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NEWSLETTER #37 -
JUNE 2005
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Leland Fly Fishing Travel Newsletter - June, 2005
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
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THE HUNTER HUMBLED
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FOR PERMIT ANGLERS ONLY
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LAST MINUTE TRIP PLANNING FOR THIS
SUMMER
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PLANNING FOR ’06 TRIPS – THE SPECIAL
DESTINATIONS
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SPRING STEELHEAD TRIP ON SKEENA
SYSTEM - WILL HAPPEN
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TRIP REPORTS
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QUIPS AND QUOTES – BELIZE SALT WATER
FLY FISHING “SCHOOL”
This
is the thirty-seventh 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. One of our services is to
compare and contrast different lodges/outfitters.
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.
THE HUNTER HUMBLED
The ultimate hunting
experience with a fly rod may be permit fishing, and
the shallow flats of Belize provide the ultimate
hunting grounds. First morning of our recent trip
to Belize….we were searching for fish on our
favorite permit flat. My anticipation level was
high as I’d been looking forward to six full days of
permit fishing for several months. Not long after
we began poling, we spotted the perfect permit set
up. About 120 feet away, a school of 6-7 fish were
moving slowly and feeding aggressively. Their tails
were often clear of the water as they stalked and
ate. And what tails!! This was a school of fish in
the 20+ pound range. Deliberately, they kept
coming, two or three of the tails constantly waving
in the air. Happy, contented fish having their
morning meal as they rooted in the bottom, chasing
anything that moved. A permit fisherman dreams of
this scene and only a few times in my permit career
have I seen approaching fish look THIS GOOD and
those two episodes resulted in hook-ups. They kept
coming, drawn it seemed by my waiting crab fly – all
we need to do is get ready and wait for them to get
into range. 80 feet and still moving, slowly,
directly toward us. No one could mess up this
opportunity – this was almost too good to be true!
I begin my cast, the line is in the air and I have
to tell myself to keep breathing. Then an ugly
sound – THHHWAP – and a sharp pain in my arse. I’m
a lefty and there was a light wind blowing from our
left – in my excitement, I hadn’t calculated the
effect that wind was going to have on a long line in
the air. Quickly, we react and try to pull the fly
free, keeping one eye on the approaching fish. It’s
in deep, but finally pulls free from the
flesh…..only to get stuck in the fabric. Fish only
30 feet away…..can’t free the fly….pull hard and rip
it out. Fish 15 feet away….finally see the boat and
explode, sending water spraying in their rush to get
away from the clumsy angler pursuing them. How do I
deal with this? Today, I can reflect on it with a
smile; however, at the time, I was angry and, worst
of all, felt very inadequate. It was such a hollow
feeling, plus there is a small hole in the rear of
my favorite tropical fishing pants…I couldn’t bring
myself to explain what happened to Marte, my wife,
until the next day. I needed recovery time.
This unfortunate
beginning does have a happy ending, with some very
interesting twists. If you have interest in permit
fishing, see below.
FOR PERMIT ANGLERS ONLY
I recognize that
permit fishing attracts a rather small, but
passionate group of fly fishers. With that in mind,
I didn’t use newsletter space to print the report on
the rest of my permit trip. However, what resulted
was one of my most amazing angling experiences and
it has to do with schools of spawning permit. If
you’d like to see the entire report, hit “reply” and
let me know. The detailed report is in a word
document and I’ll forward it to you.
LAST MINUTE TRIP PLANNING FOR THIS
SUMMER
We’ve received
several calls in the last two weeks from people
looking for last minute space for this summer for
family trips and/or father/son/daughter fly fishing
adventures. Many of the top western lodges are full
for all or most of the summer, but we have been able
to find space in most cases. Flexibility of travel
time helps since we’re already into the summer
time. There are many great outdoor adventures in
the Western US and one of the things we do well is
find the right adventure to meet your objectives.
Outside the lower
48, most of Alaska’s top lodges are full also, but
small windows of availability exist. We are holding
prime time space for early September at one of
Alaskas finest and have room for 6 more rods.
