Fly fishing the Soča in Slovenia - Day 3 - Rainbows everywhere

Since I started fly fishing (last summer) I always wanted to go and fish the crystal clear waters of Slovenia. I am not the kind of person who likes to wait when an idea is born, so in February I booked 3 days with Lesly from https://www.slo-fly.com/ for June. Fast forward a few months and we flew to Slovenia, drove the rental car to Bovec, and after two days of relaxing and some smaller hikes (in amazing scenery), it was already time to fish!

This video shows most of the action from the third and last day of fishing (June 12, 2025) with Lesly. This day we met at the Boka bridge, then went 1 km downstream and started fishing upstream on the East bank of the river. After lunch we did the same on the opposite side. After the previous day's more difficult terrain, having easy access to the river (except for like one spot) was a welcome change.

After a few catches on the nymph, the river kind of exploded and rainbow trout were rising and taking the dry flies in numbers. Fish were big and strong on this section, meaning that a lot of fights lasted for minutes. At the end of the day I still went back to the bridge alone and caught a rainbow that I missed with 3 different flies before lunch, then managed a few rises and like two missed takes on the pool a bit downstream (as now I could spot the fish on my own too). Before stopping I still did a few casts just under the bridge as there were now two fish there, but none of them wanted anything to do with my dry fly, and just as I was going to stop, I spotted a big fish cruising just to my left, I did one cast, he took the fly, but I set the hook too hard and the fish was off :,( Still, it was an awesome day, with a lot of fish, and some good roll casting practice.

Setup for the day:

Vision Rivermaniac 9' #5 Medium rod
Orvis Hydros Reel (II)
Vision XO 110 WF5F fly line
4X Vision Trout 9' leader + ~2' 5.5X tippet (latter from the guide)

Dry flies (black and brown caddis) and nymphs (mainly light, vinly-ribbed nymphs with a silver or gold bead and some CDC or hair collar) were provided by the guide.

Timeline:

00:00 Rainbow trout 1 (nymph under an indicator)
01:51 Walking upstream
02:07 Missed take
02:34 Lost fish after more than a minute on the line...
03:38 Two more missed takes
04:09 Rainbow trout 2 (nymph under an indicator)
06:24 Rainbow trout 3 (nymph under an indicator)
09:18 Rainbow trout 4 (on the dry fly)
11:19 Rainbow trout 5 (on the dry fly)
13:37 Missed take
13:54 Rainbow trout 6 (on the dry fly)
16:14 Rainbow trout 7 (on the dry fly)
20:07 Rainbow trout 8 (on the dry fly)
21:54 Missed take (I will come back for this fish in the evening, that will be the last of the day)
22:07 Rainbow trout 9 (on the dry fly) - first fish after lunch
24:47 Three more misses
25:50 Three and a half minute fight and the fish gets away 15 cm from the net (FFS)
29:48 Lesly shows how it's done (beautiful extended roll cast, nice rainbow in the net)
31:58 Rainbow trout 10 (on the dry fly)
35:28 Marble trout surface eat, but lost it to an underwater tree trunk :(
37:57 Rainbow trout 11 (on the dry fly, without Lesly)
39:49 Missed take (too hard, big fish...)