Fishing tourism flourishing by the Soča and Idrijca

24. julij 2018 ob 11.41 • Tolmin/Idrija - MMC RTV SLO

Around 96 percent of the sold permits are of the "catch and release" type, as guest fishermen, mostly foreigners, don’t take the fish with them. Foto: BoBo

Fishing tourism is in full swing in the Soča and Idrijca rivers. The number of sold fishing permits is higher than last year. In Idrija they already sold around 1,700 permits, while in Tolmin almost 7,000 permits.

The head of the Idrija fishing club, Zoran Babič, hopes the number of sold fishing permits will come close to 2,000 this year. Fishing is allowed only with a valid permit, of which there are two types. The "catch and keep" permit allows fishermen to take away the catch, while the "catch and release" permit forbids taking away any of the caught fish.

Around 96 percent of the sold permits are of the "catch and release" type, as guest fishermen, mostly foreigners, don’t take the fish with them. The situation is similar at the fishing club in Tolmin, where 95 percent of the sold permits are also "catch and release” permits.

The Idrija and Tolmin fishing clubs take care of the breeding and introducing of new fish in the rivers, especially for the Soča trout, grayling, and Rainbow trout, in order to encourage more diverse fishing. Both fishing clubs put a total of around 13 tonnes of Rainbow trouts in the rivers every year, along with 750,000 Soča trouts and 85,000 graylings.

Fish breeding facilities
To successfully manage the quantity of fish in the rivers, the Tolmin fishing club has three fish breeding facilities – a hatchery in Modrej and two fish farms in Tolmin in the Tolminka river. They have fish roe as well as one-year-old and two-year-old fish. According to the head of the Tolmin fishing club, Milan Berlot, they put in from 10 to 11 tonnes of new Rainbow trouts, 85,000 adult graylings, as well as 300,000 fish roe and 150,000 juvenile Soča trouts.

The Idrija fishing club has a fish breeding facility in the Kanomljica river, where they also tend to the breeding and preservation of fish species. The head of the Idrija fishing club, Mr. Babič, said they breed small Soča trouts for the Upper Idrijca, which are then put into streams.

Every three years all the fish from the breeding streams is caught and put into fishing waters. The total number of young Soča trouts put into the river stands at around 300,000. Apart from the Soča trout, the Idrija club also breeds the Rainbow trout. Three tones of the fish are put in the controlled fishing area, which is allowed for the Rainbow trout, every year.