Marble trout and Adriatic Grayling in Slovenia

The Soca

The details:

June 1^st-3^rd 2014.   All rivers were clear and fishable except the Soca which was a little off color and not completely in prime season. 

Guided and Fly shop: Soca Fly.

My guide was Gasper.  He is local and was an amazing resource for the history of fly fishing in the area and knowledge of the native species.  Matt is an American and the only licensed Orvis guide in Europe. 

Trg svobode 12
5222 Kobarid
Slovenia

socafly@gmail.com

  +386 (0) 31705552 Gasper

  +49 (0) 15142460771 Matt

Lodging: Apartments Bobi. 

Ciginj is a pretty central place to stay.  You can’t beat the prices ( booked though Booking.com) and the room was wonderful.  The back patio is amazing and so are the views. 

Patio at Apartments Bobi

Čiginj 62a, 5220 Tolmin
Slovenia

What to drink: Pivo (beer) Lasko 

I was recently lucky enough to be an invited speaker at a scientific conference in Trieste Italy.  I really had no idea where Trieste was when I first heard of it.  It turns out it is about as far east in Italy as one can go.  The region Borders Slovenia on the eastern shore of the Adriatic sea and was once part of the Austrian Empire.  There is an amazing castle and city wall in the old part of the city.  Mainly, Trieste is famous for coffee.  Of course espresso and not a simple drip coffee.  Being American and thinking most of the time I could use a coffee while they were taking the time to make my coffee I was skeptical that it would be worth the wait.  It was worth the wait and I may have developed a life long obsession for a decent cappuccino that may have no cure but to go back to Trieste.  Trieste is home to Illy and many other world class coffee businesses; it was once the gateway for coffee in the Austro-hungarian empire.  Due to the intense timeline of the conference I really didn't get to enjoy Italy and the food as much as I would have liked but over all Trieste was a nice city to visit.  Light on tourists and a beautiful sea side setting.

   After the meeting I went to Slovenia to fish for marble trout and the Adriatic grayling. Specifically to the Tolmin area managed by the Tolmin Angling Club.  Marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) are a close relative to brown trout and can interbreed to make a fertile hybrid.  Much like cutbows are fertile hybrids of rainbow trout and cutthroat trout.  Both sets of fish were separated long ago, the rainbows diverged from cutthroat by roaming down the Colorado river to the sea and Marble trout diverged due to geographical separation form brown trout in Europe.  Marble trout are mainly piscivorous when they mature and get big, really big.  The largest caught was 120 cm and 22.5 kg.  That is 47+ inches and 49 pounds.  I saw a few cruising below a dam that were as wide as some of the fish I catch around these parts.  They can eat as little as once a month so catching one that big can be tough to say the least.  I'm sure a 24 inch rainbow is a hefty meal.  With my guide Gasper I saw a pretty big marble cruising and chasing rainbows.  We saw a rainbow jump out of the water to get away, nearly a two feet high.  I was standing in about two feet of water and a rainbow came charging at us and what looked like a 30+ inch marble close behind.  The rainbow got away and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest.  I casted a big bunny streamer until my arm about fell off and it was getting cold and dark.  No huge marble for me that day.  

Baca

A smaller but very pretty Marble trout

Huge fish like that would have been nice but I was really there to see and catch the native species in a new and foreign place.  Earlier that day I had caught a few nice sized and very pretty marble trout and was thoroughly embarrassed by an Adriatic grayling.  We must have tried 7 flies on that fish and only got a handful of smug refusals.  The next day I tried the again and the grayling was back in the same spot- sliding back and forth in the current and rising every few minutes to something, maybe a small mayfly.  We tried caddis, mayflies emergers of multiple types, nymphs and even a huge brown drake the day before.  And we saw all of those flies on the water.  There were a handful of enormous brown drakes, caddis bobbing up and down and across the surface as well as huge yellow stone flies that looked and sounded like B52s marauding above the stream.  There were also a few very small mayflies of some kind that looked brown maybe a size 22.  I tried everything I had that seemed close to those small mayflies.  #20 BWO, nope.  Not even a refusal just ignored.  #18 and #20 para and reg. Adams.  Refusals-  getting somewhere.  Still, way too big is what I thought.  I tried my midge and trico dry assortment.  Nothing.  So I did want anyone would do at the end of their rope.  I tied on a #8 yellow Pat's rubber legs.  My guide had told me to use as long a leader as I could cast and no indicators.  It took me about a day to figure out how to fish nymphs like that but I'll likely do that from now on. The trees get a lot closer for some reason casting a 14 foot leader.  That was fun.   My cast to the grayling was a little long, he was about mid-pool and I hit it just at the top where a tree was hanging into the water.  What happened next was shocking.  The fly hit the water with a slap, rubber legs waving in the current, and went down about 3 inches when a huge marble trout came out from the undercut bank and nailed it.  He took me up and down the pool three times, I stomped trough the pool after him and finally got him in my woefully too small net.  It was then I realized that in my excitement to get to the grayling I forgot both of my cameras.  The big fish was surreally calm, like this was not his first rodeo in a net.  I held him under water by the tail along my net and he eclipsed its length, handle and all by a few inches.  Broad shouldered, huge headed but sleek like a stream trout should be, that fish was a marvel.  I held him facing the current until he nonchalantly cruised back to his place in the world where I'm sure he had no idea how far I had come, where I lived in the world and how much I appreciated the experience of catching him.  

