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NEWSLETTER
#47 - APRIL 2006
If you have access to Microsoft word, open the
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Fly Fishing Adventures Travel Newsletter, April 2006
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
-
AMAZON HIGHLIGHTS – TWO SPOTS REMAIN
-
MAY 4 IS “SAN FRANCISCO DAY”
-
GREAT PREDATORS: BOOBIES AND
HAMMERHEADS
-
APRIL AT NORTH PLATTE
-
A “GUIDE STORY” WORTH REPORTING
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.
AMAZON HIGHLIGHTS – TWO SPOTS
REMAIN
Our regular readers
will be familiar with the excitement we had for our
December trip to fish for Peacock Bass at the
Amazon’s only fly fishing lodge, the Royal Amazon.
Basically, we found it to be a great adventure and
so different from our traditional fly fishing trips
in either fresh or salt water. Our enthusiasm
caused us to book three blocks of space at the lodge
for the prime time of February and March of ’07.
All the spots are gone except for two. If you’d
like additional info or to see our report from our
trip, just hit
“reply” and we’ll send you the word docs.
Steve Voss was there with three friends in mid-March
and had this report:
“We will go back….The lodge was great, the
no-see-ums tough, and the arawana fish fun to search
for and try to catch…Caught 200++ peacocks and a
large number of double digit sized fish. The
youngest person with us had never fly fished
before…got good by the end of the week and also
caught at least 200 fish.
Over all, the facilties were great and the fishing
fantastic…they need better flight service to
Manaus. The guides all differed on how to catch the
arawana …one did jump into a guys boat after a
popper…how about catching one without a hook?”
MAY 2 IS “SAN FRANCISCO DAY”
Our new approach to
getting together with our clients in San Francisco
who want to discuss or view slide presentations of
our many destinations: personalized visits to home
or office…..or, we can simply meet for a cup of
coffee and a visit. We will be available, by
appointment, for individuals or groups. We can also
provide lunchtime entertainment. Let me know if you
would like to discuss an appointment to view a
specific destination on film or get together for any
reason on May 2.
GREAT PREDATORS: BOOBIES AND HAMMERHEADS
Mike Bertoldi and Jim Langley were on their annual
permit quest in Belize aboard the Seaduction with
Captain Charles Westby and watched a 13 foot
hammerhead shark track down a large spotted eagle
ray on a shallow flat. Mike has watched, on a
hunting trip in the Northwest Territories, a grizzly
bear take down a caribou and said this episode left
him with a similar feeling. They were fishing a
shallow permit flat (3 feet deep) from a poled skiff
and heard lots of commotion and splashing. When
they turned to look, they saw a 40-50# spotted eagle
ray about five feet in the air. When it returned to
the water, the ray only stayed a few seconds and was
airborne again….and again. Then they saw the reason
– a shark fin cutting through the water, just a few
feet behind the ray. They were close enough to see
the unmistakable head of a large hammerhead pursuing
the ray. The ray kept jumping until it tired and
then the shark jumped him….big splash and the
remains of the ray were on the bottom.
How do boobies fit under this heading? Not quite as
dramatically, but an interesting fly fishing tale
none-the-less. Harvey Zeidwerg and Joe Fergerson
were fishing Christmas Island recently. They
reported having an “excellent trip, very well
coordinated operation (particularly for the country
and the level of infrastructure), very personable
guides who quit fishing long after they normally
would have.” They caught “plenty of bones,
trevally, wahoo, tuna, and a dorado…even landed
three boobies who seemed to like my popper.” They
actually landed three boobies – everyone knows what
a scary predator a booby is??!!
APRIL AT NORTH PLATTE
Each of the last several years, we have held space in early
April at North Platte Lodge near Casper, Wyoming.
We have found the North Platte to be one of the
West’s most productive early and late season
fisheries. Each year we have received similar
reports to the ones below. We have had several
father-son and/or daughter trips since our time
usually coincides with the Easter break holiday.
This April, Jim Mossup and his 13 year old son,
Julian, were at NPL. Jim’s report: “We
had perfect weather and a great experience -
catching a lot of fish, nice people, good
organization and a really fun time. Julian caught 61
fish in the 4 days (ten over 20 inches) one being 25
inches so he is a proud member of the NPL 25 Inch
Club. I would go back in heartbeat….”
Dennis Smith was
accompanied by his novice fly fisherwoman wife,
Julie. Dennis commented “A fly fisherwoman is
born!” Julie and Dennis already have reservations
to return in November.
As we do every year,
we are also holding some early September space at
NPL (9/1- 4 and 9/10 – 14) and a few “cast and
blast” slots in the fall for those interested in
mixing fly fishing with some bird hunting.
A
“GUIDE STORY” WORTH REPORTING
A
few days after I left our favorite independent guide
in NZ, the following episode occurred. It rained
very heavy for the 24 hours preceding him meeting a
client and the rivers were running high with color.
Kevin Payne was trying to decide where he may be
able to find this client some good fishing given the
conditions. After careful consideration and
discussion with his client, they decided to try the
headwaters of one of his favorite streams, hoping
that the upper stretch of the river would not be too
affected by the weather. One factor was the road –
it would be a steep, narrow, and most likely very
slick dirt track. After agreeing it was worth the
risk, they set off. Well, it was slick….and Kevin’s
four wheel drive pick-up slid off the road and into
some rocks totaling the truck, but fortunately, left
the two of them unharmed. After making a few phone
calls to arrange for someone to pick them up later
that afternoon, they decided to (what else??) go
fishing. And what a day they had! They ended up
with one of those fantasy NZ days of 11 fish
released (and another 5 lost) that weighed between 4
and 8.5 pounds…and half of them taken on dry flies!
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
888-347-4896
flyfish@napanet.net
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