slovenia09

Day 2 we intended to spend on the Trebuscica as the Idrijca was still looking a bit out of sorts but after driving up and stopping for a look we decided to switch to the Idrijca after all, memory fails me on why we made this decision but since we hadn’t really looked into the best spots on the Idrijca to try and didn’t have the foresight to ask Matej at the hotel for advice it turned out to be one of our weaker decisions.

The Idrijca, while reasonably clear, was carrying a bit of height and pace and the first 2 places we stopped to fish only gave us a small section of river before we came to pools which were too deep and fast to wade through and access more of the river. We fished on regardless and though we had takes on nymphs and dries we couldn’t get fish to stick. Thunder and lightning moved in and we moved on… back to the section of river at the hotel, similar story here, we fished upriver and found the going tough. With only one fish successfully landed and time creeping on another decision was needed… stick it out and hope for an improved evening or move on in the search for more fish? Reluctantly, we moved on. Upper Baca was an option but since we had planned to explore that properly the next day we decided to just finish off the day on the Tolminka.

It couldn’t have been more different. When we arrived there were a few fish rising but within half an hour a hatch came on and the top pool started to boil. The day ended well…….

Day 3 and not wanting to compound our mistake of yesterday we asked Matej for access advice on a couple of places we wanted to fish, the Tolminka (above Tolmin) and upper Baca. The upper Tolminka while very scenic does not have quite the same fishing quality as the Baca but as it was the final day of our Tolmin ticket we decided to go there first and fish a few spots but mostly just take it easy and drink in the scenery. Mostly I just stuck to the path and bushwhacked down to the river every now and then to take some photos; Robert fished some of it and caught a very cool looking Brown. We reached the Gorge section, upper fishing limit, much quicker than we thought we would so instead of heading straight from here to the Baca we decided to go and fish a section of the Soca first.

With the Soca being the last of the rivers to return to a fishable condition we had thought it unlikely we’d get to fish here but it turned out to be in reasonably good condition. After stopping at a few places in the “No Kill” section and finding them busy with other anglers we eventually settled on a nice run just above this area and were quickly into some fish. Robert was first with Grayling rising to dries along the edge of the run then me with a couple of nice Chubb on dries in a lovely looking pool behind a gravel island and then both of us with a mix of Rainbows and Grayling to huge Stonefly nymphs fished deep down the same run he started on. A good mix of species and fish up to 50cm made the couple of hours we spent here pass very quickly, too quick really so next time I make it to Slovenia hopefully I’ll make more time to spend on the Soca and maybe come equipped with heavier rods to try and target some of the big Marbles…. But this time… The Baca was calling.

Third river of the day and probably my favourite on the Tolmin Licence, the Baca. In places it reminds me of my little home river (only with much bigger fish and more dramatic riverside scenery) and in others it’s very like Cumbria’s Eamont which is maybe why I’m so drawn to it, whatever the reason all I know is it’s a beautiful valley to fish in and just seems to get nicer the farther up you go. Armed with Matej’s advice on a good access point between Kneza and Kortnica we again found ourselves quickly into fish, this time our 5th species of the day Marble/Brown hybrids, these were a little smaller than the Rainbows of the Soca but beautiful fish and very welcome indeed. We fished out the rest of the day catching mostly Brown Trout on dry flies. An excellent days fishing for our last on the Tolmin Licence.

Day 4…. Unec, even writing the name makes me smile, simply a stunning chalkstream and home to beautiful Grayling and Brown Trout. Morning to early afternoon was spent on the section where both nymph and dry fly are allowed but I deliberately left the nymph boxes in the car, we wouldn’t need them here. Being a bit later in the season than my last visit 2 years ago the water was lower and there was a much wider variety of insects on the wing. We started off with medium sized CDC & Elks and moved through F Flies and small Olive duns according to whatever the tastes of rising fish in each pool were, all of them worked and big Grayling were finding their way to the net from the off, Robert with the biggest at just under the magical 50cm mark.