Baca valley

Baca

Nice sized Marble-brown hybrid

I fished many more pools and caught lots of really nice fish, some brown-marble hybrids a few more smaller marbles but no grayling.  On my way back to the car I wanted to check if the grayling was back in his spot.  He was.  

Two days in a row I caught a marble on a nymph in the pool so I knew I needed a dry fly he would take otherwise I would likely just spook him off catching another type of fish again.   A smaller caddis? No.  A moving caddis. No.  A stimulator? I was desperate.  No.   You can only fish one barbless fly at a time in Slovenia which became maddening.  I kept thinking if only I could fish a dropper.....  I tired small nymphs, a Pheasant tail, prince, copper john, a black and brown birds nest, a RS2 all sizes. nothing.  In my nymph box I have a few dry flies I use with dry-droppers.  One was a purple #16 para-adams left over from a trip to Montana.  They love that purple para-adams up there.  I was like what the hell if he takes this I clearly don't know anything about fish or was trying way too hard.  The first cast was short.  I picked it up and recast- long.  Wrapped around a branch I gently pulled back and it unwound itself instead and softly landed on the water.  The grayling charged over, stopped, looked for what seemed like a whole minute and turned away.  Epic refusal.  I cast a few more times and got a few more refusals.  It seemed like I was getting somewhere.  Finally on the 7 or 8^th cast he charged over hesitated and them slammed the Adams.  Somehow, I was able to hesitate a half second and wait for his small downward facing mouth to grab the fly.  If you have caught grayling you know what I mean.  I yanked more flies away from rising grayling than I can count.  Its soooo hard to wait.  He was on.  This was no small grayling; easily the biggest I had seen and he took off.  I had him on for quite a while and was relishing in my accomplishment.  Then, at the top of the pool about 20 feet away the line went slack.  I slapped my rod down on the water swore like a sailor and was crushed.  I thought I would fish more that evening but I called it.  It was about 6 and I had lots of daylight left but I was a beaten man and need a few beers to help the wound licking.  That f%$king fish- I’m going to catch that f&%king fish.

The next day I was supposed to leave.  I had to drive back to Munich and I knew it would be a long and drive feeling mostly lost the whole time.  I still planned to fish until about 3 and get in late.  I felt a lot more comfortable on the water on the last day.  I knew the spots and felt like I had a handle on how to catch fish.  I fell into a rut but I knew where there were big fish and it was really hard not to go to those spots.  I started early on Soca (pronounced Socha) at the Milk hole.  There was a milk factory on the river and they let out wastewater with a little milk in to every once in a while.  The result was lots of bugs and a school of about 50 broad sided twenty inch plus rainbows.  I landed the biggest rainbow I had ever caught at this spot the day before.  It looked like a steelhead. Taking a picture of a fish like that by yourself is tough.  I got one of her in the net but it wasn’t very good.  I caught two in about an hour, one was a nice sized fish, and I headed back to the fly shop for more supplies.  After an amazing cappuccino I headed back to catch that grayling on the Baca. 

