(Barry Beck photo)
March 19, 2025
By Barry Beck
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This article was originally titled “Slovenia Trout” in the 2024 edition of Fly Fisherman’s Destinations SIP. Click here to purchase .
When I was a teenager, I drove an old series Land Rover from my father’s tackle shop in Berwick, Pennsylvania to the then famous Letort Spring Run. It should have been a two-hour drive but the top speed of the vintage Rover maxed out at about 50 miles an hour so it took me a bit longer.
Each Wednesday evening a group of local fly fishers gathered behind Charlie Fox’s home on the banks of the Letort. The group often included angling notables such as Vincent Marinaro, Ed Shenk, Ross Trimmer, sometimes Lefty Kreh, and always Charlie Fox.
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For me, it was a chance to listen to the fishing stories shared by this legendary group of anglers. At these get-togethers we would all be geared up and ready to fish, yet there was actually very little fishing done. That was fine with me because many of these gentlemen were my boyhood heroes. I never cared much for football or baseball greats—my life was totally engrossed in fly fishing and the personalities involved in it.
It was at one of these events that a young man with a ponytail showed up, with stories about traveling through parts of Europe and the kinds of fly fishing he found there. His name was Sidney Neff, and I quickly liked the guy and listened to his description of fishing in Yugoslavia. This was the first time I heard about Slovenia in regard to fly fishing. It was a name that stuck in the back of my mind, yet I never dreamed I would get to fish there. But I’ve learned that one never knows.
The Republic of Slovenia, as it is officially known, is bordered by Italy, Hungary, Austria, and Croatia. Its geography is quite interesting, with half the country covered by forest, approximately 11 percent of which is preserved and protected by legislation.
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Offering a wealth of flora and fauna, Slovenia grows more than 3,000 fern species and is home to more than 50,000 different types of animals. Because of its biodiversity, it has become the hot spot of Europe. More important to anglers, Slovenia is a land of water. The total length of its rivers, lakes, and tributaries is 26,600 kilometers (16,500 miles). Now one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, Slovenia gained its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The official language is Slovenian, but English is commonly spoken throughout the country.
First Glimpse In June 2019 my late wife Cathy and I hosted our first trip to Slovenia, a destination we had talked about for years. And thanks to our friends at Frontiers Travel, it was finally going to happen. Our group totaled eight anglers plus Cathy and me, and Frontiers billed it as an exploratory trip. To me, exploratory trips have always been the most exciting. They mean venturing into new water, meeting new guides and outfitters, and most of all, a learning experience. It’s never been just about fishing.
We flew through Paris, which has never been my favorite place in the world, and then on to Slovenia’s capital city of Ljubljana, where Air France informed our group that even though we’d had a five-hour layover at Charles de Gaulle, our luggage never made our flight. But not to worry, we were promised it would show up the next morning, which fortunately it did.
(Barry Beck photo) Ljubljana is the largest city in Slovenia and is strategically located along a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube River. Ljubljana is remarkable for its Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture, with many buildings, bridges, and public parks designed by well-known Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik. He was a master of his trade, and you can view his work in the old city center.
After a two-hour drive from Ljubljana, we arrived in Kobarid, in the valley of the Soča River . There is an incredible amount of World War I history here—the area was the scene of 12 battles fought between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire between May 1915 and November 1917, in what is described as a battlefield of extraordinary proportions. If there’s interest and time, you can visit the award-winning Kobarid Museum, an incredible piece of World War 1 history and well worth the effort.
Frontiers reserved rooms for us at Hotel Hvala, which offers a bed-and-breakfast program with dinner. This turned out to be more than perfect, as it quickly became obvious that this was a fishermen’s hotel, complete with a fishing tackle storage room, wader drying room, and sauna. There was lots of fishing art in the hallways, and our group and local anglers shared nightly fishing stories at the well-stocked bar. The icing on the cake was that we would be fishing the famous Soča River and a few of its tributaries, all of which are part of the Adriatic Basin.
The Soča flows for 138 kilometers (86 miles) through western Slovenia and northern Italy. It’s an alpine river in character, and its birthplace lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. It is commonly called the most beautiful river in all of Europe, and rightly so. One look at its emerald waters can take your breath away—it’s simply that spectacular. The Soča is likely the most famous river in continental Europe, and is also home to the elusive marble trout (Salmo marmoratus).
(Barry Beck photo) Our group spent three days on the Soča, and those days went way too fast. One day, Cathy landed a nice marble trout on a small tributary. It was a cloudy morning with poor light, but our guide was upbeat because she was sure that the overcast conditions would increase our odds of success. She was proved right when a marble trout of better than 25 inches lay in her net. Along with the prized marble trout, the Soča holds good numbers of rainbow trout, as well as grayling.
Later in the day the weather cleared and we went back to the Soča and fished a small Blue-winged Olive hatch, which brought some nice fish to the surface. With water this clear, the fish here were as spooky as South Island, New Zealand brown trout.
On day four we packed our gear and transferred to the resort town of Bled, located in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. This extremely popular area lies within the Julian Alps and is best known for the cerulean-colored glacial Lake Bled and for the iconic Bled Castle, which overlooks the lake. We checked in at Hotel Triglav and discovered the Fauna Fly Shop. Despite the fact that every fisherman we’d seen on this trip had a fly rod, this was the only fly shop we saw on the entire trip.
For the next three days we fished the Danube River Basin, which includes the Sava River, the longest alpine river in Slovenia. In its upper reaches the Sava is world famous for its grayling opportunities, as well as good-size rainbows and browns.
