Soca River, Slovenia, April 2008

[Russell Killebrew]

I’m a little late with this post, but here goes. Back in April, work took me to Milan for a week. (I know, it’s tough, but someone has to do it.) After I finished up the work, I caught the train across to Udine, Italy and was picked up at the train station to stay in Kobarid (a little town just across the border in Slovenia). The pickup and hotel was arranged by my guide that I found on the internet, www.lustrik.com. He did an excellent job, and made the trip a real success.

We fished the Soca River for two days. I didn’t keep an exact count, but the total was probably about 50 fish for the two days, 5 of which were big rainbows. The smaller fish included grayling (which I have never caught before) and Marble Trout (which are only found in this one drainage).

Without a doubt, this was the best fishing trip I have ever made. After two days of fishing, I caught the train to the closest city large enough to have direct flights back to the States; Venice. Got there in the afternoon and knocked around for a few hours before hitting the hotel, then flew out first thing the next morning, and was back at work here in Atlanta the following day.

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[Chris B.]

Wow, that's some amazing scenery. Thanks for the post.

Cheers,

Chris

[baldea]

The heck with Utah, Colorado & Montana! Too cool of a trip and work floated part of the bill. Even better.

You guys hiring?

[The Ole Man]

Nice fish--great scenery ! What flys do those fish like ??

[Ted]

Wow!

Fish and scenery were just grand. I don't think you photoshopped in the fish like the guy standing in that last picture...

Thanks for sharing. I gotta get a new job. Yeah...Utah schmuta...

TH

[B Kar Ma]

I didn't even know they had trout in Slovenia!

BTW, I need to try that trick with balancing the rod on my neck for the photo. I've tried holding it in my teeth, but the false teeth fell out........:rotfl:

[House Fly]

Thank you for bringing back and posting a piece of scenery from my former home country. I have not seen it in real life for over a decade. The bunch of houses that make up a town on the river bank, red pantiled roofs, steep mountains, snow covered mountain tops and a pristine river, I love the report! Soca, along with Sava Bohinjka, are some of the most beautiful rivers in that region, impeccably clean and gin clear, always. The Triglav National Park is another major attraction. Ahh, the memories. I'll bet you had a blast catching both the trout and the grayling, which can be the devil to fool, but they put up a great fight. Do you have any photos of grayling? And of the famed marbled trout? They are both beautiful fish. The rainbows speak for themselves; they are fatties, and they look great in the photos. Thank you again for sharing a great fishing adventure. :cheers:

[fishmonger]

Awesome report! I think that qualifies as the "Most Exotic" location ever visited and posted here. :cheers:

FM

[Buck Henry]

Great report and awesome pics! I have traveled to Slovenia myself (back in the mid 90's) and it is a beautiful place for sure. I did not get to fish, but did see a lot of good trout waters when we were up near Triglav National Park in the north.

PS: Slovenia makes great wine and some great beer too, but you never see it over here. When I was there, the war in Bosnia was still going on, so some things were in short supply. A locally brewed beer would cost you about a quarter, but a small glass of good old Coca Cola would run you about $3.00!

[Bigfishbryan]

Thanks for posting those pics. It's always nice to see trout in exotic places. Do you have any pictures of the grayling and marble trout. I've never even heard of marble trout.

[Rusty Fowler]

Beautiful!

[conner j]

Marble trout are beautiful, it is amazing how many subspecies of brown trout there are. Nice bows by the way, theyre huge were the marbled that big?

[Milton]

Just curious....

Did anyone tell you how rainbows came to be stocked there?


-Milton

[Russell Killebrew]

Here are some pictures of the grayling and Marble trout. Rok the guide is holding the grayling for me to take the picture. The small Marble trout in the net is one of the ones I caught. But they get big. The guide says only the Taimen (in Mongolia) get bigger. That is also a marble trout over the bar in the hotel I stayed at. There was a bigger one in the lobby, but it is hard to tell from my picture, because there is nothing in the picture for scale. We saw one that Rok estimated at 90 cm, and cast the biggest streamers he had to it but could not generate any interest.

Balancing the rod on my shoulder was Rok's idea. I had layed down my rod to hold the fish for the picture, but he wanted the rod in the picture, and my hands were full. So I didn't have much choice. Because of that, I don't like the picture much, but it was the biggest fish I caught, so ....

This area was the site of major fighting in WWI, and is the setting for the book "a Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway. The afternoon I arrived, I asked what sights I should see and the woman at the front desk of the hotel told me about a 3-mile trail out from town and gave me the brochure describing the sights on the trail. I walked the trail which went past Roman excavations, over a bridge that Napoleon's troops had marched across and thru WWI trenches and bunkers. So, in addition to being beautiful, the place is full of history.


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[Russell Killebrew]

I see that I left some other questions unanswered. The Rainbows were stocked there on purpose, because Browns crossbreed with the Marble trout. So, the rainbows are a way to protect the native fish. The locals call Rainbows "American Trout".

All of the fish were caught on 5X tippet with my 6 wt travel rod. As far as what flys we used, everything was caught on nymphs. Rok would point out the fish to me, then change flys before I would cast. After a while I figured out his method. He could not only see the fish, but tell what kind they were (which amazed me). If it was a Rainbow, he used a pink egg, and if it was a grayling or Marble, he would tie on a copper john. I think all of the flys were about #12, maybe #14, but not any smaller than that.

[Ted]

Again, just amazing. The fish and waters are just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[GonetoSeed]

Thanks for posting the pics and details.

I'm reading Fly-Fishing the 41st: From Connecticut to Mongolia and Home Again: A Fisherman's Odyssey. In the early section he describes his adventures fishing with an Austrian amateur naturalist fixated on all the many species of Brown Trout in the different drainages in Europe and west Asia (one chapter is about Trout fishing in Turkey). Your commentary and pictures of the Marble Trout add to my mental vision of why Trout fishing is so cool.

I will say I'm surprise that your Venice picture didn't show you fishing the canals :) .

[Windknot]

Thanks for sharing a most picturesque trip; I know you'll remember that for a lifetime! :cheers::cheers::cheers:

Disclaimer - I'm not a photography hound, but there is something very special about the photos in your report. They are so far removed from the usual "grip & grins" that I always enjoy, but I can't decide why they demand my attention so. We've had photos from exotic locations before, we've had big fish, we've had rare species, and of course we've had happy anglers, but there is just something about your photos that makes my eyes linger and my mind wander.

Thanks again for sharing.

[Russell Killebrew]

It is hard to know how much to share from an experience without it turning into bragging, but I think I can answer you about the "something special" in the photos. It's the photographer.

Rok, the guide, brought a really good camera and took a lot of photos. At the end of the two days, he gave me a CD with all the photos on it, over 150. While he doesn't make his living as a photographer, (so I guess we can't say he is a professional photographer) he has a real talent for it and has had some of his photos used in travel brochures, etc. Here are some more of the pictures he took that hopefully illustrate what I am talking about.

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[justin30513]

I just don't think of trout outside of the US........I don't know why.
Beautiful fish and scenery!

EDIT:
I just saw the second page's pics......WOW!

That overview shot of you hanging that big bow is the money.

[Musselwhite]

Wow, the pictures just keep getting better. I guess we should continue proding since you have 100+ more images to share. Nice report!

Musselwhite

[House Fly]

We want more! We want more!
Just kidding. And thank you for sharing more pics. How about I just buy that photo CD from you :).
:cheers: