Fly Fishing Northern Italy: Exploring the Sarca River, Dolomites, and Trentino's Hidden Waters

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This article was originally titled Pesca a Mosca, Italian Style in Fly Fisherman's 2025 Destinations special publication.

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“You have to do it,” said my friend Nico Baldeshi, an Italian guide who works with my hosted groups in the San Martin region of Patagonia. “You have to try Northern Italy. You like ’sylvania,’ you will definitely like Italy.”

It’s true I love Pennsylvania, and this was not the first time I had heard Nico’s suggestion to try his native waters. In fact, this has been going on for years. It’s not that I am a slow learner, it’s the simple fact that my hosted trip schedule with Frontiers keeps me on the road for 200 days or more a year, and I just couldn’t find a slot to fit in a new departure to Italy.

Then, two years ago I decided to give my annual trip to the Pyrenees in Spain a break, not because my friends and clients or I were tired of Spain. I just had the itch to try something else. My trip coordinator for Europe is Kristene Fitzgerald at Frontiers, so I took the plunge, called Kristene, and told her, “Let’s try Italy.”

That’s the easy part. The hard part is what follows. Kristene and I knew nothing about the country’s trout fishing. Kristene had done a little research on Italy, but neither of us had ever fished there. Our journey was about to begin.

My call to Kristene put the wheels in motion, and in January at the New Jersey Fly Fishing Show, we met with Italian Fishing Tours to explore the idea of hosting a trip to Northern Italy. A year later Kristene and I stepped off our Delta flight in Venice. We hooked up with a small group of friends who understood that this would be an exploratory trip for everyone involved. Our goal would be to explore the Trentino region and the Dolomites. The waters there, we were told, offer excellent fly-fishing opportunities for both trout and grayling and a chance at a marble trout.

First Impressions

It was a three-hour drive from the Venice airport to our base, the Hotel Angelo in Comano Terme. There we checked in, met with outfitters Omar Gade and Giorgio Cavatorti, and formed a plan for fishing the next day. For the next six days, we fished both rivers and small creeks and spent one day on a spring-fed lake. We also hiked into the high country to fish a smaller alpine lake.

Of course, since we were in Italy, we also had a wine-tasting trip to the Ferrari Trento winery. As happens on most fishing trips, the time slipped away quickly, and we found our way back to Venice. Kristine and I had to get back to reality—you know it’s called work—but the rest of our group took the opportunity to stay in Venice for several days, sampling the food and wine, and visiting the city’s museums and historic sights.

The Streams

My first impressions of the trout streams reminded me of Slovenia, which of course is right next door. We spent the majority of our time fishing Italy’s famous Sarca River watershed, which is renowned for its diverse fish species and fly-fishing opportunities. Its birthplace is in the glaciers and snowfields of the Adamello-Presanella Alps, which include five peaks above 11,000 feet in altitude.

At 48 miles in length, the Sarca is the fifth longest river in Trentino and second in terms of water flow. It courses through a scenic valley that offers some breathtaking views, with the towering peaks of the Dolomites in the background. The Dolomites are part of the Southern Limestone Alps in northeast Italy. Their exceptional beauty comes from the light-colored peaks and their extraordinary sculpting by erosion and tectonic forces, creating towers, pinnacles, and some of the steepest rock walls in the world.

The Sarca eventually merges with Lake Garda. Along the way, its clear, swift, boulder-strewn currents offer limitless pocketwater situations, along with some deep runs and pools that are perfect for Euro nymphing. From what I saw, Euro nymphing rules when it comes to local anglers’ choice of tactics. For the hatch-matching crowd, there was enough insect activity from both mayflies and caddisflies to provide memorable dry-fly experiences for our group.

When we drove along the Sarca, the first thing I noticed was the easy access. That’s a real plus for visiting anglers.

There are a number of well marked fly-fishing-only sections on the Sarca, and the few other anglers I saw on open water were all casting fly rods.

I found the wading to be a bit tricky, and was quite happy that I had studded soles. But even with studs I had issues—in hindsight a wading staff would have been a smart choice for some of the faster crossings I had to make. Kristene, who is light years younger than I am, seemed to have no problem handling the slippery bottom. There must be a message there for me.

The Sarca isn’t the only game in town. There are a number of other smaller streams in the area as well. The Avisio, Noce, and Chiese are three of the better known ones. We made a number of stops that included these and other small streams, and all held fish. The Avisio  and Noce rivers are tributaries to the Adige River, while the Chiese is a tributary to the Oglio River.

We spent a day on Lake Nembia, a private fishery situated in a beautiful setting. The gin-clear water with occasional weed beds offered shots at cruising trout that were very well educated in how not to be caught. Our friend Jim Gilmore landed a 27-inch brown that took a streamer pattern. Kristene made an incredible cast to a sipping brown trout, which quietly inhaled a size 20 Black Ant and then put on a good show until we finally put it in the net.