Late afternoon and evening we walked a mile or so downstream and fished our way back to the car. Pretty much everywhere we fished we found good Grayling and twice I had to wade across stream to free my line from tree roots when I was unable to stop fish from running there, luckily both were landed and returned to fight another day. As the evening drew in Robert managed to finish off the day with our biggest fish from the river… a Brown Trout he estimated around 4 and a half pounds in weight. Big smiles all round on the journey back to the hotel.

Day 5 Lepena.

One of my early aims for this trip was to spend a day on the upper Soca but the more research I did the more I was being drawn to the Lepena, looking through more booklets and talking to Matej at the hotel was drawing me there even more so when we found the easiest place to find licences was right at the confluence of Soca and Lepena we thought we’d start the day there… well we’d be crazy not to, after all we were right there.
Even if the fishing was terrible it would still be worth the trip as the drive there has some stunning scenery but far from terrible what we found there was a real jewel. Rather than start at the bottom and fish upstream we followed the road along the river to a parking spot at the start of a footpath much farther up, tackled up and set off upstream from there. The gradient was picking up and we figured we’d find some nice holding pools and maybe a bit of shelter from the rain which hadn’t started but we thought would be on its way. The first two pools we fished gave us a Marble Trout each to dry fly and a smile from ear to ear, the river just got more and more beautiful with every corner we turned. This was fairly heavy going and we had to climb over huge rocks and wade through fast water to navigate our way up… hand over hand a lot of the time as the river tightened up and got more overgrown but it was worth every step. An hour or two later and the heavens opened, with the rain lashing down we came across a small footbridge and a path that would lead us back to the car... we decided to beat a retreat, with the river tightening at every turn and casting a 9ft rod becoming unpractical common sense won over curiosity and we walked back to a point a hundred yards or so below the car and fished a little back upstream from there. It was now early afternoon and hunger was starting to bite.

After Lunch in a campsite restaurant we set off for a look at the Soca, hopping from spot to spot we found some cool looking runs and pools but the draw of Lepena was strong and after barely wetting a line we started finding excuses to go back. A good decision. The lower stretch we fished the day out on was much shallower and more even tempered but the fish were abundant and more Marbles, Browns and Rainbows came to the net before darkness began to creep in and we reluctantly had to leave.

Day 6 and our last fishing day. Another decision to make, do we follow the pre trip plan of fishing a day on the upper Idrijca or return for a second day on Unec? In truth the decision was 70% made on our first day on the Unec, it just seemed a shame to pass by the upper Idrijca for a second time without stopping to fish it. I know we missed some really good fishing but as it happens we also missed some pretty heavy rain showers and besides….. there’s always the next time. Anyway another day on the Unec can never be a bad thing. It started much the same as the last with plenty fish from the start only a higher percentage of Brown Trout this time and most of them at a pretty good average size, by lunchtime we’d caught a lot of fish and decided to explore a lot farther downstream experimenting with a few flies I’d tied for the trip and not used much. With the changeable weather of the afternoon we spent a lot of time fishing through a thick mist that was hugging the river, at times it got pretty difficult to see your fly or tell whether you were rising fish on anything but very short casts, on one occasion I phoned Robert to find out if it was any clearer where he was only to find he was fishing a mere 15 yards upstream from me and I just couldn’t see him. Although it made the fishing more “interesting” it also added to the beauty of the place and with plenty more fish landed by early evening we decided to call it a day.

Bringing to an end our week in the fly fishing paradise of Slovenia.

Special thanks are due to Matej at the Hotel Zlata Ribica, we were looked after very well and this is a gem of a hotel I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone booking a trip to Slovenia. Not only is the accommodation very comfortable but the location is second to none, the food is excellent and both Matej and his wife take pride in a personal connection with their guests. Fishing licences, flies etc can be bought from the hotel and as a fisherman himself Matej can offer you great advice on where and how to fish to help you make the best of your time.

Click the hotel name Above to open a new window to the hotel website.