 VENI, VIDI, VICI — Fishing the Dolomiti — by Paul Leisegang
DURING the early part of July 2008 my wife, Lisa, and I visited the Veneto region of Italy, spending time in Venice and the Dolomiti Mountains. I was fortunate to indulge in a day’s guided flyfishing on the rivers of the Dolomiti. The Dolomiti are often called the Italian Alps and run along the northern border of Italy. In winter the ski resorts are very popular, and in summer it is the domain of hikers and mountaineers as well as some flyfishers.
The planning started in February when I googled the subject and identified the options for guides. Based on this, I made contact with Angelo Piller who is a guide based in the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. Have a look at his site .
From the information gathered during my research, I was aiming to catch brown trout, grayling and, hopefully, a local species, the marbled trout, or at least a hybrid brown/marbled trout which are a rare find these days. Angelo advised that an 8ft, 4-wt rod with a floating line is the tackle of choice, and that waders would be necessary due to low water temperatures, all of which he could provide if necessary.
We found extremely comfortable accommodation in the village of Tai di Cadore following several helpful recommendations from Angelo. Tai is located in the heart of the mountains, but with good public transport links if you need to make use of those.
In the weeks leading up to our departure, information was exchanged with Angelo to enable him to get the required licences and ensure that plans were on track. Italy has a two-tier licence system where foreign anglers must obtain a three-month licence from the provincial authority, and then also obtain what are effectively day tickets for each piece of water to be fished. Within each province are several numbered bacinos, each having an appointed water bailiff who manages the water and day tickets in the area.
Finally the day arrived and I was up early, had a quick breakfast and was ready for Angelo to pick me up from the B&B at 8am. The plan for the day was to fish some small streams north of Tai in the morning, and then move to the Piave River for the afternoon and evening hatch.
Once in the car we started chatting and quickly found that we would not be short of conversation material as we compared our flyfishing experiences, discussed the types of fishing we prefer and learnt a bit about each other’s country.
Winding our way through the mountains we saw that the river was a little swollen and discoloured, an ash-grey colour due to the colour of the rocks and soil in the region, obviously as a result of a storm the night before. Plans were quickly changed and we headed for the town of Padola to fish a small stream comprising mainly pocket water in a heavily-wooded valley. After tracking down the local news agent who also acts as water bailiff for the river, the day tickets were bought and we headed for the water.
Read the full story in the February/March 2009 issue of FLYFISHING.
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