The Rivers of Bosnia

Ribnik

Ribnik is a spring creek which flows through the village with the same name and it is known worldwide as grayling and trout paradise. The chalk stream rich in insect life has become a dream water for every fisherman to visit. Grayling exceeding the 50cm size and big brown trout are caught on a daily basis.

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It is a very popular stream given the easy wading and the amazing nature throughout it’s flow. The river is well structured and is home to million of various insects, however the river can sometimes be challenging as well since most of the season one has to fish very small flies (#18 to #22) and be able to imitate the hatches which differ from minute to minute.

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It is very interesting to see how huge brown trout swim and rest at the river-bank, but it is quite challenging to hook them. This is the reason why many fishermen wade in the middle of the water and fish close to the banks.

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The average width of Ribnik is 20m and the length is about 4.5 form the source to its confluence with Sana river.

UPPER SANA

Managed by the company LTG (same as Ribnik, Pliva and Janj), the Upper Sana is one of my favourite rivers to fish. Populated by wild brown trout and grayling and complemented by HUCHO, Upper Sana is one of the waters that will challenge any fisherman.

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It’s entire length of 5km is rich in good sized grayling and brown trout, while there are also very few rainbows to be found. The biggest attraction though is the HUCHO (Danube Salmon) which can be fished with a fly rod in the entire stretch. The average width of the stretch is 25m, and the length is 5km.

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It is great water for fishing nymphs and dry flies while with streamers one can easily hook one of the huge trout hiding in the deep pools of Sana.

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The license for Ribnik and Sana is the same, a joint license, allowing anglers to fish both rivers the same day and trying our different water characters. Fish at Sana are incredibly strong and any specimen of over 40cm will pull a great fight, and this is why many fishermen adore it.

PLIVA

Definitely one of the most beautiful rivers in Europe, Pliva offers fishermen a real challenge when it comes to catching one of its trophy grayling. You can see a lot of trout and grayling in the water, but hooking one of them can be a real challenge even for the most experienced fly fishermen.

Pliva is very wide and powerful river, where fly fishing is done with rather long leaders, often over 5m long. Beside the length, leaders used fishing at Pliva river are thing, usually 0.10 to a maximum of 0.14mm, and this makes fishing more difficult but also very interesting.

Few of the wild grayling reach the magic border of 60cm, and this is what attracts the most famous fly fishermen to come and try their luck. It is located near the town Sipovo and it is approximately 6km long.

Pliva is also managed by LTG company and therefore the same license regulations apply, catch & release regime also applies as in all other fly fishing waters of Bosnia and Herezgovina,

The average width of Pliva is 30m, and it is famous for its depth going between 2.5 to 3m.

JANJ

Janj is very cold and clean, rich in brown trout and grayling, a fly only stretch with C&R regime. It is an amazing nature, a real tourist attraction and flowing through a government protected natural area. The colour of water is emerald green, one of the most beautiful waters to be found in the area. The length of the stretch is about 5km, and the width average 20m.

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Janj is famous for the little isles which form the so called Janj Island, a real tourist attraction in this part of the country. Fishing is easier than at Pliva river and the distance from Sipovo is only 9km.

The vegetation and insect life are rich, fishing is best with dry and wet flies.

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The license for Pliva is valid for Janj as well, therefore with one license both rivers can be fished.

UNA

Named by the Romans during the Roman Empire as UNA, meaning “The only one”, is considered to be the pearl of Europe. From its spring in Martin Brod Una flows through remote areas, canyons and the biggest national park in Western Bosnia. Una is characterized with rapids, but also slow flowing sections with big pools, then also with quite a lot of cascades and waterfalls. Una is home to big grayling, brown trout and also few huge rainbow trout. The lowest stretches around Bihac and Bosanska Krupa are famous for the natural reproduction of HUCHO, and every year huge specimen are caught on a fly and spin baits.

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Fishing for Hucho at Una River is evolving with more and more fishermen visiting it every year. Fishing for Huchen is only allowed with a guide or a representative of the fishing association.

