox, and pheasant. I remain open to new ideas and like to experiment. That is the nice thing about our hobby, it is so varied and there is no reason to stick always with the same thing. I find it important to take it no more seriously than it is. I want to have fun with my hobby and the objective is, and remains, catching a fish.

It is with great pleasure that I await the EWF and look forward to meeting new colleagues as well as seeing old friends.

Tight lines,

Philipp G.