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Slovenia: A Fishing Travel Diary

By Abe Phillips

The Sava River in Slovenia.

     Slovenia is a tiny country of 20,000 square kilometers with less than 2 million people. It borders Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and the Adriatic Sea. The geography is diverse, ranging from the beautiful Julian Alps to coastal plains on the Adriatic.

     Slovenia has been inhabited since ancient times dating back to 100,000 B.C. Paleolithic tribes, marsh people, Illyrian tribes, Celts, Romans and even Attila the Hun in the 5th Century. The early Slavs arrived in the 6th Century and most Slovenians today trace back to them. Since then there has been an infusion of Germans, Italians, French and other leaving the country a polyglot of ancestry.

     Rok, my guide, said that most people were very settled and lived and died within 40 miles of their birthplace with little migration in or out of the country. During World War I, Slovenia was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and was divided between Germany and Italy during World War II. After being liberated in 1945, Slovenia became part of Yugoslavia under Tito and after a 10-day war in 1991 became an independent country and is now a member of the United Nations and European Union with Euros as their official currency.

     Religion does not seem to play a large part in the average Slovenes life even though the majority has been baptized as Catholic. The day before Easter, men, women, children and families were carrying Easter baskets to the church to be blessed by the priest. So some ritual and church-going is maintained. The people seem to be easy-going, satisfied with their life style and nonviolent. A very pleasant and safe country for travelers, especially for me since most speak enough English to communicate and many are fluent.

     My purpose in visiting Slovenia was fly fishing for trout, especially the unique species of marble trout. Fishing is controlled by clubs that maintain the fish population, issue fishing permits and patrol and enforce their rules. As a result, there are lots of fish and few fishermen as the permits average about $60 a day for catch-and-release. I did not see a local fishing while I was there. April 5, 2007
     I arrived in Ljubljana Airport the morning of April 5th around 10 am after traveling from Denver nonstop on Lufthansa to Munich in 10 hours flying time. Then, after an hour-and-a-half layover, a 40-minute flight to Ljubljana. All flights were on time and pleasant. To my relief, baggage arrived on schedule.

     The Lufthansa flight was exceptional as I was the only person in a very plush first-class section. The total flight was maybe half filled. I had used my award miles to claim this ticket. It was a new non-stop flight started just four days earlier. The stewards were very surprised at the few passengers and attributed it to the upcoming Easter holiday.

A small river near Stare Pension that drains into the Sava. No fishing is allowed here.

     Rok Lustrik, my fishing guide, met me at the airport. We loaded into his diesel Fiat minivan and drove for an hour or so northeast through Bled, around Bled lake seeing the island and castle on to the Stare (pronounced star-ray) Pension located on the Sava River and on the west end of lake Bohinj (Boheny). We arrived around 1:30 pm. Jet lag was beginning to set in even though I had slept several hours on the Lufthansa flight and planned to fish that day. I opted to wait on fishing and slept four hours trying to regain my senses.

     My room was very small on the third floor of a mountain chalet with a very small bathroom. But I was pleased to have a private bath. The view out my window was spectacular. The roof edge of another chalet, tall Norfolk pines with the mountains rising abruptly to 9,000-plus feet with considerable snow covering the top one third. People were still skiing, taking a cable car to the crest. No noise whatsoever - peaceful and beautiful.

     We were to fish tomorrow and the next day from here on the Sava River, then go to the Soca (Socha) River. Dinner is at 7:30. I met two brothers, Mark and Victor Collier, from central England, each accompanied by a 16-year-old son, Alex and Jaques. They had been skiing today but had fished with Rok a few days before. They turned out to be very friendly and good fly fishermen. The boys were more interested in skiing but did fish after the snow became slushy the next day.

Dinner at Stare Pension with Victor Collier, left, his brother Mark, center, and Rok Lustrik, right.

Day 2, Friday April 6
Buffet breakfast at 7:30. Then Rok drove a few miles to the Sava River. We walked about 100 yards to the stream. It was about 200 yards wide, crystal clear, with a rather slow current. It was easily wadeable, but depth was deceptive as the clear water concealed the actual depth. However, it was not more than four or five feet deep at its deepest. I was positioned above a small ripple and hole, literally teaming with fish. I caught about 50 trout averaging 12 inches with a #16 copper John nymph. Actually it became boring. Most were rainbows with one or two browns, one brook and one grayling. All-in-all I guess I caught between 80 to 90 fish that day.

The Radnova River.

