Four years ago I caught my first and only Marble trout so far on a spinning rod. It was 67cm long, and it was clear that this would be hard to beat! But would I be able, to catch one of these legendary marble trouts also with the flyrod?
Last Friday I got up early and headed south to meet my friends in Bozen, Italy, where we planned to flyfish for three days, trying to hook a Marble trout.
We fished three waters that were all recommended to us by the owner of the local flyshop “FischerKG” in Bozen.
EGGENTALER BACH
The little creek called “Eggentaler Bach” is said to host some Marble monsters, but we soon realized, that they are extremely hard to persuade, since they have probably seen every nymph or streamer pattern in existence, and because we weren’t properly prepared to fish such a small stream. Anyhow, we caught some small trouts, mostly browns and some single rainbows.
EISACK
The second day we fished to different sections of the river Eisack, one of the major streams of the area. And we were successful! In the end, everyone of us had caught a Marble trout, and although there were no giants, we had accomplished our mission! I was also happy to catch a 42cm brown trout, which gave an extremely hard fight! My largest fish on this trip, but catches of up to 80cm are possible here! Even in the small creeks, such giants occur!
PASSER
The Passer was a little smaller than the Eisack we had fished the day before. I fished the eddies behind rocks and near the bank, and caught many small Marble trouts. It was an extremely pleasant fishing, as the water was well “readable” and you almost knew in advance, when the bite would come! Probably, the Passer is the best of the three streams we fished, but unfortunately I needed to head back home around noon, and so I was not able to fish the promising evening hours. I was also amazed by the large stonefly nymphs that were hiding below almost every little stone. Such large nymphs I didn’t have in my flybox, but I will definately bring some on my next trip!
All in all, fishing is not easy here. You need relatively heavy gear to throw heavy nymphs and streamers. The ferociously fighting Marble trouts often spit out the heavy tungsten heads with strong headshakes and jumps. Also, you have to climb and wade through rocks and blocks and you should always be aware that the larger streams can easily throw you against such rocks if you decide to take a swim… so better do not! Water is too cold for swimming anyway.