In British Columbia,
Moose Lake Lodge (and it’s sister lodge on the lower
Dean River) has a very interesting fly out package
in late August and early September for silver salmon
in their coastal rivers. There are a few other
world class lodges on the BC coastline that provide
a variety of angling experiences, some of them “top
drawer.”
The same situation
exists in the tropics. Salt water flats
destinations such as Christmas Island, Ascension
Bay, and the Belize motherships do have some weeks
still open, although space is very limited.
If you’ve just had
some time open up for a fly fishing adventure for
this summer, give us a call and let us know what
your interests are. We usually can find something
to get you excited.
’06 PLANNING FOR THE SPECIAL
DESTINATIONS
Now is the time to
get on the “wait list” if you have any interest in
some of the special destinations where we hold prime
time space. These are destinations that are sold
out every year and most of the same clients will
rebook, but there’s always some spots that come
open. Some of those are:
Dean River:
finest summer steelhead run on the globe. We have
space for two of the prime weeks.
Minipi River:
Giant brook trout in Labrador – a great wilderness
adventure
Babine River:
top early October week at the Babine Steelhead
Lodge.
New Zealand:
Most prime time spots are full with the top lodges
and guides for ’06, but a few spots remain.
We’re holding space for four more rods at Poronui
Ranch in March as well as five rods at Lake Rotoroa
Lodge in February, two of NZ’s finest operations.
Patagonia:
Some prime space still remains at the top Andes
lodges for late January, February and March.
Belize Mothership
Trips: Will soon know which weeks are open for ’06 after re-bookings for this
years clients are complete. At that time, we go to
the “wait list” and open up space for “first
timers.”
Top Western Fly
Fishing Lodges:
There are two very special, high end, Rocky Mountain
lodges with miles of private water. Most of their
top weeks sell out 12 months in advance.
SPRING STEELHEAD ON THE SKEENA
SYSTEM
In the last few
newsletters, we posted some information about spring
steelheading on the Skeena system in BC. It was
noted that we were looking to acquire some space
during the best time for trophy steelhead during the
spring period. The response has been positive and
we have secured the prime week of March 25 – 31.
The price is $2,595. We have space remaining for 4
rods. If you want more detail, hit “reply.”
TRIP REPORTS
From a father-son
fly fishing trip at Three Rivers Ranch in Idaho:
“We had a fantastic
time. Great guides, good accommodations and very
personalized attention. Generally, fishing was good
and we were able to fish dry flys most days.”
Alex and Guy Cecala
From a “first-time”
salt water flats angler on a mothership trip in
Belize:
“Trip was awesome.
Can’t say enough good things about the guides and
cook. Noel guided me to my first bonefish, tarpon,
barracuda, and snook on a fly……..I can’t wait to go
back.”
Garrett McKnight
QUIPS AND QUOTES: FROM SALTWATER
FLY FISHING SCHOOL IN BELIZE
I was joined by Bob
Noyes, Rich Hosley, Nibs White, Jack Fritschi, and
Gary Shontz for our second salt water fly fishing
“school” in Belize. A great group of guys and we
had a wonderful trip together highlighted by the
first day when everyone caught their first bonefish,
plus we got a few barracuda on a fly and had four
tarpon hookups with two break-offs and one 55
pounder landed. Fishing with newcomers to the salt
always provides some interesting quips and this
years trip supplies one of the most understated
questions ever asked on a salt water flat.
While fishing with
Bob Noyes on a tarpon flat, Bob asked this “soon to
be famous” question. He had taken a bonefish and
cuda on a fly his first day. Also, he had a tarpon
eat his fly and quickly threw the hook, but he’d
never seen a tarpon in the water before and,
therefore, didn’t know how they appeared
underwater. We were on a tarpon flat with a varied
bottom – dark grass and white sand. Tarpon on the
dark grass bottom weren’t visible because of their
dark backs, but if they moved onto the white sand
portion of the flat, they could be seen from great
distances. Bob was on the casting platform and I
was sitting in the middle of the boat. I hear Bob
very casually ask, “What are these?” I looked over
the side of the boat to see three tarpon, about 60
pounds each, slowly approaching the boat, about 20
feet away.
Of course, by the
time we decided we should be throwing the fly to
them, they had seen the boat and were gone.
“What are these?” –
the quote of the month, maybe the year??
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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