Mission Accomplished!

by | May 31, 2013 | Uncategorized

blog-May-31-2013-1-European-FloodsI could very possibly outdo myself in the “Monsoon Currier” department this week.  It bloody rained hard all yesterday.  And at dark when I was working that big hybrid the rain got heavier.  Then during the night it rained even harder.  This morning it’s raining like it does in the Amazon!  But this is Europe!

 

The rain was so bad that Vladi and I didn’t leave the Pri Jezbucu B & B until noon . . . . again.  Can you imagine traveling all the way to Slovenia and not attempting to fish before noon?  It’s certainly not like me or Vladi.

 

blog-May-31-2013-2-Flooding-in-SloveniaOnce we hit the road and got our first glimpse of the rivers it appeared there would be no fishing today at all.  The Soča was flooding and the Idrijca, which runs clear even when high, was slightly milky and two feet higher than yesterday.  Vladi wisely decided not to start his license for a second day in a row; I however, was already committed.

 

blog-May-31-2013-3-Vladi-Trzebunia-in-SloveniaThat meant get soaked again and do my best.  Last night we found a miracle fish.  Why not again?  For the next three hours we slowly drove up the Idrijca and stopped at every pull off.  I got out and prowled through the trees and over slippery cliffs scanning the rivers edge in hopes of another big trout, but nothing.  The river conditions were much worse.

 

At 5 PM Vladi broke out the Polish sausage and some mushrooms he picked and we sat under the hatch of his car and watched it pour.  I drank two tall high alcohol Zywiec and took in the disastrous weather.  It could be like this all week.  Then buzzed out of my mind I asked Vladi to continue our drive upstream.

 

The crazy idea to continue onward will go down as one of my best.  The next stop we found a dozen trout rising over a deep pool near a bridge.  The Idrijca was high and colored but I wasn’t hallucinating.  The situation was so ideal we thought it had to be a no-fishing zone.  But it wasn’t.  These fish were another gift from the fishing gods.  Could they be the fabled marble trout?

 

blog-May-31-2013-4-Salmo-marmoratusFor them to be (Salmo marmoratus) would be far too much to ask for.  For the next hour I ravished on gorgeous little rainbows on a size 16 parachute hares ear.  The rising trout contined but after nearly a dozen bows I was about done.  I’m not here for rainbows.  But a more subtle rise caught my attention.  The rise was in slower water slightly away from the rainbow line of traffic.  I made a cast and some sweet beige lips sipped my fly.  I knew immediately this was different.  But that’s all I knew till I landed him.  A moment later I had a 13’ marble trout!

 

May-31-2013-6-Marble-TroutThese rare trout are so much more incredible then pictures can tell you.  The colors are vivid.  The pattern of worm like rust and brown twisting with reddish dots is gorgeous.  Honestly, I barely had the money for the plane ticket to come to Europe, let alone all my additional expenses, but man was this marble worth it.  Admiring this extraordinary trout species in person was far better than I expected.

 

Naturally I cast for more marbles but my mind was elsewhere and perhaps he was the only one.  I caught another eight bows before I finally I cashed in for yet another Zywiec to celebrate the mission accomplished with Vladi.

 

blog-May-31-2013-5-Jeff-Currier-with-Marble-TroutAfter the beer it was 8 PM and the rain turned to drizzle.  I was tweaked but we decided to hit one more place.  It turns out we’d find two more marble trout.   One we’d spook before I got a cast, but the second we saw in time.  I made one upstream cast with the same parachute and landed this stunning 16” thick shouldered marble!

 

As you might guess, I’ve had too many Zywiec so its time to call it.  Just as good news as catching some (Salmo marmoratus) is that it’s not raining right now.   For the first time, all we hear are crickets.

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing

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I started fly fishing at age 7 in the lakes and ponds of New England cutting my teeth on various sunfish, bass, crappie and stocked trout. I went to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where I graduated with a Naturalist Degree while I discovered new fishing opportunities for pike, muskellunge, walleyes and various salmonids found in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

From there I headed west to work a few years in the Yellowstone region to simply work as much as most people fish and fish as much as most people work. I did just that, only it lasted over 20 years working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop in Jackson, WY where I departed in 2009. Now it’s time to work for "The Man", working for myself that is.

I pursue my love to paint fish, lecture on every aspect of fly fishing you can imagine and host a few trips to some of the most exotic places you can think of. My ultimate goal is to catch as many species of fish on fly possible from freshwater to saltwater, throughout the world. I presently have taken over 440 species from over 60 countries!

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