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NEWSLETTER #52 -
SEPTEMBER 2006
Fly Fishing
Adventures Travel Newsletter, September 2006
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
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PATAGONIA……..IN THREE PARTS
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NEW ZEALAND:
WHAT’S NEW AT PORONUI RANCH
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FANTASY STUFF:
ALASKA AND BABINE STEELHEAD
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TRIP REPORTS:
THREE FORKS AND FERNIE - ELK RIVER
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SAN FRANCISCO DAY
– 10/3
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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
We are in the fifth
year of publishing our monthly newsletter with
updates on great fly fishing venues, trip reports
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.
PATAGONIA……..IN THREE
PARTS
The question “what is Patagonia?” is one I hear
often. Patagonia is a loosely defined general
geographic area that encompasses the southern parts
of Argentina and Chile. From the fly fisher’s
viewpoint, it includes three different
environments: the Chilean Fjords, the Chilean
Andes, and, in Argentina, the pampas and eastern
side of the Andes.
This is the first of three articles defining those
different sections of Patagonia. We’ll start with
the western-most of the three, the Chilean Fjords.
If you look at a map of Chile, you’ll see hundreds
of small islands just off the coast. Those islands
create the Fjords of Chile. Many of them have their
own rivers and streams created by springs, rainfall,
and, in some cases, glacier melt. While the fjords
themselves are salt water, there is lots of fresh
water entering them via the aforementioned
waterways.
The fly fishing targets in the fjords consist of
rainbows, browns, and silver salmon. These fish
roam the fjords, entering fresh water from time to
time. Several of the rivers have good numbers of
trophy sized fish, but not all hold fish – and some
only on certain days when the whim of the fish cause
them to enter the fresh water. It’s this
unpredictable nature of the fishery that is both
exciting and frustrating. During our two weeks
exploring the fjords and its streams, we found
rainbows as large as the 8-10# range. We did take
several browns also, but while I’m certain there are
large browns in the fjords, we didn’t release
anything over four pounds. Sometimes we found
concentrations of large fish in a river and
sometimes streams that looked like they would be
sure to hold fish held nothing but pretty water.
Fishing river mouths was often productive as were
certain flats where giant rainbows could be fished
like bonefish on the right tides.
A wonderful spot to base yourself for a fjord
fishing adventure is the Puyuhuapi Hotel and Spa. A
3 or 4 day stay here is a terrific complement to a
week at an Andes fly fishing lodge and a real hit
with non-fishing spouses. The fishing program is
limited to four anglers per week from Puyuhuapi so
reservations usually need to be made far in advance
during prime time. (DVD on the Puyuhuapi Hotel and
Spa is available – just hit reply).
NEW ZEALAND: WHAT’S
NEW AT PORONUI RANCH
There has been a lot of speculation over what would
happen with Poronui Ranch, one of New Zealand’s
world class fly fishing lodges, ever since it was
put up for sale by the original owners. Lots of
rumors were flying around. I met with the new
owners last week. What’s new with this 18,000 acre
property is basically all good. The new owners are
Westervelt Sporting Lodges from the USA. They have
been able to renew all their leases to water on
Maori land and even extended the length of the key
leases – no accesses to water have been lost as the
rumor-mill was spewing out. They have added some
other non-fishing activities such as heli-wilderness
hikes on private land and kayaking. Plus, they now
have available a fabulous “New Zealand style”
private home on property for rental to families or
small groups (this was the home of the previous
owners). Bottom line is Poronui will continue to
offer an outstanding experience to match the
reputation it has built over the last six years as
one of New Zealand’s finest operations.
FANTASY STUFF: ALASKA
AND BABINE STEELHEAD
This column reports on those special fly fishing
experiences that happen when you hit it just right
and have one of those special fly fishing moments or
days you’ll never forget – i.e., fantasy stuff.
From Alaska - what can happen when you hit it just
right in the later part of the season in Alaska, the
prime time by most Alaska traveler’s standards?
This is from guide Greg Schuerger, one of Putah
Creeks finest guides, while fishing with a client in
the famous Bristol Bay area of Alaska. How ‘bout a
day where you release over 30 rainbows that averaged
over 23 inches each? Hard to imagine….but it
happened recently.
From the Babine River in BC comes this trophy
steelhead experience from Loren Irving. Loren has
taken monster steelhead on the Babine before, fish
in excess of 20 pounds, but his latest lunker was
taken on a dry fly, a Black Bear Bomber tied by
Pierce Clegg. The fish was 39.5 inches long with a
20 inch girth (best guess is 20-22 pounds). Loren
reports, “the fish devoured the fly in fast frothy
water at the top of a run and went just nuts across
the river, bellied line, and jumped three
times….What an incredible experience. I am a lucky
guy.” Yes, you are Loren, with memories of that
fish sailing through the air frozen forever in your
fly fishing memory.
TRIP REPORTS: FERNIE
AND THREE FORKS RANCH
Our “trip reports” section this month carries more
comments from two destinations in the West that have
received 100% positive endorsements from clients
this summer – the Fernie area of eastern British
Columbia and Three Forks Ranch in Colorado.
First from Fernie comes this condensed report from
Tom Patterson: “The trip to Fernie worked out
great. I ended up staying an extra day. The
fishing was really good and Jeff was a great guide.
It worked out very well for my interests and skill
level.” Fernie offers a great mix of venues from
drift boat trips on the Elk River to walk-n-wade on
the smaller tributary streams. It is an ideal spot
for someone to hone their fly fishing skills with
the aide of guides who are outstanding teachers.
There is a downside to these ongoing outstanding
reports on Three Forks Ranch – the popularity of the
experience has lead to an “almost sold-out”
situation for next summer. The only spots open as
of this writing for more than two days are 6/30 –
7/5 and 9/6 – 9/10.
From Lem Cragholm who was there in September with
his son: “It met the lofty expectations I had. In
terms of accommodations, service, fishing, it was as
good as it gets. Food and wine very good as well.
We had a great time.”
Jim Taylor made his first trip to Three Forks this
summer and has two slots booked for next year. This
globe-hopping fly fisher has seen a lot and has
nothing but praise for the overall Three Forks Ranch
experience: “Plenty of beautiful private water with
lots of 4 to 6 pound fish. Fishing for all skill
levels. Five star cuisine with outstanding food.
First class operation from beginning to end and
everything in the middle. Only negatives are the
price and getting space.”
“SAN FRANCISCO DAY” –
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3
If you are in San Francisco, we have scheduled next
Tuesday, October 3 as our next day in the City. To
view a list of the slide presentations we have
available, go to our website
www.flyfishingadventures.org Under the
link for “Newsletters/Trip Reports” is the list of
slide shows. I am available by appointment to stop
by your office or home for discussion and/or slide
presentations from our library. Also, I’m available
to get together for a cup of coffee almost anywhere
in the City.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“One of the great charms of fly fishing is that of
all the sports, it affords us the best opportunity
to enjoy the wonders and beauty of nature.” The
Lady Bugs Fly Fishing Club
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
Fly Fishing Adventures
www.flyfishingadventures.org
If you want to be removed from our e-mail newsletter
list, just hit “reply” and let us know – you’ll be
removed immediately.
Fly Fishing Adventures
888-347-4896
flyfish@napanet.net
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