Mission: South America

On the 1st of August my girlfriend and I are flying out for 5 months of exploring South America.

It's going to be a trip about growing with people, tasting landscapes, breathing culture, experiencing local cuisine and, of course, FISHING!.

I've been dreaming of South American fish for years. The first time I read about Patagonia, I believed it would be my Mecca. Then, with age, I learnt about Peacock Bass and spent many hours daydreaming about catching these stunning fish in the rivers inhabited by river dolphin. A trip to Buenos Aires and Eastern Argentina introduced me the Golden Dorado - a massive brute of a specimen hung over a fire place in hacienda of an estancia north of Rosario caught my eye and later a taste on spinning tackle caught my heart - and then all I wanted was to hook one on fly.

Books, magazine articles, first and second hand accounts, videos and photos did nothing to dampen my eagerness to explore this continent properly.

And now it's happening!

Tickets booked. Bolivian visa in process. And with only three set dates that we need to adhere to, we are going to be travelling by feel and will truly see where the road takes us.

Planning, day dreaming and scheming.

My South American bucket list is short and simple:

• Peacock Bass in the Amazon
• Golden Dorado in a clear river
• Sea Run Patagonia Brown
• (and possibly a Tarpon in Colombia)

I know that there are hundreds of other fish to be caught, and trust me, I'll give as many of them a bash as possible. But that my simple, sweet and rather sexy bucket list right there.

The hardest I think will be the Sea Run Brown - the Patagonian sea run waters seem so tied up in syndicates and private water that I may need a bank loan to fund the fishing. But we shall see. 

Fortune favours the brave and we're keen to get brave :)

More to come....

Green: Air travel. Red: Land travel

Why Tarpon should be on your Bucket List

Tarpon are on the bucket list...

And if they're not on yours they should be!

If you have any doubt as to why they should be, watch below.

There really isn't much of a question to it!

The clip is 'Riding High: A Season on the Fly'

more at: http://www.waterlinemedia.tv/riding-high-a-season-on-the-fly/


 

Fishing for Nothing

I don't have a very good fishing relationship with la Digue. It's the quintessential island getaway. Bikes, beaches and even beautiful women. A sedate pace of life that can only be found on a tiny island in a tropical climate. I love its charm and general go slow attitude. The locals are friendlier than elsewhere on the islands and

I've spent many days there just relaxing, surfing (yes, there are waves in the Seychelles) and - in the beginning - fishing.

The flats seem to offer endless potential. They are mostly broken coral bottom littered with sandy patches and eel grass beds. Lots of what I would call 'permit water'. It screams fish. The first time I walked onto the flats at Source 'd Argent I would have put money on getting permit and bones. 

Yet, I have not caught a single fish of significance on la Digue.

I think I'll keep la Digue as that weekend away from the hussle and bustle of hell in paradise.

Other guys do catch fish here - a Bluefin Trevally and Jobfish from the reef edge.

You see there... Between that patch of grass and those rocks... There... There's vokol!

Getting Denied

We all have those days where NOTHING goes as you plan.

Yesterday the Goldens laughed at us - especially me when one spat my fly back at me. And Dad's stunning Bonefish actually felt like a bit of a consolation prize.

On my knees - pleading for the Golden to eat my Crab - which it did and promptly spat back at me! I quite happy there is no photo of me with my head in sand near to tears!

This morning I gave up in disgust after hours of frustration caused by being denied by nine Bonefish and three permit. It felt like I was fishing a pool on a trout stream that had had someone thrashing the water half an hour before you got there. The fish were beyond skittish and none where interested - when I got my fly presented well enough - in eating anything I threw at them! And I won't even mention the disdain with which the Milks treated me this morning.

Dad having a go a tailing Golden - one of the most frustrating tailing fish to target thanks to their ADD-like behaviour!

But I suppose this is what adds to fishing, and fly fishing especially, to being such an addictive pastime. It is a of fly fishing life that you will, no matter what you do, have the odd day where you total and utter get bat and get left feeling like a school boy after trying to pick up a varsity girl.

I find it motivates me to get stuck in harder next time, record the lessons and maybe even rethink strategies. And sometimes one must simply accept that today was not your day.

There are also days that exactly opposite where nothing can go wrong - even the guy fishing the flats for the first time manages to hook two Bonefish while casting blind!

Its the unpredictably of it that keeps me coming back for more. The fact that it's never quite the same. You are so often forced to acknowledge and adapt. The best fly fishermen I know are so because they are unbelievably good at assessing a situation and adapting to it. Its easy to be a good fisherman when the fish are biting!

Screaming reel!

Bonefish detail

Milkfish flies: Dreaming the Can-Can

The antics of this past weekend have given me reason to head back to the drawing board with regards Milky flies.

The fact that we had two enquiries and two hookups - that's four positive encounters - with flats Milkfish on a CanCan Girl (its actually a Gotcha variation) has altered my thoughts a little with regards the chasing of Milks on the flats. The fly has been working too well on the Bonefish lately and has accounted for my last 11 Bonefish, plus several smaller Permit and a Golden Trevally.

