Fly Fishing Paradise: Exploring the River Sava, Slovenia

Nestled in the heart of Europe, Slovenia is a country renowned for its stunning landscapes, pristine rivers, and world-class fly fishing opportunities. One such hidden gem for fly anglers is the picturesque River Sava. With its crystal-clear waters and abundant aquatic life, the Sava offers a perfect setting for an unforgettable adventure fly fishing the River Sava in Slovenia

Recently myself and a few friends set off on another adventure in Slovenia, a regular and favorite destination of mine to fish. We flew off from Dublin Airport on Monday afternoon and got in 3 full days fishing before returning home on Friday morning. We landed in Venice Marco Polo airport, Italy and drove up to our destination of Kranj, this took around 2.45 hours. Over the years from Ireland this is the best way to get to Slovenia as there are no direct flights to there from Dublin. 

We were on the road early Tuesday Morning after meeting up with my good friend Mirko Skafar and we headed to the Sava Dohlinka river below the confluence. The river was a little milky from water being released from a nearby dam but after a few casts to blow off the cobwebs we started meeting fish. Brown trout, Rainbows and good sized grayling were all to the net throughout the day. We found that the fish mostly were sitting in the slacker water at the tails of the runs and the side eddies. We tried a mix of nymphs and streamers all being successful, mostly black and darker colors proved best as the silhouette of the dark fly’s stood out best in the milky waters. 

On the second day we traveled upstream on the Sava Bohlinka passing through Bled and stopping for some permits. We continued on through the breathtaking scenery up to where myself and the 2012 Irish team competed for the Fips Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships. Back then there was a good stocking of grayling and rainbow trout in this section of river. Now only very sporting rainbows are in abundance. This smaller crystal stream is my favorite to fish, fast nymphing and fast fish makes for great sport. In this section I found that CDC hackle Hares ear nymphs with globrite ribs worked well along with some other run of the mill nymphs like pheasant tails frenchies etc. 

For our third and final day we moved around a bit at one stage checking out a small stream at the base of a dam, quite a spectacular piece of river but it was also recently devastated by flooding and fish were few and far between. It was humbling walking up through the masses of rock and debris from the flooding, my thoughts were with the residents along the Savinja River system that also suffered horrid flooding recently destroying their river, businesses and homes. I hope you all recover from the disaster stronger. We also visited a section of river that flowed into a dam lake, this slow moving river was stuffed with fish that you had to see to be believed. We fished her for a few hours using a range of nymphs and streamers with some success and amazing battles from very strong fish. 

We set off home in the early hours of Friday morning and by lunch time I was back in Kilkenny. These are the kind of trips I really enjoy; they are not too expensive and not too long. You get 3 good days fishing and a variety of locations to explore. Slovenia has always been one of my favorite destinations in Europe and a place I’ll return to time and time again. It has amazing fishing and breathtaking scenery, the people are super friendly and the food is good, that’s as good as it gets for this traveling angler. Fly fishing on the River Sava near Kranj, Slovenia, offers a remarkable blend of natural beauty and exciting angling opportunities. With an array of fish species to target and a variety of effective fly patterns to choose from, it’s no wonder that this region has become a beloved destination for fly fishermen from around the world. it truly is a Fly Fishing Paradise.

Thanks for reading and I hope you get something from the blog. We will have some videos from the trip coming soon so make sure and keep an eye on our YouTube channel and social media. We have also begun to send out weekly newsletters so register for them on our website and keep up to date with what’s going on with the rivers and piscarifly. 

Next year we will be starting to organize some trips to European destinations for our followers and customers, so if you are interested in getting away for a few days next season please get in touch with us. Make sure and check out our website for all your fly tying and fly fishing needs.

Regards Peter www.piscari-fly.com