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NEWSLETTER #44 - JANUARY 2006

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Leland Fly Fishing Travel Newsletter – January, 2006

TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:

WHAT’S AN INDEPENDENT FLY FISHING TRAVEL CONSULTANT – i.e, Leland Fly Fishing Adventures
REPORTS – PUTAH CREEK MONSTER AND BELIZE TARPON
LELAND’S AT THE SAN MATEO ISE SHOW THIS WEEKEND
REMAINING SPACE ON THE BABINE, ROYAL AMAZON (’07), “PRIVATE WATERS” ROCKY MOUNTAIN LODGES and BELIZE
’06 FLY FISHING DESTINATIONS AND SERVICES

We are in the fifth year of publishing 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.

WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT FLY FISHING TRAVEL CONSULTANT??

It’s taken me five years in the business to figure out how to define the uniqueness of being an independent fly fishing travel consultant/agent. Here’s what I’ve learned:

We’re not “married” to any particular lodge or outfitter, but can book virtually everywhere. That enables us to be “independent” in our thinking and evaluations of different destinations.
We can do “compare and contrast” reports and analysis on different operations without being biased because we are truly independent.
We have extensive experience as a shop team with most of the desirable destinations on the globe…..and where we don’t have that experience, we have been able, through being independent, to form alliances with trusted operators who can fill in our gaps. Over the last five years, we have formed many of these alliances to allow us access to the world’s best destinations – i.e., we have become a “one stop” fly fishing travel resource for our clients.
We have been able to find the niches in the fly fishing travel world that offer unique and exciting trips, but don’t have enough space available to interest the large fly fishing travel marketers. We have many examples of this important principal, but the most obvious are Captains Martin McCord and Charles Westby and their Belize motherships. This is an example of a trip that sells out almost completely each year with nothing but repeat clients and you don’t hear of them except by word of mouth….or from us. There are many great operations that are not heavily advertised because their “prime time” is a very narrow window or they sell out each year without the hype. We specialize in locating these narrow windows or “prime times” and planning far enough in advance to take advantage of them.

Our stated objective is NOT to have several 1000 clients, but rather to have a small, compact client base who rely on us to do “compare and contrast” reports on different destinations they are considering to help them find the BEST FIT for their fly fishing objectives. We’ve been able to get to know these clients personally so we develop an understanding of what they expect when they get on an airplane to pursue a fly fishing adventure.

We’ve expanded our inventory of great fly fishing adventures over the last five years – see the updated list below.

Yeah, I’ve decided it’s pretty cool being an independent and able to march to our own drumbeat. And, thanks to you for making our personal approach possible.

REPORTS: PUTAH CREEK AND BELIZE

It’s great to hear an exciting rainbow trout report within an hour of home. Mike Copithorne used an apricot colored Otters Milk Soft Egg to take a measured 26.5 inch rainbow from Putah Creek last week. I sure do hear of some big fish out of Putah from time to time.

Bob Cazort, a regular with Martin McCord in Belize, usually only fishes the mangrove edges for baby tarpon and snook. On his early December trip last month, they went south of Belize City to a series of lagoons he’d never fished in all his years fishing with McCord. Bob keeps an accurate diary of his results and gave me this report on his week:

Baby tarpon – 45 jumped, 14 released at boat, to 15 pounds
Snook – several with 12 and 14 pounders as the biggest
Miscellaneous species: grouper, mackerel, jacks (7 and 10#), barracuda, mangrove snapper, cubera snapper (10# biggest).
Most people go to Belize to fish the flats for bonefish, tarpon and permit, so Bob is unique; however, he sure does collect a variety of species.

LELAND’S AT SAN MATEO SHOW THIS WEEKEND

If you’re planning to be at the International Sportsman’s Expo in San Mateo this weekend, stop by the Leland booth. Josh is planning to have lots of 50% off “show specials” on name brand equipment. I will be at the Leland booth on Saturday and will be signing copies of THE HUNT. Hope to see lots of you then.