The drive up the canyon where the Baca flows is amazing.  There are some pretty narrow spots on the road but I managed not to hit anyone.  I got out of the car and setup my 5wt and immediately tied on the same fly I got the grayling to hit the day before.  On the walk down I was trying to prepare myself for the fish not being there.  But when I got to the spot there he was, doing the same thing day in and day out.  On the second cast I hooked him again.  I was amazed.  This time I was not letting him go anywhere.  I pulled him into the net as fast as I could.  I was so happy once he was in the net, I had caught all of the native salmonids in the valley.  The day before I thought I would go home thinking about that grayling for the rest of my life.  Maybe it would have been better to leave something to come back for but either way, my trip to Slovenia and Soca valley was amazing and the trip of a lifetime. 

The Grayling

Nice Rainbow on the Soca

Trieste

My first marble trout

You can't tell but my left leg has about a foot of water in it.  Damn leaky waders.

Soca valley near Tolmin.  

Resolution#1: Be a better champion for science

Why you can trust science

Science, unlike politics, the media or Kim Kardashian can not be influenced by public opinion.  A hypothesis is stated, data are analyzed and conclusions made.  Our articles are peer reviewed and not published for profit.


You can trust science but NOT what people SAY ABOUT science.  If you don't understand the science ask a scientist.  I am sure they would be happy to help.

How much is Patagonia profiting off of World Trout conservation t-shirt sales?

Something is fishy about the Patagonia world trout conservation effort.  I'm not doubting that the money goes to good causes or the good intentions behind the idea but something is just not adding up.  I saw the link years ago for the World trout golden trout t-shirt.  I really wanted to help so I clicked and saw that the t-shirt was $35 and $5 goes to support golden trout conservation efforts.  I thought that was a little steep for a t-shirt and decided to donate to Caltrout instead.  I don't need another t-shirt and that way they get more than $5.  I let it slide didn't think too much about why the t-shirt from Patagonia was $35.  Again, another link to the same conservation t-shirts and I was reminded again that the shirt was $35.  Okay, now I was a little confused.  It sunk in and I started wondering where the other $30 goes????  I looked up organic cotton t-shirts in bulk maybe $5 probably less with the order size Patagonia can make.  Printing with environmentally responsible inks maybe another $5? I really have no idea but I bet that is an overestimation.  Then there is warehousing and design etc per shirt- who knows- I bet Patagonia pays their people pretty well so maybe add another $5 a per shirt?  So now we have a shirt that costs Patagonia about $15 to make, market (blogs probably do most of the marketing on the conservation t-shirt for free) and design.  I really don't know much about the business but that seems like a lot per shirt I bet its actually around $7 or so but who knows I'll round up.  $5 for conservation, $15 for production costs for a $35 shirt.  That leaves $15 for pure Patagonia profit.  Should a company make 3x the profit off a shirt they are marketing as a conservation t-shirt?  I hope someone at Patagonia explains this to me and it makes sense but that is absolutely not okay if they are making that much money off a t-shirt that I am buying to support a cause.  My advice is to skip their Patagucci t-shirt and just give money directly to the cause you support until they have some answers about how much they are making off of their "conservation effort."

Sean Parker tells us that Central California Steelhead trout are not endangered

Redwood creek in the Muir Woods, CA.  Redwood creek has native Steelhead trout.  

A recent post over at the Trout Underground talks about some pretty uninformed garage that came out of Sean Parker's mouth while defending his super extravagant wedding.  I really have no intrest in reading anything Sean Parker has to say but since it was on a site I read religiously I happend upon it.  The gist of the wedding fiasco was that a hotel in California is in close proximity to a redwood forest and a creek that has supported spawning of the endangered California steelhead trout. In order for the wedding to take place Parker paid $2.5 million in fines to California Game and Fish.  I've been trying to wrap my head around why there would just be a fine instead of just not letting the event take place but I guess the money fined would be enough to cover any dammage the Game a Fish department foresaw happening.  The way I see it is he just parked in a handicap spot; you aren't supposed to do that incase someone needs that close spot but if you do you will get fined.  Parker basically is that jackass that pulls in right up front in the handicap spot and can afford the fine and he thinks he is entitled to the spot.

