A First Timers Point of View - Tom Festing

Saltwater Fly Fishing First Time

Tom Festing of SPORTFISH READING has just returned from is first saltwater fly fishing trip for bonefish. He provides a good insight to what you can expect.....

A FIRST TIMERS POINT OF VIEW

After many years of running around the world chasing freshwater species, I was regularly told enough was enough, it was about time I sampled ‘A salty trip’. So many people rave about experiences they have had and fish that they have caught, however, it is not until you have seen this first hand, you can get a grasp of what they on about. A week in the sun targeting elusive salt water species around the flats sounded pretty good to me. My chosen destination was Ascension Bay, Mexico, part of the southern Yucatan Peninsula. I had my kit which essentially broke down to an 8#, two 10#’s and a 12# (optional) and a spinning rod, just in case the conditions are against you. This trip was arranged through Fly Odyssey who is one of our Travel Partners here at Sportfish. I had been told so much about this area by a colleague at work and what to expect it was difficult for me not to be full of expectation once we had landed. We finally got to our final destination, Punta Allen having travelled for around 30 hrs, somehow that did not matter.

Paul Procter greeted us the next morning after just a few hrs sleep, he was our host for the week. The lucky swine had been down in Punta Allen for the previous two weeks, which must have been a real pain. After an extremely hearty breakfast, cooked by our chef for the week Pepe, we were all allocated our guides, these changed day to day through the week. You shared the boat with your boat partner and two guides. A nice touch was that Casa Viejo Chac only employed guides who lived in Punta Allen, these guides then owned their boats through a cooperative of which Manuel who owns Casa Viejo was the Chairman.

The main benefit of travelling to Punta Allen for my first salty trip seemed to me, to be the variety and density of various species which included, Bonefish (Macabe), Permit (Palameta), Tarpon (Sabalo), Snook (Robalo) and Barracuda. This was maybe down to the guides, each and every one knew the vast area of Ascension Bay down to the last mangrove stem. These guides loved what they did, it was obvious.



I won’t bore you with the detail of each day, all I can say each evening was full of different stories from the funny to the more serious chat about the amounts and sizes of fish. I was amazed by not only the quantity of fish but the nature around you whilst you fished, from Eagles and Ospreys to Turtles and Iguana’s, (the occasional mangrove frog would also show up, for those of you who were on any of the trips) The Sian Kaan Bio sphere seems to have most of what you want from a trip abroad.
Something that was evident was in order to enjoy the quality of the fishing and the guides you needed to be able to make casts into the wind off both shoulder’s to 40-50 feet, sounds easy but when you have a Permit travelling fast from left to right and the wind is blowing, you only get one shot. It needs to be a good one!!




ASCENSION BAY TACKLE SUGGESTIONS
So, to summarise a 8# (Bonefish), a couple of 10#’s (Permit and Snook/Tarpon) and a 12 (Barracuda/Tarpon) on the boat would be sufficient for this destination. The organisation from Fly Odyssey was excellent, Manuel’s detail on the day to day organisation around Casa Viejo Chac was finely tuned, including his ability to spot and follow a Permit at 80 yards. This is a must for anyone who enjoys their fly fishing.

For further details please EMAIL FLY ODYSSEY or call + 44 (0) 1621 743711.

Ascension Bay: The Host's trip Report

Over the past few weeks we have posted up some of the client reports from their trips to Mexico's Casa Veijo Chac with Paul Procter in November 2010. Paul has sent through a summary of the three weeks fishing while he was there.



Fly fishing Ascension Bay Report: Paul Procter's Report

With numerous Permit credited to our party last year, November 2009 was always going to be a hard act to follow. However, our annual pilgrimage to Ascension Bay in 2010 was to prove just as successful for many different reasons. Yes, Permit did feature from day one though for me it was the tailing Bonefish that captured my imagination, as nothing comes close to gently strolling through ankle deep water and scanning the flats for glistening tails of large feeding fish. When I say large, it’s pleasing to see the average size of bonefish has increase year on year in Ascension Bay as we regularly encountered fish in the 5-7lb bracket with the occasional 8 pounder showing up too. Believe me, using 7-8 weight outfits, such specimens take off at a fair lick when hooked, exhilarating stuff I can tell you. Enjoying several days of this, personally, it ranks as one of my most memorable fishing experiences to date.



