Pliva River

Seven kilometers upstream of Sipovo, in village Pljeva, springs enchanted beauty- river Pliva. She was and still is symbol of health and purity. Leading pharmaceutical company in former Yugoslavia took her name and symbolism as company logo. Mighty and cold river, crystal clear and pure is fed by three springs. For all passionate fans of fly fishing this beauty will present great challenge. You wonder why? Answer on this question and all the secrets are hidden in its depths. Water temperature is never over 9°C, not even in July and August, the warmest moths of the year. Underwater flora and fauna are special story, and that is the source of this river’s magic. On some parts river bottom is covered by hundreds of meters of emerald green grass carpets with explosion of underwater life. For grayling and brown trout living there this represents abundance of food. Varieties of insects are found on their menu. From several species of gamarus different sizes, tiny dans , May fly and sedge, all the way to big stone flies. Like no other river in region, Pliva hides lots of grayling over 50 cm. They are true challenge for any fisherman coming to this river, because one can literally see them all and count them down, and there is plenty of them, really is…
What do these fish eat, what about their activity, you’ll ask? For brownies it will not be a problem, and they are present on all sizes, up to 4 kg, they will take your good imitation of dry fly or nymph. For big graylings story is a bit different. Big grayling will almost never take dry fly, except on warmest summer months when you might be able to trick them to take excellent imitation of brown or black ant.
Why, you’ll ask again? This river has abundance of food, and big graylings and brownies don’t need to go to surface looking for food. Sometimes, keeping all this in mind, fly fishing on this amassing river could be frustrating. Everything will depend on your knowledge, approach to this river and techniques of fly fishing you use. Rods we recommend are mid-flex, 2,75 m ( 9´), and aftma 4 or 5.
Fishing is mostly with  long leader, and tippet must not be more than 0,14 mm in early season. When water level drops in July or August and fish are more careful, we recommend smaller flies and tippet not more than 0,10 mm. Fishing regime is “catch and release”. Fly fishing season is from April 1st to November 30th. Top season is from July 1st to October 31st.