After my trip last year to Slovenia chasing Marble Trout, I started doing some more research on other native Salmonid species in Europe.
I’m lucky having a large portion of my wife’s family living in the Peloponnese region in Greece, which we visit once a year, so making trips to other countries is not totally out of the question.
Well, my closest cousin now lives in France and his partner planned a surprise 40th birthday for him so we decided to head to the Alpes Haute Provence for a few days before Greece.
Fly Fishing is common in France so it was pretty easy to find information online of where to go. You can buy the fishing licenses at the local tourist office of where you're heading. I didn't take any photos as I was driving and tired as all hell from the long international flight but the road to our destination was easily the sketchiest road I've ever driven on and rural small villages in Greece have some sketchy roads. No shoulder, no guard rails, gaining thousands of feet of elevation, while the two way "road" is tunneled and carved into the mountainside. Rocks falling off the cliffs peppered the road the whole way and at any moment I felt like I was going to pepper my underwear.
We had time for one day of fishing in France and it was perfect. The trout were small but I chase a lot of small fish in our small streams in WA. Over there though, it's more about the skill or pure luck in some cases it takes to land one. No way I could slap on my usual 7 foot leader down to 3x and a large stimulator and catch fish all day no problem. Unfortunately, I had to resort to size 18-20 Adams patterns or Midges with 14-16 feet leaders down to 6x. I probably should have used my 10ft 2wt for this type of fishing but left it in the car and made it work with the 9ft 5wt. Definitely not the most pleasurable casting experience but it's the norm over there and nice to remind myself how bad my skills actually are.
On to Greece in search of Salmo Dentex, Fariodes, and maybe more. Greece has 5 native brown trout lineages but most are at risk. I did tons of research on this part of the trip but I'm not going to post much information about it because the situation over there is incredibly poor and the few fly fishers who do exist in Greece, about 25, keep everything to themselves for good reason.
Well, I got to the river and sprained my ankle badly after about an hour of solid fishing. That was the end of my Greek fishing trip I planned and dreamt about for the past year
. I spooked one trout though so at least I know they still exist in that river. I got a report from the only fly fisherman in the area of massive die offs last year for unknown reasons. The sprained ankle was kind of a blessing though because it forced me to slow down for the next two weeks and be more present with my wife and I will be back next year to try again!
This river in Greece is spring fed so it stays cool even during 90 degree weather.
I sprained my ankle right before this spot and was running on adrenaline trying to make it work. Gotta be a fish here!
Lots of wild boars in the area. One was shot within feet of my in laws camping business the day before.
Some photos before I sprained my ankle. Headed to the view the highest peak in Arcadia, Mt. Mainalo.
Panorama of the village my wife’s family is from. Really spectacular place. When my wife’s dad was young, the only way to get here was by ferry and this is the mainland. It’s quite isolated. Although there’s very few speakers left here, the local language is Tsakonian which is a modern adaptation of the Greek language although some treat it as its own separate language. If you are a rock climber, it also has become quite famous in the last decade for climbing. They’re also known for their eggplant.
Up, around and down. Hiking down to another village
I’m lucky having a large portion of my wife’s family living in the Peloponnese region in Greece, which we visit once a year, so making trips to other countries is not totally out of the question.
Well, my closest cousin now lives in France and his partner planned a surprise 40th birthday for him so we decided to head to the Alpes Haute Provence for a few days before Greece.
Fly Fishing is common in France so it was pretty easy to find information online of where to go. You can buy the fishing licenses at the local tourist office of where you're heading. I didn't take any photos as I was driving and tired as all hell from the long international flight but the road to our destination was easily the sketchiest road I've ever driven on and rural small villages in Greece have some sketchy roads. No shoulder, no guard rails, gaining thousands of feet of elevation, while the two way "road" is tunneled and carved into the mountainside. Rocks falling off the cliffs peppered the road the whole way and at any moment I felt like I was going to pepper my underwear.
We had time for one day of fishing in France and it was perfect. The trout were small but I chase a lot of small fish in our small streams in WA. Over there though, it's more about the skill or pure luck in some cases it takes to land one. No way I could slap on my usual 7 foot leader down to 3x and a large stimulator and catch fish all day no problem. Unfortunately, I had to resort to size 18-20 Adams patterns or Midges with 14-16 feet leaders down to 6x. I probably should have used my 10ft 2wt for this type of fishing but left it in the car and made it work with the 9ft 5wt. Definitely not the most pleasurable casting experience but it's the norm over there and nice to remind myself how bad my skills actually are.
On to Greece in search of Salmo Dentex, Fariodes, and maybe more. Greece has 5 native brown trout lineages but most are at risk. I did tons of research on this part of the trip but I'm not going to post much information about it because the situation over there is incredibly poor and the few fly fishers who do exist in Greece, about 25, keep everything to themselves for good reason.
Well, I got to the river and sprained my ankle badly after about an hour of solid fishing. That was the end of my Greek fishing trip I planned and dreamt about for the past year
. I spooked one trout though so at least I know they still exist in that river. I got a report from the only fly fisherman in the area of massive die offs last year for unknown reasons. The sprained ankle was kind of a blessing though because it forced me to slow down for the next two weeks and be more present with my wife and I will be back next year to try again!This river in Greece is spring fed so it stays cool even during 90 degree weather.
I sprained my ankle right before this spot and was running on adrenaline trying to make it work. Gotta be a fish here!
Lots of wild boars in the area. One was shot within feet of my in laws camping business the day before.
Some photos before I sprained my ankle. Headed to the view the highest peak in Arcadia, Mt. Mainalo.
Panorama of the village my wife’s family is from. Really spectacular place. When my wife’s dad was young, the only way to get here was by ferry and this is the mainland. It’s quite isolated. Although there’s very few speakers left here, the local language is Tsakonian which is a modern adaptation of the Greek language although some treat it as its own separate language. If you are a rock climber, it also has become quite famous in the last decade for climbing. They’re also known for their eggplant.
Up, around and down. Hiking down to another village
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