Quo vadis Idrijca?

When I was in the twenties, the Idrijca was always the epitome of a perfect water for fly fishing for me, the queen of Slovenia's waters, so to speak. It was known for large marmoratas, grayling and strong rainbow trout, but above all for its abundance of insects. This prompted me, as the then coordinator of FFF-Europe (now EFFA), to hold the first large instructor meeting in Slovenia about 20 years ago. We also fished Soca and various stretches of the Idrijca. None of the many fly fishermen we met on the water fished without using the fly line correctly. I fished this prime fly water several times after that. After many years of absence, I was recently back on the Idrijca and was excited to see what would await me there. I had avoided it for years because it was considered to be quite crowded. Instead I fished the top waters of the Austrian Fishing Association (OEFG), such as the Salza, Steyr Grünburg, the Pielach, the Erlauf, and so on, which were not far away. The stretch of the Idrijca is divided into two areas, that of the Idrija and that of the Soča Fishing Family (club). The trophy part of Idrijca (area A) is situated near Idrija. The water stretches downstream for more than 20 km (see map) to the border at the Cestni Most.

I fished a little off to the side in a section that a friend recommended to me. Within an hour I caught a good 20 fish with the dry. Among them were several marmoratas, brown trout, rainbow trout and also a grayling. Suddenly another fisherman got in about 20 m below me. He hadn't noticed me. Since I wanted to change places anyway, I looked in his direction to see if his dry fly was about to be attacked by a fish. Instead, I saw a strange casting movement and with a pop a streamer disappeared under the water with great certainty. This was repeated and his cast reminded me very much of that of a spin fisherman. I climbed up the slope behind me to have a look at the situation from above. The fisherman had obviously mounted monofilament and had connected a meter of fly line between the monofilament and his 3.5-4 m long leader. He swung his bait backwards and cast over his head like a spin fisherman.

I left the spot because, it was not pleasant for me to see how primitive our hobby had become. There had to be other fly fishermen there, who fish traditionally by using the fly line. So I went into the bend above the bridge at Spodna Idrija. I could hardly believe my eyes: There were seven anglers from France and Poland, all of whom were thundering large micro worms (10-12 cm) on multi-gram jig hooks into the channels. These are usually used by spin fishermen on spinning gear. Of course, they were all casting like spin fishermen too, because at least three of them were using thin monofilament only instead of a proper fly line. And that despite the fact that fish were rising everywhere! I took a photo as a souvenir (see right) and left the river that once fascinated me so much the next day. Either this type of fishing was tolerated there, or there were so many fly fishermen using these methods that the fisheries authorities were completely overwhelmed. However, people certainly recognised what was going on, because you could see  distance how they fished  and that "streamers" being used couldn't be cast uby sing a fly line. It doesn't matter whether a streamer or a heavy nymph (Czech Nymphing) is cast with its own weight on monofilament or 9 m and longer leaders, fly lines are not needed. This is fly fishing anymore and IMHO these methods should never be allowed to be fished in fly-only waters.