“SERVING THE ANGLER WHO TRAVELS” Report Newsletter - February 2… · Matthew Bowes Philip E....

THE ANGLING REPORT February 2007 Vol. 20, No. 2

“SERVING THE ANGLER WHO TRAVELS”

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

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SUPPORT OURCORPORATE SPONSERS

IN THIS ISSUEHonduras

Getting A Handle OnMango Creek Lodge

PAGES 10 - 11

AlaskaUpdate On Ugladux

In The AleutiansPAGES 12 - 13

Subscriber-Written ReportsPanama, Chile, Louisiana,

Turks & Caicos, Mexico, OregonPAGES 13 -17

Yucatan PeninsulaFirst-Hand Report OnMexico’s Isla Holbox

PAGES 4 - 6

New ZealandThis Company Focuses

On Remote FishingPAGES 6 - 8

US WestA Follow-Up Report On

Fee-Based ItinerariesPAGES 8 - 10

$5

DATELINE: CHILE

Trip-Planning FileNew Luxury Mothership:

An On-Site Report(Editor Note: Just about every major flyfishing publication in the world is going tobe publishing on-site reports soon aboutthe spectacular new Nomads of the Seasmothership operation in Chile. Here’s the‘real skinny’ on that trip from Angling Re-port correspondent Hugh Gardner, who wasamong the press dignitaries invited alongon a check-out trip in December.)

his past December I had therare and privileged opportu-nity to represent The An-

gling Report in Chile on an inauguralmedia tour of Patagonia trout fishingaboard the new custom-built luxurycruiser Atmosphere, mothership of thehigh-tech Nomads of the Seas opera-tion featuring jetboating and helicop-tering into inaccessible, un-fishedwaters by day, while enjoying five-star gourmet dining and cruising bynight. In a word, wow!

Nomads is the brainchild and petproject of Andres Ergas, a 40-year-oldbanker, hotelier and importer (the

Ergas corporate group is said to beone of the most powerful in Chile).Ergas is also a pilot, adventurer andfly fishing explorer, and he hasworked on his Nomads vision foryears. He’s spent untold millionsbuilding a state-of-the-art “smallship” with the world’s best safety,communications and logistical capa-bilities. Atmosphere was just commis-

sioned this fall after months of shake-down cruises exploring new territoryand conducting training exerciseswith crew and guides.

Ergas is also something of a Chil-ean Jacque Cousteau, who has incor-porated every imaginable eco-friendly feature into his operation andreached out to the scientific commu-

nity to conduct scientific research atthe same time he is hosting interna-tional tourists aboard his vessel. Hewas with us on board our four-daycruise, along with a contingent of no-table flyfishing experts (mostly writ-ers and photographers) from the US,France, England and Japan, includingcelebrities like Mel Krieger and DaveWhitlock. There were perhaps 22guests, served by a crew of 32.

Also with us was a contingent ofcetacean experts who were there toobserve the 15 species of whales andporpoises that are found in thePatagonian Pacific. The Nomads op-eration, by the way, is expected tohave great appeal to bird watchers,well-heeled trekkers and ecotouristsof just about every stripe. There arewell over 100 species of birds uniqueto the area, incredible snow-cappedvolcanoes and a vast wilderness ofvirgin maritime forests and islands.The scenery is simply stunning.

About the boat itself, it would beimpossible to say too much. It truly isbrand-new and state-of-the-art in ev-ery respect, a technical wonder to be-hold and experience. Crew and staffare the very best. The cabins aregreat, the Chilean wines outstandingand the food service sets new stan-dards for international fly fishing andecotourism travel. There are even salt-water whirlpools and a masseuse onboard. Talk about end-of-days - No-mads really does produce a kind ofheaven on water!

Perhaps the most remarkable thingis how Nomads puts a fly fisher’smost feverish winter daydreams to-gether into one fantastic package. Ihave heli-fished before, but neverfrom a floating launching pad able tomove 100 miles at night to an en-tirely new watershed for breakfast. Ihave jet-boated up wild rivers before,

www.simmsfishing.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/index

-2-February 2007 Volume 20, Number 2

THE ANGLING REPORT

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Mel Toponce

but never been dropped off andpicked up in minutes from a floatingfive-star hotel. I’ve been on luxurycruises before, but never with this de-gree of attention to fly-fishing and

never with better camaraderie. Andnever before have I seen eveningslide shows set to music of group ad-ventures that very day. Each guide isequipped with a digital camera and


THE ANGLING REPORTthe best scenes are compiled duringdinner, a true innovation, and eachguest gets a CD of their experience.

But we’re here to talk fishing, sohow was it? As Dickens might put it,it was both the best of times and theworst of times, in terms of results, butmagnetic and electrifying every stepof the way.

After boarding at Puerto Montt, aseaport serving The Lakes Region ofsouth-central Chile, we recoveredfrom our flights in dinner hospitalityand a soundless overnight sleep, wak-ing up next morning near the mouthof the Rio Tic Toc, perhaps the size ofthe Snake River in Idaho. My groupwent off at high speeds along thecoast, then up to its source lake, andfour major tributary rivers which flowinto it. Motorized dories had alreadybeen choppered in, and each sub-group set off along the lakeshore, orup one of its tributaries, high andswollen but relatively clear. My ownboat caught a few rainbows of moder-ate size (anglers in both of the otherboats caught more and bigger fish),and on the lake, one boat did espe-cially well casting to the reeds nearshore. Over lunch, we rendezvousedlakeside for a shore lunch builtaround fresh-grilled meats. Thatevening’s meals were terrific and thefun uproarious, especially when theday’s activities were fed back to uswith a professional-grade digitalslideshow carefully synched to heroicU-2 music.

The next day found us 85 milessouth, near the estuary of the RioYelcho. The main river was high andmuddy, again about the size of theSnake or Missouri rivers. Our only re-alistic alternatives were hiking upspring-creek tributaries for mostlysmallish browns and rainbows, in-cluding, I think, some slinky steel-head smolts. The setting could nothave been more magnificent, with anenormous volcano and one of theplanet’s most astonishing landscapeslooming over us. Gentle rains on landgot fierce with winds on the open sea.It was a tough jet-boat ride coming

home in leaky waders, but worth ev-ery discomfort to experience one ofthe most beautiful places on earth.

Our third day on the Atmosphere,my fishing fortunes changed dramati-cally as two groups of us were flownin (on separate flights) to an Andeanlake where dories had again beenbrought in by helicopter in advance.This lake has a name, but I’ll just callit Lago Cielo (“Heavenly Lake”). Theformula was classic Chilean streamerfishing with heavy fast-sink lines andrubber-legged buggers or bunny-flieson the tippet.

The famous names with us, in-cluding Krieger and girlfriend Rhea,Whitlock and wife Emily, photogra-pher Jeff Lipsky of Outside Magazine,William Daniel of Britain’s FamousFishing, Julien Lajournade from Voy-

ages des Peches magazine in France,Bill Higashi of Japan’s Fly Fishermagazine, and several other stars - allagreed that in terms of size and num-bers, this was the best day of browntrout fishing we had ever had. Emilyastonished the sinking-line men bycatching big browns on the surfacewith Dave’s classic mouse pattern.Rhea astonished everyone by landingsix freshwater clams, which closed onher fly while dragging the bottom. Itwas just a lucky accident, but Ilanded the biggest brown on myguide Ricardo’s rubber-legged pat-tern, about three kilos. Normally, anangler tips his guide, but in this in-stance I got one of Ricardo’s hand-carved wooden fly-boxes for “fish ofthe trip” (these gorgeous boxes of rarenative hardwoods are available fromNomads for $100).

The best time to come fishing inPatagonia is not when I was there,early summer in South America,equivalent to spring runoff in theRockies or Pacific Northwest. The pri-mary season is late summer throughearly fall, just like the US in reverse(February through April). Assumingspring periods work the same there,too, the late spring, pre-runoff periodthere (September/October) shouldalso be good. I would like to fishthese great rivers again in prime time,when they’re low enough to read.

But just like in Montana or Colo-rado, when the rivers are muddy,quiet Chilean lakes are full of fish, ifyou know what you’re doing. Andeven if the Nomads folks were still inexploring mode during my trip, theyknew what they were doing. I learneda lot about catching lunkers on sink-ing lines while there. Who can criti-cize one of these great guides for notlining up the boat too well on a wildriver for weak gringo casting whenthey’ve never rowed it before?

It’s hard to describe the experi-ence of flying over this untamed“cold jungle” wilderness just feet offthe ground, but for me that was evenbetter than my trophy brown. Thereare few wilderness areas in Alaska,and none in the Lower 48, so impen-etrable and trackless as this, and nonemore beautiful.

I suppose the bottom-line ques-tion is: “Is the trip worth what itcosts?” That’s a pretty serious ques-tion when the weekly rates range fromabout $10,000 double occupancy fornon-fishing guests to about $15K fordouble-occupancy fishing. Single-oc-cupancy fishing runs upwards of$20K, even as high as $24K for a pre-mium cabin. As far as I know, this isthe most expensive ticket in fly fish-ing today.

The answer to the above questiondepends on one’s main interest, Ithink, and on the time of year onetakes the trip. The river fishing thatwas available on my abbreviated off-season trip was certainly not worth$15 to 20K a week, though I must ad-


THE ANGLING REPORT

I

mit Lago Cielo was in a class by it-self. I can catch fish like those Icaught on my trip a short drive frommy Colorado home, and similar bigboys in Montana or Oregon.

The fishing this operation will beable to provide should be much morespectacular in the coming months, ofcourse, as the rivers drop and clear.The salmon and steelhead now swim-ming the South Pacific (thanks totransplanting) also come up these riv-ers during the March-April period.The value of the trip at that time willcertainly be greater than in December.

Focusing on the fishing alone, tobe sure, is not doing justice to the ex-perience Andres Ergas has created.The overall wilderness experience…the luxury accommodations andfood… the splendid air and sea infra-structure… and the improbable juxta-position of all those elements makesthis an unparalleled experience forthe well-heeled traveler who does notget overly excited about a decimalpoint or two in the price of his (orher) pleasures.

I do have some quibbles about thetrip, to be sure, most of them in thearea of technical services to fly fish-ers. The Atmosphere could carry amuch better array of flyfishing equip-ment than it did in this instance, andthe boat’s “wet-room” for drying wad-ers and boots needs some improve-ment. Maybe a tying table should beadded on the main deck. And, aboveall, the boat should be set up to offerfresh-ground Starbucks-style coffeerather than the Nescafe-type instantcoffee that Argentina and Chile havetraditionally been cursed with, some-times made with roasted soy beans,for heaven’s sake!

All of that aside, what AndresErgas has created is far more than afishing experience; it’s more like adream come true in new realms of be-ing, the trip of a lifetime for fosteringnew dreams of tomorrow. The stars ofthis trip were not so much the fishingas the incredible landscape and theextraordinary team of professionalswho pamper you at every turn. What

is all that worth? Depending on yourpoint of view, this is possibly a price-less experience. – Hugh Gardner.(Postscript: You can read much moreabout the Nomads of the Sea opera-tion and/or book a trip on the Atmo-sphere by going to the company’sweb site, www.NomadsoftheSeas.com.Also, as we mentioned last month,Dave Parker of Orvis Travel is book-ing this trip. You can reach Parker at:800-547-4322.)

