For fly fishermen located in the north Italian metropolis of Milan, one
of the obvious fly fishing possibilities is the river Adda, winding its way through a
beautiful valley with pictoresque villages and excellent local food. In fact, I always wanted
to try my luck there, since the Adda valley is located only little more then an hours drive from Milan. The
trip was various times planned and then postponed, but some beautiful May weekend, I finally got there. Unfortunately,
once in the little office in Sondrio, where they sell the fishing permits, I am confronted with the
disappointing news that the Adda is in high water and practically unfishable. I was just about to give up my
fishing plans and concentrate on the local ‘cucina’ instead, when an italian fisherman suggested to try the Mera, tributary
to the Adda….
This friendly Italian fellow even accompanied me to the river and
advised about the best fishing spots. Once on the water, I realized with relief that the Mera
did not only have a normal water level, but was also looking very promising, winding through
relatively untouched and pleasing landscape….much less busy then the rather famous valley of the Adda.
I decided to start a bit further upstream, where a gravel path took me……..and: no, an
offroad vehicle is not necessary here, a normal car would get there too…
Starting to fish not far below a bridge which crosses the Mera, I notice that I do not fish
alone. At the same time, I am vividly reminded of the fact that I’m fishing in Italy. Where else in the world
would someone, fly fishing and wading waist-deep, just NOT part with his mobile phone? (have closer look at the
smaller picture…)…(-:
First success is a frisk brown trout, taken on a Moskito dry fly in the blazing midday
sun….the fish was standing in a fast moving, oxygen rich stretch of the river….
After several rather unsuccessful attempts at the same stretch, I decide to change location to
further upstream. On the way, one gets to appreciate the beautiful pre-alpine landscape…
This time, the offroad vehicle comes handy….the access to the river is 2 km far
from the asphalt road (the one that winds up to ‘Spluegen-Pass’) through woods and meadows…
This stretch of the river, around 2 km downstream from the village of Chiavenna, looks
promising. However, since I cannot detect any surface activity, I try the nymph
on a 6 weight rod …….up till now having fished a 4 weight rod with the dry fly.
Turning up a big stone in the river, reveals colonies of sedge larvae.....
Unfortunately, a look into my nymph box confirms my
suspicion: I do not have an exact imitation at hand. I guess it so happens when you’re a
keen dry fly fisherman…..the ‘dry disease’ makes you optimize your dry fly arsenal, but neglect
the wets and nymphs. I choose the nymph that might come close to the original somehow. The
effort (to abandon the dry fly instead of the nymph) is rewarded by several rainbow trout
that made the fast moving, rather shallow water their home. To reward the reward, fresh beer is
already cooling in the stream…..
To sum it up, the Mera can provide a nice alternative to the well-known Adda. The river
can be fished along the stretch from lago di Mazzola (just short before the lago di Como)
and the village of Chiavenna. It is well stocked with both brown and rainbow trout, and there are two
stretches, several km long, which are marked ‘fly only’….and: the pre-alpine landscape is just wonderful!
