Luc Pierssens looks back at what he has learnt from trips to Bosnia. There is some sound avice that is certainly applicable to many river systems
This spring I was led by a couple of friends to Bosnia for a few days' fishing on the apparently well famous rivers Sanica, Ribnik and Pliva. What am I going to tell you that has not been written about these famous fishing venues? Perhaps my own perception of things and certainly the few lessons learned along the way in this fishing heaven. Since it was more than ten years ago that I fished a gin-clear river (Bavaria and Austria) and that my experience on anything resembling a chalk stream is fairly restricted, I looked forward to fish these venues with an open mind and a little apprehension. As a near purist dry-fly fisherman I also suspected that I would hit on hard times with many wary and selective trout and that I would have to dig out my nymph box to lure those fish through sight-fishing.
Lesson 1: Even on hard fished waters like the Ribnik, the regular hatches of up winged flies as well as sedges enable you to catch trout and grayling on the top. Provided that your presentation is up to scratch and that your fly patterns are small(ish), size 16-18, will do. What worked for us: patterns like snowshoe and deer hair emergers, shuttlecock CDC, size 18 caddis patterns and traditional hare's ear and black parachutes. However, many fishermen take advantage of the substantial hatches of large plecoptera to fish massive stonefly imitations. Slamming these chunky flies in the margins or under trees provides hectic sport with large brownies on the lookout for a feisty meal.
Lesson 2: On hard fished waters where trout and grayling see a lot of flies pass in front of their noses, it is sometimes more efficient to adopt a different approach or tactic. I found that fishing the seams between faster and slower waters, the margins or back eddies with a well visible and floating fly (DHE supporters you are safe) can produce very good sport with grayling up to 35-40 cm. My best grayling from the Ribnik river required a lot of effort and persuasion before finally succumbing to a size 16 Stewards black spider. It took more than 20 min of haggling with a selection of no fail dries and killing nymphs before I realised that this customer required a special treat from my beloved spider box. I don't think that fish had heard or seen a Stewards black spider before, maybe he just took it for an ant imitation which I have been told work well on this river. Albeit probably later in the summer season.
Lesson 3: Success sometimes depends upon being in the right place at the right time. As I experienced on the Tweed this spring as well, some stretches can see very good hatches of flies and witness some decent feeding activity whereas other neighbouring beats can be very different with nothing moving at all. Hence, local advice can be of paramount importance as I experienced on the famous Pliva river where I benefitted from sound advice and guiding by one of the local guides Boris Nemanya.
Lesson 4: Grayling, especially large specimens, can be very fiddly but may suddenly lose all inhibition and grab any decently presented fly. I learned this for myself on the river Pliva and it cost me a dinner for five at the local inn after losing a stupid bet. Imagine the scene: three anglers sitting by the river sipping a nice cold beer (thanks Boris) commiserating at the sight of a large specimen grayling lazily plucking tasty morsels (shrimps) from the weeds only three meters from the bank. Then comes Mr Champion Olivier with his nymphing rod in the hand giving us some aggro because we didn't try to catch this beauty... Well well my old friend, if you manage to catch this bugger I bet that... you know the rest of the story, a couple of catapult casts later the grayling is hanging from his copper PTN.
Having been told four lessons in as many days on the Bosnian rivers is not bad going and in retrospect is a very rewarding feat for us fishing bums always on the look out to learn from the waters that haunt us.
Further from the rewarding fishing experiences and lovely grayling caught, I brought back some lovely memories of beautiful chalk stream rivers and magnificent meadows with an astonishing variety of wild flowers, several species of wild orchids included. The local people are friendly and welcoming, with the offer of a toast of locally distilled spirit commonplace.