The Pliva River

In my personal opinion, the river Pliva is one of the most beautiful and best rivers for fly fishing in the whole of Europe, and even in the whole world. The river flows through Central Bosnia and is 25 km long. Its source is in the village of Pljeva and its flow ends in Jajce where the Pliva flows into the Vrbas down a magnificent waterfall.

As for the fly fishing zone, it is 8 km long. It starts north of the town of Sipovo and ends up the source of the Pliva in broader area of the village of Pljeva. In its upstream fishing part the Pliva is very fast with many rapids and looks like that as far as the bridge in the village of Pljeva. From there on, the river changes completely into a placid and tame river with deep eddies all the way down to Lekica Bridge north of the town of Sipovo where the fishing area ends. South of Lekica Bridge there is the Trophy part of the river several hundred meters long.

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Over the last 30 years or so, many anglers from all over Europe and from all around the world have come to fish on the river Pliva, but mostly those whose primary destinations were the rivers Gacka in Croatia or the rivers Soca and Krka in Slovenia that were the only known fly fishing destinations in former Yugoslavia at the time. The river Pliva was known in the first place for its grayling population and its autochthonous trout. The reason why the river Pliva was a little disregarded may be the fact that fishing on this river was not easy. Because of its water as clear as gin and its easily frightened fish, this river required a lot of experience and patience from anglers – to say simply it was hard to fish on. Many anglers avoided it; it was, however, the favourite destination of fly fishing enthusiasts who were prepared to brave all the hardships the Pliva posed.

A few years ago, the Pliva became private property and, in my opinion, it contributed to its popularization. Good marketing program and building of new facilities in the village of Pljeva will in my personal opinion help this river become one of the best fly fishing rivers in the world.

As for the fish stock, only trout and grayling can be fished for at the part of the river assigned for fly fishing. The average weight of trout is about 1 kilo; however, specimens weighing as much as 4-5 kilos are often caught as well. Grayling’s average size is 40 – 45 centimeters, but specimens 55 centimeters long or even longer than that are not so rare. C&R applies at this river. Only flies made on barbless hooks are allowed. As far as fishing method is concerned, there is of course fishing with dry fly, but, as of lately, there is more and more nymph fishing which yields excellent results. The best periods for fly fishing are the second half of the month of May and the month of June. It is then that swarming of E. Vulgata and E.Danica starts and it can be said that it is the best period for fishing. The July-September period is also good for dry fly fishing, but nymph fishing during this period is even better.

The September-December period offers good dry fly fishing for good-sized grayling. Fishing for trout is not possible during this period because the closed season for this kind of fish lasts from October 1st till March 1st.

At the moment, GPB can offer its clients accommodation in private houses only. A new anglers’ camp is being built at the moment and will have been finished by the beginning of next fishing season so that we hope we will be able to offer our clients accommodation in the new-built facilities at the beginning of May 2010.

You may contact us by  mail for all information you need about fishing on the River Pliva.

package tour prices, guide services prices and all other sorts of information about fishing on the River Pliva can be found using this link

Pliva Flyfishing Lodge

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Important Information!

Closed season for trout fishing: 01.10 - 01.03

Cloased season for grayling fishing: 01.01-15.04

Fishing regime: C&R

One-day permit: 50 €