Whilst low tides are not to everyone’s liking, it certainly presented us with plenty of opportunities to tangle with Snook. These secretive predators are often tucked up tight in mangroves roots, but low water pushed them out into more accessible areas. And whilst every member of our group managed to hook them, Mark Windsor certainly got more than he bargained for when he latched into a Snook of well over 20lb.




Barracuda are one species that are often neglected here. So this year, we all decided on a concerted effort to bag a decent sized fish. Using slender baitfish imitations dressed on TMC 600SP, I experienced a high hook-up rate and managed to land several cudas over 10lb. What’s niggling me now, is the number of these fish I’ve past up on previous trips. For my money they’re a great sporting fish that take off at speed before tailing walking. One of our group-Rob Evans almost exclusively targeted these menacing creatures for his entire trip. Others thought he’d lost his marbles, but I’m with Rob all the way on this one!



As for the elusive “P” fish, well our group had days when they cast at not just one, but several permit. In fact they were surprisingly prevalent during our stay and at least one Permit was reported being caught most days, a testament as to how extensive the Permit fishing is out in Ascension Bay.



Newcomer to saltwater fishing-Steve Grimes didn’t realise what all the fuss was about, as on his third day, he landed a monster Permit of 25lb….incredible. I too got amongst fish with hefty shoulders and managed one nudging 20lb. Perhaps more of an angling feat was Jonathan Tomlinson who connected with a substantial Permit when bonefishing. Naturally, his 8-weight outfit took a beating, equally, he was looking somewhat worse for wear after the battle. Congratulations must surely go to Steve Langan though, who finally joined the Permit Club after chasing them for a number of years now. Though, before that eventful day, Steve did say he’d decorate himself a tattoo to mark the occasion, we wait with bated breath!



Finally, let’s not forget the Casa Viejo Chac in Punta Allen which made this trip special. Run by Manuel Chac we had access to the best guides in Ascension Bay, including the services of Manuel himself. His kindness and generosity made everybody welcome when on most evenings he entertained us with fly tying demonstrations. Needless to say, we have made many friends out there and have already rebooked for 2011.

Paul Procter Dec 2010

For further details please email us or call + 44 (0) 1621 743711.

Mexico Fly Fishing Report by Mike Bilson

Mike Bilson kindly shared his thoughts on his second trip to Mexico with us on one of the Paul Procter hosted weeks. It makes for an interesting read and sums up the experience nicely....

Fishing Report – Punta Allen, Mexico: 22nd Nov to 27th Nov 2010

David and I met John Honour, Steve Grimes, and David Hoskins at Gatwick on Sunday 21st November for the ten hour flight to Cancun arriving at 14.30 local time. The Thomson flight was only half full so we had plenty of room. The AGI Tours minibus was waiting for us and we set off for Punta Allen, stopping briefly on the way at Tulum for a very pleasant meal at a road-side restaurant. The next part of the journey was a real test of perseverance with the main road running out and turning into a very hard and long 40 km drive. The road has clearly been badly damaged over the last year with constant pot holes and craters meaning that we averaged about 10 kph until Punta Allen. This was very unpleasant and will undoubtedly put some people off from returning, but the positive side is that Punta Allen will never become over fished with excessive anglers.

We were warmly greeted at Casa Veijo Chac by our host Paul Proctor who had organized the rooms. Since last year three new rooms have been built with good air conditioning and new showers, but the electricity did fail briefly on occasions in the evening. Not a major problem as it was quickly fixed but showering in the dark could be a challenge.