Another day, we hiked in to a high mountain lake, which was enclosed in fog. There was a light rain and the fish were small, but the walk was worth it. As the trail meandered upward, there were open pockets in the clouds, and I’m not sure of the elevation but I felt the air getting thin. The view at times was absolutely mystical.

One thing was for certain: Overall, fishing both rivers and lakes, our group caught more fish on nymphs than with any other fly patterns, especially nymphs with tungsten beads. Looking in our guides’ fly boxes, I saw one pattern that is certainly a universal favorite, namely a Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymph. They work everywhere trout live, and that was apparent by the number of Pheasant Tail patterns that not only our guides, but most of our guests, carried as well.

Another effective pattern was a red Squirmy Wormy with a tungsten bead that drew strikes from skittish fish. I know some anglers are turned off by this fly, but the bottom line is, fish it at the right depth—by which I mean get it down to where the fish are—and it can save the day. I always like to look at my guides’ fly boxes, and the other patterns I saw were normal fare: Hare’s Ear Nymphs, Prince Nymphs, and a good assortment of tungsten-bead Perdigon Nymphs.

I brought along 4-, 5-, and 6-weight fly rods, but fished the entire trip with the 5-weight. From a long relationship with Sage, I know how popular a 9-foot rod for a 5-weight is—it’s become a universal choice, and that would also be the case here. But I’ve always been a fan of longer rods, especially if I’m high-sticking nymphs. I also feel there is an advantage in mending with a 9½- or even a 10-foot rod. My 5-weight was a Sage Sonic 596-4 matched with both a RIO Gold and an extra reel with a RIO Outbound Short. The Gold worked well for delicate presentations, and the Outbound Short for windy conditions and throwing large flies. And I like the way the Outbound Short roll casts.

I don’t go anywhere without a spare reel and a RIO Outbound line to match my destination and fishing needs. It’s an incredibly easy line to cast, and it’s become a mainstay in my fishing gear. I don’t believe in extra spools—especially if I’m traveling. If I drop my reel and damage the rim, that can put the reel out of commission, and then of course the extra spool is useless. If it becomes a price issue, then a second, lower-price reel will still keep you fishing. I’ll probably raise some eyebrows with that one, but there may not be a fly shop down the street, and I have personally witnessed that broken reel tragedy more than once on hosted trips.

The wading in most of the streams, at least for me, was on the slippery side. Yet as I mentioned earlier, Kristene seemed to have very few problems. One thing I know for sure is that when I return, I’ll be wearing boots with felt soles. Unless it’s prohibited, I always wear felt, and not just for the better grip on slippery rocks. The fact is felt soles are much quieter and spook fewer fish than rubber and studs. A wading staff is always a good idea if you’re wading unfamiliar water, have a balance issue, or if you’re wading in water that is dirty from storms.

The fishing season on the Sarca runs from the last Sunday in February to September 30. But there are exceptions—for example, on the Alto you can fish until the end of October. There are just so many fishing opportunities with easy access to be explored that I can’t wait to go back! The icing on the cake is that Northern Italy is one of those destinations that offer non-fishing partners endless choices for alternate activities. If you’d like a day off from fishing, you can go hiking in the Alps. There are trails for all levels of experience, from middle-aged beginners to serious alpinists and mountaineers.

Cycling is also very popular here, and there are plenty of opportunities to rent bikes. The 24-mile Sarca Valley Cycle Path goes from Terlago Lake to Garda Lake and is perfect for birding, sightseeing, mountain biking, and road biking. There are also canoe and kayak opportunities, both on your own and with organized tour groups.

You can also visit the Castel Toblino, a Renaissance marvel built by Cardinal Bernardo Clesio on the site of a Roman temple.

There are dozens of other castles in the Trentino region, as well as other historic sites, vineyards, and endless dining options. Whether you enjoy culture mixed with just a little fishing, or you want maximum fishing mixed with just a few opportunities to dive into the region’s history, food, art, and architecture, Northern Italy is worth more than a one-time visit.

Recommended Gear

In addition to felt-soled wading boots, bring good walking shoes so you can hike in the Alps. Above all, bring a healthy appetite—the dining and the wine in Northern Italy are fabulous.

• Sage Sonic 596-4 | $675
• Sage Spectrum LT 5-6 | $400
• RIO Elite Gold 5-weight line | $130
• Simms Flyweight Boot – felt | $250
• Patagonia Swiftcurrent Traverse Zip-Front Waders | $550
• Patagonia 5L Stealth Switch Pack | $99

Book Your Destination

Visitors to the Trentino region will fly to Venice, Italy. From there it’s a three-hour drive to the Hotel Angelo in Comano Terme. You can join one of Barry Beck’s annual hosted trips through Frontiers, or travel independently.

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Barry Beck lives in Benton, Pennsylvania, where he conducts fly-fishing schools and offers guided angling on Fishing Creek. For more than 40 years he has traveled the world with his late wife, Cathy, with fly rods and cameras, documenting everything from African safaris to South American golden dorados and New Zealand brown trout. Visit barryandcathybeck.com. Instagram: @barryandcathybeck.

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