DATELINE: YUCATAN

First-Hand ReportThe Real Skinny OnMexico’s Isla Holbox

(Editor Note: We first told you about theemerging tarpon fishery at Isla Holbox inMexico in November 2005 (see Article No.1780). Well, here’s an update, thanks toManaging Editor Barbara Crown, who vis-ited and fished this area last month.)

sla Holbox (pronounced hôl-bosh) l ies off the coast ofMexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

about three hours north of Cancún. Itis a boomerang-shaped, 26-mile-long

sliver of sand and mangroves that isbecoming well known as a place to gofor tarpon and snook. I visited IslaHolbox early last month to check outthe new Holbox Fly Fishing Lodgethat Frontiers International (Tel. 800-245-1950. Web: www.frontierstravel.com) is representing on an exclusivebasis and to gain a better overall un-derstanding of this destination.

I’ll start by telling you about thelodge, which is in its first year of op-eration. In fact, it was still undergo-

ing renovations when my husbandand I were there. The villa sits about100 yards from the water’s edge on awhite sand beach. It’s a two-storystructure that originally featured twobedrooms and a shared bath. Whenwork is complete next month, it willhave five bedrooms, each with itsown private bath, and will be fully airconditioned.

The lodge will handle up to 10guests at a time. It has a large porchand terrace overlooking the beach,providing the perfect place to sit witha cold drink or nap in a hammock af-ter a day’s fishing. Although the airconditioning was not installed duringour stay, an ocean breeze kept us coolat night, and the sound of the surf car-ried up from the beach like a lullaby.When the renovations are finished,Isla Holbox Fly Fishing Lodge willbe a lovely, relaxing place to base afishing trip.

The lodge is owned by LaurenceJohn, who also owns and operatesJungle Tarpon Lodge in Costa Ricaand Great Alaska Adventure Lodgeon the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. It ismanaged by Luciano Govi, a trans-planted Italian who has lived andtraveled all over the world. He is agracious and most accommodatinghost, dedicated to making your stayas comfortable and successful as pos-sible. His very appearance, bare feetand Bermuda shorts, sets the tone ofthe place.

Laurence John picked Isla Holboxto build a lodge after scouring the en-tire northern coast of the YucatanPeninsula looking for a destinationthat would offer quality fishing in ad-dition to a unique environment. IslaHolbox is indeed a special place, andit is not for everyone. To start with,the place is completely un-commer-cialized. You won’t find any slick, so-phisticated shops, restaurants or ser-vices. No fancy shopping or glitzynightlife. What you find is a laid-back, casual and relaxed place wheretime slows down and nobody careswhat business you’re in or if youshow up barefoot for dinner. The


THE ANGLING REPORTstreets are packed sand, the localshaving rejected the government’s of-fer to pave the few roads in the tinytown of Holbox. The mode of trans-portation is by golf cart, bicycle orfoot. A population of 1,500 means ev-eryone knows everyone; and withonly 400 tourist beds on the island,even at full capacity the place is un-crowded and calm.

In the evening, people gather inthe town square, where the tiny townhall and police station are flanked by“mini supers” (mini marts), severalrestaurant bars and a couple of coffeeshops. There is an Internet café forthose who cannot completely breakaway from work. If you listen closely,you’ll hear numerous languages spo-ken by visitors from all over theworld. Some are expatriates like Goviwho settled on Isla Holbox to escapethe fast grind of life elsewhere. Al-though Isla Holbox is fairly new toAmericans, Europeans and well-to-doMexicans have been flocking here forthe last 10 years or so.

The ambience on Isla Holbox is abit like the ambience on Los Roquesbut a bit lower-keyed. It’s importantto know all this because most fishingpackages on Isla Holbox are sold withbreakfast and lunch included, but notdinner, which must be taken down-town. In that connection, there are anumber of restaurants on the islandserving mostly fresh seafood, basi-cally whatever was caught that day. Alobster dinner (two and half tailsgrilled) will run about $20. Grilledfish is as inexpensive as $6, and theportions tend to be generous. Besidesfishing, the activities one can takepart in include swimming with whalesharks, kite surfing, horseback riding,birdwatching, snorkeling and diving.The laid-back, beach-loving spousewho doesn’t fish will do just fine onIsla Holbox.

As for the fishing, the would-beclient needs to understand that allguiding on Isla Holbox is providedby one guiding operation calledHolbox Tarpon Club (www.holboxtarponclub.com). Operated by Alex

Vega Cruz, Holbox Tarpon Club has11 guides and uses 23-foot pangaswith new Yamaha outboards. Thecompany has been in business for 10years and works with various hotelsand agents, including Isla Holbox FlyFishing Lodge, which is the onlylodging operation on the island thatcaters strictly to anglers. The typicalfishing day begins at around 6 amand concludes about 3 pm.

There are three main fishing areasaround Isla Holbox. There’s an areanear the western end of the islandabout 30 minutes from the dockcalled simply Holbox. Back the otherway, about an hour’s boat ride fromthe dock, is a place called MosquitoPoint, where there’s a huge lagoonwith a myriad of backcountry creeksand pools. And then there’s Cabo

Catoche still farther east, about 1½hour’s ride from the dock dependingon conditions. Each area is a nurseryfor baby tarpon and snook that arepresent year round. There are alsothree rock piles offshore in water run-ning six to 20 feet deep where 60- to200-pound tarpon come through dur-ing the migration period from Aprilthrough August.

Since I was there in January, wewere looking primarily for baby tar-pon. I’d been told by Joe Codd atFrontiers and by other anglers whohad fished there, that the baby tarponare everywhere and eager to strike atjust about anything you throw atthem. An angler could expect onecasting opportunity after another. Un-fortunately, we had 20 mph winds onboth days we fished. To make thingsworse, we were there on the full

moon, which caused lower tides thanusual. Wind meant we needed to fo-cus on sheltered areas in thebackcountry. But the extra-low tidesmeant we couldn’t get the boat tomost of those sheltered spots.

Our guide, Darwin Vega Cruz,(Alex Vega Cruz’s brother) workedhard to find fish for us, but the firstday was a bust. We saw one smallsnook that followed my fly but didnot take. The second day, we gainedan hour on the tide and were able toget into a few sheltered creeks andpools. After poling about for a whileand blind casting under a partlyclouded sky, we finally saw a pod oftarpon breaking the surface. Wechased them for over an hour, occa-sionally losing them when cloudsmade it hard to see in the water. Wegot a few boils and some follows, butno hook-ups.

When those tarpon disappeared,we moved to another area, way backin the mangroves where we foundnumbers of baby snook from three tofive pounds. Again, we chased themaround for over an hour, playingpeek-a-boo with the cloud cover.Cruz called it quits just in time for usto putt-putt across a huge grass flatback to deeper water before the tidestranded us. Where we were fishing,the bottom was soft enough to suck awading angler down to his neck, sogetting out of the boat to do any wad-ing was not an option.

The fishing around Isla Holbox it-self is in open areas for the most partwhere the wind would not allow us tofind fish much less cast to them. Alonger boat ride could have put us inCabo Catoche, which is on theYucatan mainland. The water there isreportedly gin-clear and the baby tar-pon everywhere. But four to six-footswells in the open water made gettingthere impossible without gettingpounded for more than an hour.

In spite of the difficult conditions,we found Cruz’s boat-handling skillssuperb. He gave us as smooth a ride aspossible. It was also obvious that heknew the waters intimately, knowing


THE ANGLING REPORTexactly when to slow down due to arocky bottom and when and how farthe tide would go out in each area. Hewas also quite knowledgeable aboutfly fishing and the quarry we were af-ter. He checked all our leaders andtold us which flies would work bestwhere we were and when we shouldchange them. We brought a selectionof flies in mostly No. 2/0 and 3/0, in-cluding Cockroaches, Black Deaths,Lefty’s Deceivers and others we or-dered through Frontiers’ tackle part-ner, 7 Days Outdoors (Tel. 800-470-1232. Web: www.7daysoutdoors.com).

So, would I return to Isla Holbox?Yes, definitely. I knew we were takinga chance going there during the win-ter when wind could be a problem,and it was. But it’s easy to see the po-tential of the area. The optimal fish-ing time here is from April to Septem-ber, with fishing for the big tarponbest from May through August. No-vember through March can be windy,but the baby tarpon are there.

A seven-night/six-day packagethrough Frontiers runs $2,495 per per-son based on double occupancy and ashared boat and guide. Single occu-pancy is $3,995. A five-day/four-night package is $1,795. That in-cludes accommodations, pick up andreturn to Cancun, boat transfers fromthe mainland to Isla Holbox, openbar, breakfast, lunch and guided fish-ing. Dinners are on your own in town.Govi made excellent recommenda-tions to us, and all the restaurants area mere five-minute walk from thelodge. – Barbara V. Crown.(Postscript: I would be remiss if I didnot tell you that other agents booktrips to Isla Holbox, lodging their cli-ents in various hotels and utilizingthe guide service provided by HolboxTarpon Club. Both Yellow DogFlyfishing Adventures (406-585-8667) and Angling Destinations (307-672-6894) can arrange hotel accom-modations and fishing on the island.The Hotel Faro Viejo (www.faroviejoholbox.com), which is located on thebeach, also offers fishing packages.)

I

DATELINE: NEW ZEALAND

FREE Fishing ReportThis Company Focuses

On Remote Fishing(Editor Note: We recently sent Online Extrasubscriber Frank Perkins on a FREE fish-ing trip to New Zealand’s Canterbury Re-gion to fish remote high country rivers. Allhe had to do in return was file this detailedreport on the fishing and services providedby his host, Backcountry New Zealand. Seebox on page 7 for more information on ourFREE Fishing Program.)

have fished New Zealand sev-eral times with various lodges,so I was looking forward to a

different kind of experience when theAngling Report selected me for aFREE Fishing Trip with Backcountry

New Zealand (E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.backcountry.co.nz). This company is an out-door adventure outfitter specializingin fly fishing, hunting and corporateincentive travel. Nigel Birt is thehead guide, and he and Liam Taylormanage the operation. The companyis based in Methven, a small townroughly an hour’s drive from Christ-church on the South Island at the baseof the Southern Alps.

The trip they offered was for threedays of guided fishing on remote riv-ers in the Canterbury high country.Access was to be by 4wd vehicle, andI was to stay in backcountry cabins(or huts, as New Zealanders call them)and fish nearby freestone streams for“medium-sized” brown and rainbowtrout. The plan changed, however,when I arrived with fishing buddy

Bill Potter in early December to findunsettled spring weather. That meantthe weather and water conditions inany given watershed could be poor.So the folks at Backcountry NewZealand suggested something thatwould give us more flexibility inchoosing rivers with the best condi-tions each day rather than committingourselves to a specific cabin locationfor several days. The logic seemedgood to me, and I concurred withtheir judgment. I had them put us upat the Beluga Lodge (www.beluga.co.nz), where I had stayed on a previoustrip, and our guide, Al Kircher, pickedus up each morning in his Land Roverfor an off-road drive up into thebackcountry.