The first morning we were allocated guides over breakfast. Pepe and Marbella produced excellent authentic Mexican food all week which was wholesome and tasty with good measures of spice, onions and chilies. Breakfast was served at 07:00 before setting off for the boats at 08:15. A packed lunch was provided each day with plenty of drinks. Dinner was served at 19:00 and consisted of a three course meal. Beer was freely available and we settled up at the end of the week which was very reasonable at $110 each including staff tips and laundry.

The weather started mostly cloudy with a stiff East wind which was the aftermath of a heavy storm at the end of the previous week. The wind and cloud gradually calmed down each day until a magnificent last day of flat calm and few clouds. Temperatures were around 25 to 30 degrees centigrade.

Monday 22nd
Guides were Edwin and Osca who are new this year to Veijo Chac but very experienced. David’s first day started with an excellent 12 Snook on fly. I lost one Snook of similar size due to a straightened hook, and lost a tarpon of around 14lb on one of its airborne leaps. We also had several bonefish averaging about 2lb mainly on Cuban Shrimps, as well as a small Jack and Barracuda on a Deceiver. Fishing off the Punta Allen pier in the evening was not productive due to cloudy water from a strong onshore wind.

Tuesday 23rd
Heavy rain overnight cleared by the morning but still a stiff Easterly wind and 40% cloud cover. Philip was our very experienced guide. We chased permit in the morning and saw about half a dozen. I got one reasonable shot. After lunch we changed tactics and went for Snook, Barracuda, and Tarpon. David landed his first ever Barracuda on popper weighing in at 16lb. Soon after I landed a 15lb Barracuda on fly with wire trace. We saw a Permit cruising through so a quick change to crab fly was presented beautifully only to be stolen from the Permits nose by a greedy 2lb Snook. David then had a great shot at the Permit which followed the fly but turned away. We finished that day by wading for Bonefish at “Lagoon Duos” where we came across a massive shoal of tailing Bonefish, landing a few between us.



Wed 24th
Weather improved again with the wind calming and 30% cloud cover. Guides were William of 24 years guiding experience at Punta Allen and his boatman Edwardo. We waded for Bonefish in the morning and while doing so David got an excellent shot at a Permit which took the tan crab fly but after a very brief encounter, spat the fly out before he could set the hook. I later hooked a large Barracuda which bit through the 25lb wire trace and made its escape. Then we saw two Shark cruising and after casting a fly and getting a couple of follows with no takes the guide suggested we used a bait fish. So I rigged up a large wire trace and hook on the end of my AFTM 10 fly rod and line. We threaded half a Needle Fish on the hook and waded into the flat to stalk the Shark. After a brief sniff the Shark took the bait and there followed a massive fight on the fly rod taking about 150 yards on the first run. Many more long runs followed but after about 25 minutes the 30lb Lemon Shark was beached and duly dispatched presumably to feed the guide’s family for a week. The using of bait earned the esteemed prize of the “Pink Bow Tie” in the evening. Later David was smashed up by an estimated 40lb Barracuda on popper which ripped off line on its way to the mangrove snags 120 yards away. It took the hook, trace, braid and backing. During the day we also caught a few Bones.



Thursday 25th
We had the most experienced guides today being Manuel and Choo Choo. Some cloud and threatening rain at first but this cleared nicely by the time we reached the fishing grounds. David landed his first ever Tarpon on a fly weighing in at around 10lb. Several others were seen cruising. Then we moved around the Island were Manuel put me on a massive Bonefish. I cast my Cuban Shrimp four feet in front of his slow feeding path. He moved to the fly and made a confident take, followed by my two strip strikes setting the hook. After a long fight it came to the boat at 7lb. Manuel believed it should have been a 9lb fish due to its length but was a little under-weight for its length. Still, a magnificent specimen. After lunch we went for Permit and found a large shoal of tailing Permit in the bay with an average size of around 15lb and some going much larger. I cast a tan crab fly, the lined tightened and after setting the hook the large Permit made a brief strong run before parting the leader on what turned out to be a wind knot. A quick change of fly and increase in leader strength from 16lb to 20lb gave me another clean shot at a large oncoming shoal. The fly was perfectly presented and the line tightened at which point Manuel clarified that a 10lb Jack Crevalle had intercepted the fly in front of the Permit. There followed a 20 minute tug-of-war resulting in the AFTM 8 Helios rod exploding into six pieces leaving me with just the cork handle and reel left in my hand. With no other option I had to hand line the rest of the fight. By the time the fish was returned and a new rod tackled up the clouds had come over and the Permit shoal moved on. This episode also earned me the “Pink Bow Tie” for the second time. Thankfully Robin had lent me his Orvis Zero Gravity AFTM 8 rod just in case of a breakage which proved to be very valuable.