The other part of the Underground post talks about how Sean Parker figured this whole endangered species problem out with a simple google search.  Apparently, lots of media type people were pretty harsh in how they depicted Parker's wedding so he responded.  Here's the quote from Parker:

"Then there was this question of a certain fish, the “steelhead trout,” that was purportedly threatened by our wedding preparation. The media reported that this fish was an “endangered” species whose spawning ground was a creek near our wedding site. Yet a simple Google query of “steelhead trout” reveals that this fish is not, as the media had reported, a truly “endangered” species, but rather a fancy variant of the common “rainbow trout” that is abundant across North America — so abundant, in fact, that it is sometimes considered a pest species. (The steelhead, like salmon, travels upstream and spends its life in the ocean. This variant of the rainbow trout has seen its populations fall in some areas of California where it is protected, but it’s hardly the endangered species the press made it out to be. In fact, the National Wildlife Federation reports that rainbow trout is “not at risk of extinction.”

I don't even know where to start.... A "fancy" varient of rainbow trout?  This guy is supposed to be smart or something right?   The problem is these fish are not endangered everywhere so it is hard for people to understand that the specific fish that has the specific genes that allowed it to adapt to the drier and warmer than average California spawning areas Is endangered.   You can't just put back stocker "rainbow trout" in post creek and expect successfully spawning steelhead runs in ten years.  Once the fish are gone from Post creek and other creeks like it in California they will be gone forever.  The genetic makeup that allows for their success in that environment will be gone.  Look at the variation in humans; we are all Homo sapiens but sherpas sure are better suited than I am to climb Mt. Everest.    He googled it though so, you know, he has to be right.  Search for more than what you want to find and maybe you can come close to understanding the issue.  In case you are as upset about this as I am here are all the ways I can find to not support Sean Parker.

He is a partner in the venture firm Founders Fund.  Here are the companies that they support:

Facebook, SpaceX, Spotify, Palantir Technologies, Yammer, Knewton, Practice Fusion, Powerset, Quantcast, Slide, Geni, Causes, Moat, Inigral, ZocDoc, Taskrabbit,IronPort, 140 Proof, Pathway Genomics, Vicarious Systems, Path, and Votizen

 If you want to learn more about Steelhead trout and their conservation check out CalTrout.org. 

Upper Colorado and the Fraser River

Gore canyon

 I set out this weekend to catch some bigger fish.  I have spent most of the summer exploring small creeks for native fish and fishing the Poudre.  I decided to fish Gore canyon up stream from the Pumphouse put in the Upper Colorado.  I went on a float trip up there in June and caught some really nice browns that mostly went about 13-15 inches.  I got camp set up by 1 and fished until dark.    I tried just about everything I could think of, most two nymph rigs with various larger heavy flies trailing other smaller nymphs.  I didn't have much success.  I caught two smaller browns but nothing of size.  Just before dark at my campsite there were a few risers and I picked up my largest fish of the day (all of 11 inches) on a para Adams.  I did hook a decent sized fish right at the launch by he got off after a few good thrashes.  Almost counts.

I'm sure with more experience in the area I would do better or at a different time of year maybe.  It's still a beautiful place with lots of places to explore.  Gore canyon did have quite a bit of pressure, which I was not expecting way out there.  I saw at least 7 other fisherman along about a mile of river.  Way to crowded for my taste.  However, that probably means there are some big fish to be had if they are eating. 

My camp site right next to the upper colorado. Beautiful.  

Amtrak passengers with a great view of the river.

My next stop was the Fraser river near Tabernash.  I had heard there were big fish to be had around there so I guessed on a spot and ended up getting lucky.  Unfortunately, the Fraser is a slimed cesspool of didymo and algae.     Every rock, branch or log in the river was covered in slime an inch think.  Nearly every cast I had to clean off my flies.  The filth sluffs off in the current and keeps the visibility at about 3 feet.  On top of all that, no cutthroat either.  I caught one big rainbow and one decent brown but will not be going back.  Maybe someday I'll find a beautiful clean mountain stream that has big native fish but for now, that seems impossible, in CO at least.  The rainbow was pretty big though.  I'll have to do some measuring in the photo but the fly I caught her on was a #20 so I might be pretty close to the famed 20/20 club.  

Fraser river.
Looked at a bunch of rocks and there were case building caddis everywhere.  I bet that hatch in May or June is epic.  

Nice brown.  Nice close up of the slime that covers everything too.  

My big Rainbow.  Doesn't look very big in the picture unfortunately.  Sort of curled up in the net.  She was too big for me to get my hand around to lift up. So, yeah, pretty big.

Lots of pictures from a float trip with my buddy down the Colorado.  We floated Pumphouse to Radium.