The Idrijca

The Idrijca is a wonderful river. Those who know it never forget its mystical blue colour. Its rural nature is delightful. On a June evening insect numbers are profuse. Farming is not on an industrial scale, horse drawn ploughing of its steep meadows has only just ceased here. Trees cover almost every foothill and mountain. The sheer variety of trees is incredible. The deciduous forest has many animals and birds that make this a very special place.

The Salmo trutta marmoratus (Marble Trout) is in abundance and again this wonderful species hunts and grows to huge proportions. In 2003 two French fishermen told me they had seen the biggest fish they’d ever seen in a river. It must have been 40lbs plus. Twenty pound plus, fish are certainly not uncommon. I’ve seen many, maybe five or six of this size in a pool.

My dear, and greatly missed friend, Marjan Fratnic (the inventor of the F Fly and world famous Slovenian fly fisher) grew up fishing the Baca, which is a tributary of the Idrijca. There can be few places on earth so wonderful for a fly fisher, this river has a magic all of its own.

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