Friday 26th
Guides were William and Edwardo for the second time. David waded on the flats for Bonefish while I went for Permit with William. We found a tailing shoal of about 20 Permit and got out the boat to wade gently from 50 yards away. At 10:30 I landed a 6lb Permit on Manuel’s china man crab fly, being smaller than most of the shoal but still a good fish. I then got a Bonefish at 10:45 so we decided to go for the Grand Slam and picked up David who had caught a few Bones. We went to the brackish mangrove swamps and found a school of three Tarpon. The second one took the fly aggressively and weighed in at 10lb’s and completed the Grand Slam before 11.00. We spent the rest of the day trying to get a Snook to make it a Super Slam but none were found.



Saturday 27th
Guides for the day were Pablo and Marcus. Weather was magnificent with a mirror calm trip to the Bonefish flats where we found many large shoals of tailing Bones on the low tide. Everyone had endless fun taking Bone after Bone some up to 3lb. After lunch we decided to split up with David continuing to wade the flats for Bones while I chased Permit. Unfortunately the clouds came over putting an end to the splendid Bonefish sport and making it hard to spot Permit although we did see half a dozen and get a good shot at one which ignored my crab fly. During the afternoon I saw a large Barracuda and cast a Popper at the fish using Martin’s Greys spinning rod. It took the popper with a massive attack and a long fight ensued culminating with me landing the beast at 30lb. That evening I won the “Pink Bow Tie” for a third time for casting at a Bonefish which in fact turned out to be a crab moving sideways towards me from 30 yards.



Summary
Over the week the group managed three Grand Slams (Pete, Paul, and me) with a fourth closely missed by Steve whose 40lb Tarpon just held off taking. Individual fish of the week was Steve’s first ever Permit at 25lb. Several good Snook were taken by most anglers. Six Permit were landed in total (Pete 3, Steve 1, Paul 1 and me 1).
Endless species of various sizes were seen, many of which are not mentioned here as they were not landed. The trip back was much easier with the difficult road tackled at the start of the day and in the light. The journey was made fun by the admission that John had inadvertently been wearing his room-mates trousers all week, and commando style at that! David had wondered where his second pair went but all was revealed at Cancun Airport.

Overall a great week.

Mike Bilson

Permit Season: Mexico and Belize fly fishing

We have had over 30 fly fishermen travel to Belize and Mexico over the past three weeks and it has resulted in a large number of permit captures for many first time saltwater flats fishermen. A total of 5 first time anglers have landed their first permit on their first ever saltwater fly fishing trip abroad, along with a host of other species.

A group of first time bonefishermen were led by Sean Clarke of Farlows, Pall Mall to Turneffe flats in Belize last week. The fishing proved challenging but also rewarding with bonefish to 6lb's being landed and also 2 permit coming to first time flats anglers Dorian Soanes and Jim Page. Their thoughts on the trip are below:

Mat,

As you can probably imagine it wasn't great waking up to minus temperatures this morning! Sad to be back as the trip was INCREDIBLE. Thanks all your help in arranging, Sean was a great host. The attached picture says it all.

Best of all my wife loved it, so much so we're already talking about the next one.