Day 3, Saturday, April 7
We drove around Lake Bohinj ("j" is "y") and past Lake Bled to the Radnova River, which contained mostly native brown trout; parked at the Grajski mill, a restored flow mill built originally for Castle Bled. The earliest written record showed it was there in 1011, but was actually older - over 1,000 years old. The owner showed me around explaining how the water wheel (fairly new and about 12 feet in diameter) worked. A platform and structure built with 4 x 4 timbers about six feet tall and eight feet wide, with wooden 4 x 4 plungers that fit onto holes some 18 inches deep. He engaged one of these plungers to show me how he made porridge. The plunger lifted, tripped and banged into the hole with grain in the lower third - not smooth but really efficient, pulverizing the grain effectively. The mill house was now a bed and breakfast with eight or 10 rooms, situated right on the river.

The Radnova River near the mill.

We caught fish from the narrow ledge between the house and the river, and then walked along the river, which was lined with houses, with a few feet between the houses and the river. I caught brown trout about 12 inches with the same #16 copper John. There were not as many fish as the day before but enough to be interesting. We crossed over the bridge, walked down the other side of the river and fished for a few hours. Then we drove a few miles down the river to another small resort, Vintgar, where we parked and fished. Again, the houses were very close to the river, but the rivers are public - no problem walking on the yards and the homeowners were friendly.

Phillips with a brown trout caught by the old Grajski Mill.

     Each day I bought a fishing license for each river. It cost about 50 Euros ($60) for a catch-and-release permit. After fishing we stopped at a bank so I could cash Euro traveler's checks. The charge was three percent for cashing. Then at a hotel pub with wireless access I sent an all's well e-mail home from Rok's lap top. That is the way to communicate while traveling. Next time I will take a lap top.

     Everything in Slovenia is on a small scale; hotels, villages, cars, roads, etc. The people are friendly and I never met a person who could not communicate to some degree in English - some were very fluent. The people seem happy and satisfied with their lives and economics, which has to be just a living without accumulating wealth but no poverty. The state, however, takes care of all of their needs. Some 80 percent of the people prefer communism - Tito-style when everybody had a job. Some were for unnecessary work. Health care was and still is 100 percent provided. Their needs were met - ambition??? Small businesses were allowed under Tito and that is about all there is today with one or two exceptions, one large manufacturer of electronic components and one Renault car factory. Import duty on cars is about 20 percent. Wages are taxed up to 50 percent for high incomes. I don't know what high income means. Vestiges of communism still linger on.

     Rok is a 27-year old Slav. He is about six feet four inches tall, swarthy, black hair, very trim and athletic. He said his ancestors settled in Slovenia in the 6th Century. His English was as good as mine and he is educated. His cell phone was on 24 hours and he carried a lap top. Very computer savvy. He made a CD of the fishing, capturing underwater photos with his camera. He dropped his camera in the river at the Old Mill; therefore, I did not get a CD. He is a very sophisticated and knowledgeable guide. He worked in industry for a few years before guiding full time. He has a very nice web site, www.Lustrik.com. I would recommend him. E-mail is lustrik@siol.net.

Looking down the Radnova River from the mill where Rok dropped his camera.

Each cost for the trip was separate: the guide charged 135 Euros per day, transportation .34 Euros per mile; lodging estimate 50 to 80 Euros per day; food 30 Euros per day. The average total cost was 300 to 400 Euros per day. This required changing money into Euros as most small pensions and the guide accepted only Euros. A package deal that could be prepaid would work a lot better. I would up paying in converted Euros and US dollars. I have uncashed Euro traveler's checks as banks were not that handy. Take a variety of currency. The total trip is inexpensive compared to guided fishing in the Bahamas or Alaska.

From the yard at Stare Pension.

April 8
     We left the Stare Pension at around 8:30 am heading for the Soca River about a two-hour scenic drive to the resort of Lepena. Mark Collier, one of the English brothers decided to join us to fish for two days. He returned by train to rejoin his brother and their sons after fishing. The train traveled through a tunnel with a trip time of 35 minutes versus driving time over two hours.

     We traveled over the Vrsic Pass (Verisch), the highest mountain pass in Slovenia covering some 25 kilometers of hairpin curves reaching an elevation of 1,611 meters (5,000 feet). On the drive up the east side, snow banks up to five feet bordered the road. There are no straight stretches, just a series of curves and turns on a very narrow road through beautiful mountains. The downside (west) of the pass received more sunshine and the snow had melted. It was a beautiful drive. Thankfully, no traffic in either direction. Three cars were parked at the summit for hikers. The road was built in the early 1900s by Russian prisoners of war during World War I. The road was composed of small granite hand-made bricks about four inches square. Most of the road was covered by blacktop, except in the heart of the curves the original granite bricks were exposed. Needless to say, many hundreds of the prisoners died or were killed by avalanches. Quite a historic and interesting pass. A small wooden Russian chapel, built in 1916-17 was located near the summit on the western side to commemorate the deaths of Russian prisoners in an avalanche.

