Fly fishing Argentina - Kau Tapen, Rio Grande Hosted trip report

During the last week of January a group of our clients fished the superb lodge of Kau Tapen located on the Rio Grande in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. This river is famous for it's large numbers of big sea trout. The 5 anglers on this week led by Sean Clarke of Farlows, Pall Mall all managed good numbers of fish. Gary Crossley finished with the biggest fish of the week at 19 lbs. You can read the lodge managers report below…..

Week 25th January - 1st February, 2014

When a week passes like the one we just had I appreciate all the more the events and experiences that no doubt I and the guests will recount for years to come. Stories at the guide cabin can go back years recounting in intricate detail individual fish, flies, guests, etc.

Guiding late into the evening here can be very special, referred to by many as the “magic hour” your guiding takes on a whole new perspective, as the light fades your senses change from visual to acoustic. You find yourself at times in an almost trance like state gazing into the darkness, head tilted slightly and ears intently cocked for any tell tail sounds of action. To the trained ear it is possible to discern a good cast from a bad one, instruction at this hour is futile so as a guide you persistently want to hear the running line tap the reel, closely followed by a deft plop as the fly land close to the far bank. Fishing close to the surface the initial take is unmistakeable, a crisp surge of water churning, one must wait for the clutch on the reel to click before you can be sure of a solid hook set, an elated guest may also confirm the same with one of the many hook up phrases “fish on” “ oh ya baby” etc. etc. The next matter of interest is the size of the specimen hooked usually denoted by the splash following a jump, once the reel begins to click for the second time it is time to call your charges to the bank while you dash for the net.

Our guests experience the best week of the season so far and managed to hook into an impressive 229 trout of which 166 were landed. Some of the better session in terms of numbers include Ron Clark’s Tuesday total of 8 fish, at 77 Ron with a group of American friends William Stoney, William Alford and Harvey Bender reminisced on how they had met and times they had spent together in Alaska over a period of 12 years, with many valuable memories had together this in William Alford’s words was their “final hurrah”. William Bush and David Blazes complete novices with the double hander slowly got to grips with the task at hand and each accounted for a total of 19 fish. Our friend from Ponoi, Francois Bocard made a welcome return to the Rio Grande after a 15 year absence. The Muirhead’s joined us from the UK, Linda a non-angler embraced the tranquillity of the lodge and got through an endless number of books as well as taking walks to and from the river while her husband Sandy got to work on the river, an astute angler he finished the week as our top rod with a total of 24 fish and received a new sage “method” single handed rod for his efforts. Gary Crossley joined us for the second season in a row and said that his desire to catch the “Big One” was the main motivating factor for his return, never one to panic Gary’s patience throughout the week paid off by landing the biggest fish of the week on his last session. ( 19lbs)

With extremely high tides at the weekend and a forecast of mainly overcast conditions throughout the beginning of next week hopes are high that we can continue to produce some of the best memories possible for our guests. Those who left this week certainly have shedloads.

Total rod catch: 166
Total hooked: 229
Biggest: 19lbs
Average weight: 7lbs

Regards
Matthew Solon

FOR MORINFORMATION ON FLY FISHING FOR SEA TROUT IN ARGENTINA PLEASE CONTACT US ON +44 (0) 1621743 711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk

Fly fishing Christmas island - Client report February 2014

We have just had a group of 6 anglers back from Christmas Island. You can read Nick Evans great report of his week below taken from the Salmon Fishing Forum..........

I hope some of you may find the following notes of interest.

Pegleg and I decided to forego our 1st week of Feb on the Scottish Dee in favour of a boys’ trip to Christmas Island, the Pacific one, not Indian Ocean! I’m pleased we did forego the Dee, as the river was totally blank below Banchory, where we fish.



Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, lies about 120 miles North of the equator, and is accessed by a once a week (!) flight from Fiji to Kiritimati and on to Hawaii, doing a complete return trip the same day. It is apparently the largest atoll in the world, and was the site for early atomic weapons testing in the late 50s/early 60s. The SE Tradewinds blow at about 10mph each day, and the daylight hours are basically 6am to 6pm.

Our journey started at Heathrow, to Los Angeles, then Hawaii – about 18 hours flying time. An overnight in Honolulu and then the 3 hour flight down to Kiritimati. We left home at around 5am on Monday, night stopped Monday night and flew out of Hawaii at noon on Tuesday, arriving Kiritimati at 3pm Wednesday – you cross the international date line on this flight!! Watches / cameras / brains all needed to be reset. 



