Catching Marble Trout in Slovenia was the main point of the trip, and after reading up about them we knew they were going to be a challenge. But with all the skills and knowledge acquired over the last few years, I was pretty confident that we could make it happen and land some of these beautiful trout…
Attention to detail was key, especially when trying to even see the rises! Such subtle rises, literally hardly even breaking the surface. Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout from experience normally rise with a lot more movement, pushing more water and often splashy rises, certainly much easier to spot. Fishing for Marble Trout, for me, was very different and they were extremely spooky.
Taking our time was absolutely essential, if we didn’t, we would have walked past potentially catchable fish so easily. Wading quietly up the river you could just see the tiniest break and noses poke out, followed by the dorsal and then the tip of their tail. Incredibly soft rises, sometimes just a nose would poke out… That’s when the heart really started going. The smaller the rise… the bigger the fish. It’s quite interesting how some anglers have the opposite look at those types of rises, but trust me, they are the ones to target even more!
Moving to a different location there was just one particular rise which caught my eye. This fish kept coming up in exactly the same place, almost methodically and so subtly as well. Right in the middle of the river this time. We were fishing a lovely long slow glide, all around the same depth so dry fly fishing was so easy. Drag free drifts for meters and not having to mend or do any ‘magic’ casts. Having had enough of catching the plentiful Rainbows, it was time to get back to focus on the target species…
I presented 2 dry flies to this particular fish and nothing… even with a drag free drift – Something I learnt was absolutely essential whilst fishing the River San, Poland. I just knew there was something different about this fish and was determined to crack the code! I looked around and there were some sedges lots of Blue Winged olives hatching… looking in my box I came across an absolutely underestimated dry fly.
This particular Sedge is so sparse and works an absolute treat for Trout and Grayling within Europe. A tasty treat for a Marble right? RIGHT!! The very first cast this Marble Trout did not hesitate at all, probably one of the most pronounced rises I saw on the whole trip… the fly was engulfed and I (somehow) managed a gentle strike… and it was on! An incredible dogged fight, no jumps, just thumps! Big head shakes and seeing it flash in the clearest water (it was like fishing in New Zealand) really was special. As it got closer to the net you could see the markings so clearly. No wonder they are so hard to sight fish for! Spotting them when they aren’t rising is quite literally impossible. In the net it went and what a moment of absolute elation! A quick few snaps and then it was onto the next… I can so recommend this type of fly fishing to any dry fly enthusiast.
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