REMAINING SPACE BABINE, AMAZON (’07), TOP OF THE LINE “PRIVATE WATERS” ROCKY MOUNTAIN FLY FISHING OPERATIONS, and BELIZE

It is amazing that we are preparing already for early ’07 adventures to places like New Zealand and the Amazon. Why this early? The answer is simple: the best operations and guides sell out very fast for the upcoming season because of the high percentage of repeat clients. Already, we are having difficulty securing space for the exact dates clients are requesting for the best Amazon fly fishing lodge for early ’07 and are having to move to second or third choice of dates. Keep that in mind as you think of your fly fishing travel – if you want all the best options open for you, plan very, very, early or you may have to settle for second best. Another example is our Leland trip to the Minipi for this July – we booked this space in mid ’04 and it sold out within six months. (recent Amazon exploratory trip report available in a word doc)

If you’re looking for a “top drawer” fly fishing adventure in the Rockies for this summer and the budget can handle the best, let me recommend you consider one of the “private waters” fly fishing operations. A quality experience from the food and ambiance, to the guides, and, most important, the fishing. The “top dog” among this select group of properties is already sold out for the summer with a few small windows in early August and early September.

The world famous steelhead fishery of the Babine River still has four spots open from Oct 7 – 13 at the Babine Steelhead Lodge. All the lower Dean River spots for this summer are full.

Remaining Belize openings from now through October with Martin McCord and Charles Westby on their motherships (www.flyfishbelize.com):

Charles Westby – The Seaduction (parties of 1 or 2): 2/15 – 22, 4/28 – 5/5, 5/9 – 16, 5/31 – 6/7, 8/16 – 23, 9/20 – 27, 10/11 – 18.

Martin McCord – The Meca (parties of 3 or 4): 2/15 – 22, 5/9 – 16, 9/9 – 16, 9/20 – 27, 10/11 – 18.

Joint charters for a group of 5 or 6 are available for the four weeks listed as open on both boats.

’06 LELAND FLY FISHING DESTINATIONS AND SERVICES

We can book most destinations around the world – price is the same making reservations through us as booking direct so we come essentially “free” to you. Our approach is one of taking a personal interest in helping you meet your trip objectives by providing options to stimulate your imagination. Hopefully, as an independent agent, we can supply some unbiased information about destinations you may have an interest in. One of our services includes doing a “compare and contrast” report on different fly fishing destinations. Also, I’m a specialist in arranging trips for couples where the wife doesn’t fish (my situation). There are places that allow for couples trips with great fly fishing involved, but with a balance that a non-fishing spouse can enjoy. The destinations we specialize in follow. (free videos/DVD’s and/or personal slide presentations are available on many of these destinations)

Most saltwater flats fishing destinations worldwide – I’ve spent over 50 weeks since ’86 fishing the Mexican Yucatan (Casa Blanca, Playa Blanca, and Boca Paila) and Belize
New Zealand Specialists – both hard core fishing trips and couples experiences which blend some fly fishing into the overall New Zealand experience (we have a New Zealand “slide tour” available that takes you through most of the options available in NZ)
Captains Martin McCord and Charles Westby and their Belize motherships
Belize – Turneffe Islands plus other quality properties and two exclusive private islands for couples, families, and corporate groups
Patagonia – both the Andes and the fjords. Fishing and combo trips with a non-fishing spouse
Amazon clearwater Peacock Bass – the finest Amazon lodge
Tierra del Fuego’s top lodges for the giant sea run browns of the Rio Grande
The Bahama’s finest lodges including Flamingo Cay and Mangrove Cay
Christmas Island and Qamea Resort and Spa on Fiji
Baby tarpon – the new fishery on the Mexican Yucatan near Campeche; our outfitters discovered this prolific baby tarpon fishery and pioneered it’s development
Alaska – the premier lodges and float trips
Ponoi River, Atlantic Salmon
Crocodile Bay Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Labrador for the finest giant brook trout fishing in the world – the Minipi River watershed
Eastern Idaho/Jackson Hole area (South Fork of the Snake, Teton River, Henry’s Fork, etc)
Montana and Wyoming Fly Fishing (Missouri, North Platte, etc)
Colorado Rockies - we do represent the two finest lodges in the lower 48 with miles of private streams.
British Columbia – trout and steelhead on the Dean River, Elk River Watershed (Fernie), Blackwater, and Skeena River systems (Babine, etc)
Kamchatka, Russia – we work directly with the first fly fishing outfitters to establish float trips in this remote part of Russia.
We partner with corporate planners in putting together various packages centered around outdoor experiences and fly fishing that can include lessons for new comers to the sport.