Hi Mat,

Great trip, excellent company, excellent fishing - lots to learn.

Plenty of luck with the Permit, but as the guide said `luck beats skill
everytime`.

All the best,

Jim



In Mexico the Paul Procter hosted trips have yielded over 14 permit and 5 grand slams over the past three weeks. The biggest permit came to first time flats angler Steve Grimes at a huge 25lb. Snook have also been in big numbers with many 15 lb plus fish landed. I will post up Mike Bilson's detailed report of week 2 which sums up a typical weeks fishing in Ascension Bay very well.

For more information on fly fishing in Mexico or Belize please feel free to contact us or call on +44 (0) 1621743711.

NEW FLY ODYSSEY WEBSITE LIVE

We are pleased to have just released the second incarnation of the Fly Odyssey website. The new site will hopefully provide some inspiration to travel to the many new destinations that we now have available. These include Kuala Rompin, Kalum River Lodge, Hopkins, Belize, Espiritu Santo in Mexico, numerous trout and salmon rivers in Iceland and much more.

The new website can be viewed here Fly Odyssey.

As always if you have any queries about travel for the upcoming year please don't hesitate to get in contact on +44 (0) 1621743711 or email us

New Zealand Early Season Update

arly season reports are starting to come in from New Zealand. After a very wet early part of spring the weather settled through October. Unseasonably warm weather all through October and November has even got the cicadas chirping much earlier than normal. These trout proton pills don't usually become active until late January. The stable water levels should mean that by high summer fish should be in peak condition. Hopefully there is some rain through December to ensure that the river levels don't drop to low.

The guys at Owen River Lodge have been putting their clients onto some quality fish as can be seen by the images below.









For anyone interested in booking a last minute trip to New Zealand please don't hesitate to get in touch and we will provide you with upto date availability and local information on where's fishing best.

For more information please call on +44 (0) 1621743711 or email us.

Mexico fly fishing report: Casa Blanca Lodge

Fly Fishing Ascension Bay

Just had this report through from a recently returned client who visited Casa Blanca lodge in Mexico in October. A grand slam plus 25lb snook highlights the truly world class nature of the fishery down there.

Hi Mat,

As the merkins go back in the cupboard for another year I just wanted to write to thank you for an awesome trip to Casa Blanca. We were very luck to have a week of relatively stable weather sandwiched between 2 tropical storms, and experienced some great and varied fishing. I hadn't really appreciated how much water can be reached from the lodge - during our 6 days we spent time in the vast Ascension Bay, the slightly more intimate Espiritu Santo Bay, Santa Rosa lagoon system, and also wandering the surf immediately in front of the lodge.

At the end of the guided fishing day we'd grab a quick cerveza, gulp down some of the amazing hot snacks (that seemed to miraculously appear as soon as we arrived back at the lodge) and then walk no more than 20 minutes or so up the beach to have some great fun with triggerfish and permit tailing amongst the breakers, and jack crevalle marauding at breakneck speed. We did our best impression of 'Running Down the Man!' as we chased the jacks, but fitness hampered our beach-sprinting efforts! There were always bones around the Casa Blanca pier, and usually a few tarpon/cuda/cubera lurking under the pier nights after dinner.....but they are seriously educated fish.



We spent a lot of time chasing permit, and had legitimate shots each day. Most permit did what permit do best, and either entirely ignored our best efforts, or spooked at the sight of our crab/shrimp creations. One of the other guys at the lodge landed his 80th Casa Blanca permit during our week, and he patiently tolerated a ridiculous amount of quizzing about the finer points of fishing for cruising permit on deep flats. Who knows whether it was a result of Joe's advice or plain good luck that we managed to secure the Grand Slam on our final day. The Super Slam was oh so close....next time.



We had some truly exceptional fishing for snook on other days - whether packs of double figure fish herding mullet schools in open water, or shots at 30+ lb brutes (honestly!) skulking under the mangroves. You know it's a big snook when 80lb mono shock tippet is seriously abraded!