Each day, we drove to a differentriver. Rides were about 1½ to twohours long, but they were scenic, in-teresting and surprisingly comfort-able. Even anglers with a bad backwould do fine on these drives. De-spite the travel time, we had ampletime for fishing, as Kircher was in nohurry to return to town in theevening. Our first day, we fished agood size stream that was wadeable inselected places. It had braided chan-nels and a gravel bed with lots ofopen areas with gravel or sand bars.The other rivers were smaller. Onewas a medium-size stream in a scenicarea with big limestone bluffs on bothsides. The third was a small waterwayin a shielded area, which we fished ona particularly windy day.

The fishing was typical of NewZealand, meaning sight casting tolarge but wary fish. We walked be-hind Kircher at a good pace, coveringperhaps five miles a day. Most of thatwas easy walking on gravel or sandbanks, but occasionally we had to dosome scrambling. We had to makefairly long and accurate casts in thewind, with Kircher coaching us intothe right casting position. The fishwere extremely selective, requiringeight to 10 fly changes to get a take.Occasionally, a fish would look at ourflies before rejecting them, but moreoften than not they just plain ignored


THE ANGLING REPORTthem. Even Kircher was surprised athow selective they were, having usstick to more or less the same fly butjust a different size or color. Wefished with nymphs under a dry as anindicator and 12- to 15-foot leaders,increasing the challenge of accuratecasting.

We did not catch many fish, butthat also is fairly typical of this desti-nation. Hook-ups were scarce, and be-ing out of practice meant losing someof the fish that did take. But almostevery fish we cast to was a nice 16-incher or better. Kircher did not putus on small fish. Of the fish wecaught, they were mostly five pound-ers. We fished for both rainbows andbrowns and managed to catch morerainbows on this trip.

Kircher was a delight. In additionto guiding for both fishing and hunt-ing, he operates a specialized outdoorclothing and equipment manufactur-ing company, and he installs fencingand does other handy work on areafarms. That means he knows everycorner of the region and everyonewho lives there. He is an aggressiveoff-road driver and will entertain youwith tales of his adventures in thebackcountry. Importantly, he couldmake real-time choices of fishingvenues based on the present and pre-dicted weather and took us to care-fully selected rivers each day. Heknew every rock, nook and crannyand where every fish would be.Kircher was energetic, well spokenand just plain fun. He was willing tofish as long as we wanted and packedgood lunches for a mid-day break.When we were too tired to walk backto the truck, he would hike out him-self and drive off-road to pick us up.

The places we fished were nomi-nally accessible by other anglers, al-though we often went through lockedgates for which Kircher had keys. An-gling pressure was not at all a prob-lem, as we never saw another fisher-man. The areas we fished thus seemedsufficiently isolated, although wewere fishing in the early season whenthere are fewer anglers out. Later in

January is when most locals would beon the water.

So how does this trip rate against

my previous lodge-based trips? In myexperience, the fishing is similar andboth can involve lengthy drives in

search of clean water and light winds.But they are different experiences.The folks at Backcountry New Zea-land were efficient and adaptable. Be-cause they are not tied into any oneplace as a base of operations, theywere able to change our trip to over-come changing conditions. Also, wewere originally supposed to fish withanother guide who became il l .Kircher seamlessly substituted forhim. He was on time every day, andthere were no flaws in the logistics ofthe trip. I would gladly recommendthem to anybody.

On a more general note, due to thespecialized fishing, I would adviseanglers planning a trip to New

that includes: unlimited access toour custom-searchable, 5,000-pagedatabase of subscriber reports andpreviously published articles; early-bird electronic delivery of yournewsletter each month; and accessto periodic news bulletins of impor-tance to anglers who travel. At leastone of those bulletins each monthwill describe a FREE fishing oppor-tunity, and it will invite you to tellus why we should select you to takeadvantage of it.

Sound like fun? Well, what areyou waiting for? Sign up right nowfor Online Extra and get on the listof people invited to go fishing free.The easiest way to sign up is to goto our web site, www.anglingreport.com, and click on “Upgradeto Online Extra.” Or, you can call usat 800-272-5656. Just be sure, whenyou sign up, you send us an e-mailaddress that you check often. Also,be sure your spam filter is set lowenough to let our bulletins getthrough. Enjoy! – Don Causey, Edi-tor/Publisher.(Postscript: Online Extra subscribersnow also get invited to review top-quality fishing tackle and then keepit. See our web site for details.)

The Angling Report has alwaysvalued feedback from its subscrib-ers. And the reasons are clear. Forone thing, Angling Report sub-scribers are some of the world’smost experienced fishermen. Hencetheir judgments about places arebroad-based and sound. On top ofthat, most subscribers’ insights ontrips have a refreshingly candid airabout them. That’s because they arewritten from a point of view that noother publication embodies –namely, the paying client point ofview.

So, here’s the deal. We have de-cided to take part of the money weused to spend on professional writ-ers and give it to fishing profes-sionals who are brave enough tohave their services critiqued by An-gling Report subscribers. Already,we have published more than adozen subscriber-written “Free-Fishing” reports, and our plan is toput an Angler/Correspondent on astream somewhere each month.

To be considered for the “job”of Angler/Correspondent, all youhave to do is upgrade your sub-scription to Online Extra. The costis only $2 a month for a service

Want To Go Fishing Free?All About Our Free-Fishing Program


THE ANGLING REPORTZealand to fish several differentplaces, whether with a couple oflodges or guide services like Back-country New Zealand. That way youwill be exposed to more country andtypes of waters. Keep in mind thatNew Zealand is probably the mostspecialized fishing you will ever en-counter, and is not a good place forsomeone who wants to fish indepen-dently. – Frank Perkins.(Postscript : Backcountry NewZealand offers several all-inclusivepackages. A six-day/five-night triplike Perkins’ with accommodations incabins, farm stations or motels is$2,750 per person for two anglers.Eight days and seven nights is$3,675. A trip targeting high-countryspring creeks and freestone rivers forseven days and six nights is $3,995,based on two anglers. And a seven-day floattrip using tent camps and abed and breakfast goes for $5,975 perperson, based on two anglers.)

I

SPECIAL REPORT

Trip-Planning FileA Follow-Up Report On

Fee-Based Itineraries(Editor Note: Last month we told you allabout Claudio Tagini’s fee-based approachto planning a trip out West, and we prom-ised to follow that report up by publishingone of his fee-based itineraries. Well, here itis. Tagini created it especially for us withthe following hypothetical angler in mind:a mid-50’s angler on a modest budget whois more interested in the overall experienceof fishing the American West than in catch-ing particularly large fish or large numbersof fish. Moreover, the hypothetical anglerwants to explore remote, scenic parts ofWyoming, preferably focusing on on-your-own dry fly fishing. Just be aware that thewritten report here is a truncated version ofwhat a paid client would get. An actualpaid itinerary would include the names andphone numbers of all hotels, rental carcompanies, etc. Moreover, it would containa detailed map, and it would come in ahandsome notebook. Guided fishing daysand/or agreed-upon floattrips would alsobe all paid for, with the costs added to asingle final bill submitted by Tagini to theclient. All the paid client would have to dois follow instructions from day to day and

enjoy himself. For the sake of those who didnot see the previous report, it is importantto point out that Tagini is an Italian an-gler/booking agent who now lives in the USand creates fee-based fishing itinerariesmostly for European clients. Fee-based trip-planning is the norm in Europe. The down-side is, the client has to pay a fee. The up-side is, the payment of a fee by the clientinsures that the agent is working for the cli-ent, not the guide/outfitter/lodge commu-nity. Tagini created the itinerary below freeof charge for The Angling Report becausehe wants to gauge the reaction of Americanclients to fee-based trip planning. He wantsto know what you think. And so do we.Tagini’s contact details appear at the endof his report, along with ours. Enjoy!)

t was actually quite easy for meto create an itinerary for the hy-pothetical angler you asked me

to help, as I only had to think about afishing trip for myself. I am, after all,

about the same age as your hypotheti-cal angler, and I like mostly on-your-own trout fly fishing. Moreover I of-ten travel on a modest budget.

My main problem in creating thisitinerary was, I needed to know moreabout our hypothetical angler’s par-ticular likes and dislikes. What kindsof waters does he (or she) prefer?What kind of food? If our hypotheti-cal angler had been a real person, Iwould have found out all of this. Ulti-mately, I fell back on creating thekind of trip I would like in this part ofthe West. In the course of doing that,I strayed a bit from the geographicalarea you told me to focus on. Here isthe proposed itinerary:Friday July 27, 2007: Arrive late af-ternoon/early evening at Idaho FallsAirport. Complimentary shuttle to

Shilo Inn, where the rental car is wait-ing. Shilo Inn has many amenities:view of City Park (where the SnakeRiver flows gently towards the fallsfor which the city is named); indoorheated pool; sauna and exerciseroom; bar and restaurant, where thebuffet breakfast is served (included).The All Season Angler fly shop is notfar from the Inn. For dinner, the Sand-piper, next door, has great food and adecent wine selection. Many otherrestaurants to suit any taste and pock-etbook are within a few blocks.Saturday July 28, 2007: Approxi-mately one-hour drive to lodging andanother 15 minutes to trailhead, bor-dering a neat stream (Editor Note:Tagini says he does not want to namethis stream in a publication with gen-eral circulation, as it cannot sustainthe kind of pressure that might result.The name would be given to a payingcustomer, however.) The hike is notstrenuous and there is no hurry any-way, as the Gray Drake hatch was in-vented by God just for gentlemen: Itnever occurs before mid-morning.Nice riffles and small pools can bereached within 15 to 20 minutes. Thebest stretches require a 30- to 45-minute hike.

Not in the mood to hike? Travelanother 20 miles or so to reachMcCoy and Bear creek and fish forwild spotted Snake River cutthroat.These streams, on the Idaho/Wyo-ming border, are the spawninggrounds for large cutts that come upfrom the Palisades Reservoir inspring. By late June or July, whenthese streams become fishable, thelarger fish have already returned tothe reservoir. However, some nice,pan-size fish remain. Beautiful, pris-tine and without crowds – these arestreams where angling success is notmeasured by the size of the fish andquantity, although the latter is cer-tainly not lacking. McCoy is almostall reachable by car. Bear Creek canbe accessed by car only in a smallsection near the forest road.

