Italy/Slovenia 2024: Day 8, May 29: Slovenia

I had been reading about the Soca river in Slovenia and the opportunity for large trout. Once I knew we were going to Trieste, in Italy, right next to the Slovenian border, I started investigating opportunities to hop across the border and fish these fabled waters.

A google search led me to my possible guide, Jure Cotic (www.coticflyfishing.com). Talk about full service, Jure agreed to drive to Trieste, pick me up, take me back into Slovenia, guide me all day, and then drop me off in Ljubjana, Slovenia, where I would reunite with Kathi. I agreed to bring my own boots and waders and Jure would supply the rest.  

I grabbed breakfast at the Hotel Solun and took a few things to sustain me during the day. Right on time, Jure picked me up at 8 am and we were off.

It took about an hour and a half to get to the stream; we stopped along the way for Jure to get a sandwich. The first place we dropped in was the Tolminka River, a tributary to the Soca, near the town of Tolmin; what a beautiful stream!

I learned, in Slovenia, the government handed over the management of all the rivers to private entities. So all the streams are run by clubs that own the rights of access, have their own hatcheries, and manage all aspects of the fishery. For the traveling angler, this means your fishing permit includes a hefty surcharge to reserve a day on the river. The benefit is that few, if any others will be on the river the day you reserve the right of access. I guess it's possible that an angler could try to arrange to fish by themselves, but without local knowledge, it seemed pretty unlikely. Besides, a FULL day of guided fishing only costs around 400 euros. Not sure what it would've cost for two anglers.  

Not long after arrival, here's my first rainbow on the Tolminka River.

Returning it to the crystal blue waters of the Tolminka.

We moved upstream a bit to a deep pool that Jure knew held some monsters!

Like most big fish pools, this one held no dummies and although I got a few follows, I did not land any of the big boys. I did fool one of their smaller siblings - a respectable fish.  

The beauty of these waters was mesmerizing!

In a feeding lane inside the two big rocks in the photo above, I did get a nice fish!

The photo above doesn't do this fish justice. Looking at the tail gives some additional perspective!

I caught a few more fish in the Tolminka and then Jure decided we should check out a few more rivers. It was only noon, and I was already feeling satisfied; the rest of the day would be gravy. Jure took me to the Soca River. Having received a lot of rain lately, it was very high and running fast so Jure didn't have a lot of hope, but he wanted me to see the main river, and I took casts working a streamer along the bank, hoping for a miracle grab.

The miracle did not come - no worries.

Walking to and from and along the stream, the naturalist in me came out and I documented some of the plants I saw. I liked this juxtaposition of rock and moss and fern. 

This geranium-looking flower suggested what I might find along the trails of my home Shenandoah National Park.

This plant too looked familiar. Common mountainous woodland plants?

Delicate flowers blooming among the moss... 

The next river Jure took me to was the Baca, another tributary to the overrun Soca. 

I caught several fish in these beautiful runs.

Jure wanted to show me around, so after a few fish, we picked up and headed to the Trebusa River.  

On the rock in the middle of the picture, there was a fish sipping dries off the surface. We snuck across the river to get a shot, but I missed a take and that put the fish down so we moved upstream.

Looking...

We moved downstream, to this pool; gorgeous!

We picked up and moved further down dream on the Trebusa, Jure delivering me to one beautiful pool after another.  

Jure kept at it, until after 7 pm as it was starting to get dark and I finally cried uncle. What a great day on the water! While the Soca was blown out, Jure showed me a lot of beautiful tributaries and I think I caught fish in every spot except one. I would highly recommend his FULL service guide service!

Leaving the stream, we still had an hour's worth of driving to get to Ljubjana and I was thinking Kathi was going to kill me for rendezvousing so late. I texted to let her know I was safe and to warn her of my late arrival. Jure delivered me safely to Ljubjana close to the apartment we rented for the evening.

Starving, and with many restaurants kitchens already closed, Kathi sheparded me to a place where I dined on gelato - not so bad. 

We collapsed; tomorrow we would visit Radovliica, the home of the Slovenian beekeeping museum!