Fishing lakes in Bihor, Romania

Bihor has two faces: the plain around Oradea, Salonta and Marghita, thick with carp fisheries, and the east, where the Crișul Repede cuts through the hills past Aleșd, Tileagd and Lake Leșu.

Out on the plain the carp and crucian carp waters are easy to reach and quick to wake up in spring, and the ones nearest Oradea fill up at weekends. Eastward the water runs faster and colder, with chub, nase and barbel, and at Leșu and above it on the Iada you are into trout country. The Crișul Negru towards Beiuș and Ștei is a well kept river.

Early spring is a real opportunity here, because the west of the country thaws first. In summer the shallow plain waters heat up hard, and nights out fish best, especially on the fisheries with no shade.