Montenegro has a huge TRASH problem

Fly Fishing the Balkins with a guide.

We hired a professional guide named Marcos to take us fly fishing here in the Balkins of Montenegro. We couldn’t wait to get back on the river fishing. It’s been way too long and we had heard so much about how the Tara River in particular was ranked one of the cleanest, clearest rivers in all of Europe. We knew it would be teeming with Trout, White, and Grayling plus the infamous Houcho...a giant big eyed monster. Oh and a 4 day private guide would only cost us €600 including the daily €20 licenses required for each of us. He also provided us with all the gear, flies, and waders and boots albeit they were huge and a bit worn.

Driving to the river put ins all along the windy mountain roads we saw huge amounts of trash. There were also plenty of trash receptacles but the trash never made it in. In some places you would see big dump sites with mattresses and building materials, glass and plastics.   

On the river it was just as bad. The sides of the rivers and banks would be clogged with plastic and trash wrapped around trees and log jams.

Just outside of Mojkovac, a fairly large town, there was a huge pile of trash piled a hundred feet high mixed with dirt like you would see at the “dump” but this was actually being worked right next to the beautiful Tara River!  Insane!

Heading east over to Plav to fish the Rivers Lim and Luka he put us on a slower meandering river way off the road down a farm road. We crossed a bridge and settled into the river only to be staring directly into a piles and piles of trapped garbage. I couldn’t fish. I was disgusted. Upon close inspection you could see a dead sheep that had fallen off the bank into the trashy river below and drowned. Again I wanted to scream!

How could the people of Montenegro allow this to happen and how could we be actually guided to such a trash filled river?  Yes there were hundreds of fish to be seen but just being in the river grossed us out.

We talked to the guide. He offered little for excuses and once he actually blamed it on the tourists who “picnic” and leave behind the garbage. This may happen, yes, but it would only be because there already was so much trash it seemed like the thing to do.

I don’t feel like I can come back. I can’t feel the love I feel for nature when it’s been ruined.

The exception was the National Park we went to yesterday. We did have to pay €3 pp to enter but it was perfectly clean.