Dinner: Choose between dinerswith wholesome home-style cooking,


THE ANGLING REPORT

-

a nice grill or five-star dining at thenearby South Fork Lodge.Sunday July 29, 2007: One couldeasily spend a week fishing the area,alternating between these three re-mote streams, or take a 35-mile sideexcursion to Victor, Idaho, to fish oneof the many streams that flow westinto Idaho from Wyoming’s GrandTeton range. Moose Creek, the mostsoutherly, has a foot trail upstream,starting elevation, 6,950 feet, arrivingabout four miles later at Moose Creekmeadows, elevation 7,650 feet. TetonCreek is another pretty creek – a fewmiles further north, just past Driggs.Also well worth the effort, althoughrequiring a much longer drive, areRobinson, Fall and Bechler inYellowstone Park, not to mentionSquirrel or Conant creeks.Monday July 30, 2007: Weekdaysare the best time to fish the GraysRiver. Drive about 30 to 40 miles(road half paved; the rest is gravel)and you’ll find some nice spots alongthis pretty cutthroat stream. GraysRiver flows northward in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, where it isjoined by the Little Grays, anothergreat stop. From here, the Grays Riverflows west, paralleling the last milesof the Snake River. The two streamsmeet near Alpine, Wyoming, wherethey both enter Palisades Reservoir.Tuesday, July 31: Return to GraysRiver in the am to fish those rifflesleft untouched yesterday. In the after-noon, drive toward Jackson along thescenic Snake River Canyon. Take adetour to the right on Highway 191toward Pinedale, following theHoback River (too often snubbed butworth fishing) prior to arriving at thelodge in Jackson. Dinner: Endlesschoices: sushi; Italian; affordable,family-oriented diners, such as TetonSteak House on Pearl Street; a livelylocal brewery/restaurant. Or fine din-ing at The Grill at Amangani.Wednesday August 1, 2007: Earlierthe better start this am for openingday at Flat Creek. Leave the stretchesclose to the highway and the FlatCreek Hatchery as far behind as pos-

sible. Bring a thermos with hot coffee,as early mornings at well over 6,000feet are often on the cool side. Dressin layers, as it can get pretty hot bylater morning when the sun rises overthe 10,000-plus-foot Table and SheepMountains to the east. You will needdrinking water also. Fish with a lightrod (4 weight maximum), long leaderand a fine tippet. With even moderateskill, by lunchtime you should have asatisfied grin.

For the late afternoon, from FlatCreek’s Hatchery Road, drive northnine miles to Moose Junction, thenturn left on Teton Park Road andcross the bridge over the Snake River.Even though it isn’t “remote,” onemight want to stop and fish the pro-ductive spot where CottonwoodCreek enters the Snake River. Or,

travel another four miles or so further,turn right on Cottonwood Creek Road(unpaved, so a high-clearance 4wd isrecommended). Continue on this roadfor quite a while until you spot obvi-ous trails descending steeply into theriverbed below. This area is aptlycalled “Frustration Ponds.” The fish-ing here is technical, so the average-skill angler will have to sweat it out abit. However, once you figure out theright fly and manage to deliver it witha nice drag-free presentation, you canhook some nice-size trout here. Be-cause of the difficulties, both of theterrain and the fishing itself, it is ad-visable to hire a local guide to fishthis spot, at least the first time. Sug-gestions available on request.Thursday August 2, 2007: A guidedfloattrip on the Snake River offers a

change of pace, and a different typeof fishing with the spectacular back-drop of the Tetons against a blue sky.Note: This must be booked in ad-vance. Or, fish in relative solitude onthe Gros Ventre River, not far north ofJackson. I know of a few remote spotswhere a dedicated fisherman cancatch cutthroat from 15 to 20 incheson a dry fly.Friday August 3, 2007: Between theGros Ventre River and FrustrationPonds, nice fishing can be found inrelatively remote areas, not far fromvery public ones. The remote Mooseand Teton creeks (see Sunday) are ap-proximately 25 and 45 miles fromJackson, respectively. The GraysRiver is about 45 miles to the South.Saturday August 4, 2007: While inthe area, a floattrip to some remotebraids of the South Fork of the Snakewould be a grand finale. Note: Thismust be booked in advance. Or, fishyour way back to Idaho Falls:Hoback, back to the stream fished thefirst day, or take the back road to fishMoose Creek.Sunday August 5, 2007: Since flightsfrom Idaho Falls Airport usually de-part fairly early, photograph yourrental car. If any ding shows up whenthe agency picks it up, you’re cov-ered. Take the complimentary shuttleto the airport.

The cost of all this is $1,800(single); or $1,000 each for two per-sons. That sum covers my fee, lodg-ing, small car rental, detailed mapswith easy directions to the best fish-ing spots, hatch chart for local watersand a list of reliable fly-shops, outfit-ters/guides and restaurants. If yousubstitute the small car with an SUV(recommended if you want to go toFrustration Ponds or drive unpavedroads on the Teton west slope), add$230 to the trip’s cost. Not includedare: travel to/from Idaho Falls; gaso-line; meals; fishing licenses; fishinggear; anything else not expresslymentioned, including guided fishingand/or floattrips. – Claudio Tagini.(Postscript: If you would like to giveTagini some feedback on his pro-


THE ANGLING REPORTposed itinerary, or contact him abouta custom itinerary for yourself, he can

be reached at: [email protected]. Web: www.awatravel.net. You can

Briefly NotedThings To Do... Places To Go... New Developments

copy us on your e-mail communicationby cc-ing: [email protected].)

So, is it safe for Americans to gofishing in Cuba now that the Demo-crats have taken control of the USHouse and Senate? We’re hearing thatsome anglers have jumped to thatconclusion. After all, it was Republi-can lawmakers, especially those withCuban-American constituencies, whosupported President Bush’s efforts totighten the economic screws on theisland nation. Democrats have tradi-tionally had a more lax attitude aboutthe Cuban sanctions.

We ran this idea by the TreasuryDepartment’s Office of Foreign AssetsControl (OFAC) at press time, and thefeedback is worth noting. OFACspokesperson Molly Millerwise toldus the change of guard in Washingtonhas not resulted in the Treasury De-partment being ordered to do any-thing different as regards the enforce-ment of economic sanctions againstCuba. The sanctions originate in theState Department, by the way; theTreasury Department is simply man-dated to carry them out.

“There are no changes to the em-bargo itself, nor anything that wouldinvoke a relaxation of economic sanc-tions,” is the way Millerwise put it.“As far as anglers are concerned, it isbusiness as usual.”

Indeed, as this is written, Ameri-cans who have traveled to Cubathrough a third country continue tobe hit with civil penalties. If youcheck out the Civil Penalties Actionsand Enforcement Information postedto the OFAC web site (http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/), you’ll find that OFAC col-lected $52,579 last year from indi-viduals who violated the sanctions.While two of those cases were for pur-chasing Cuban cigars over theInternet, the rest were for spendingmoney on food and lodging in Cuba

between 2000 and 2005. That’s a lotless than was collected in 2005 (awhopping $617,494!) but sti l lenough to warrant your attention.We’ll keep you posted.

Remember that humanitarian re-lief project on Christmas Island thatwe told you about in the November2005 issue? Subscriber GeorgeMaybee, you’ll recall, was organizingan effort called Friends of ChristmasIsland with the intent to provideneeded medical supplies and servicesas well as safe drinking water to theresidents of this popular fishing desti-nation. Well, the first shipment of 15crates filled with medical equipment

and supplies was on its way to the is-land as we went to press. Maybee ex-pected the shipment to arrive by thefirst week of this month.

Both Maybee and Brian Gies ofFly Water Travel (800-552-2729),who is helping Maybee spearheadthis project, were on Christmas Islandcoordinating the relief effort as wewent to press. They promised to sendus an update upon their return. Hereat The Angling Report, we applaudthis effort and encourage anglers wholove Christmas Island and would liketo help the people there to get in-volved with Maybee’s organization.You can contact Maybee at 303-655-

9831. E-mail: at [email protected].

Exactly what is the story onMango Creek Lodge on the island ofRoatan in Honduras? We’ve men-tioned the place several times overthe years, and have asked repeatedlyfor subscriber feedback from anyonewho actually goes there to wet a line.Well, Angling Report President/Pub-lisher Don Causey spent an afternoonthere in late December and has this tosay about Mango Creek:

“The so-called Bay Islands off theeast coast of Honduras – Roatan,Utilla and Guanaja - are up there withthe most striking places in all of LatinAmerica. The mountainous, heavilyforested islands rise sharply from theocean and have very irregular coast-lines. If it weren’t for the tropical foli-age and swarms of hummingbirds, theterrain would suggest coastal Maine.It’s not the sort of terrain one com-monly associates with flats speciessuch as tarpon, bonefish and permit.

“My first visit to the Bay Islandswas to the now-defunct La Posada delSol Lodge on Guanaja back in 1994. Iwas not impressed with the fishing atall. Seems La Posada back then fishedseveral over-pressured flats quitesome distance from the lodge, but fo-cused most of its efforts on a smallishflat right out front where it was com-mon practice for the guide to chumbonefish in range with handfuls of in-jured minnows. Spin fishing was thenorm.

“My experience at La Posada lefta bad impression of the Bay Islands asa fishing spot, and it has been an up-hill fight for me to consider the areaas anything more than a charming va-cation area. Now, after a brief visit toMango Creek Lodge on Roatan, I’mnot so sure what to think about theBay Islands. I had the opportunity to


THE ANGLING REPORTvisit Mango Creek briefly last monthwhen a cruise ship I was on made astop nearby.

“I made a point of visiting MangoCreek because the owner, Terry Kyle,has reportedly been working hard tostop the bonefish netting aroundRoatan. And, according to a report weran in 2004 from Jim Klug of YellowDog Flyfishing, his efforts have metwith some success. Klug describedRoatan back then as having ‘tremen-dous potential.’

“Indeed, based on the quick lookI had, Mango Creek is the kind ofplace a laid-back angler would enjoy.The cabanas where you stay are builtright out over the water so you canhear waves lapping as you drift off tosleep. There is an unhurried air aboutthe place – a sort of fish-when-you-want schedule. While I was there,much was being made of fishing fromkayaks, the pedal type that allow youto cover a lot of water very quickly.Kyle says he plans to encourage moreclients to fish from kayaks. In thatconnection, he plans to start arrang-ing all-day kayak trips that start withclients being dropped off with theirkayaks at likely fishing spots somedistance from the lodge.

“Most of the bonefishing atMango Creek is done by wading.Sturdy boots are a must here, as manyof the flats are covered with brokenpieces of coral. Grass flats predomi-nate, but that does not equate withmud on Roatan. Most of the flats arefirm and very wadeable, Kyle says,going on to note that the grass doesmean you need to bring no-weightflies, preferably weedless ones.

“The markedly unhurried andunregimented air about Mango Creekno doubt stems from the fact thatKyle is not interested in building abig fishing business around the retire-ment home he has created for himself.At most he wants to break even, hetold me, and create employment forthe many people who work for him. If,along the way, a fishing programhelps him conserve the area – includ-ing the bonefish – so much the better.

“The shortness of my stay pre-vented me from doing much morethan walk a flat out front of the lodgewhere almost all of the clients whocome to Mango Creek spend at leastsome time. Judging the quality of thebonefishing at Mango Creek on thebasis of what I saw on this one flat isunfair. In about an hour, I saw somethree dozen bonefish, some of themquite large. The fish did appear to bespooky, however. The client I walkedthe flat with had no luck at all entic-ing a strike while I was there.

“Kyle and his head guide, Terry,were quick to point out that the fishelsewhere around the island weremuch less spooky. And, due to theongoing effort to stop netting, thenumbers of fish are increasing. Agood angler, I was told, could catch

six, seven or more fish in a day.“What really whetted my interest

about Mango Creek was owner TerryKyle’s talk about permit and tarpon.Kyle admits openly that he is not asaltwater fisherman. His fishing back-ground is the Rocky Mountain West.Many of his clients come from that re-gion, too. The result is, I came awayconvinced Kyle does not fully under-stand the fishery around Roatan. Yes,he’s had some Grand Slams, he says.And any client who wants a tarpon ona given day usually gets one, he says.

