This year in May, we had the chance to host two great guys, Jim and Sam from Yellow Dog Flyfishing. Being part of one of the biggest fly fishing travel agencies in the world, these guys obviously travel a lot and have fished for many different species in different countries. However, grayling are not so common for them, so they came to our beautiful Bosnia to try their luck with some of the wild grayling our rivers are famous for.

Unfortunately, just before their arrival, we had some heavy rain and flooding, which made most of the rivers almost unfishable. But there was still one place where we had a chance – the Pliva River, home to some truly huge grayling.

The guys had some great success there, catching several beautiful fish, with the biggest being a 49 cm true golden Pliva grayling, as we like to call them. We saw some absolute monsters too, but as always, the Pliva is a big challenge, and this time we couldn’t get the biggest ones to the net.

Overall, we spent four days fishing the Pliva, Sanica and Una, catching some really nice fish along the way. The guys were amazed by the beauty and untouched nature surrounding our rivers, but also by the quality of our wild fish populations.

Then came their final day.

The Ribnik River had finally become fishable.

And we knew this was our best chance to find what we had been looking for all week – a trophy 50+ cm grayling.

One Last Chance

After breakfast, we decided to head to a spot where our guides knew some giant grayling were holding. Saša, our guide, took Sam with him, and together they slowly started working their way upstream.

The goal was simple: find and catch a 50+ cm grayling – a size considered a true trophy almost anywhere in the world.

Sam and Saša carefully moved upstream, spotting several big fish along the way. However, with his years of experience on the river, Saša could tell that none of them quite crossed that magic 50 cm mark.

And then, after some walking, they spotted him.

A true submarine.

The game began.

Sam started casting to the grayling, but the fish wasn’t really interested. Every once in a while, though, it would move slightly and feed on the bottom. That gave Saša an idea. It was time to change the fly and try one of his favorite patterns – a tiny size #22 Gammarus tied by a local fly tier.

They put it on a very thin tippet, and Sam started making some great casts to the fish.

Nothing.

The grayling completely ignored it.

Usually, in our experience, when you change to the right fly, a grayling will take it within the first few casts. But this time, cast after cast went by without a reaction.

Saša told Sam to stay persistent.

Then, after many, many casts, the tiny Gammarus drifted past the fish just like it had so many times before.

But this time, Saša saw something.

A tiny white flash from the grayling’s mouth.

“Set!”

And there it was.

Fish on!

But hooking the fish was only half the battle. Now they had another problem: how do you land a grayling of that size on such a thin tippet, especially with the river still running high?

The fish immediately started making long runs downstream, forcing Sam and Saša to chase it through the river. Several times, Saša got the net incredibly close, only for the grayling to find another burst of energy and escape at the last second.

So they stopped trying to rush it.

They took their time and waited.

Finally, the first moment the grayling showed some weakness, Saša made his move and slipped the net underneath him.

He was huge.

Even Saša, after all his years on the river, was amazed by the size and condition of the fish. Sam could hardly believe it. His first-ever Ribnik grayling – and what a fish it was.

After a quick photo, it was time to put him on the measuring tape.

To put this fish into perspective, many of our guides have been fishing these rivers for more than 20 years. We see 50+ cm grayling caught every season, but most of those trophy fish measure around 50 or 51 cm. For many of us, even after all those years on the water, 52 cm remains a personal best.

Sam’s fish measured…

54 CM.

A true river submarine, with an enormous red dorsal fin rising from its back.

After one last look at this incredible fish, we carefully released him back into his kingdom.

Until next time.

And then, of course, it was time to celebrate.

After some time relaxing on the bank and talking about what had just happened, we continued fishing. The rest of the day didn’t disappoint either, with both Jim and Sam hooking plenty of beautiful grayling and simply enjoying everything the Ribnik Valley has to offer.

The guys were amazed by the number and quality of fish in Ribnik, and by the wild fish populations they experienced throughout their time in Bosnia. We have a feeling this won’t be their last visit to our rivers.

As for Sam’s fish, it will remain one of the biggest grayling we have ever witnessed being caught on the Ribnik – and certainly one of those fish we won’t forget anytime soon.

54 cm of wild Bosnian grayling. A fish, and a story, to remember.