Fishing in Trentino: In the Waters og Alto Sarca & Valle del Chiese

Fishing in Trentino

In the waters of Alto Sarca & Valle del Chiese

From the bustling streets of Venice to Rome’s breathtaking architecture and its mouthwatering cuisine, Italy is a country that never ceases to amaze. With nearly 65 million tourists annually and a permanent rank in the top 5 most visited countries in the world, Italy’s cultural lore spans across the planet.

By: MARINA GIBSON (FLY FISHING NATION) // Photos by FLY FISHING NATION

The sporting virtues of the alpine region, that is world-renowned for its structural splendor, deadline a life in the shadows compared to the tourism mayhem of the city of Rome. Endless amounts of water invite keen anglers on piscatorial adventures in a magnitude that a simple week of fishing will never be able to cover.

This story about a quieter way of exploring Italy’s culinary and piscatorial treasures takes right into the epicenter of its most famous salmonid rivers…

The Dolomites

In August 2022 myself and a team from Fly Fishing Nation, comprising Stephan Dombaj, Paulo Hoffmann, and Simon Kay, set out on a journey to the Dolomites in the tourist area of Madonna di Campiglio (Trentino-Alto Adige) to indulge in its vast recreational and culinary virtues, resulting in one of the most unforgettable adventures we’ve ever had. With its steep mountain peaks and meandering rivers, this enchanting region is like something out of a picture book and mere words and photos just can’t do it justice. You simply must experience it first-hand.

The valley has endless opportunities

Trentino-Alto Adige is a region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland and Austria. The region encompasses part of the Dolomites, a spectacular range of mountains in the Italian Alps with the mighty 10,900 ft Marmolada as its centrepiece. Trentino–Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol), comprises the provinces of Bolzano-Bozen in the north and Trento in the south. The population of Bolzano is largely German-speaking while that of Trento is Italian-speaking. Although we partook in many of the usual tourist activities, the main reason for travelling to Trentino was to fish.

Out with the locals

The man in charge of our fishing adventure was a local guide called Stefano Fedrizzi who had organised a marble trout and grayling hunt for us, starting in the Sarca and Chiese valleys, on your way to the majestic peaks of the Brenta Dolomites, where Madonna di Campiglio, one of the well-known mountain resorts of Italy, is located.

Stefano’s story began when he was a child; spending nearly every weekend on the river fishing for trout with his father and brother and, as the years progressed, he got to know every single stone and the likely spots where fish were to be found.

Quite early on, he knew that the only work he wanted to do was on the river and, as he grew up, became eager to encourage more tourism to the Trentino area. Tapping into the family’s combined river knowledge of 93 years has enabled him and some friends to set-up a guiding service so that they can share their slice of heaven with anglers from all over the world.

As we waded up the turquoise tinted Sacra River Stefano told us, ‘The river is my home. I live for fishing and guiding, and helping others discover how special it is to spend a day out on the river, learning about our fish and the environment.”

Every so often it would circle around with determination

It goes without saying that booking a good, local guide is important, especially when targeting trophy marble or brown trout.

Italian marble trout

To many, the marble trout is the most beautiful species of trout and until the 1970s was the undisputed Queen of the River. If a marble trout finds suitable living conditions it can reach up to 15lb in weight and live for up to 20 years, although historically much larger specimens have been caught. The marble fry feeds exclusively on plankton and once it has reached 20cm it feeds almost exclusively on small insects.

It maximises the size of its prey as it grows and after roughly five years and around 2lb in weight, its diet will consist mainly of other fish.

The marble trout is endemic to the Trentino area, and with this come important actions to preserve and conserve the species. The Marmorata Project, which started 20 years ago, aims to enhance river habitat and spawning grounds, run a hatchery for native fish eggs and teaches anglers the importance of catch and release.

Sink-tips and streamers

When we were fishing for marble trout, we were using huge streamers with a 6 or 7-weight rod paired with a floating or sink-tip line. We covered vast amounts of water, casting in each pocket and wading up the river: The more water we covered the higher our chances of bumping into a willing marble trout.