“Pressed on the subject of tarpon,Kyle urged me to hurry with my mealso there would be time for him to takeme on a quick run to the eastern endof the island where he said there werenumerous channels flowing throughflooded mangroves. Along the way,

he pointed out various landmarks andpoints of historical interest, most ofthem revolving around the piratesthat once dominated the area. Thearea he took me to was perfect tarponhabitat. There were deep, fast-flowingrivers everywhere that emptied ontograssy flats. Apparently, it had notoccurred to Kyle that tarpon could bea major draw for his lodge. Season-ally, he says, some very big fish canbe caught. 30- to 40-pounders arecommon.

“Before I left, Kyle urged me tocome back, or send someone in mystead who could help him figure outjust how good the tarpon and permitfishery is around Roatan. As this issuegoes to press, I’ve proposed that heoffer a FREE Fishing Trip throughour Online Extra Program. If he does,I’ve promised to select an Online Ex-tra subscriber who has helped otherlodge owners figure out fisheries, orat the very least a very experiencedtarpon and permit angler. Online Ex-tra subscribers will know shortly if atrip has been offered.

“In the meantime, if my descrip-tion of Mango Creek intrigues you,the cost of a week-long stay here (sixdays fishing, seven nights) is a mod-est $2,180 double occupancy. That’sthe all-in cost for everything from ar-rival at the airport on Roatan, includ-ing booze. You can get more detailsby going to the lodge’s web site at:www.mangocreeklodge.com. The e-mail address is: [email protected]. For sure, there is a place on ourHonor Roll for the first subscriber tobook a week-long trip to MangoCreek and file a detailed report after-ward. See page two for details on ourHonor Roll Program.”

If you are planning to flyLufthansa to a fishing destinationthis year, you should know the airlinehas implemented some hefty new feesto transport fishing gear. Upon check-ing in at a Lufthansa counter in theUS or Canada for a flight to Europe,you could pay from $160 to $180 (de-pending on the gateway) each way to


THE ANGLING REPORTcheck in angling equipment weighingup to 33 pounds. The fee is part of anew baggage policy that calls forcharging excess baggage fees for allsporting equipment based on a com-plicated schedule determined by thekind of equipment checked in and thespecific flight route. Within Europe,the fee for transporting anglingequipment ranges from $25 to $50 US(20-40 Euros) depending on whichcountries you fly to and from. Youcan see the fee schedule at: www.lufthansa.com. (Click on “Informationand Services”, then “Excess and Spe-cial Baggage.”)

What makes this all complicatedis the fact that a number of reserva-tion agents we spoke with over thephone were unaware of the newpolicy. Some thought it only appliedin Europe. Application of the newpolicy appears to be spotty at thispoint, with some agents charging thehefty fees and others foregoing it. Ad-ditionally, if you connect to aLufthansa flight through another car-rier and check your bags through, thefee may be calculated differently bythe carrier you check in with.

To be fair, Lufthansa is not theonly airline that has started chargingextra fees for sporting equipment. AirCanada implemented a special feelast year for some hunting equipment,and has announced plans to begincharging for other sports gear as well.Currently, angling equipment is stillaccepted by Air Canada under thefree baggage allowance.

Clearly, new airline baggage poli-cies are going to make small travelrods more popular. They will alsolikely inspire some anglers to usebaggage-shipment services. We arelooking into those services now andwill have a report on them soon.

Continuing subscribers will re-member our reports about UgludaxLodge on Umnak Island, Alaska. Theplace is way out in the Aleutian Is-lands, beyond Dutch Harbor, near thevillage of Nikolski. Ugludax offersoffshore fishing for salmon and hali-

but, as well as salmon and DollyVarden angling in the various streamsand lakes that riddle the island. Thelodge was managed by MUM Alaskafor a number of years, but recentlycame under the control of the Aleu-tian Pribilof Island Community De-velopment Association, APICDA(www.apicda.com). A nonprofit orga-nization, the association developscommercial and sport fishing opera-tions in the Bering Sea and AleutianIslands with an eye towards enhanc-ing the long-term social and eco-nomic viability of coastal communi-ties. We checked in with APICDA’sDirector of Tourism George Weaver tolearn what the association was doingthese days with Ugludax Lodge.

Weaver says they are continuingto offer salmon and halibut fishing,

but have invested in a new charterboat for fishing in the open water.The new vessel is a 32 x 11-foot twindiesel cabin cruiser made locally inHomer, Alaska, and designed tohandle the waters around the island.Big halibut are a major draw of thearea. These fish are mostly pursuedwith heavy tackle, but he says theyare also offering halibut fishing onthe fly during a window of opportu-nity in August when the normallydeep-water fish follow the salmoninto the shallow water. Weaver admitsthis is a very specialized fishing withsinking tips and a large shrimp fly de-signed to get down deep. Persistentanglers can land 30- to 40-poundhalibut this way, he says.

For those who want to fish forreally big halibut, Weaver says theyare offering a $100,000 prize to the

angler who breaks the world halibutrecord while fishing with Ugludax.That record, by the way, is 459pounds and was caught in the regionaround Umnak Island.

You may soon be seeing a lotmore about Ugludax Lodge, asAPICDA is aggressively marketingthe place through various outlets, in-cluding numerous outdoor showsaround the country. They are evenworking with Football Hall of FamerLarry Czonka, host of the TV showNorth to Alaska. The fishing seasonstarts in May for Dolly Varden andhalibut. Halibut can be fished untilSeptember and Dollies into late Au-gust. Sockeye salmon show up in Julyand are available to late August.Pinks and silvers appear in early Au-gust, with the pinks running until lateSeptember and the silvers availableuntil October. A seven-day/six-nightall-inclusive package runs $2,900.That includes round-trip marine trans-portation from Dutch Harbor toNikolski, where anglers previouslyhad to shell out another $200-plus forair transportation. For more informa-tion, visit the lodge’s web site at:www.nikolskiadventures.com; or call888-430-8329.

And, finally, the angling commu-nity, particularly the fly fishingcatch-and-release community, tendsto be pretty blasé about the threat ani-mal rightists pose to the future ofhunting and fishing. The presumptionseems to be that fly fishermen are agentler group of people than hunters,who knock things down and kill themwith high-powered bullets. All flyfishermen do is entice fish to bite andthen waltz them around a bit beforesending them on their way. Whocould object to that?

Well, the truth is a growing num-ber of people object to fishing. More-over, some of the most vociferous op-ponents of fishing particularly objectto catch-and-release fishing. Ask anInuit what he thinks of “playing withyour food” the next time you go toAlaska. Ask an animal rightist how he


THE ANGLING REPORT

OUTFITTER CRITIQUES

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly(This section of The Angling Report is based entirely on subscriber-written Angler Network Forms. Our policy on these forms is we publish excerptsin the newsletter of Angler Network Forms as received and exert no censorship. Agents, guides, lodge operators and/or outfitters who disagree withanything said about them in this section are free to submit a rebuttal. Only paid subscribers may file Angler Network Forms or request printoutsof them. As a subscriber, you can help extend the reach of this program by filing an Angler Network Form yourself. You should have found oneinside this issue of your newsletter. For details on how to order printouts of Angler Network Reports, see Trip-Planning Database Service Box.)

Subscriber Teri Rosette has filedan interesting report about the pea-cock bass fishing she enjoyed inPanama this past December. Rosettesays she and friend Ross Beatty werein Panama on business, looking at re-sorts for Beatty’s incentive travelcompany and decided to spend a dayfishing. They stayed at the GamboaRainforest Resort (www.gamboaresort.com), located on the Panama Canalin the Soberania National Park about30 minutes from Panama City on thePacific Coast. Gamboa is a luxury re-sort offering everything from eco-tours to spa treatments. The resortalso borders the Chagres River andLake Gatun where it offers guidedtrips for peacock bass.

Rosette and Beatty fished with aguide named “Toleco,” who tookthem into the Panama Canal itself,amidst big cargo ships, to fish sidechannels and islands where the fishhung around tree roots and otherstructure. Rosette says Toleco locatedfish quickly by throwing out a smallminnow on a line. If nothing hit theminnow within a few minutes, Rosettesays they were off to another spot.When they found fish, she says theaction on fly rods was nonstop.

Rosette says they started on red,orange and bright green poppers,

which the fish hit voraciously for sev-eral hours. In the afternoon heat, shesays the fish stayed in deeper waterbut eagerly hit clousers in red andgreen.

The fish they caught were smallpeacocks in the one- to three-poundrange, but Rosette says they wereplentiful and lots of fun. She saysthere were larger fish around, but theydid not land any. She says she and

Beatty regret having only one day tofish, and would happily have fishedevery day they were in Panama. Ro-sette warns fellow subscribers that theguides are not catch-and-release an-glers. They will want to keep a fewfish for their families.

Besides the fishing, Rosette saysGamboa Rainforest Resort offersmany activities for non-anglers and isthe perfect place to bring the family

or a spouse. She says the staff is veryknowledgeable about the rainforest,and there are a number of exhibitsand tours, as well as an aerial tramthat allows visitors to experience andlearn all about the local flora andfauna. She eagerly recounts one expe-rience when their fishing guide tookthem to a small island for a lunchbreak. She says several monkeys cameright into the boat out of curiosity,and one managed to take her sand-wich right out of her hand.

The cost of a trip to Gamboa de-pends on the package, time of yearand type of accommodations youbook. Room rates alone can rangefrom $135 to $650. Rosette says theybooked the fishing independently for$250 for the day, but GamboaRainforest Resort offers a three-night/four-day fishing package for $585 perperson, based on double occupancy.(Postscript: We wouldn’t be doingour job if we did not mention thatRosette’s friend, Ross Beatty, will bebooking incentive travel trips and va-cations to this destination through hiscompany Beatty Group International,503-664-3340.)

Last month we told you about thecustomized fishing trips organized inArgentina and Chile by Tim Rafford

(or she) feels about waltzing a fisharound before turning it loose. Thefact that an angler does not kill andeat what he catches makes the “cru-elty” involved gratuitous and – froma legal standpoint – hard to defend inlight of the way animal rights law isevolving.

What occasions these unsettlingcomments is the news that Scotland ison the verge of banning the use of

live bait in fishing. Importantly, themain reason for the ban is to reduceanimal cruelty, not prevent the spreadof unwelcome species. One wag hasasked if the ban will stop the use ofworms as well as minnows.

So, what does this have to withcatch-and-release fly fishing – thesport of gentlemen? No fly fishermenwould even think of using bait.

The important thing to watch is

the underlying trend of animal rightslaw. If it is “cruel” to attach a minnowto a hook, it’s cruel to attach a fish toa hook. If that cruelty is completelygratuitous – that is, unrelated to hu-man consumption – it is unjustifiedand therefore wrong.

Does anyone else share this con-cern about the growing threat to fish-ing? Send comments to: [email protected].


