About Seč reservoir

Seč (nearby Chrudim) is a small town about 30 km southwest from Pardubice. It is located in the picturesque highland, on the southwest corner of Iron Mountains. Barely two kilomtery south of the town lies a great area of water - Seč reservoir. This is a fresh water of river Chrudimka, which in Pardubice flows into the Elbe. That stretch of Chrudimka (I call it "River of passion") from Piskač's mill to the mouth of the river to the reservoir is jurisdictional its wild and masterfully clean innocence. Here and there frights some trout, pike jups, or at night furrows mysterious eels. It is so beautiful place, that it delighted rare species of herons.

Right in the estuary of Chrudimka to the reservoir can one stroke carps. There are large spawning grounds, where fishermen with their dishes can not catch. Carps spawn in low water, heat on hot summer sun and muck in a mud like pigs. To first elbow is a southern part of the reservoir called influx. It is the part richest of the eels, pikeperches and pikes, which live with their power also on the rocky and deep bottom of "Great Lake" (another part of the reservoir), nearby the Jewish cemetery and, of course, deep gulfs (three deep bays in the second elbow bed from the influx after the direction of Chrudimka flow). Carps are everywhere. Most, however, just int the influx, where they flee under the protective area - to spawning grounds. When there is too many carps, they constitute the vast flocks, which in mornings churn the water level and by classic arrow traces on the surface make themselves known. The most beautiful is to fish early in the morning before daybreak or at night before midnight, when the moon just unlits and everything is more mysterious than the Bermuda Triangle.

Surrounding of Seč reservoir provides equally large amount of beauty. At the foot of steep bank at the "Grand Lake" rises several breaches of a ruins of Oheb. Hence outlook is far to the west and to the end Iron Mountains. East covers a dense forest. Seč is actually in a shroud of kingly and fauna rich forests. Already from beginning of spring (though it is strange) grows army of small boletuses, thousands of ants - engineers design there and not even a piece of the world does not silent. Everything fill pleasant chorales of bird voices. If a man points his eyes from Oheb down, he can see amazing, albeit modest island, which is designated like a nature reservation and there can not be fishing. When the water all around the resevoir is really turbid or green, just in the vicinity of the island is the cleanest. The local fish population had to get used to tourists so that it is possible even to dive well. Many amurs (kind of a fish) occupy the east coast of the island. Recently there also appeared tolstolobic (seen especially from the dam) and I saw here even sturgeon and parma!

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From many villages around the most interesting is Klokočov (in the south, there is cottage of my great grandparents) where for over a thousand years old linden tree the watches world around. It's reinforced with steel construction to make the tribe not to crack and the tree celebrating next year after year. For the same reason it is known Podhradi (about 6 km north), which is famous by over 600 years old "Zizka's oak". When someone leans on it, the noise of leaves playes something like a melody of Hussites, for which every Bohemian should be proud. Except for the oak tree there is located the romantic ruins Lichnice just above it, from where you can see whole Iron Mountains from southeast to the west.

Due to altitude (around 560 meters / 1840 feets above the see level) the look skywards at night is really spectacular. The clean air and (yet) weak light pollution let me on the field of Ustupky over hotel "Kapitan" (or even on the beach when I fish) to observe so many special and faint sky objects. So I am grateful to Seč at least. I wish I could to bould there an observatory for public to show to people that the planetariums and computers can't replace the real beauty of the sky today yet.

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Some fishermen just see their trophies without respect to the fishing law, without respect to the nature. They snap everything they catch, fish wherever they want. Fishing is a sport, yes, but the fisherman isn't just the one who catches, he is also the guardian of the life around his spot. He isn't the one, who comes to drink a beer and eat a meat from tin and then he just tosses it to the closest bush. The one who heartlessly killes a fish, but also the one who cares about the nature around, take so many fishes he can take or he can eat. He is the one who commited to fishing law. And then there are others - the ones who just want to get drung, relaxe without any interest of the nature. I ask everybody who visits the Seč, please, don't take the beauty of ot like something you don't have to care. When I walk on beaches, I usually find chucked tins, papers, many packets. Sometime there is a jerrican on the water and the most callous people park their cars or motorcycles on the beach, during night play very loud music... But WHY, God sake? So please, be more nicer and don't thrust knives in the heart of our nature. Not in mountains at least. It's beauty and longer life of our ecosystem will be reward for you...

So whether there are storms, strong like greek Gods, when come thick fogs, when the Sun sets or rises, the romance of Seč was, is and will be indestructible, until unscrupulous tourists or fishermen don't contaminate it by agglomeration practice. Let's hope they don't...

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