Plav Lake and Blatnjača, the lake’s own trout

Fly fishing Plav Lake: what to expect

Plav Lake is the one water I guide from a boat. It is shallow, about nine metres at its deepest, with a mean depth of three, the Plav tourist organisation says, and the Ljuča keeps it cold and clear. We go out by boat, and we fish from the boat; that is how the lake fishes best, and it keeps the shore quiet.

Two trout are on my list for the lake: brown trout and Blatnjača, the lake’s own trout, which you tell from a brown trout by its black spots and no red dots. Huchen live in the lake too, and I guide for them; tell me when you write.

Lake fishing with a fly is a different game from the rivers. There is no current to drift a nymph in, so the line does the work: a floating line and a team of nymphs or a dry fly on a calm surface, an intermediate or a sinking line to find fish lower down when the surface is dead. I carry a range of lines and flies for the lake, and most days we use more than one. If you have only ever fished rivers, I show you how it is done; there is nothing to be nervous about.

Every fish goes back, Blatnjača above all. Barbless hooks and a landing net. The lake is not stocked.

When to come

I fish Plav Lake from 1 May to 1 October, every day, and not after that. In early summer the water is still cold from the melt on the Prokletije; by high summer the lake warms, the Plav tourist organisation says it is warm enough to swim in, and the fish go deeper by day, which is what the sinking lines are for. Which fish, which month, on every water I guide: Fish and seasons.

Outside the lake’s dates we fish the rivers: the Ljuča that feeds the lake and the Lim that leaves it, both fished all year in the fly fishing zones, when the water level allows.

One day at Plav: the lake, the Ljuča and the Lim

From Plav one day can hold the lake and both rivers. A boat on the lake in the morning, when the surface is quiet; the Ljuča, the river for big grayling, in the middle of the day; the Lim below the lake toward evening. Or any order the water suggests. That is the day I suggest for a first visit, and it is the reason to stay in Plav rather than somewhere else.

Visiting Plav

Plav is a small town on the shore of the lake, under the Prokletije, at the head of the Lim valley. The Plav tourist organisation puts the lake at 907 m and its surface at about 2 km², and calls it the largest glacial lake in Montenegro.

For a half day off the water:

• The old town. The Old Mosque, also called the Imperial Mosque, of 1471, on its hill inside the old ramparts; the Redžepagić Tower, the oldest residential and defensive building in the Plav–Gusinje region; the Redžepagić Mosque of 1774. The Holy Trinity Monastery stands at Brezojevice beside the town.
• The mountains. Prokletije National Park, founded in 2009, with Montenegro’s highest peak, Zla Kolata, at 2,534 m, and Hridsko Lake, the “lake of happiness”, at 1,970 m. Above the town on the other side is Visitor lake at 1,820 m, known for its floating island of grass. The Peaks of the Balkans trail, 192 km through three countries, starts here.
• For a partner who does not fish: pedal boats, kayaks and swimming on the lake in high summer; the walks above the town; the town’s events, among them the Lim Regatta, a kayak day on the Ljuča, Blueberry Days and a triathlon.
• Gusinje, at the top of the valley, with Ali Pasha’s springs and its one street of three faiths, is on the Ljuča page.

Getting there

If you stay in Plav, 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

Plav Lake is fished on a fishing permit, and it is in my price, with the boat. You do not have to think about any of it. How a day is put together: Plan your trip.

Questions anglers ask about Plav Lake

Can I catch Blatnjača? You can fish for it, and it is the fish most people come to the lake for. I do not print sizes or odds; what is on record about it, from a 1957 paper onward, is in the Blatnjača section of this page and the longer account it links to.

Do I need lake gear? Bring your essential fly fishing gear. For the lake I carry the lines, and I can lend a rod, waders and boots on request. Polarised glasses matter more here than on the rivers; I lend those with a rental.

Can I fish from the bank? We fish from the boat. It is where the fish are, and it is the way the lake is fished.

Can I fish the lake for several days? Yes, inside its dates, and I would mix it with the two rivers. See single-day guiding and multi-day trips.

Sources

• Tourist Organisation of Plav, Plav’s Lake and the tourist offer. The lake’s height, surface, depths and warmth; the old town, the mosques, the tower, the monastery, Hridsko and Visitor lakes, the trail, the events.
• National Parks of Montenegro, Prokletije education page. The park’s year, Zla Kolata, Hridsko Lake.
• Mijanović, geograficg.me (2024), Plavsko jezero. The lake’s depth.
• National Tourist Organisation of Montenegro, Charming mountain towns. Plav’s monuments and events.