THE ANGLING REPORTof Patagonia Angling Adventures.This month, we have a report on thesame kind of service offered by AlexPrior of Southern Exposure (Web:www.flyfishingcoyhaique.com. E-mail: [email protected]). The report was sent to us bysubscriber Dean Pierose, who says hehas been to Chile with Prior fourtimes now. He says he uses Prior’s ser-vice because his trips are completelyfocused on what the client wants todo. He says Prior knows the region sowell and has so many contacts that hecan put together a trip that featuresany combination of fishing experi-ences, whether an angler wants to fishonly dry flies, float or wade, or fishspring creeks, lagunas, freestone riv-ers or lakes. “He knows every waterwithin a 200-mile radius ofCoyahaique and can give you six op-tions for anything you want to do,”says Pierose.

His last trip was during Chile’sspring season this past October/No-vember in the Alsen Region, where hefished the Rio Baker and RioCochrane, along with several lakes.He says he spent 12 days fishing withhis son for rainbow and brown trout.Their trip began at the Rio BakerLodge on the mouth of the Rio Baker.They spent four days there and fishedthe Baker and Cochran rivers, whichhe says fish well in the spring as theyare glacier-fed streams. He says theywere able to sightcast to spawningrainbow trout, and although they didnot catch lots of fish, the ones theyhooked were quality fish. He saysthey experienced the most incrediblecaddis hatch he has ever seen on theBaker, with non-stop action on 17- to25-inch fish for two hours. On theCochran, he says the water was soclear they could see 20 feet down tothe bottom of the river. He says this isthe prettiest stream he has ever seen,but that lots of wind can make thefishing tough.

After a few days, Pierose says theymoved to Lake Tamango where theystayed in a cabin with a view of theCerro Castillo and fished several

small lakes in the area. He says theyfished from a boat, as well as from thebanks of the river. They used largedry flies to land as many brown troutas they wanted. From there, theymoved to Mincho’s Lodge on theSimpson River and fished the sur-rounding waters for six days. Al-though a number of the streams therewere blown out from rain, Pierosesays they got all the fishing theywanted on various lakes. Their lasttwo days found them at a cabin by alake where he caught six browns from24 to 26 inches while wade fishing inthe snow right in front of their cabin.

In addition to the fishing, Pierosesays Prior arranged for various activi-ties for his wife and his son’s fiancé.He says they enjoyed horsebackriding, visiting local museums, shop-

ping for handmade crafts made by lo-cal artisans, viewing petroglyphs andother activities. He even arranged forall of them to take a train tour intothe wine country while in Santiago.

Pierose gives Prior an all-excel-lent rating and says he is the only op-erator he uses in Chile. He gives thecost of these customized trips asroughly $400 per day for anglers and$200 for non-anglers. That fee goesup an additional 20 percent when alodge stay is involved.

If you’ve doubted our previous re-ports about fishing in southern Loui-siana post Hurricane Katrina, sub-scriber Tony Kirk says he was therethis past November and again in De-cember, enjoying what he describesas “fantastic” redfishing. Kirk says he

and a friend fished with CaptainGregg Arnold (Tel. 504-237-6742.Web: www.fishinthelandofgiants.com) and reports catching 22 redfishin two days. His three largest fisheach weighed 31 pounds. He saysthey fished south of New Orleans,sightcasting in water only one to twofeet deep. He says the water was soclear, he could see the fish open theirmouths to suck down his fly.

Kirk says he has fished more than30 times with Arnold over an eight-year period, and that every winter hecatches several fish in the 20- to 30-pound class each day, weather permit-ting. Also, he says he normally doesnot see another angler on the water.An experienced international angler,Kirk equates the quality of the fishingand overall experience with bonefish-ing in Seychelles or trout fishing inArgentina.

As for New Orleans, Kirk says thearea has recovered from Katrina, withthe French Quarter back to normaland lots of restaurants and otherplaces open for business. “Don’t be-lieve the reports in the media,” hesays. “I visited New Orleans just twomonths after the storm, and I don’t be-lieve the fishing was ever affected.”He goes on to encourage fellow an-glers not to think twice about travel-ing to southern Louisiana to experi-ence sight casting for big reds. Hegives a cost of $450 per day, and saysanglers can either stay at Arnold’shouse or easily find accommodationsin New Orleans.(Postscript: Next month we’ll have afull-length report on a FREE FishingTrip to southern Louisiana offered toan Angling Report Online Extra sub-scriber by Richard Whitner of GulfCoast Outfitters. Whitner tells us thesportfishing business in his neck ofthe woods is continuing to suffer be-cause traveling anglers mistakenlybelieve the fishery was irrevocablydamaged or that the area infrastruc-ture has not recovered from the hurri-cane. He says guides there need sup-port in the way of angling business,and he hopes Angling Report sub-


THE ANGLING REPORTscribers will help get the word out.)

Continuing subscribers know wehave filed several reports on the high-priced bonefishing services providedin the Turks & Caicos by a companycalled Silver Deep (Tel. 649-946-5612. Web: www.silverdeep.com).While some anglers have criticizedthe $750 daily fee this companycharges, subscriber Jeff Davis says theservices provided by Silver Deep’sArthur Dean are well worth the price.

“I have fished all over the world,and I keep returning to T&C to fishwith Dean,” says Davis, noting thathe fishes twice a year with him. Thispast November, he says, he made his25th trip with Dean.

Davis says he continues to fishwith Dean because he consistentlyputs him on numbers of bonefish. Helikes the wide open flats Dean takeshim to, with imminently wadeablehard bottoms of white sand, plus thenumerous creeks and bights he knowsthat are reminiscent of Andros Islandin the Bahamas. Davis says he hasseen schools of spawning bones withDean that filled the water columnfrom top to bottom. He says he regu-larly catches fish in the five- to six-pound range and occasionally a 10-pounder. “Even a novice should catcha lot of three- to four-pounders withDean,” says Davis.

Besides the fishing, Davis saysthe guide/client relationship he haswith Dean is excellent. He describesthe man as a unique “character” whosings all day in the boat and is veryintelligent and knowledgeable aboutthe area. Additionally, he says he isreliable, creative and just a great per-son to be with on the water. “I haverecommended Dean to many fishingfriends, and they have all reportedgreat experiences,” says Davis.

Interestingly, Davis says that forthe first time in 15 years of fishingthe Turks & Caicos, he spotted aschool of tiny permit last April. He re-ports accidentally catching one aboutthe size of his fist. Also, he says hehas seen tarpon in the west Caicos oc-

casionally. He does not recommendplanning to fish for these species,however. Instead, he says anglersshould try barracuda and blacktipsharks on fly for a change of pace.

Remember The Palometa Club(Tel. 866-723-7776. Web: www.palometaclub.com), that new permit andbonefish lodge located on theYucatan Peninsula of Mexico in atown called Punta Allen. We pub-lished a FREE Fishing Trip reportabout the place last April (see ArticleID 1826). It was written by subscriberDon Rollins, who raved about his en-tire experience.

So, how is the club doing nowthat it has wound up its first season?Two subscribers fished there this pastDecember and have filed follow-up

reports. the first is from Louis Weber,who booked his trip through Wild OnThe Fly (866-899-7008). Weber re-ports enjoying many shots at permitand bonefish despite a week of diceyweather. Out of six days, he says hewas able to fish five, with two days ofsunny skies and three of gray overcastskies and rain. He says they hoppedfrom island to island, seeking the lee-ward sides to get out of the wind.

Even in bad conditions, Webersays his guides put him on fish.“They are amazing,” he says. “Theycan see anything and won’t quit.” Hesays that although fishing ends at 4pm, his guides were willing to chaseafter permit spotted only 15 minutesfrom quitting time. Additionally, hesays they were excellent instructorsand had his girlfriend catching fish

although she had never fly fished be-fore. As for numbers of fish, Webersays he has never seen so many per-mit, and that there were enough bonesto catch fish all day long.

Weber also has good things to sayabout the lodge itself and the staff,with a special nod to the meals servedto them. He says owners Kay and DickCameron are wonderful hosts whosepersonalities are a great plus. Hegives the entire operation an enthusi-astic thumbs-up and reports a cost of$2,900.

The second report is from sub-scriber Donald Beck, who fished atThe Palometa Club this past Decem-ber, also through Wild on The Fly. Hetoo reports winds of 15 to 25 milesper hour the six days he fished andrain on four days. Nonetheless, hisgroup of six anglers landed two per-mit (a 10- and 12-pounder), one tar-pon, two snook and “a fair number”of bonefish. He says they saw lots ofpermit but found the snook and tar-pon scarce. As for the guides, Becksays they are very familiar with thearea. Furthermore, Beck notes theirexceptional communication skillsand positive personalities. Regardingthe lodge, he says the Camerons weregreat and the staff fantastic.

And, finally, five subscribers havefiled reports on steelhead fishingtrips. The first is from Tom Carsonwho fished the Deschutes River inOregon this past September with TheRiffle Fly Shop (Tel. 800-411-3330.Web: www.theriffleflyshop.com). Hereports that he and four friends expe-rienced some difficult fishing, withonly two or three takes or good hook-ups for each angler and only fourlanded steelhead between them over athree-day period. Despite that, he saysthe fish were big and provided someexciting action in fast water. He saysthe guides, Matt and Dillon, knew theriver and which spots to work, but thefish simply were not biting aggres-sively. “The results were definitelynot due to lack of effort on anyone’spart,” he says.


THE ANGLING REPORTThe trip involved floating the

river in one raft while the supply rafttraveled ahead to set up the eveningcamp. The anglers and guides wouldstop to wadefish various stretches.Carson says the wading was tough,with melon-size rocks in deep, fastwater. A wading staff is a must in thisriver, he says. Also, he says they oftenfished places where there was noroom to back-cast, requiring roll cast-ing to get a fly to the fish.

Carson goes on to say that thistrip is not about catching a lot of fishbut rather the excitement of a bigsteelhead taking your fly and headingfor fast water. He also says the coun-try and wildlife are a large part of theexperience, particularly the spectacu-lar views within the canyon.

He gives The Riffle Fly Shop anall-excellent rating for service andthe guides’ knowledge of the riverand the fishing. He says he does notrecommend the trip for anglers whoare not physically fit or who expect toland 10 or more fish a day. He givesthe cost as $1,500 for a three-dayfloat, including license and flies.

Still in Oregon, subscriber SteveChristensen fished the Grande RondeRiver with Discovery Outfitters (Tel.888-347-1200. Web: www.discoveryoutfit ters.org). You may recallChristensen’s previous report aboutthis operator regarding a trip forsmallmouth bass on the John DayRiver last June (see November 2006issue). Discovery Outfitters is a Chris-tian-based outdoor adventures com-pany that organizes a variety of grouptrips, including inexpensive floatfishing trips. This past October,Christensen returned to fish steelheadtrout with them and reports hittingthe B-run, which he says is a smallrun of mostly male but extra-largefish running up to 35 inches. He saysthey were a week early for the mainrun, and the steelhead were scarce.Fishing was by drifting and wading,using rafts to access fishing spots. Hesays they floated different sections ofwater each day, returning to the samebase camp in the evening. Chris-

tensen says the Grande Ronde belowthe canyon is very wadeable andamazingly easy to fish. The banks inother sections can be up to 30 feethigh, but the stretches they fishedwere easily accessible.