Unfortunately for us, the marble fishing was difficult due to a drought, followed by a colossal ice melt, which caused the river to flood and turn the river chalky white – the usual fisherman’s excuse! Typically, the best time to fish for marble trout in the area is in May and June as the temperatures increase, and as the water slightly colours from the ice melt. When this event happens the marble trout feel more confident, and they start to come out of their holes in search of food.

The upside was that this valley has endless opportunities and because the marble trout fishing was slower than usual, we turned our focus to other species and other mountain streams; it was a blessing in disguise because we had the chance to discover all the beautiful and intimate crystal clear rivers and tributaries that perhaps we would not have focused on so much if the Sarca River marble trout fishing had been on fire.

A “short” hike

On our second day Stefano told us to pack our dry fly and nymphing equipment and pack light as we were going to be fishing and hiking to the Rifugio Val Di Fumo restaurant.

When a local Guide tells you the hike is “Only 40 minutes or so.”, don’t believe them! Just make sure you pack a good pair of walking boots. We swiftly left the car park and followed the winding footpath across a steep woodland mountain, past a huge reservoir and over a few brows; once we reached the first fishing spot, we assembled our rods and started to deploy ourselves upstream. Some of us were using the Klink and Dink method (a dry fly with a nymph trailing behind), whilst others were using a single dry or nymph; all of which successfully caught a mixed bag of stunning wild brook- and brown trout.

Clever fish

The final pool to be fished - prior to clambering up the rocky hill path to indulge oneself in true Italian Alphine food - was below a wooden bridge. Three of us headed over there to see if we could spot any fish for the angler, Stephan Dombaj. As we peered down, we spotted the largest trout of the day in a three-foot glassy back eddy in the right-hand corner. Its nose was pointing towards the bank and every so often it would circle around with determination and munch on flies and nymphs or anything that dared enter his patch.

Stephan cast with a large dry fly and immediately the fish made a bee line for its next meal. However, Stephan couldn’t see the fish or the fly as a big boulder stood in the way and, instead, was relying on us to tell him when the fish had taken his fly, which we did with a roar of excitement! Unfortunately, as soon as the fish felt the hook, he shook his jaw in rage and spat it out. This fish had been caught before…

Falling into a coma

Hiking for a few hours definitely gives you an excuse to eat as much as your stomach can take, but the important thing to remember is that you have to walk back to where you came from. The four of us amateurs didn’t take that into consideration, or perhaps the food was just too good not to go over the top. Either way, we were toast. We all fell into a monstrous food coma and had to have a wee nap on the wooden benches in the restaurant garden.

When we all woke up, we rolled down the hill towards the river and fished a couple of pools before heading back down the path, considerably slower than we came up it.

We filled the middle of the week with other adventures, including a forest foraging session where we picked porcini mushrooms, hopped on some mountain e-bikes and pedalled to a secluded lake and fished until dusk, we hiked to a beautiful sky scraping waterfall where we took turns fishing in the plunge pool – too many adventures to list, but let’s just say we made the most of being there.

Targeting grayling

During our last two days, Stefano decided to take us to a different tributary and that’s where our grayling fishing came to fruition. He took us to a stretch where he knew of some very large grayling that resided on an association stretch, so they were smart, weary, and not for the faint-hearted. Luckily, the ice melt didn’t affect this tributary and once we had crossed the river and arrived at the ‘grayling location’ we could spot each one in the gin clear water and were able to make out each protruding fin.

Like most wild fishing, success is often measured in perseverance, but also the ability to read the water, fish (if you can see them) and have a basic understanding of the aquatic insects, so you can choose your flies accordingly. The grayling that we spotted were laying in deep pockets of water and inconveniently sitting close to low branches and bushes that crept over the banks. They were using their sail-like dorsal fin to hold position gliding millimetres for their quarry. After all, why move more when the food is coming past you on a conveyor belt?

Amongst the average-sized grayling were some behemoth trophies, one or two individuals and a couple swaying together as if partners in a ballroom dance. We were using size 18-22 nymphs on a 10ft 2/3-weight nymphing rod and even the slightest slack in the line would cause possible misses so, coordination between judging the fish’s reaction and keeping a tight line/ feeling the take was essential, especially when the bites were so subtle.