The name CanCan Girl comes from a comment that the line of finished flies looked like a row of dancing girls - naughty and ready for action. And also from the fact that the flats dwellers can't seem to say no to them!

A nice row of naughty CanCan Girls ready for action.

Back to the Milks - it all started last Saturday. With four Bonefish and a Permit already accounted for (the Permit was released ala long line just short of reaching distance), Dad presented a CanCan Girl to a moving shadow. A heavy cloud that had just pulled in above us caused the vis to drop significantly and we were struggling with sighting and identifying any fish that was further than five or so meters. I was standing behind the Old Man watching rather intently the regular movement of a tail about 80m away. I had just set off after the tail in question when Dad hooked up; I missed it and the first jump and was alerted by Dad's call and bent rod that he into a decent fish. With that I saw a Milk accelerate past within half a rod length of me. What blew my mind was the fact that it had a CanCan Girl right in the scissors. Two cartwheeling jumps and a burnt finger later Dad was standing with a limp fly line and knocking knees.

"That must have a fluke!" were the first words out his mouth. I was inclined to agree.

That was until the entire process was repeated, this time with a Milk we identified clearly - thanks to the clouds removing themselves - before presenting, about five minutes later.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Once more that day and again the following morning we had solid knocks from sighted Milks. Although the they did seem less interested in the flies than the first two.

So, at the desk I've tied a few unweighted CanCan Girls. I've also combined the body of the CanCan and Arno's Milky Dream fly.

CanCan Girl Recipe (Picture below):

Hook: Gamakatsu or Grip #2 - #6
Thread: Soft pink Danville 6/0 or something like it.
Tail: Red Bunny Fur
Body: UV Minnow Body wrapped over pink thread on shank
Eyes: Depending on weight - tungsten eyes to bead chain.
         For unweighted version just leave the eyes off.
Wing: White or cream calf tail.

Dreamy CanCan Recipe (Picture below):
Replace the calf tail wing with a fluorescent green or chartreuse egg yarn.

Skirtless CanCan Girl (Picture below):

Same as the CanCan Girl just without the red tag.

Now only time will tell as to whether those living torpodoes are going to repeat the mistakes of last week end.

An old used and abused CanCan Girl showing the rigours of the hard work on the flats...

Another Fun Morning

This morning was great. An early start. Fish moving all over the place. Its a pleasure when your local spot is productive.

But forget the four landed Bonefish, permit lost at my feet and golden's in the distance. And forget the fact I landed my 75th Inner Island Bonefish, which I'm very chuffed about. However I'll remember this morning for the two definite Milkfish hookups.

Dad played it well. Perfect presentation. As ecstatic as I was, I put the first one down to fluke. The fish, not large, but a Milkfish none-the-less, did three cartwheels before throwing the hook. But Dad soon put my fluke to rest when, with still adrenalin pumping and our tails up, we soon spotted another cruising fish and with an identical cash and retrieve Dad hooked up again. Unfortunately it threw the hook on the first one.

The fly was not a typical Milkfish fly but rather an unweighted Gotcha variation (which has had happened to be catching everything lately). Put in front of the Milk, it was barely moved - just enough to keep contact. The light take of a Milkfish belies the crazy acceleration that soon follows a hookup.

Hopefully tomorrow we will find, hook and land one.

Fixing Focus

Getting cracking photos of your fish is quite an important part of fly fishing. It is awesome being able to share the surreal landscapes, magical streams and endlessly blue oceans of our fishing experiences. And let’s not mention the being able to email all our friends the latest bus we landed - we love to stroke our egos don’t we?

When taking photos with your own camera, it’s easy. You know the settings, understand the focal lengths and know how to manipulate its nuances to get the best picture. It gets a little more complicated with a DSLR. But you learn the camera like you learn the action of your rod coupled with your line.

But when it’s your turn to have the pics taken of yourself, be sure to check that the settings are correct before handing the camera over. After he snapped his rod today, my old man was relegated to cameraman. I didn't realise the focus was still on manual and after 30 odd photos of a bonefish; Photoshop worked hard to sharpen, clear and fix the images. 

Dad has now had a lesson and a practice session in the basics of using my Nikon. Hopefully the next round of photo taking will be more of a success...

After Photoshop was employed - all shots were edited in Camera RAW (if you have a DSLR get Photoshop and start shooting in RAW format) - the photos are clearer and sharper. The simple steps to cleaning up your potentially lost images are below.

Step 1: In the details tab, pump up your sharpening, radius of sharpen and detail of sharpen.

Step 2: In the basic tab, play with contrast and clarity.

While this is a great way to salvage photos where your subject is a bit further away, your close-up shots will probably stay blurred. And in general this is not a magic way of making those blurry photos suddenly magazine cover quality. But it may just keep some memories a little clearer!

Above and below: The before and after Photoshop

Left photos are prePhotoshop and right is cleaned up. As mentioned, this isn't going to turn your photos into magazine covers but they'll look a lot better in your albums!

Always a great memory: sending it back...