     After parking at Lepena, a pleasant small resort hotel with a large separate bathhouse to accommodate campers located across the parking lot from the hotel. It had clean spacious toilet and change facilities. We put on our waders and proceeded to the Soca River to catch the famous marble trout, a distinct species for this area. A young Austrian, Chris living and working in London, joined us. It is only a two-hour direct flight from London, and I expect a lot more English tourists, fishermen and skiers will be taking advantage of this area.

     The Soca River is noted for its turquoise color, and it is turquoise and beautiful. It is larger and swifter than the Sava River and much more difficult to wade and walk along the river. I started fishing in a spot with a large boulder at the head of a small pool. The water was a beautiful turquoise with a fairly rapid current making wading difficult. I caught two trout about 12 to 14 inches. One was a much sought-after marble trout and one rainbow. The marble trout has subdued colors, small checks of dark gray and white. It is not as pretty as the rainbow.

Guide Rok Lustrik with a rainbow trout.

     I broke off my copper John and was standing on the bank concentrating on trying on another tiny fly when I lost my balance and fell into the river. The current was taking me slowly downstream and I was working my way toward the bank. Both Chris and Mark charged across the river from the opposite bank and helped me out. The water was in my waders from the top down and was heavy enough to make it difficult for me to get out of the current. There was no immediate danger as the river was shallow, not more than five feet deep, but the current and the added weight of the water in the waders and rain jacket made it difficult. I had a belt around my waist to keep water from filling up the waders completely. My attempt to purify the river and be baptized was not pleasant. My digital cameral was ruined. I walked back to the van where all my gear was stored as we were changing hotels. I changed in the bathroom and hung my wet clothes on a rail in front of the van in the parking lot. It was not too cold as the weather was a mild 60 degrees and sunshine. I was not too pleased with myself. I don't usually take a swim while fishing, but I can remember a time or two.

     I walked back to the river and resumed fishing. I caught a few more fish but did not take another swim. We fished until dark and then drove to Kobarid and the Hotel Hvala for the night. Kobarid is famous for a World War I battle in 1917 when the German-Austrian army defeated the Italian army in a decisive battle. Rusted World War I artillery can be seen on the road at the edge of town.

     The Hotel Hvala, family owned and managed, was very clean and modern with a highly regarded restaurant that lived up to it reputation. As it was early in the season, there were few tourists, so we were able to have the place to ourselves. Very pleasant stay. Modern rooms about 80 Euros per night.

Guide Rok Lustrik on the Sava River.

     The next day we traveled to two nearby rivers that flowed into the Soca. The first river, the Tolminka, located in the countryside, was a broad, clear shallow stream with ripples and holes. There were a lot of large rainbows that I was able to sight cast to. I caught several 16-inch to 18-inch trout. Very pleasant, easy fishing. Rok went into the village and brought back hamburgers for lunch. These burgers were at least eight inches in diameter - huge. Half was enough for a full lunch.

     We later fished the Baca River, a much smaller stream where again we could sight cast to trout. I caught a few 12-inchers and spotted big trout lying still in a small hole. After casting several times I finally was lucky enough to put the fly in his mouth and caught an 18-inche rainbow - on this small stream - my final catch in Slovenia. Nice ending.

     We drove Mark to the train station to catch a train back to meet up with his family - a 35-minute ride through a tunnel in the mountains that replaced two hours of driving. Rok then drove me back to Ljubljana to the Grand Union Garni Hotel located down town near the bus and train stations. I had planned to travel for the next 10 days throughout Slovenia. Instead what I learned later was a thyroid problem caused me to run out of energy and decided to try to change my flights and return home.

     I tried to telephone Lufthansa with no luck - no answer. I walked to their office a few blocks from the hotel. It was a one-woman office. She did not answer her phone and said she only issued tickets. She could not change my ticket since it had been issued by Air Canada, and Air Canada did not have an office in Ljubljana. I was on my own to contact Air Canada. I had no idea how or where and was facing another 10 days in Slovenia felling lousy.

     Walking back to the hotel I decided to try a different route and walked by Airpass, a tourist agency. I went in and explained my predicament. The woman was hesitant, turned and asked a supervisor at another desk and finally said it would cost me 15 Euros for her to make the change and 36 Euros for Air Canada. I almost kissed her and gladly agreed to the cost. She spent about 30 minutes on the telephone and computer, and I was booked out the next day.

     That night I walked down to the river to see the advertised sights and cafés lining the riverbank and was more pleased that I was leaving the next day as the guide books had greatly exaggerated the area of interest in Ljubljana. It was an interesting trip nonetheless, and I recommend this unique fishing trip to anyone who does not require a package deal and is interested in visiting Slovenia.

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