We booked our trip through Fly Odyssey (I have no connections with them) and all the arrangements worked flawlessly, so hats off to Mat Mchugh.

About 50 anglers, mostly from the USA, boarded the flight at Honolulu, all heading to the small number of “lodges” that serve the visiting fishermen. We stayed in Tabwakea Village at "The Villages", a fishing lodge run by the Church. 

It was pretty basic accommodation, but the food was good – we lived on fresh fish each day. The 12 anglers at The Villages are looked after by 12 guides, and we changed guide each day. There were 4 boats with a boatman, each taking 3 anglers and 3 guides to different areas of the vast lagoon systems, and the anglers were also mixed up each day, so you always had new company for the day. 



Our team of 12 comprised 4 Brits, 1 Dane, 1 German, 1 Canadian and 5 from the USA – a super bunch of guys and good fun to be with.

This trip was what I call “immersive”, in that 6 days were spent with no phone connectivity, no WiFi, no TV etc. Our daily routine started with breakfast at 5:45, you made your own sandwich lunch, and headed out on the boat at 6:30, just before sunrise. 



A normal day saw us back at the lodge around 5:30 to 6pm, with dinner served at 7. A very long, tiring day – but well worth every moment. This was all wade fishing, with the guide beside you, dropped off and moved around by your allocated boat. 



We each normally fished 2 locations in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Mostly, you could see no other fisherman in sight, with the 3 in your boat all sometimes 2 miles apart ! 



The guides used their extensive knowledge to put us onto different flats according to the tide, wind and sun conditions. This is all sightfishing, and you need the right sun angles to best see the fish.



The fish – mostly Bonefish, with a sprinkling of Giant, Bluefin and Yellow Trevally, Trigger fish and the usual aquarium suspects. The odd Black Tipped shark cruised around, also hunting small bonefish. 







Most of us were kitted out with an 8wt rod for the bones, with a 12wt ready for GTs, carried by the guide to be quickly available should a GT pitch up. When they did, they were cruising erratically and at warp speed, and you were very lucky if you could get a cast in. There is a lot of footage on UTube of large (60-100lb) GTs being caught, and these are almost exclusively fish that have been lured into the edge of the flats by chumming, a practice which in now somewhat frowned upon and certainly not practiced by The Villages guide team.

Over the week, I lost many more fish than I would normally expect to lose in the Keys or Cuba, simply because of fish running through coral heads and cutting off the leader. I lost 3 Trevally and about 8 bonefish in this way, including my best bone of 8-9lb which cut me off just before the guide was about to land it. All these fish are returned, the guides unhook all the fish and we used barbless hooks only, making unhooking by such skilled guides a quick and simple task.

The bones I encountered probably averaged about 2 – 3 lbs, but a lot were around 4lbs, some 5lbs. During the week, bones of 10lbs and 9 lbs were taken by members of our team. My Keys and Cuba flies were mostly ignored by these fish, which live on worms, rather than shrimps and crabs. For those of you who fancy a trip, you need “Christmas Island Specials” in sizes 6 and 4, with various weights of dumbbell eyes, according to the depth and current. 

In 6 days of fishing, one of which was pretty much a write-off for all of us due to rain and wind affecting the water temperature, I took around 90 bones. My best day was the last, when I took 30 by lunch and another 10-12 in the afternoon. And remember, all these fish are sight cast to – it’s a very visual and totally absorbing and rewarding experience.

There are also opportunities for “blue-water” fishing, and Pegleg and 2 neighbours of ours took the plunge. A 3-hour motor to the right area on the exposed lee shore, led to 5 or 6 hours fishing – a mix of trolling and fishing into the back of the surf with giant poppers for GTs. Our 3 intrepid heroes, fishing with only 2 spinning rods between them, managed to land 2 Wahoo (Pegleg’s was around 75lb), a 40lb GT, 2 Yellowfin Tuna and lost another 6/7 fish in play. 





Plus a rod "exploded" (!) under the strain of trying to winch up a Wahoo that had run deep, and for much of their day, they took turns on just one rod. Needless to say, we enjoyed very much the fruits of their labours over the following days, with daily Tuna sushi and Wahoo cooked a number of ways.

All too soon our week was over, and we headed back, via another stopover in Honolulu, craving steak and salad !

Would I do it again ?? MOST CERTAINLY, particularly in these days of vanishing Dee salmon !!

Hope you enjoyed ?