Christensen gives a cost of $350for his three-day floattrip. He remindsinterested subscribers that DiscoveryOutfitters is only a general adventuretrip outfitter. While the guides knowthe river and where anglers will findfish, they are not actually fishingguides. This trip is for independentanglers who can figure out the fishingmore or less on their own. See a photoof Christensen’s steelhead in thePhoto Gallery section of our web siteat www.anglingreport.com.

Moving up to British Columbia,subscriber Roy Parks says his group

of six anglers caught more than 40steelhead on the Dean River this pastJuly/August while fishing with MooseLake Lodge (Tel. 250-742-3535.Web: www.mooselakelodge .com). Hesays this was his second trip for steel-head, and he managed to catch fourfish himself that ran 12 to 20 pounds.Parks says Moose Lake Lodge has aremote lodge overlooking the DeanChannel close to the ocean. He de-scribes the Dean River as a typicalsteelhead stream with lots of rocksand rapid flowing water. He says an-glers must wear felt-bottomed wadersor spiked boots to keep from slippingon the rocks. He also says the fishingis hard, as the river is fairly wide. Hesays most everyone there used a speyrod to cast across and drift down allday. He says they used jet boats to

travel up and down the river to vari-ous pools holding steelhead and thengot out to wadefish.

The lodge on the Dean is smalland sparse but comfortable, saysParks. Up to six anglers are housed insmall cabins, with meals served in themain lodge. Parks gives the staff goodmarks and says the guides were excel-lent. He says the lodge and guideswere able to completely outfit him forfive days, providing everything fromunderwear to flies when Air Canadalost his luggage.

In addition to the steelhead fish-ing, Parks also spent a few days atMoose Lake Lodge, 90 miles inlandfrom the Dean River area, where hefished for trout and salmon. He sayshe enjoyed two days of fly-outs andcaught countless small rainbow troutand salmon from 12 to 25 pounds.Parks says he customized this tripwith Moose Lake Lodge and reportspaying $6,200. He says he enjoyedfishing with this operator so muchthat he will return again this year.

Subscriber Isadore Yablon alsofished for steelhead in British Colum-bia this past August and reports expe-riencing hot-and-cold fishing on theSkeena and Copper rivers while fish-ing with Skeena Wilderness Charters(Tel. 800-485-7696. Web: www.bc-steelhead.com). Yablon says the fish-ing was fair overall, but that the fishhe encountered were fresh and activealbeit on the small side. They aver-aged about 10 pounds.

Fishing was by floating to fishingareas and then wading. Yablon warnsthat wading on these rivers is difficultdue to lots of slippery rocks. “Youneed to be a sure-footed wader,” hesays. Also, he says there are lots ofoverhangs in places close to the riv-ers, requiring the ability to roll-cast30 to 40 feet with a two-handed speyrod.

In addition to steelhead, Yablonsays the Skeena and Copper also offerfresh Coho and sockeye salmon. Hesays the sockeyes were so fresh theywere still silver. He says they took thesame flies they used for the steelhead,


THE ANGLING REPORT

And Finally...

Subscriber Feedback on Grand Bahama Report(Don Causey Note: My report in the Decem-ber, 2006 issue about the Pinder brothersand their f ishing operation on GrandBahama Island inspired a couple of sub-scribers to offer a contrasting view of thevirtues of fishing around Freeport. I wel-come this kind of feedback, as the push andpull of opinion is what this newsletter is allabout. For the record, though, I have topoint out that on my trip to Grand BahamaI did not see the town dump and the plumeof smoke emanating from it that Jeff Millerdescribes in his report . Ditto airplanesroaring overhead. Also, it’s only fair topoint out that both of the major operatorsin Freeport – Grand Bahama Bonefishingand Pelican Bay Bonefishing – fish boththe north shore of the island and to someextent the more sheltered south shore asconditions dictate. As for the appeal ofFreeport , I must admit I was probablyswayed in my opinion of the place by mynon-fishing wife, who enjoyed herself thereimmensely. Left to my devices, I’m happysleeping in the woods if the fish are biting.)

recently read Don Causey’s glowingreport on fishing for bones out ofFreeport. I thought Don made somegood points, but disagree with hissuggestion that it’s really not worthmaking the roughly one-hour drive toMaclean’s Town on Grand Bahama’seast end. Let me offer a few thoughtsand observations….

I disagree with Don’s contentionthat Freeport is a great resort commu-nity with everything a non-fishingspouse or family member could want.To my way of thinking, Freeport isOK, but something of a tourist trap.The hotels are pretty nice, but diningand shopping (think t-shirt and sou-venir stalls for people piling offcruise boats) are limited. The golfcourses are flat and fairly interestingat best. The casinos are small. If youprefer a fishing lodge experience to

staying in a resort hotel, North RidingPoint and Deep Water Cay Club areboth outstanding options.

The Pinder brothers are terrificguides and great guys. I’ve fishedwith all of them, both at Deep WaterCay and, more recently, out ofFreeport. They’re fun to be with, andthe fishing they offer on the north-west side of Grand Bahama can be ter-rific with very large fish. But….

The area fished by the Pinders andothers out of Freeport is wide open tothe north wind, the worst one forbonefishing in the Bahamas. Interest-ingly, on days when they get blownout, the Pinders sometimes trailertheir skiffs back to Maclean’s Townto find shelter from the wind and pickup a few bones.

Finally, the flats fished out ofFreeport are not a thing of beauty.Subscriber Jeff Miller, Jr. writes: I

and some days saw more sockeyes hit-ting their flies than trout.

As for Skeena Wilderness Char-ters, Yablon gives them an excellentrating overall. He says his guide,Kory Doll, was the outfitter’s son andwas very good. He says they providedall the flies and use strictly barblesshooks. Lodging was in the outfitter’shome, which Yablon says is set upquite nicely to host angling clients.He gives a cost of $750 per day forthis trip.

Finally, over in the East, sub-scriber Jeffrey Vickers fished for steel-head in New York. He reports fishingthe Canadaway, Chautauqua Creekand 18-Mile Creek in HamburgCounty with Vince Tobia of Catta-raugus Creek Outfitters (Tel. 716-479-2327. Web: www.cattarauguscreekoutfitters.com). Vickers says he con-tacted Tobia after reading our reportsabout the self-guided fishing he ar-ranges in the Bahamas. When helearned Tobia also guides for steel-head he booked a trip for that. Al-though Vickers says he had fished for

everything else in the Northeast, hehad never fished for steelhead. He hadheard that the steelhead runs in thetributaries off the Great Lakes had re-bounded, and he wanted to give thema try. Vickers says he averaged eighthook-ups a day and landed about fouror five steelhead each day. He also

landed a five-pound brown trout.Vickers says they were going to

fish the Cattaraugus Creek first, but itwas too high due to early snow andrain, so they started with theCanadaway. He says this was a goodstream to get initiated into steelhead

fishing. He says there were a lot ofother anglers, and it was not pristinewater, but he got enough shots at fishto figure out the fishing. He hookedeight steelhead in all and landed fiveof them.

The next day he fishedChautauqua Creek, which he de-scribes as a beautiful, small creek run-ning through a majestic canyon. Thefishing was slow, with only twolanded fish. He says they went backto the Canadaway for more action andfound it was less crowded than theday before. He caught another fourfish there. The last day he fished the18-Mile Creek and picked up a fewmore fish.

Just about all the fishing was fromthe bank, with only some wading. Hesays he had expected crowded fishingconditions but found it was not thatbad. As for Tobia, Vickers says he isan intense angler who loves to spotfish and will stay on the water untildark. He says he plans to fish withTobia again and gives the cost of histrip as $300 per day.


THE ANGLING REPORT

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contact: Edi Bell, The Angling Report, 9300 S. Dadeland Blvd., Suite 605, Miami, FL 33156-2721. Tel. 305-670-1361. Fax 305-670-1376.)

While out for the day, you’ll see nu-merous commercial airliners arrivingat and departing from the Freeport air-port. You’ll probably find yourselfwithin view of the sizeable towndump, too. You’ll typically seeplumes of smoke from the trash-burn-ing that takes place there. Smell isn’ttypically a problem, though. Espe-cially if the wind is from the north.

The east end, by contrast, is pris-tine, beautiful and enormous. WhenGil Drake built the lodge at Deep Wa-ter Cay in 1958, it was one of the firstin the Bahamas. Mr. Drake chose aplace with a huge number of flats andcays, assuring low-pressure fishingand protection from the wind on allbut the very worst days. He had firstpick and he picked well. While thereare sometimes other fishing opera-tions on the east end, they tend tocome and go and usually send outjust two or three skiffs on the daysthey’re there. Deep Water Cay Clubcarefully rests and rotates flats andI’ve never felt like the fish werestressed by too much pressure. Whileit’s true that the club’s owners areprivatizing and developing the islandin significant ways, they claim thatthey will not put more skiffs in thewater. So far, they’ve remained true tothat claim.

In conclusion, while I agree thatone can have great days of bonefish-ing out of Freeport, there are lots ofreasons to head for Maclean’s Townand some wonderful lodge-based an-gling.

Subscriber Charles Day Dilkswrites: I read with interest your re-cent article about fishing GrandBahama. Although I agree with muchof what you said, my experience dur-ing two trips in 2004 and 2005 wasdifferent in some ways than that re-ported. To be sure, I fished GrandBahama with Pelican Bay Bonefish-

ing, not Grand Bahama Bonefishing.Still, I must report that I was greatlydisappointed in the number of fish Isaw, as well as the enthusiasm andcommitment of my guides. If theweather wasn’t perfect and the sunwasn’t shining, the guides would stoppolling and hang out. They did nothave any strategy for finding fish inless than perfect conditions. My dis-appointment in the fishing was allevi-ated somewhat by the fact thatFreeport, as you reported, is a goodplace for an angler with a non-fishingpartner. It is indeed an attractiveplace to visit due to its numerous res-taurants, golf courses, fine hotels, etc.

Due to the lack of good fishing onmy last visit, I had the opportunity tofish with Captain Perry Demeritte on

the East end of the Island. Wecouldn’t believe the difference. Wefound schools of bonefish that werehungry to take the fly. We waded flatsfor about half the time and found bigbonefish tailing. Perry had a wonder-ful personality, worked hard evenwhen the weather conditions weren’tperfect and didn’t blow up when afisherman missed his target. Heshowed up every day in a freshlywashed, starched fishing outfit, andhis wife made delicious meals to or-der.

To eliminate the daily drive fromFreeport, we stayed at a small motelabout 20 minutes away from thelaunch site. Although the motel was

not as fancy as most lodges, it wascertainly clean and serviceable.What’s more, it was on a beautiful,unspoiled beach with miles of unin-habited shoreline. On arrival and de-parture days, we were able to walk thebeach and find bonefish on our ownwithin easy casting distance. Mealswere served at a locally-owned restau-rant on the beach, which, again, wasperfectly adequate and charming.

Contrary to what was said in thearticle, we did not find overlycrowded flats; in fact, most days wesaw very few boats. This is partly be-cause McLeans Town, where the boatis launched, is very small and wasbadly damaged by a hurricane. More-over, it does not have any accommo-dations to speak of and, therefore,cannot support a large fishing fleet.This, of course, is with the exceptionof the Deep Water Cay Club locatedon a nearby island, but nevertheless,their numbers did not bother us orcrowd the fishery.

