Fly fishing the Ljuča River

Fly fishing the Ljuča: what to expect

The Ljuča is the short river that feeds Plav Lake. It is made by two mountain rivers, the Vruja and the Grnčar, that come down from the Prokletije, and it runs clear and cold across the Plav–Gusinje valley into the lake.

It is a grayling river, and it holds the biggest grayling of all the waters I guide. It is also the hardest of them. The water is clear and the fish are big because they are careful: a dry fly has to land right the first time, and a nymph has to drift at the speed of the river and not an inch faster. I call it a tactical river with big rewards, and I mean both halves of that. How it compares with the other rivers for grayling, nymph or dry fly: grayling fishing in Montenegro.

This is a river for an angler who has fished a little before and wants to be pushed. If you are starting out, I would give you a day on the Lim first and bring you here when you are ready. If you fish competitions, or train for them, the Ljuča is the river I use for the hardest part of competition training: approach, presentation, reading a fish that has seen flies before.

Brown trout live in the river too, and huchen are here, rare and hard to catch. Catch and release only, barbless hooks, a landing net; every fish goes back.

Where the Ljuča is fished

I guide the Ljuča at Plav, on the lower river near the lake. The river has easy access, and a day here is usually part of a bigger one: from Plav, one day can hold Plav Lake from a boat, the Ljuča and the Lim. Where exactly we fish on your day depends on the water and on what you want; I decide that on the morning, not on a web page.

When to come

In the fly fishing zones you can fish the Ljuča all year, when the water level allows. The best months are June to October. The Prokletije hold their snow into June, the Plav tourist organisation says, so the river carries meltwater in late spring; from early summer the levels settle and the dry-fly fishing that the Ljuča is known for begins. Which fish, which month, on every water I guide: Fish and seasons.

Visiting Plav

Plav is the town at the mouth of the Ljuča, where the river enters the lake. The Plav tourist organisation puts the lake at 907 m and calls it the largest glacial lake in Montenegro. The old town has the Old Mosque of 1471 on its hill and the Redžepagić Tower, the oldest residential and defensive building in the region. The Holy Trinity Monastery stands at Brezojevice beside the town. For a partner who does not fish, there are pedal boats and kayaks on the lake, the walk up to Visitor lake at 1,820 m with its floating island, and the town’s events through the year, among them the Lim Regatta and Blueberry Days. The Lim page has more on visiting Plav.

Visiting Gusinje and the Prokletije

Gusinje is the town at the upper end of the valley, at the foot of the Prokletije on the Albanian border, with about 2,000 people. The national tourist board points visitors to its one main street, where the Vizier’s Mosque, the Orthodox Church of St. Đorđe and the Catholic Church of St. Anton stand together, and to Ali Pasha’s springs just south of the town, where clear water rises out of the ground to form the Vruja, one of the two rivers that make the Ljuča. The Skakavica near the town drops in a waterfall of 15 m. The local food is burek, baklava and boza, with sheep cheese and skorup, the clotted cream of the mountains.

Prokletije National Park was founded in 2009 across the Plav and Gusinje municipalities. Its highest peak, Zla Kolata at 2,534 m, is the highest in Montenegro, and the park’s own page names Hridsko Lake, the “lake of happiness”, as its most beautiful. The Grebaje valley above Gusinje is the walkers’ way into the range, with two mountain lodges and marked routes up to the ridges. I do not guide inside the park; what I do is fish the valley below it, and point you up the hill on your day off.

Getting there

If you stay in Plav or Gusinje, I collect you there and drive you to the water and back on your fishing day; that is in the price. If you are staying further away, on the coast or in Podgorica, or arriving at an airport, tell me when you write and we arrange the pickup.

The town, and the drive to it: Plav.

Permits

The Ljuča is fished on a fishing permit, and it is in my price. You do not have to think about it. Flies: I sell the patterns for this river; ask when you write. How a day is put together: Plan your trip.

Questions anglers ask about the Ljuča

How big are the grayling? Bigger than on any other water I guide. I do not print sizes, because a number on a page is a promise, and a river does not make promises. Come and see.

Is it only dry-fly fishing? No. The dry fly is what the Ljuča is known for, and it is the hardest way to fish it. We nymph too, when that is what the river asks for.

Can a beginner fish the Ljuča? You can, with me beside you, but it is not the river I would choose for a first day. The Lim or the Tara are kinder. Tell me what you have fished before and I will say.

Can I fish it for more than one day? Yes. A multi-day trip from Plav puts the Ljuča, the Lim and the lake in reach every day, and the Tara and the Ćehotina within a drive.

Sources

• World Bank / COWI (2016). Support to Water Resources Management in the Drina River Basin: Montenegro, IWRM Study and Plan, Background Paper, Volume 1. The Vruja and the Grnčar, the Ljuča and the lake.
• Tourist Organisation of Plav, Plav’s Lake and the tourist offer. The lake’s height, the snow on the Prokletije, the old town, Visitor lake, the events.
• National Parks of Montenegro, Prokletije education page. The park’s year, its municipalities, Zla Kolata, Hridsko Lake.
• National Tourist Organisation of Montenegro, Charming mountain towns. Gusinje: its street of three faiths, Ali Pasha’s springs, the Skakavica waterfall, the food.
• Wikipedia, Gusinje, as a pointer only: the springs about 2 km south of the town, as the source of the Vruja.