TL
Nick

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING FLY FISHING ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND PLEASE CALL US ON +44 (0) 16221743711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR CHECK OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk

Fly Fishing New Zealand - Hosted Week 2 Report

Week two saw the group head to the central South Island. We were based out of Twziel and local guide Steve Carey provided some great hospitality as always. Fishing was up and down through the week. A lot of anglers were around with the Waitangi day public holiday midweek. But as usual in New Zealand there is plenty of water to go around and always a spectacular place to fish. We've had some nice feedback from our clients on this trip which is detailed below along with some images of the weeks fishing…..

Hi Matt,

Just thought I would send you a quick email now that the dust has settled and I am acclimatised to the cold weather! I just wanted to say what a great week I had with you, and what great company we all shared. I will never forget looking down the Ahurri valley, with Tussock Cicada,s chirping in the background and the beautiful crystal clear river.

Having been to NZ before, I thought it was a great priviledge to be guided by yourself, Steve Carey and of course Paul Procter. I thought I was passionate about flyfishing but Paul was something else,totally focused. I will always treasure memories of that huge fish he caught that day and how he coaxed it into his net. Can you also say from myself a huge thankyou to Steve Carey,a great host and a fantastic guide. Fishing with Steve, with Mt Cook in the background is a memory that will always be remembered for a long, long time.

Thank you again Matt for an absolutely fantastic time.
Steve.

S.Dowling, UK

Hi Matt,

We are in Christchurch airport having had a wonderful time again in NZ! Your two weeks were truly wonderful thank you! Fantastic memories.

All the best,

Sarah Hodgkin, UK

 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN NEW ZEALAND OR JOINING ON OF OUR HOSTED TRIPS PLEASE CALL US ON +44 (0)16217 743711 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk

WILD TROUT TRUST ANNUAL AUCTION - FLY ODYSSEY TRIP TO BOSNIA

The Wild Trout Trust is having it's annual auction between the 4th-13th March, 2014. We have donated a week on the Ribnik and Pliva Rivers on a Paul Prcoter hosted trip to the WTT to auction to raise funds. For more details on the auction please visit the Wild Trout Trust Website.

For more information on the Bosnia trip the LOT No. is 58 or you can follow the link below to the Auction Fishing Lots:

LOT 58 BOSNIA WEEK WITH PAUL PROCTER

Fly fishing Desroches island resort, Seychelles - Client review's

Some review's from a recent client trips to Desroches island resort in the Seychelles. This location offers a great mix of family holiday with great flats and blue water fly fishing opportunities. 

Hi Mat,

Many thanks for organising the Seychelles trip at short notice, I enjoyed Des Roches enormously, the lodge is very well run and the facilities excellent. 

The fishing at St. Joseph atoll was good.  Wonderful setting and very large bones. This mixed with some blue water fishing for sail and tuna makes for an excellent package.

All the very best for 2014,

Mike, UK

--------------- 

Mat

Hope the guided trip to New Zealand is/has gone well? Thank you again to you and the team for stepping in quickly and effectively to resolve the reservation issue at Desroches.

I thought you might appreciate some feedback on the resort and fishing.

Going in I knew we were compromising on the fishing in order to stay at a luxury resort. If I had looked at fishing alone, we would have stayed at Alphonse. However, with this caveat in mind, Jacqui and I would still rate the overall trip as 5 Star.

The resort was excellent. Its certainly worth upgrading to a Beach Retreat from a Suite. While the accommodation in the Suite was ‘ordinary’, the Beach Retreat compared very well with the best accommodation we have had in the tropics. I am often a bit sceptical about ‘all inclusive’ deals as, in my experience, the quality and generosity of the food and beverages often suffers. This was not the case at Desroches where the food was often very good and the offer of local beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks continuous!

As several reviewers have said, the most distinctive feature of Desroches is the quality and friendliness of the staff. Jacqui was, in particular, full of praise for the way Desroches maintain a careful balance of attentiveness and service without constantly being ‘in your face’.

I would rate the fishing as good rather than excellent. I only managed to fish Poivre for 3 days and the weather prevented me getting to St Joseph for the remaining two. After talking to the fishing manager, we agreed to try fly fishing for sailfish etc off a boat in the lee of the island, This was exciting but not the flats fishing I had hoped for.

I did rate the fishing team on Desroches very highly. My guide - pretty much for the whole 5 days - was Jerry. A local Seychellois who clearly knew the flats, the fishing and was a great companion. The boat Captain, Brandon, when we were after sailfish also clearly knew his job.

I didn’t get my permit - hooked one on the first day at Poivre and saw many more over the next two days but the large majority were cruising rather than heads down feeding. I was told that the first day was a neep tide so with the relatively small tidal movement the fish were more relaxed. As the spring tides came and the tidal range increased, the fish were less inclined to settle.