The Casa Blanca set-up is very very slick. The food and lodging are really first class, and guides very accomplished (their ability to spot permit at 200+ feet is humbling, as is their ability to spin a Dolphin skiff on a sixpence if needed to take a tricky shot), and lodge managers Bobby and Mike bend over backwards to make sure that no little detail is left neglected. The air charter from Cancun to the lodge was a real treat as we could scan loads of flats from the air...not that we needed to be any more excited prior to our first day's fishing.

Thanks again for a great trip.
James

For more information on fly fishing Casa Blanca lodge or participation in our group trip 2nd-9th April 2011 please email us or call on +44 (0)1621743711.

Fly Odyssey

Christmas Island fly fishing report

Christmas island continues to produce for our clients. Giles Eustice went to Christmas island in search of Giant Trevally and by the sounds of it he found what he was looking for. Here's a few words about his trip and the pictures say it all....


Hey Mat,

Had a very good week on Xmas island. Spent first couple of days on various, waiting for full moon. Had over 20 bones on one day ...many 3/4/5lb fish...saw bigger - had lady fish, triggers and raised 3 good GT's and landed a couple smaller. My guide managed to break my loomis on day one casting and catching a baby bone while I went after a black tip on the flat - result!



Day 3,4 and 5 sorted myself out the best guides for hunting GT's - have heard that guides at the other lodges do a lot of chumming on the edges for GT's so was glad that the guides at the villages do not practise that and fish properly, hunting the fish. Over all caught 15 GT's and some small blue's. Sighted hooked and set an 80lb fish only to have the last inch of line to clear whip around the reel handle - end of!



Caught numerous 25-40lb fish and the one in the photo the guides estimated 55-60 - it felt like a sack of potatoes ! Last day spent hunting the back lagoons and had a good few opportunities on the golden which was awesome fun and cast to a 90-100 GT but followed to the flat and spooked!



Overall caught a good number of GT's - lost the big one (next time) - saw plenty of good size and had enough variety.

Will send a couple of other photo's.

Many thanks
Giles

Christmas island still offers one of the finest flats fishing destinations in the world. From more information on the lodges that we work with, pricing and itineraries please contact us via email or call 01621743711.

Upcoming events

We will be involved in a number of UK events in November starting with the British Fly Fair at Stoke on Trent this coming weekend. If you want to come and discuss your travel options for 2011 we will be present at the following locations this November.

30th-31st October, 2011
British Fly Fair International
Trentham Gardens, Stoke on Trent

4th November, 2011
Farlows, Pall Mall, London
We will be onsite at the Farlows Travel Desk.

Iceland Presentation Days
11th November, 2011
Farlows, Pall Mall

13th November, 2011
Sportfish Reading Store

Fly Odyssey is pleased to invite you to our in-store presentations on the salmon, sea trout and brown trout fishing in Iceland. These will be held on Thursday the 11th of November in Farlows, Pall Mall and on Saturday the 13th of November at the Sportfish Reading store.

We are excited that Throstur Ellidason of Strengir Angling Service will be present in store on both days. Throstur was a pioneer of the smolt rearing and release programs in Iceland through the 90's with his work on the Ranga and his current rivers the Breiodalsa and Jokla are proving successful in following a similar path. The Breiodalsa, one of the few big fish rivers in Iceland, had a record year in 2010 with over 1150 fish landed on this 8 rod river which is now famed for its large 2SW fish. A 28 lb fish being the largest landed in 2010. Throstur will be preparing a presentation on the development of smolt release in Iceland from the early years through to its present day that he will present at each store.

As a special offer Throstur will be offering a free days fishing on the Jokla river for any bookings taken on the day for any of the rivers that Throstur has on offer in Iceland in 2011. We will also have 2011 pricing and information on the range of our salmon, sea trout and brown trout rivers we have on offer in 2011 including the Breiodalsa, Jokla, Huseyjarkvisl, Laxa at Leirarsveit, East Ranga, Tungulaekur, Litla, Minnivallalaekur and Svarta.

