TROUT OF THE ITALIC LAND
by Luca Montanari
The Nera River is one of the more charming and suitable trout fly fishing rivers in the central part of Italy. Situated in a picturesque valley, famous for its black truffles, the Nera River extends into the municipalities of the city of Perugia and Terni and for most of its length has a torrential character, with very clean and clear water populated by large colonies of insects, mainly mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.
Over the years I have fished almost all the stretches of the Nera River, catching a heap of fish. This includes the open or free fishing areas, but also the various sections regulated by fishing rules, on which only a fly rod is allowed. To be honest, every single stretch of ??this river between the villages of Triponzo and Terria has a special charm and character, so it is difficult to declare one area better than another. From the viewpoint of the abundance of fish it is a different matter, since in the sections reserved for artificial lures and with mandatory catch and release rules, your chances of success are higher, the fish population is denser and the trout can reach respectable sizes.
Thanks to the abundance of trout, the Nera River allows any fly fishing enthusiast, even those with little experience, to take some good catches. Obviously the bigger and smarter trout are more sensitive and skittish. They need plenty of concentration and cunning to be caught, forcing us to pay particular attention to presentations and casts.
At the same time, the fly must be selected appropriately for the circumstance, because the abundance of insects induces great selectivity in these native brown trout.
A suitable fly rod for fishing on the Nera River is in the mid-length size, using say a seven to eight and a half feet for a 3 or 4 weight fly line. I prefer rods with quite a fast action, because they allow me keep higher line speeds, making easier to control the line on the stretches with strong currents.
My favorite leader is conical, twelve feet long and with a thin fluorocarbon tip. To get delicate presentations I connect the leader to the fly line with a needle knot, which I then cover with a drop of glue or Aquaseal.
Regarding the selection of flies, we must take in consideration the time of year, as in any season there are hatches of different species of insects and the trout can became selective, following a very specialized diet. From the first day of fishing season, i.e. from the last Sunday of February, we frequently see Baetis rhodani, an olive ephemera which induces great active on the surface. By May, many other species of small Baetis appear on the water, although hatches are often dominated by Ephemerella ignita, which sometime appear together with the Ephemera danica, the large May fly.
During the summer, especially at sunset, we often see a lot of caddis and sometimes big stoneflies, which the trout take with spectacular leaping rises.
Flies that I use more than any others on the Nera River are small mayfly emerger patterns in olive, yellow or grey colours,
but my selection includes also the Opossum or the Brown Iris (below),
sedges of medium size, like CDC Sedgehog (below right) and the Pupa d'Avorio (below left)
and stoneflies tied on quite big hooks. Many of my flies are tied with cul de canard feathers, because they appear more imitative, but also because they have better buoyancy, sit well to the surface and are easily visible on the fast flowing water. However, the Devaux patterns are also very effective.
To get more information about the most famous fly fishing fishery of the Nera River, you can visit the web site: http://www.legambientenera.it/attivita.htm
Luca Montenari is a well known fly fisher living in Rome. He has fished extensively around the world, including in South Africa and is a specialist ityer of absolutely authentic and traditional salmon flies.