(Barry Beck photo) Other options were the Radovna, a tributary to the Sava, which offered smaller browns and some wild brook trout. The Idrijca is a combination of spring creek and freestone water, and has a reputation for being a highly technical fishery where matching the hatch is the name of the game. It also holds marble trout. Slovenia’s most famous and celebrated chalkstream, the Unec, has prolific insect hatches and, like the Idrijca, offers superb dry-fly fishing to some good-size browns and large grayling.
Another three days flew by, and we found it hard to pack and head home. Everyone in our group raved about the trip—not just the fishing but the total Slovenia experience. It had quickly become obvious to us that Slovenia offers just so many rivers and so many options to explore that we had to come back. As a trip host for Frontiers, I knew immediately that Slovenia is one of those destinations that fits well for nonfishing family members or friends to enjoy. There are endless choices of things to do and see, such as a visit to the Lipica Stud Farm—the original home of the famous Lipizzaner horses—or the exquisite architectural achievements in Ljubljana, including the unique Dragon and Triple bridges. There’s also the Križanke open-air theatre, or you can stop at Preseren or Congress Square—it’s all there and more.
Tactics & Techniques As you might expect, Euro nymphing has literally transformed the way anglers in Slovenia fish. The majority of the fly fishers I saw were using long fly rods, mostly 10- to 11-foot 3-weights or lighter. High-sticking, tight-lining, and fishing three nymphs at once seemed to be the way to go. This also fits with the many fly-fishing competitions that continue to become more popular across Europe.
My choices for the Slovenia trip were a Sage 9-foot 4-weight, and a Sage 9-foot 6-inch 5-weight. There are two outfits that go almost everywhere I fish for trout: I use RIO Gold Elite floating lines for delicate presentations, but I always carry a spare reel with a RIO 5-weight Outbound Short for the 9-foot 6-inch rod. This assists in turning over large flies, and helps my accuracy on very windy days. The extra six inches in length helps me if I choose to high-stick it, and it still fits inside my old Patagonia roller bag.
Tapered leaders need to be at least 9 feet in length—even for the smaller tributaries—but my recommendation for vodka-clear rivers like the Soča is a 3X or 4X tapered leader of at least 12 to 14 feet with a tippet ring, followed by 24 inches of 5X or 6X fluorocarbon.
As I was looking through the many fly boxes our guides used, one thing became apparent—most of the nymph patterns were slim-bodied beadheads tied in sizes 16 to 20. Most were Euro nymphs, not unlike the popular patterns that we use in America. There were versions of Pheasant-tail Nymphs, both beadhead and plain, in every fly box that I looked at. The Pheasant-tail is definitely an indispensable, universal pattern wherever trout live. I asked our guide if there was one fly she always had with her, and I smiled when she replied: “I wouldn’t want to be restricted to one pattern, but these are a few patterns I always have in my fly boxes.”
(Barry Beck photos) She showed me her boxes of Pheasant-tails, and lots of Perdigons in various sizes. The last one surprised me, when she showed me a box of various colors of Squirmy Wormies. Go figure.
The guides’ fly boxes were also well stocked with a variety of adult caddis patterns in sizes 14 to 20, with CDC dressings being the most popular. There were lots of parachute patterns, including the universal Adams in sizes 14 to 20, and most boxes contained a few Klinkhammers .
Some of their dry flies sported a tippet ring at the back of the bend to attach a length of tippet for a dry/dropper rig. This setup is very popular in Ireland as well. My friend Andrew Ryan, who owns Clonanav Fly Fishing in Ireland, says he sells tons of them. Along with all that, the Slovenian guides carried assortments of small Blue-winged Olive duns and spinners in sizes 18 and 20.
When it comes to streamers, all the guides had a few, with Woolly Buggers dominating the lot, but often in light colors including tan and even white. This surprised me, because black seems to be the guides’ favorite color around the world. Woolly Buggers work everywhere, and they are often a guide’s first choice when it comes to streamers and trout. I’ve caught more big trout on black Super Buggers than on any other streamer pattern I have ever fished.
One question that always comes up is: When is the best time to fish Slovenia? Their fly-fishing season opens in April. My guide told me April, May, June, and September are her favorite months, but July and August—even though it’s hot—can still fish very well. Good to know.
New Frontiers For many of us, Slovenia can be a new frontier to explore. With all its beautiful, clear-flowing rivers, Slovenia is a trout hunter’s dream come true. To be able to find a good fish that’s feeding either subsurface or on top, and then to make the right presentation and see and feel the hook-up, is the icing on the cake. It happens in Slovenia every day of the season, and for those who are into Euro nymphing this has to be the Holy Grail of high-sticking. I’m looking at hosting a fly-fishing trip to Italy as a possibility, and of course it’s a short run to the Slovenian border—sounds like an option worth revisiting.
Recommended Gear (Barry Beck photo) Euro-nymphing techniques are very popular in this region and most people use 3-, 4-, and 5-weight rods up to 11 feet long. I suggest you bring two rods, one for nymphing and a more standard length and weight rod for dry-fly fishing when it happens. Sight fishing in this clear water is typical, so come prepared with two different sunglass lens types for different light conditions.
Book Your Destination Fly to the capital city of Ljubljana and plan to spend at least one night there to enjoy the city. It’s a two-hour drive from there to Hotel Hvala, which is located near the Soča River. April, May, and June are typically the best months.
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Barry Beck lives in Benton, Pennsylvania, where he offers fly-fishing schools and guided fishing 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 rainbow trout.