For more information please contact Mathew McHugh on 01621 743711, Brian Fratel at Farlows on 02074841000 or Tom Festing at Sportfish Reading on 0118 930 3860.

Mongolia: Float trips

We are pleased to join up with Mongolia River Outfitters to offer Taimen fishing on over 200 miles of wild Mongolian Taimen water. The Mongolian River outfitters have a long history of providing high quality float trips and have been instrumental in setting up the world's first WWF Taimen Sanctuary in Mongolia in 2008. The fishery produces excellent opportunities for Taimen over 50 inches with one angler landing 20 fish in a single day during the recent September trips. We are now able to offer limited access (6 anglers per week) to this catch and release fishery during the short season that it is open in 2011.

In 2011 a full 8 night/6 days fully guided fishing upper river float trip costs from $4990 per rod. Full details will be on the new website soon. Enjoy the images below and if you require further details on the itinerary and pricing please email me or call on +44 1621743711.



















All images copyright of Mark Johnstad/Mongolia River Outfitters.

Christmas island fly fishing report

We had a group of intrepid anglers fishing the past two weeks at The Villages on Christmas Island. The group was led by Toni Karuvaara editor of Chasing Silver magazine who had previously fished Christmas island in 2009. This year the guys were met with some unusal conditions with cold weather which has been linked with El Nina in the Pacific. That meant jumpers in the evening and frigid waters, very unusual for a location that lies virtually on the equator.

Even so the island still produced some awesome captures and a lot of fun. Toni has been kind enough to share some of his brilliant photography with us. For a complete look at his images from the trip please visit his website.






















For more information on fly fishing Christmas island and prices and bookings for 2011 please contact us viaemail or call on +44 1621743711.

Fly fishing Colorado - A K-T ranch review

We are pleased to be working with a new operation in Colorado at K-T ranch. K-T Ranch is 975 acre working ranch located in Meeker, Western Colorado. The property has 7 miles of the world class white river and numerous spring creeks providing a diverse trout fishery. The ranch is suited to both small group bookings and family holidays and provides an authentic experience of the American midwest. You can read a review below of a recent clients visit to the K-T ranch.....

COLORADO 2010-09-27

“ It was a long way to go fro some trout fishing !”

Well yes it is, some 26 hours from our home in Yorkshire but from the moment we were met by Buzz and Rose Cox ( and Princeton their Yoda look a like dog ) at the K-T Ranch we knew that we were in for a very special holiday.

Buzz described recently in a fishing magazine as a “ quiet and taciturn man “ could have been mistaken for a member of a ‘60s rock band ( complete with chromium Harley Davidson parked in the garage ) but he proved to be a superb guide and an extremely amiable and humorous companion. Within minutes of entering the White River with it’s fast water rifles and eddies, tying on a “Chubby Chernobyl “ ( which resembled a small surf board with half a dead sheep tied to it ) I was landing my first substantial Rainbow, followed by Brown, Cutbow and the especially lovely Cutthroat trout.




During the next 10 days Pam and I caught many fish up to 24” on Hoppers, Nymphs and Streamers ( the latter used in cloudy conditions which meant they were rarely used ). The trout were supplemented by White fish ( a grayling look alike without the extended dorsal fin ) and an unusual Flannelmouth.



In addition to the White River we had access to some much smaller spring fed creeks which Buzz has lovingly developed which provided sight fishing opportunities. The cattle upstream clouded the water whilst we were staying but we have to remember this is essentially ranching country !

We also took the chance to do fish the Colorado river a couple of times in a float boat. This was guided by Dustin Harcourt again a very able and experienced river guide. We caught many fish ( and had lots of laughs) mainly by nymphing the edges of some fast water ably assisted by some expert boatmanship in a very comfortable boat.

