Marina Gibson and friends experience the sweet life of fishing and food in the magical mountains of Northern Italy
THIS STORY ABOUT A quieter way to explore Italy’s piscatorial and culinary treasures takes us to the epicentre of its most famous trout-fishing region. In August last year, the team from Fly Fishing Nation (Stephan Dombaj, Paulo Hoffmann and Simon Kay) and I set out on a journey to the Dolomites in the tourist area of Madonna di Campiglio in Trentino-Alto Adige. This enchanting region encompasses a spectacular range of mountains threaded with rivers, the mighty peak, Marmolada, 10,900ft, at its heart.
The man in charge of our fishing adventure was local guide Stefano Fedrizzi, who had organised a marble trout and grayling hunt for us, starting in the Sarca and Chiese valleys.
Stefano’s story began when he was a child, spending nearly every weekend on the river, fishing for trout with his father and brother. As the years progressed, he got to know every single stone and the likely spots where fish were to be found.
Quite early on, he knew the only work he wanted to do was on the river, and as he grew up he became eager to encourage tourism to the Trentino area. Tapping into his family’s combined river knowledge of 93 years has enabled him to set up a guiding service with friends, through which they can share their slice of heaven with anglers from all over the world. As we waded up the turquoise-tinted Sarca River, Stefano told us, “The river is my home. I live for fishing and guiding, and helping others discover how special it is to spend a day here, learning about our fish and the environment.”
It goes without saying that booking a good local guide is important, especially when targeting trophy marble or brown trout.
To many, the marble trout is the most beautiful species of trout and until the 1970s it was the undisputed Queen of the River. If a marble trout finds suitable living conditions, it can weigh 15lb and live for 20 years, although historically much larger specimens have been caught. The marble fry feeds exclusively on plankton, and once it has reached 20cm it feeds almost exclusively on small insects. It maximises the size of its prey as it grows and after roughly five years, at around 2lb in weight, its diet will consist mainly of other fish. The marble trout is endemic to the Trentino area and important actions are being made to conserve the species. The Marmorata Project, which started 20 years ago, aims to enhance river habitat and spawning grounds, run a hatchery for native fish eggs and teaches anglers the importance of catch and release.
To fish for them, we used huge streamers with a six-or seven-weight rod paired with a floating or sink-tip line. We covered vast amounts of water, cas
