Fly Fishing Abroad

[Paul Boote]

am i paul, all i did was mention a location where i've fished, you then name dropped a few more locations, and then droned on a bit about how big the fish were you'd put people on to.

 

seems you're the bitter one

 

i was merely making a joke paul, that's why i put a smiley face after the words you find so bitter and over competitive.

 

 

look there's another

 

 

and another

 

stop taking yourself so seriously and you'll find the world is a much nicer place

 

 

Merely spent much of my life having one heck of a laugh and an Angling feast, Jeep. And trying to make other fishers aware of some of the incredible possibilites out there if they were to only take a few risks that i have done, to stretch a leg and go that extra mile, both here and abroad; to see their lives and outlook transformed by the experience. I've done it pretty well all for free, and not for Cult of A Personality Brownie Points...

 

Me? Serious about myself?

 

Well, I ask you...

 

You wouldn't have written that if you had ever met or fished with me. Indeed, in my time, many a respected, well-known, po-faced "serious angler" has despaired of and given up on me. I'd much rather have fun.

 

Yet, there are some things worth becoming serious about, and one of them is when our pastime or recreation (that's all it is, lest we forget) starts playing economic and social hardball with other people's pastimes, prospects and lives. Now, to my mind, that is serious - not just for the people concerned but also for the very future of fish and fishing, anywhere.

Edited January 11, 2006 by Paul Boote

[PanamaJack]

Well Jeepster you patently stopped on Ascension Island, but was it just for a refueling stop?

 

I've fished there on three occasions now and, although the primary quarries have been Blue Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna, always take along a range of fly rods. From the beach, near the Pierhead, you can catch a number of different species including Black Jacks (Caranx lugubris) that range up to 25lbs or so - great fighters on a fly rod - and a Kiwi friend (one of the crew) has also caught Rainbow Runner (Elagatis hipinnulata) into double figures. But, slightly offshore, we also target Horse Eye Jacks (plus many more Black Jacks) and Dorado and have caught the odd Yellowfin Tuna up to 40lbs, not I hasten to add on your average fly rod! Some anglers have also caught Sailfish and, only the one, small Blue Marlin.

[jeepster]

it was indeed a refuelling stop, we were allowed off the plane (got my passport stamped with a 'wide awake airport' stamp, which trumps pretty much anyone elses stamps in those departure lounge 'let's have a look at your passport' conversations )

 

seeing the island from the air it looked an amazing place, and i spoke to some servicemen who were stationed there, who fished regularly, they loved it

[Paul Boote]

Merely spent much of my life having one heck of a laugh and an Angling feast, Jeep. And trying to make other fishers aware of some of the incredible possibilites out there if they were to only take a few risks that i have done, to stretch a leg and go that extra mile, both here and abroad; to see their lives and outlook transformed by the experience. I've done it pretty well all for free, and not for Cult of A Personality Brownie Points...

 

 

Scroll down to "The Angler's Coast and Other Hidden Gems" on this fishing news blog -

 

http://www.midcurrent.com/news/index.html

 

- then hit the link to the article mentioned.

 

It seems that at least somebody got the message.

 

He logs off and bows outs now, blushing...

[Fin-S]

I've done a fair bit over the years both fresh and salt in places such as US, (Florida, Alaska and Wyoming), NZ, UK, (Hampshire, Scotland and Wales), the middle east particularly Bahrain and all over Africa. Now that I am based in South Africa, most of my travels are in the dark continent where I concentrate on Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and the Seychelles, not forgetting home base in Cape Town. If anyone is travelling to these areas and would like an honest heads up ( I am not proclaiming to be an expert, but may be able to help) drop me a mail. Personal favourites list would be bonefish in the Seychelles, sails in Kenya, kingfish (caranx) in Tanzania and tigerfish in Zambia. But on saying that, wild brownies from Scotland accompanied by a few glasses of amber liquid are hard to beat!

[jeepster]

where in bahrain did you fish fin? i spent 4 months there after 9-11 and struggled to find much good fishing

[Fin-S]

Jeepster, was there '76 till '88 both at school and as first job as diver. Had a boat out of Bahrain Yacht Club in Sitra. Used to fish the channel alongside the ALBA pylons for barracuda, out to the mooring bouys for chanard (king mackerel) and the reefs for hamour (grouper) and sharks. Could catch queenfish and big stingrays almost anywhere, but they were prolific 5nm south of black bouy and on the flats at the edge of the channels. Sails were seasonal during spring and were found at the 30m line due east of Mina Sulman. North, West and South of the island not so good as the water gets too warm and shallow. Before the boat I used to go to the old Sitra causeway and still managed queenies and rays from the shore. I guess the gulf has changed since those days

[PanamaJack]

Given the relative ease of getting to most places in the world now - alright it does come at a cost - there just so many opportunities to fly fish in both Freshwater and the Salt. And importantly for a whole range of different species and using quite different techniques, particularly in the salt.

 

Flats (shallow) fishing in the salt, especially when you wade, is really exciting. Unlike Trout, Bonefish don't stay still! But it's not restricted to the Tropics. Last year for instance, as part of a family holiday, I fished the coldwater flats of Cape Cod and Nantucket Island - Massachusetts in the 'States. Just as exciting, most of it still sight fishing, except the quarry was then Striped Bass. One of the key differences is the water is cold, even in the summer you need waders.

 

But then again, sticking to the salt, how about 'Bluewater' fishing. The individual skill usually comes out of the targeting and casting but it's really great fun playing a gamefish, that might exceed 100lbs in weight, on the 'long rod'. Now I know some places, and I mentioned Ascension Island in a previous post and the 'wilder' parts of Central America I been to, can only be considered as 'out and out' fishing destinations. But there're loads of places where you can combine a day offshore with the family holiday, places like Key West in the Florida Keys. There're I've targeted Little Tuna, Blackfin Tuna and Amberjack by chuming them up. And it has the advantage of its inshore fishing as well - the 'big' three, Bonefish, Tarpon and Permit - plus a range of others including Barracuda and Sharks. Now sharks, things like Black Tips and Lemons are fun on the fly!

 

The 100 pounders? Our Club members have released Pacific Sails and Blue Marlin over that figure. And, whilst not into 3 figures, but certainly amongst the most difficult they've released two Broadbill Swordfish from Kenya and weighed World record Roosterfish and Wahoo from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

 

As to freshwater I've done very little overseas, and still to target a Salmon. But I guess the most agressive was undoubtedly Peacock Bass from Lake Gatun in Panama, a magical place.

 

Back to Elton's original question though where's the fly rod personally gone? Bahamas, Belize, Venezuela, Florida, Massachusetts, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama plus the Azores, Cape Verde Islands and Ascension Island. Collectively though our membership have been just about everywhere - as far east as Outer Mongolia and west to Alaska, north to Lapland and south to the Falklands. The remotest, and this does take a long time to get to has got to be Bikini Atoll.

Dave

[phil dean]

my next door neighbour lived in the falklands, we both now fish on the south tyne, he keeps harping back to the times he had in the falklands..............wonderful I believe, he would certainly go back.

 

personally tobago was my favourite destination, though I've never fished the fly there, Hopefully I'll have chance again in november as we've just booked for another 14 days.

[PanamaJack]

Phil

I don't know whether you're intending to just go offshore, or intend to 'mix' it with some fishing from the shore. If it's of any interest, particularly with the fly, there's a knowledgeable chap - Steve Pitts - who posted a thread on Tobago on the ukswff forum. Might be worth reading and, if you need to, contacting Steve.

Dave