Moraca River in Podgorica, MONTENEGRO 2

Fly Fishing the West

Vol. 101, Issue 1

10 SEPT 2012

Moraca River in Podgorica, MONTENEGRO  

Where:  Moraca River in Podgorica, MONTENEGRO (What I call White Crane Run, just above Millennium Bridge)

Context: Second time fishing in Montenegro

When:  6:30am - 8:30am

What:  fly rod—nymphing (bouncing rig) and streamer (Tyson tied)

Flows: low water, similar to the Provo river

Air Temp:  75 F clear

Water Temp:  not too cold but cool and clear

Fish:  3 strikes, landed one brown

Wildlife:  white cranes

Started where the water meandering down stream, then takes a dogleg right down into a “chute” of white water (Upper Rapids) then tailing out back to a smooth flat flow. When I arived the sun was barely up. I tried nymphing (bouncing rig) starting out but after only several casts it hung up on the bottom and I lost the sinker line. So I switched to a size 6 one-inch long yellow streamer with little hackle. It looked just like an aquatic bug I found in the stream in July. I  immediately had two strikes. Both were when the fly hit the water in choppy water in the rapids chute. In both cases the fly was not down or swinging at all. The first strike was heavy and was on for about 5 seconds then off. The second hit in the same spot was just a strike, on for several seconds. About 5 minutes later I caught  a 10” BROWN on the size 6 yellow streamer with a small weight about 18" above the fly, retrieving it almost coming dead upstream near the bank. I fished there another hour trying a black streamer, brown streamer, and a red ant with no luck. I worked downstream to a second rapids (Lower) and had one good strike. 

Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. The weather was sunny and warming up, but pleasant in the early morning, i.e., in the 70’s degrees.
2. The Moraca River in Podgorica is a beautiful river that runs clear in the fall. It comes straight out of the nearby mountains to the east and is the confluence of the Tora and Zeta rivers, all undammed, it is a high flow, wild stream that can change rapidly if it rains. In Podgorica it can rain hard for hours.
3. Non-resident Montenegro fishing license was $35 euro (about US$50) for a 1-year license I bought at a store in Podgorica called Megafish.

Animals: saw several white cranes on the river just above where I was fishing.