What to know when considering a fly fishing trip to Slovenia
I field questions several times a year from guests who have just heard about the trout fishing in Slovenia. The first question is usually, “where is Slovenia”? So little is known about the country that most anglers who have not already been there, have no idea where it is. They know its somewhere in Europe but that’s about the extent of it. Slovenia shares borders with Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the east and Croatia to the south. Not quite land locked, Slovenia has a small strip of land on the Adriatic Sea. What makes this mountaineous country so special is that its still 65% forested and its rivers and other natural resources are well protected by the forward thinking Slovenian Government, which derives a significant amount of year round outdoor tourism dollars.
In terms of species, Slovenia offers a really nice mix of fish to chase. Marble Trout, Rainbow Trout, some Brown Trout and Grayling are all available to anglers. Most of the rivers are managed by local fishing clubs, although the Slovenian Government does oversee a few of the rivers. The clubs charge a daily license for the river you will be fishing that day and the license cannot be purchased ahead of time. It has to be bought that day. The license fee varies from river to river and will range somewhere between 50 and 100 Euros. One of the unique aspects to fishing Slovenia is that it’s a one fly country. What I mean by this is that anglers can only use one fly when fishing. No hopper dropper combos. Anglers will use either a dry fly, a nymph with an indicator or a streamer.
Slovenia is Old World Europe and while the country has all the modern conveniences that traveling anglers have come to expect, the history, culture and traditions of Slovenia are never far from anything that guests will see or do. Gateway cities for Slovenia are Venice Italy for the Kobarid/Tolmin region and Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, for guests fishing the Bled region. In general the quality of the guiding is quite high but the guiding is not as sophisticated as places like Argentina and the Western USA, in terms of service and lunches, etc. The food is generally seafood oriented and very good, with excellent local Slovenian wines.
Slovenia is a total home run as a fly fishing destination!