I have attached a few pictures - the best day was probably the second. I had three bonefish to six pounds, 3 yellow spot trevally (feeding on the flats, tail up - never seen that before) and two small GTs blind casting into the channel. The ‘trip fish’ however was probably a 4 foot barracuda caught blind casting waiting for the tide - on a barbless hook without wire!! The guides said it was the biggest barracuda that had been caught on a fly rod.

I did try for a sail fin with a fly rod in the lee of Desroches when the wind was bad. We raised 5-6 over the two trips and came very close to hooking one of them. I did hook several bonito and yellowfin on the fly and those the sharks didn’t take, we ate as sushi that evening!

Best
Peter, UK

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN THE SEYCHELLES INCLUDING DESROCHES ISLAND, ALPHONSE ISLAND AND FARQUHAR ISLAND PLEASE CONTACT US +44 (0)1621743711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk

Fly fishing in New Zealand - Hosted Week 1 Report

The past week has been spent down in Southland New Zealand fishing the mighty waters of the district for its wild brown trout. Southland has many famous rivers with fish good average size of around 3-4lb.  In the summer this region is particularly famous for its dry fly fishing with willow grubs and tussock cicadas forming the main prey for these trout. These are easily imitated by the fly angler and provide exciting dry fly fishing requiring precise presentation. The willow grubbing fish in particular test the anglers casting skills to the limit.

The clients on this trip managed to experience both of these unique dry fly fishing experiences with many first's. Ian Swan landed his first New Zealand trout on his first morning's fishing which also proved to be a personal best - his largest brown trout.

I spent a day with Paul Procter on one of the regions famous rivers and we had a blue skyway which would normally mean at this time of year that the fish would be feeding hard on cicadas. However the cold January had delated the insects activity and the fish did not even raise an eyebrow out our imitations. Luckily they were feeding hard subsurface on Paul's nymph imitations fooled many fish. The quality of several of these fish (2 fish over 7lb) were superb. We finished off the day with two fish off the top with a blowfly pattern.

While the fish weren't on cicada early in the week on our last day in Southland the weather ensured they were. I lovely warm New Zealand summers day saw the fish out and on taking cicadas off the top. There is nothing better than watching a large brown trout sat in a feeding lane taking these large insects. They will move a long way, often several meters,  in order to take their prey. We found many fish this day feeding in this way and John and Sarah Hodgkin both managed their personal best trout of 6lb and 7lb respectively.

Today we move up to the McKenzie District where the cicada fishing should be in full swing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN NEW ZEALAND PLEASE CALL US ON +44 (0) 1621743711 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.FLYODYSSEY.CO.UK OR EMAIL US AT: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk

Fly fishing Coyhaique, Chile - Client report

Chile is one of our most popular trout destinations and the wilderness surrounding the Coyhiaque in Southern Patagoinia offers a hugely diverse array of opportunties for fly fishing for trout of various species. Spring creeks, glacial lakes and freestone rivers provide a different location to fish each day and the lack of population makes you appreciate this vast wilderness. We received some nice feedback from Jon who has fished this region the past 3 years.

Dear Mat,

 

Thank you for organising my trip to Chile, it all went off very well.

 

The flights were trouble free and to schedule. The weather was very settled, but it settled on being windy, blue skies and dry, but windy, very windy – for the full fortnight – but one should expect this for Patagonia. Consistently windy, but not as extreme as some of the weather as you’ve had here.

 

Sebastian Galilea, the whole lodge, and the guides all looked after me very well. The number of guests has increased year on year from me being the sole guest in 2010 to there  being a few other guests, and some of them anglers, every night this year, but they were all pleasant folk.

 

I fished a couple of the glacial lakes in the first few days, but the wind made boating a little too difficult, so happily spent the rest of the time wading the wide variety of rivers. I caught fish, some good fish, a lot of fish, and on some days a lot of good fish.

 

Unfortunately my snaps have turned out to be very mediocre. Attached is a picture of an early cantaria beetle – they should be fully emerged when Peter gets there. Also attached is a spring creek brown and picking some pocket water.

 

I can’t deny I was disappointed that Sebastian Letalier is not guiding this year, but overall it was a very good trip, 15 days fishing was all too short. 3 days back at work and I’m ready to go fishing again.

 

I hope you had a good Christmas, and wish you all the best for the New Year.

 

Yours aye,

Jon

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN CHILE PLEASE CONTACT US ON +44 (0) 1621743 711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk