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NEWSLETTER #22 -
MARCH 2004
If you have access
to Microsoft Word, open the attachment above to see
the information below in a more “reader friendly”
format.
Leland Fly Fishing Travel Newsletter – March, ‘04
TOPICS IN THIS
ISSUE:
-
PLANNING FOR NEW
ZEALAND IN 2005? CONSIDER THIS……..
-
BUSH STREET SHOP
DAY – THIS THURSDAY, 3/4
-
VAL ATKINSON ON
BELIZE TRIP IN AUGUST – TWO SPOTS OPEN
-
PRIME TIME DEAN
AND BABINE STEELHEAD SPACE
-
OUR FIJI AND NEW
ZEALAND TRIP REPORT
-
TRIP REPORTS:
COSTA RICA, BELIZE, AND PATAGONIA
This is the
twenty-second edition of our monthly newsletter with
updates on great fly fishing venues and insights for
our traveling fly fishers. We want to help you
match the right location with your fly fishing goals
and objectives and properly prepare you to fully
enjoy the experience. We’ve been to most locations
and pride ourselves on our ability to research new
sites. Whatever unbiased information on timing and
locations we can provide comes at the same cost to
you as booking direct – i.e., no extra cost.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR A 2005 NEW ZEALAND TRIP
If you’re
considering New Zealand for an early ’05 trip and
want to go in the “prime time” month of February,
here are some things to consider. Positives can be
found for visiting New Zealand every month from
October through April, but February offers the
greatest opportunity for the ultimate combination of
dry fly activity and stable weather patterns (this
year excepted).
-
There are many
annual February NZ fly fishing travelers that
booked up their space for next year when they
left NZ this year. The best guides, lodges,
stays, etc are all booked solid for the month of
February very early (into March also in some
places). If you want the best options available
for a February trip, now is the time to set the
wheels in motion. For instance, Leland’s has 22
prime spots at Poronui Ranch spread over three
February weeks and over half of them are already
booked for ’05. Some of our favorite guides are
already over 50% booked for next February.
-
If you want to
use frequent flyer air miles to get your airline
tickets with, you need to be booking the space
on the first day that space is offered if your
planning to go in Feb. They allow very limited
space for free tickets. Many dates will be gone
within the first few days after they make them
available.
There are reasons
that February in New Zealand is one of the world’s
great destinations for a fly fishing traveler and,
each year, more and more people are finding out why
this is true. New Zealand is also one of the great
destinations for a traveling fly fisher to take a
non-fishing spouse. There are many great options
available when putting together a “couples trip,”
combining it with world class fly fishing.
BUSH STREET SHOP DAY THIS THURSDAY
I’ll be in the Bush
Street shop this Thursday from 11:00am til 6:00pm
(other times by appointment). There are two
scheduled presentations at 12:30 and 5:00 on (what
else?) New Zealand. Additionally, I’m available for
individually scheduled appointments to review any of
our world class fly fishing destinations – can have
slide presentations with me if requested in
advance. Also, shop managers Keith and Karl will be
available all day for lessons on knot tying and reel
rigging – everything from your backing to the fly.
LELAND BELIZE TRIP IN AUGUST – VAL ATKINSON ON BOARD
Valentine Atkinson
has been my greatest inspiration and a mentor in my
fly fishing photography endeavors. Most fly fishers
are familiar (or at the very least, you’ve seen his
books and photos) with Val Atkinson, the world’s
premier outdoor and fly fishing photographer. Leland
has both the Meca and Seaduction (max 6 anglers)
reserved for a flats fishing adventure in Belize
from Aug 27 – Sept 3 hosted by SF shop manager,
Keith Westra. This trip has just added a special
dimension with the addition of Val to the group.
Two openings still remain – price is $2400.
PRIME STEELHEAD SPACE – BABINE AND THE DEAN
Normally, the prime
time space at the world class steelhead lodges on
the Dean and Babine are long gone by this time of
year. However, the tough fishing this past year may
have shaken out some of the regulars who lock up
this limited permitted space each year (for unknown
reasons, many of the traditionally strong steelhead
runs up and down the BC coast were off in ’04).
Available as of this writing:
Summer run at
Blackwells on the lower Dean: July 16-23 (1 rod),
August 6-13 (2 rods) and space still available for
the early season combo steelhead and trout fly
outs. $4500pp
Babine Norlakes
Lodge: 9/28-10/4 (3 rods) $3800pp
Babine Steelhead
Lodge: This lodge has been closely held in the past
and not open to outside agents. However, we have
built a relationship that allows Leland’s some great
opportunities for our clients. 9/10-16 (4 spots),
10/9-15 the entire lodge is available for us.
OUR FIJI AND NEW ZEALAND COMBO TRIP REPORT
For the second
consecutive year, my wife and I combined a tropical
week with our New Zealand trip. This year’s trip to
Fiji was a great experience (as opposed to our stop
in French Polynesia last year) and we’ve already
booked a repeat of our ’04 itinerary for ’05. We
stayed at a wonderful resort on an out-island with a
price that made this quality stay a great value.
Believe it was the first time in my traveling life
that I never set an alarm for an entire week! If
you’d like a complete report on our Fiji stop, drop
me a note and I’ll send it.
Two and a half weeks
in New Zealand – my wife, Marte, accompanied me for
the first week and then she flew home leaving me to
some hard core fishing. The first week, we traveled
together and I only fished three days, one of which
was my best ever NZ day with nine fish and a total
weight of 51.5 pounds of brown trout released – all
caught sight fishing to individual fish. Good
stuff. Also had other good days and some tough
days. Weather can make a day very difficult and
this years weather was unseasonable for a typical NZ
February. That’s why it’s necessary to schedule
enough fishing time (even at a great fly fishing
destination) so that you can “hit it right” and have
some of those forever memorable days – things just
don’t work perfectly every day. Details available
with photos this Thursday at the Bush Street shop or
by privately scheduled presentations.
Summary: Of all the
trips we taken in our lifetime, Marte and I agree
that our two weeks together in Fiji and NZ was our
“best ever.” As I mentioned earlier, we’ve already
decided on a repeat of this agenda for next year.
TRIP REPORTS: PATAGONIA, COSTA RICA, AND BELIZE
Some abbreviated
trip reports from Leland clients on recent
adventures – fortunately, all good stuff.
-
Costa Rica,
Crocodile Bay: Dr. John Weaver called their
stay a “great place for an all around week of
varied R & R – accommodations, food, and staff
are excellent.” Fished three days and also did
nature tours (the Osa Penninsula has one of the
great tropical rain forests), bird watching and
botanical garden tour. On one day of
sailfishing released three sails – also got big
rooster fish and jacks on other days.
-
Patagonia: Greg
Snyder and three fly fishing friends and Mr/Mrs
Dick Morrison visited our favorite areas in
Patagonia on different agendas (the Morrison’s
included a jaunt across the Argentine border to
do some Estancia fishing). All reports were
positive. Greg reports “ Words can’t describe
what a wonderful time we had…” All four in the
group took the biggest fish of their fly fishing
careers on the trip. Our Patagonia trips are
assembled with varied fishing options,
comfortable accommodations, great food, gracious
hosts, spectacular scenery and non-fishing
possibilities
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Belize
mothership trips: several good reports on Jan
and Feb trips in spite of a few cold fronts.
Marc Dollarhite and Patrick March were on the
Meca for 10 days. Marc got his first permit and
stated “The crew was great and the food
awesome. We look forward to next year…….”
From a very experienced salt water fly fisher,
Brian Hastings, on his first trip (excerpted
from his report on Dan Blanton’s message board)
– “Charles Westby was an amazing guide, the best
I have ever had. Food was great and getting a 3
session, 12+ hour fishing day made the
liveaboard a fantastic option.” From Gary and
Terry Butts – “Overall, we rate the trip a great
success…..I was surprised by the number of
tarpon.”
LELAND-FRONTIERS AGENT AGREEMENT
In addition to the
many great destinations that we represent, Leland
Fly Fishing Adventures also has an agreement with
Frontiers to represent all their properties (many of
which we already book independently). If you are
considering any of the destinations that Frontiers
offers, please give us a call as it’s virtually the
same process as booking through Frontiers, and we
need the “bonus points.” And, we may have some
personal experiences that can add to your knowledge
and preparations.
Either phone or drop
us an e-mail if you have questions or would like
more information about any of our destinations.
An enthusiastic
traveling fly fisherman,
Don Muelrath
Leland Fly Fishing
Adventures
888-347-4896
flyfish@napanet.net
www.flyfishingoutfitters.com
e-mail Josh Frazier
at
Josh@flyfishingoutfitters.com
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