Our initial experience has beenborne out over the last two yearswhen I have fished three or four dayseach trip with Perry. Although I hateto give away information on my verybest fishing guide, I think it is onlyappropriate to give Perry the opportu-nity to be recognized and fairly repre-sented in The Angling Report.(Postscript: The various companiesmentioned here can be reached as fol-lows: Deep Water Cay Club, Tel. 843-815-8300, Web: www.deepwatercay.com; Grand Bahama Bonefishing,Tel. 336-768-6666. Web: www.grandbahamabonefishing.com; NorthRiding Point Club, Tel. 242-353-4250. Web: www.northridingpointclub.com; Pelican Bay Bonefishing,Tel. 954-364-7590 or 242-373-9550.Web: www.pelicanbaybonefishing.com; and Capt. Perry Demeritte, Tel.242-353-3301. Web: www.captinperry.com.)


THE ANGLING REPORT

Giant Labrador Brook TroutAwesome Lake Lodge

www.awesomelake.comToll Free 877-677-3363

PO Box 358 Stn C Goose Bay NFLDCanada A0P 1C0

Chilean PatagoniaThank you for a successful season.

Now booking for 2007-2008.• Floating lodge – the PUMA in LagoYelcho. Capacity six fishermen. Fish thebays and rivers, including the Futaleufu, ofthe 28-mile-long Yelcho Lake. Mostly dryfly fishing for true trophy rainbow, brownand brook trout of three to 15 pounds. Theclosest thing to flats fishing there is in freshwater. PUMA has been in operation for 17years.• Our second lodge is nine years old andlocated halfway between the lake and theocean (25 kilometers from the lake) on theYelcho River. No roads; you travel by boat.Pristine river fishing for browns and rain-bows, with occasional cohos, Chinooks,Atlantics and sea-runs. Also available areother lakes in the immediate area, includingthe lake that every client from the 1998-2005 seasons, including legendary guideBill Curtis, said “was the best dry fly fish-ing he ever had.” The lodge accommodateseight fishermen.

Puma Fishing LTD.Contact: Dr. Stephen Selway, D.V.M.

Tel./Fax (Apr. 30 to Nov. 30)516-775-0827.

Tel./Fax (Dec. 1 to Apr. 27)954-922-5389.

E-mail: [email protected]

Backcountry New ZealandFly fishing adventures in New Zealand’sSouth Island. Backcountry New Zealand isone of the leading fly fishing guiding op-erations with guides who will do their bestto deliver a fishing experience of a lifetime.We have a wide range of options from lodge-based fishing to multi-day camp-out trips.

E-mail: [email protected] us on the web -

www.backcountry.co.nz

Anglers the world over flock to NewZealand to fish for rainbow and browntrout. Nowhere is the fishing better thanat our Poronui Ranch and Station onNorth Island near Taupo. Up in Canada,Atlantic salmon provide a different, yetexhilarating, fly-fishing experience. Askus about Miramichi Black Rapids SalmonLodge in New Brunswick. It’s known forits fast-flowing rapids full of migratingAtlantic salmon.

For more information contact:Kevin McKinstry

Tel. [email protected]

Fish Cape York AustraliaCarpentaria Seafaris

Seven nights, six days fishing Cape Yorkfrom Carpentaria Seafari’s live-aboardmothership Tropic Paradise.Fish from flats skiffs on rivers, estuaries,flats and shallow reefs. Chase bustingschools of fish offshore. Kick off yourshoes and fish miles of deserted beaches.54 species have been caught on a singletrip on fly and light tackle. Most of themare fish you have never seen and all ofthem peel line off your reel like a freighttrain. Barramundi, mangrove jacks,queenfish, seven species of trevally, per-mit, tuna, huge Spanish mackerel, cobia,giant ladyfish and many more. 2007price is $4,468 for a full week of fish-ing. Bring an appetite for fabulous fish-ing and gourmet food.

Join us for the best week of fishing onthe planet! Call for a free video

Tel. 888-409-2008E-mail: [email protected]

www.fishabout.com

Catch Salmon BCNootka Sound, Vancouver Island, BC.

Open ocean, surf-line rock piles,eight inlets, 12 rivers.

Salt and freshwater fly fishing, coho,Chinook, chum salmon,

steelhead, sea run cutthroat trout,and black bass.

Tell.877-610-1011.www.Catchsalmonbc.com.

10% discount to Angling Reportsubscribers.

Mongolia River OutfittersAmazing taimen and trout fishery.

Fly fishing only.Professional guides.

Beautiful accommodations.Float new water daily - no shuttles.

Now booking September 2007.Tel: 866-586-3009


Advertise With Us!E-mail: [email protected]

New Orleans Fly Fishing HeadquartersCall now for bookings.

• Shallow water sight-fishing for big reds.• World’s most extensive saltwater

fly collection.• Orvis, Sage, Scott, Tibor and more.

Uptown AnglerTel. 504-529-3597; or 800-974-8473

www.uptownangler.com

One Trip AndYou’re Hooked!

The Perfect Cast invites you to discovera new way to build business relationships

through the use of a new business tool- fly fishing.

The Perfect Cast takes the individualchallenge of fly fishing into a group set-ting of business executives where every-one discovers and experiences newthings together. Exclusive destinations,exquisite accommodations, gourmet din-ing and deluxe travel provide the ulti-mate relationship building experience.

Call to arrange the experienceof a lifetime.

Tel. 646-522-3426Web: www.theperfectcast.com

From Alaska to the Caribbean, the WestCoast to Labrador, North America offersexceptional angling possibil i t ies. Forthose who dream of fishing in scenic,pristine surroundings, whether it be forwild trout, steelhead or salmon; for biggame fish; or permit and bonefish, thechoices are virtually limitless.Since 1992 we have been organizingfishing tr ips, part icularly in the RockyMountains, from the Kootenai/GlacierNational Park area through Idaho, Mon-tana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and tothe San Juan River in New Mexico.We specialize in customized trips includ-ing productive, l i t t le-known waters,which can be fished in solitude, as well asthe famous rivers, where cutthroat, rain-bow and brown trout are the primary spe-cies.

Contact us for your nextfishing adventure.Tel. 302-436-0153

E-mail: [email protected]://www.awatravel.net/


THE ANGLING REPORT

2,800 square miles of flats and only 10flats skiffs. Which 280 square miles offlats are you going to wade today? Bone-fish, permit and tarpon.

See June 2004 Angling Report.Cell: 011-39-33581-49111

E-mail: [email protected]. www.avalons.net

Flies for the Serious Angler. Specializingin tarpon, bonefish and permit flies.

Fantastic custom tying program for allyour other needs. Visit: www.ssflies.com;

or call 207-512-2900.

Fly Fishing For Taimen.Comfortable yurt camps and guided

wilderness floattrips onMongolia’s Delger River.

Tel: 866-427-9668E-mail: [email protected]

www.fishmongolia.com

Off Season Fly Fishing in Paradise

Challhuaquen Lodge is a new marvelousplace located in the heart of Patagoniaon the banks of the Futaleufú River thatoffers the most gorgeous natural scenery,an awesome fishing experience and fivestar hotel services.

To find out more about our crystallinewaters surrounded by glacial lakes,millenarian trees, plenty of rainbow andbrown trout, quite a few huge Pacificsalmon surprises, and the elegance andcomfort offered by a lodge designed byand for demanding anglers, please visitour web site at: www. challhuaquen.comand call us in the US at: 212-671-0611.

Early Season Fishing can be great onour Pennsylvania Limestone Streams.

Plenty of big fish, great spring creeks,blue ribbon freestone streams and nocrowds! And if you’ve got cabin fever,the early season fishing can be excellent!We fish some of the best streams in Penn-sylvania, within an easy drive of the mid-Atlantic, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Be-cause we rest our water as much or morethan we fish it, the fishing is consistentlygood. Fly fishing only, strictly catch andrelease. We offer both guided and un-guided private access fishing – ask aboutour StreamSide camps for groups. Don’tforget about steelhead, the spring runsare coming!

Visit www.loganoutfitters.com.Or contact Bob Hesse

E-mail: [email protected]. 877-768-7688

Trophy RedfishFly fish 25 miles from New Orleans inskinny water year round. Specializing incatch-and-release sight casting.Accommodations for up to eight guests,includes meals. Four flats boats.

Capt. Gregg Arnold – 504-237-6742

The Best of New Zealand Fly FishingFor over 15 years, we have specialized ex-clusively in New Zealand fishing andtravel. Fly fishing is our central focus, butwe are experts in many other activities andaccommodations available in New Zealand.We create exclusive fishing programs, aswell as sightseeing and other nature-basedactivities. Call for brochure or visit NewZealand’s most exciting fishing site. www.BestofNZflyfishing.com

Mike McClelland10544 W. Pico Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90064Toll-free 800-528-6129


Patagonia Lakes District LoopTen nights/seven days fishing in

Chile/Argentina.$3,850 per person.

Patagonia Angling AdventuresTel. 207-749-3383

[email protected]

For those who dream of fishing in scenic,pristine surroundings, whether it be formarbled trout, Mediterranean brown orgrayling, from the Italian/Austrian Alpsand the Slovenia countryside, souththrough Tuscany and Umbria, we orga-nize exceptional angling experiences - se-lecting the best waters and the right timeto fish them.Since its inception, W.E.T. has specializedin truly personalized fly fishing itinerar-ies, including productive waters that canbe fished in relative solitude, as well asfamous rivers, for f ishermen only orcouples and families traveling together.You will cast to that rise you saw, slightlyupstream, either on slow-moving water,perhaps under a low-reaching branch’sshade, or just past a small boulder’s wakein a faster-moving stream, the very sameway you’ve been casting on streams youknow, from California’s Hat Creek orPennsylvania’s spring creeks, to “the slide”section of the Madison and many otherfast-moving freestones of the Rockies.Fly fishing in Italy, Austria or Slovenia,is in many ways a very different experi-ence than what one might be accustomedto. To begin with, whether lodging in amedieval village or in a small countrysidehotel , chances are that one travelsthrough history just to get to the stream,to say nothing about the epicurean de-lights you’re treated to, including somegourmet streamside lunches with yourEnglish-speaking guide.And since there is plenty for the non-fish-ing companions to do (from escortedtouring to art and history programs, culi-nary classes and/or fashion shopping),these fly fishing trips are of the type thatyou don’t have to beg your girlfriend,spouse or family to join. Au contraire,they will beg to be taken along.

Tel. 302-436-0153E-mail: [email protected]://www.westerneuropeantravel.com/

CUBAN FLY FISHERSCuba - Las Salinas

Fantastic bonefishing, permit, tarpon.One guide per fisherman. Excellent rates.

Tel. 011-44-207-731-6871 (England)E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.cubawelcome.com

World’s Greatest RedfishingFly fishing and light tackle.Corporate groups welcome.

Call Gulf Coast Outfitters in SE Louisiana.Tel. 877-redfish (733-3474)

“SERVING THE ANGLER WHO TRAVELS” Report Newsletter - February 2… · Matthew Bowes Philip E....

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