One day of tenkara fishing in Croatia.by Oleg Stryapunin, CZ
My annual family beach holidays at the Istria coast with sunbathing, swimming and snorkling bored me after a couple of days this year. Fortunately I had the possibility to diversify my vacation with a day-trip, fishing the Croatian mountains. The Kupa River and its tributaries in the area of the Risnjak national park make for some good places to fish with the fly. ![]() ![]() At the end of August all the big grayling are in deeper pools. I saw teams of 15-20” specimens slowly moving in the emerald water and glistening in the sun. I managed to hook one with a nymph on a stream flowing into a pool, but all the others ignored my flies. The water was very warm and these large grayling were not feeding during the day. To find active fish I went to the tributaries. The water in the tributaries–Kupica and Curak–is definitely colder than in the Kupa. Both rivers run through canyons where the current is stronger and the fish are much more active in the summertime heat, so I went there to fish. The tributaries are catch and release areas. The Kupica is accessible easily by car from the confluence of the Kupa up to the village of Mala Lesnica. The Curak is also accessible by car for 4 km upstream from the confluence to the Kupica near the village of Isevnica. ![]() Moving alongside the river through the bushes, I fished some runs, sometimes hooking nice little WBTs and found a lovely pool with flowing stream and a visible flock of decent-sized fish near the bottom: grayling! I switched to a heavier kebari and got a take on the very first cast. Fortunately, at this moment my mate with the camera passed me on his way to the next fishing spot and got some nice shots, recording the fight, the catch and the release. All the other grayling spooked and I moved upstream, focusing on the deeper pools. I caught some nice grayling, brownies and bows in two hours of perfect tenkara fishing under the canopies of the beautiful Curak stream. Lodging near Kupa is available. The hotel “Mance”, http://www.hotelmance.com/ is located in the center of Brod-na-Kupi. Driving through the Kuzelj village I saw the signes “SOBE” which means there are rooms for rent. Also you can contact the fly angler, Darko Gorjan, at https://www.facebook.com/croatia.flyfishing for inexpensive fisherman’s lodging in Zakraic Brodski near Curak, like I did.
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