For many fishermen, Una is the most attractive water they ever fished in Europe as it provides with fishing possibilities for big grayling, huge brown and rainbow trout, big HUCHO and also big species of white fish such are barbel, nase and chub.

UNAC

Unac is a typical gin clear mountain river, ice cold and with a huge water flow. A tributary of Una river which flows through the national park and joins Una river near Martin Brod.

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It is famous for not very experienced fly fishermen who want to try their luck and catch the fish of their life. Recently populated with a increased amount of rainbow trout, at Unac one can catch a brown trout and rainbow trout between 70 and 90cm.

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At this part Unac is 30m wide and 0.5-4m deep. Trout can be caught on dry flies, nymphs and streamers. Though fish are caught the whole day, Unac is famous for big fish caught late afternoons or early mornings.

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There are also very big graylings in the deeper sections of the river. Unfortunately, there are so many rainbows in the river, so that often bite follows another bite and one cannot get down to the graylings that easily. There are also some huge rainbows near the fish farm but and further down to the broken bridge where big brown trout were also caught.

NERETVA

The River Neretva is the largest river in the Eastern-Adriatic basin. Neretva is a unique jewel of nature and together with Buna River and Trebizat, one of the last shelters of the famous Softmouth Trout in the region.

The river has been witness to many events, among which the fourth offensive of Nazi Germany and its satellites against the Yugoslav partisans in 1943, also known as the Battle at Neretva or as the German operation codenamed “Fall Weiss”, as well as the very recent fighting in the Yugoslav wars. Now it is safe and peaceful place which offers the passionate fly fisherman such a great variety of species to be caught in one of the most beautiful waters in Europe. The river is cold, the colour of the water is the nicest one can see.

The unique characteristics of this water is the habitat of 5 species of salmonid family, Softmouth Trout, Marble Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout and Grayling.

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The softmouth trout is a real challenge to catch, once hooked it will make over 15 jumps in the air therefore many fishermen say that your chance to land a softmouth trout is 50%.

KRUSNICA

Another typical mountain stream, very rich in grayling and brown trout. The lower part of Krusnica is also populated with HUCHO, mainly of 50 to 70cm size, but some bigger ones are also occasionally caught.

A tributary of Una river, Krusnica starts with nice rapids and then becomes very calm and slow flowing with some incredible pools. The gin-clear water enables you to see the bottom even in depths of 3-4m

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Krusnica has something for every fisherman. Beginners can enjoy the upper stretch full of rapids and slower flowing sections, while the more advanced fishermen prefer to try their luck in the very calm but deep pools of the river where fishing is mainly done with long leaders.

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The whole stretch flows through a mountain and deep forest, a very remote area where there is no single soul nearby.

SANICA

Sanica is a medium size mountain river/chalk stream with its width between 10-25m, and its depth of up to 4m. There are few rapids in this stretch and many pools, some of them up to 4m deep.

Sanica is very reach in grayling and not rare are the specimen of 50+cm. Beside grayling, there is plenty of brown trout and some Pike, as well as Hucho.

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The river is located 12km from the city of Kljuc, in a village called Sanica. It is a left tributary of Sana river. With the same license you can fish at Sana in Kljuc, and also the Korcanica creek since all the waters are managed by the same fishing club.

The river is easy accessible, fishable from 1 March and always with a lot of surface activity, therefore don’t forget to bring a variety of dry flies with you.

SANA – KLJUC

Also one of the medium-size rivers in the area located between Ribnik and Sanica rivers. It is very famous for a huge population of white fish of really big sizes which often can be caught on a fly, but even more famous for its strong grayling which can be caught on dry fly throughout the season.

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Sana here consists of many rapids, but also some long, calm and deep pools making a perfect shelter and habitat for HUCHO.

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Every year huge brown trout are caught, though mainly as collateral catch while fly fishing for HUCHO. It is a fly only stretch, however spin fishing for HUCHO is allowed.