Katka Svagrova

Five years running Czech Ladies National Champion, this jet setting young angler is taking social media by storm with her fly fishing exploits around the globe.

WHO SHE IS

I come from a fishing family. My great-grandfather and grandfather were both fishermen, and even my grandmother would pick up a fly fishing rod at times and set off on her motorbike to fish a local river. I grew up beside a picturesque trout river and from an early age it was more than clear that, although I was a woman, I would build on my passion and keep fly fishing as a family tradition. I managed to cast with my own fly fishing rod from the age of four and since then fly fishing has become the most meaningful thing in my life. In 2012, I started to compete at national level in the Czech Republic and for the past five years I have won the Ladies National Champion title. In 2018, at the European Championship, our team ended in fourth place among 17 men’s teams from all over Europe, which was quite something for me. In 2014, I travelled abroad to Western Australia for the first time and my life turned into a rollercoaster. My first real job has been as a fly fishing guide on one of the best Atlantic salmon rivers in the world, the Laxá in Kjós in Iceland, and I will be returning there again later this year for their new season. To date, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel and fish 18 countries across the world as an ambassador for well-known fly fishing brands Patagonia, Costa, RIO Products, Hardy and Fulling Mill. Some of these amazing countries include New Zealand, Guatemala, Mexico, Iceland, Bolivia, South Africa and the Maldives.

WHERE SHE LIKES TO FISH – BOLIVIA