Ascension Bay Fly Fishing

We have just had three groups fish Ascension Bay over the past month and all experienced some good fishing and a great place to visit. The old sand road down to Punta Allen was a little worse for ware this season but the roadworks were being undertaken and by now the road should be back to its best. Here is a report from Jonathon Tomlinson of Sportfish, Reading (www.sportfish.co.uk) who hosted the November trip for us.

Well I’m back in the UK and with a real bang back to reality, landing to +1 degree and snow at Birmingham airport after a fantastic and highly memorable trip to Ascension Bay in Mexico.

After weeks of anticipation the departure date finally arrived for the trip to the ‘Grand Slam’ capital of the world and myself and 5 intrepid anglers were winging our way to our home for the next 7 days in Punta Allen. After a stop during our mini bus transfer for some much needed food and the obligatory ice cold Cerveza, we eventually arrived at our lodge to be greeted by our lead guide for the week Manuel. We were shown to our spacious air conditioned rooms; we dumped the kit and fell asleep before our heads had touched the pillows.



As usual the group woke up early in anticipation of our first days angling and were up and tackled long before the 7am breakfast; all itching to get started. 8 am and the 3 well equipped flats boats headed out. The weather was recovering from a large low pressure system that had been hanging around for the previous week or so, but the outlook was that it would steadily get better as the week progress which was music to our ears. Right enough each day it did get better and with it so did the fishing! The majority of the party started of cashing the numerous tailing bones that could be found in the shallow flats, with great results. As the week continued and everyone’s confidence grew the target species grew in numbers and Snook, Tarpon and Permit soon became the order of the day. During a night of margarita fuelled banter a species challenge was laid down to the group, rules were simple catch as many different fish as you can! The eventual winner boated 17 species for the week, impressive in any location but even more so when they are all taken by the fly!



Every day shots were taken at elusive Permit on the extensive flats surrounding Punta Alan with the catch figures getting larger and larger until the last day ended in the perfect conclusion for one angler. For most salty anglers the ‘Grand Slam’ is the ultimate prize but even more coveted than this is the very rare ‘Super Slam’ which involves the capture of not only a Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon in a single day but with the edition of the hard fighting mangrove dwelling Snook. Even as we landed back in the UK some 48 hours after the monumental achievement had happened it still hadn't sunk in with the captor, I’m sure it will stay in his memory for many years to come!



The figures for the week just speak for themselves, 3 Permit boated with another 3 unfortunately lost, several Tarpon with as usual several more jumped and lost, plenty of hard fighting Snook and more Bones than you could shake a stick at not to mention Barracuda, Jacks and numerous local Snapper and mangrove species.



I would rate Ascension bay as by far and away one of the very best locations for saltwater fly fishing regardless of your experience level. The biggest endorsement I can give it is that all 6 members of the group are heading back to the same lodge at the same time next year and probably will for quite some years!

We have groups fishing Ascension Bay in March/April and May in 2009. If you are interested please email us.

Fly Fishing New Zealand: Gisborne Report

We have just had clients Cavan and Owen fish a combined saltwater/freshwater package in the Gisborne region of the North Island of New Zealand fishiing out of Murphy's Lodge and with supreme saltwater guide Nik Mathiesen. Here is a recount of the trip.

Hello Matt,

Owen and myself enjoyed the trip very much and did catch some memorable fish. Unfortunately, we experienced some bad weather at the start, which cut our salt water fishing down to one day. However, we did catch some Kingfish and spent some time on the rivers guiding Nick, who freely admitted he was not much of a "trouty" but may well become a convert.

Frank is an "ol dog", who we liked very much. He proved to be a great guide and not short of a story or two! He also taught us a lot about emptying a wine cellar and Owen and myself proved to be very able students. Pam looked after us very well at Motu and Jan managed able feasts at the Ruikitori Hilton. We both decided a diet was out of the question and made the most of it all.

We really only had one day on the Motu, due to inclement weather. However, what a day it was! With Frank guiding us along, we caught some very nice Browns - all sighted fish. The best was in the order of about 4lbs. Bigger fish were lost, usually by nailing themselves about a snag. We did fish the Motu a little on the second day but the water had been turned to mud due to heavy rain the night before. Nevertheless, Frank vowed to find fish and we had a success in one of the feeder streams, where the water was running clear.

We were at a loss in trying to decide what to do regarding the weather. In the end, I rang Nick and a discussion ensued regarding what to do with the next days fishing. We eventually followed the original plan because it was very hard to change days due to one factor or another. So, next morning Nick arrived and we set off for the cape. On arrival, it was obvious that the sea would be far too rough, so we formulated a plan and re - rigged the 8 wt with a floater and headed off to the rivers. I bought flies, indicators and leaders and we tried to catch the evening rise........... River 1 , fishers nil.

The next day, we headed further up river on a beautiful excursion through some glorious countyside. Lots of wildlife to see including Hares, Turkeys, and Pheasant. The day had cleared and we were rewarded with a fabulous bright, summers day. We caught some lovely rainbows on nymph and indicators amongst pocket water within rapids.

At the cape we got ready for our only opportunity to catch Kingfish. The sea had calmed somewhat and we headed out early in the morning to areas that Nick had plotted on his GPS. He found fish almost immediately and I caught the first fish on the first cast. We continued to pull fish fairly regularly and then it became a bit quiet. Nick unleashed the "Samurai sword "with hooks attached - apparently the favoured method with the Japanese- and more fish were brought to the boat. (Apparently, this style of fishing is called Jigging ).The Kingfish lived up to their reputation and put up a well respected fight - should try that with a 6wt!



Nik was a nice fellow and we got along well. Later that day we returned to the Motu Lodge and prepared ourselves to travel to the Ruikitori River. On arrival at " The Ruikitori Hilton", we set up for the last leg of our trip. The gods smiled. The weather just kept improving. We had probably the best fishing conditions that NZ could offer. Bright, warm summer sun. Neither too hot or too cold - perfect. The fish agreed and we had the river almost to ourselves.

The river was full of big beautiful Browns and Rainbows inhabiting all sorts of water. Mostly caught on nymphs but some on the dry. Usually a Hare and copper or Royal Wulff. (The fast sections were explored with tungsten beadheads in order to get down to where the fish were feeding). Most fish were spotted with polaroids. Owen, proved to be a top spotter!



Alas, all good things come to an end. I dare say that Franky is still talking about the large Brown that Owen hooked and played hard to get. ......Often lodging itself on the bed, round a rock, racing into awkward runs; requiring Owen and myself equiped with a stick to follow it across treacherous water, trace it downstream and on more than one occassion, prod it with the stick to get it going! Yes, and Franky had a bit of a laugh, swore we had made his day and could not believe we actually succeeded. But we did....... a nice fish of 5lbs.

Cav

For those of you wanting to experience the best saltwater fishing on the North island combined with some backcountry trout fishing please email us for more details.