Trophy grayling

Stephan and Paulo, caught one of the trophy grayling each on the first day and Simon, a lovely brown trout. I was feeling the pressure…

“We all ran to the net in awe of this grayling of a lifetime”

I continued to lift my rod tip, control it behind me in a straight path, swinging over the top again to plant my nymphs ahead of the fish; every cast had to be perfect and if it wasn’t you knew as soon as it landed that it would not drift towards the line of the grayling’s nose.

Whilst trying to catch the beasts, a couple of average sized grayling and small brown trout intercepted my flies, this certainly helped the time pass by. As my nymphs bumped along the riverbed it was as if the grayling hardly flinched, but I felt the line imperceptibly stop, and as I lifted the rod tip I shouted, “I’m in, I don’t think it’s a big one,” to which Stephan replied, “No! That’s the big one, keep your line tight and don’t put too much pressure on that one, you have 0.10 diameter tippet”.

As I hooked it from a high bank, I had to lead the fish downstream so that I could cross the river and land it in the shallow banks on the other side. My heart was pounding as the fish darted for large boulders, and the overgrown banks.

A personal best

After a short tug of war, Stephan who I trust more than anyone with a net, scooped her up and we all ran to the net in awe of this grayling of a lifetime. She measured 52cm from nose to tail, which is my biggest grayling to-date.

We kept her submerged in the net, and after a couple of photos we released her, filming her as she returned to her watery home.

Only a click away

It was overwhelming how diverse the fishing was in this region. If you plan to visit it is easily accessible and the booking process is straightforward; you can purchase tickets and licences online or book a local guide, like Stefano. I highly recommend booking a guide as the area is vast and if you have limited time then you will find the gold far more quickly than if you were by yourself.

It will take more than just one trip to fish and eat everything that is on offer and will likely lead to an ongoing love story with potentially big rewards that other trout fisheries can’t compete with as they don’t have the trophy-sized marble trout.

As well as the fishing, our trip consisted of a tasting menu of activities, including a day trip to the local museums and medieval castles, traditional pasta making, daily visits to local restaurants where we ate our body weight in ravioli, cold cut platters, slow cooked venison ragu, polenta in a variety of ways, Canederli, which is gnocchi-like dumplings with speck, cheese and herbs, and delicious pastries and fritters for dessert. Not forgetting to have an Aperol spritz, or two to wash all of the above down! As they say, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans.”

Trying to reduce Italy down to its sporting virtues wouldn’t do it justice. Embedded in rich culture and historic background, naturally the entire area invites the whole family and entourage, fishing or non-fishing, to explore and enjoy the region.

Here, is our top seven recommended restaurants to visit in the Trentino area:

Here, is our top seven recommended restaurants to visit in the Trentino area:

1. Fishing and hiking to Rifugio Val Di Fumo Restaurant (full day excursion)

2. La Polentera in Storo

3. Laboratorio Gastronomico Luzzani in Lodrone

4. Pra Della Casa in Pinzolo

5. Rifugio Ponte Arno and a visit to the cheese factory ‘Malga Arno’

6. Filanda De Boron in Tione Di Trento

7. La Civetta in Massimeno

Italy has more to offer than just its fishing and every other wonderful cliché you could think of graced our presence. We came to Italy to fish one of the most iconic fisheries in Europe, we stayed for the world-renowned cuisine, and we will be returning for all the wonderful people we met along the way. Follow Stefano on Instagram by searching @stefanofedrizzi_flyfishing and visit his guiding website: www.sacraflyfishing.com

Useful links:

Trentino Fishing (Licenses): https://www.trentinofishing.it/en

Regional Tourist Board

https://www.campigliodolomiti.it/en

Fishing Association Valle Del Chiese: assoc.pescatorialtochiese@gmail.com

Fishing Association Alto Sarca: https://www.altosarca.it

Useful App to book fishing online: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/hooking/id1291376634?l=en