All of the fish caught were wild, fully finned and in superb condition a great test for our 4 and 5 weight outfits and a great testament to the conditions found in the rivers. I have never seen such abundant food resources clinging to every single rock and boulder.




At the K-T ranch it was not all fishing Pam managed to be invited on a cattle round up ( complete with two very real and charming cowboys) and went for some horse rides, the scenery and sky in Colorado is breathtaking especially seen from horse back at 9000 feet. We also took part in some Elk stalking and together with the surrounding wildlife it was a real privilege to see this country through the eyes of the locals.

However the most important part of the K-T is Rose. She is a most welcoming, courteous and charming lady making our stay and mealtimes especially memorable. Thank you.

K-T is part of a larger business including the main ranch at High Lonesome some 2 hours drive away were we spent the last few days of our visit. High Lonesome is run more as a dude ranch providing fishing, shooting, riding , communal dining and good food.



The fishing is on clear beaver ponds, some man made. We were expertly guided by Steve Loshbaugh ( another great companion ) all the trout species previously caught were there plus in addition some beautiful Brook trout. Once again fish readily took dry flies and small nymphs and there really were some monster fish. Pam landed a Rainbow of 25”+ ( on an English Daddy Longlegs ) and at dinner that night was presented with her pin as a member of the 25” club (up to then only 8 members on the board she being the only female) This was followed the next night by both of us receiving membership of the “ Grand Slam “ club (again only 1 member previously shown) so maybe the fishing wasn’t that easy!

Colorado was a great experience for us both. The weather and scenery far exceeded our expectations. The fishing and the people were superb, it may be a long way to go for trout but we can’t wait for our visit next year.

Well done Mat for finding and setting up a really great and special trip!!

Alan and Pam.

FOR INFORMATION PACK, DVD AND BOOKINGS PLEASE EMAIL US OR CALL ON + 44 (0) 1621 743711

Fly Fishing in Bosnia - Trip report

Our last Orvis group trip for the season was to the Rivers Ribnik and Pliva in Bosnia. Paul Procter gives an account of the fishing and almightly hatches of flies below....

A party of five rods and myself have just returned from Bosnia where we experienced unprecedented hatches of fly on the Ribnik. With perfect river levels and gin clear conditions, targeting trout and grayling was relatively straightforward. For once the weather dealt us a kind hand, overcast and muggy for the entire trip is a dry fly fishermen’s dream. Consequently, vast numbers of Pale Wateries and Blue Winged Olives kept fish rising all day long.



Initially, the challenge was presenting you imitation without any telltale drag. Decreasing leader diameters to 7X (0.10mm) certainly helped, as did a drop in fly size. And, once we’d done this the flood gates well and truly opened. Peter Legge managed to catch his first ever grayling on the first morning. Chuffed to bits, he climbed back into the river and proceeded to winkle out another five the best of them topping some 2lb. As you can imagine, he was grinning from ear to ear!

Under the watchful eye of our guide, Paul Maxwell mastered the downstream approach with a dry fly. And, having got his eye in there was no stopping him. Interestingly, brown trout featured heavily in Paul’s returns though he did manage to charm the odd grayling or two. As for Garry Carr, he came into his own on the Pliva by pitching a nymph into lively pools and runs.



Mike Collins, Steve Grimes and myself simply just pottered about, quietly slipping into the water here and there. On one occasion, Mike was blistering form, as it seemed every time I glanced upstream, his rod was buckled over in to yet another feisty trout. Steve too did me proud though he experienced a relapse when he lost a huge brown trout. Following the usually outcry, he soon settled down and continued to tempt fish with a size 18 CdC F fly.



Being autumn, chilly mountain air would come wafting down the valley about 5pm, summoning an end to the day’s events. Time for a cool beer and to reflect on what must rank as some of the most memorable hatches I’ve witnessed to date. As usually, it’s not until boarding the plane home that we suddenly realized just how special this adventure had been. Dates are already being planned for next season, roll on September 2011.

Paul Procter Sept 2010