Hello,
this is my first post and I was inspired by Kenneth's great report on the Rivers of Lazio.
I have just returned from a short (too short!!) break in North Lazio, boardering, Umbria and Tuscay. I lived in this area for some 6 years until returning to the UK 2 years ago to have a family.
Although I don't have any photo's to post I may be able to find some later if anyone is interested.
I stayed with an old fishing friend of mine who moved to the area from Milan to retire in these beautiful tranquil surroundings, infact, the man who is responsible for me converting to the joys of casting a dry fly rather than sitting behind 3 buzzers in a bivvy!!
He is in the middle of trying to produce a website to offer services for Fishing and Tourism in the area (called 'Tuscia') which I will try to post when available.
The Lake of Bolsena is situated in the province of Viterbo, approx 1Hr north of Rome, it is a vast lake with many pretty villages around it's circumference.
Due to time constraints we chose to fish the lake from the port wall of Capodimonte, (no, not the porcalin manufacturing town! thats further north!) as we had no waders.
The waters quite deep here and a bright, garish, lure managed to bring a couple of decent sized european Black Bass to the net, to the shock of the locals who were all using a big rubber worm under a heavy float, to no avail I might add.
we soon amassed a few spectators admiring Osvaldo's casting technique's as there are not many fly anglers in this area, in fact Osvaldo is the president of the Tuscia Fly Angling Club and is constanly trying to raise awarness of the sport.
Still, with time ticking on we moved on to Marta, another small fishing village which holds a large festival every year as a cellebration of thanks for the fish taken from the lake that provide food and a living for many families here, especially the 'Coregoni' a silver fish similar to a roach that you will find on the menu in many of the lakeside restaurants.
We normally fish for Chub along the shore here in the evening but it was a little early so we decided to walk along the bank of the river Marta where it meets the lake, and fished a small dry fly, you have to be quick to catch them but it's normally a-take-a cast from the competing chub, but you have to keep moving as they soon wise up!
The lake also holds huge Carp, Catfish and Pike and makes a fantastic compromise for a family holiday with a sly bit of fishing thrown in as there are so many places to go and visit to keep both kids and partners occupied! I love it.

Travelling all through Italy visiting relatives in 97 I took my flyfishing gear but never got chance to stop or find anywhere to fish.... should have done my homework eh?

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Before you cast the fly, make sure you can handle the fish! Vuoi imbrogliare? Poi Non competere! (If you want to cheat, then dont compete)

Italyfly, welcome to the forum! It wasn't too long ago that I joined myself, it's been a wonderful resource for me, which is why I decided to share my Italian experiences thus far.

I've only fished Lake Bolsena once, for the black bass, and like you, attracted quite a few onlookers because I was fly-fishing with conehead wooly buggers that worked quite well. I'm really not much of a stillwater angler, preferring instead the many beautiful rivers and streams to be found here.

Just a small correction -- the coregone is a whitefish, therefore a salmonid, and excellent eating, whereas the roach is a cyprinid, is full of bones and not very tasty .

Whitefish, like the black bass, are not native to Italy, having been introduced in the late 1800s. They now reproduce naturally in several lakes, although they're still regularly stocked. Italian whitefish tend to be a hybrid, and these don't breed -- there's still some discussion as to what species the breeding Italian whitefish belong to.