fishing

Fly Fishing For Trout

2009-10-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

You may be in it for the kill. You want to take as many as you can home and enjoy them with full-bodied dry Riesling. It’s a nice-tasting fish – so nice that they’ve put up trout farms the world over.

Or you may be in it for the simple thrill, a catch-and-release affair.

Whatever excites you about fly fishing for trout, it’s best to know a few things about the species first.

There are many species of trout of the Salmo, Oncorhynchus and Salvelinus genera. But four species stand out: the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), brown trout (Salmo trutta), cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

rainbow-troutHaving the reputation of being the most difficult trout to hook, brown trout are brownish-yellow in color, with dark and red spots on an olive background, and square tails that have few spots or none at all.

These smart browns are almost impossible to catch once they get settled into a stream. They rarely even nibble, giving fishers the impression that there’s nothing in the stream.

Don’t get outsmarted by these browns. If the stream you’re in is slow flowing, has lots of minnows, and has a temperature within a range of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit – conditions that would not allow other trout species to thrive – they may be just hiding, waiting like you. But one of them is bound to get fooled, you must believe that, or what’s a fly fisher for?

Mature brown trout eat medium-sized minnows, chubs, large crayfish, even small rodents. Really big browns can feed on smaller trout, bass, perch, and other smaller game fish. Fly fishers can use dry flies, streamers and stonefly nymphs. If you want a trophy trout, the really big ones, it helps to know that they usually feed at night and are choosy. The question is – how badly do you want a trophy?

The brook trout or ‘brookie’ has brilliantly-colored scales, with white leading edge, backed by black, on its lower fins. They thrive in cold (52 to 56 degrees Fahrenheit), clear freshwater streams of the mountains. They are good indicators of the water’s health in fact. If a mountain stream doesn’t have them, chances are it’s polluted.

Brookies travel in schools, so if you hook one, there are plenty more nearby. They eat aquatic and terrestrial insects, plankton, snails, and leeches. You should use a small spinner and cast your line into the shallows. They’re ideal for fly fishing. Fly fishing with bucktail on a sinking line will keep them biting.

Cutthroat trout are so named for the bright red slash mark under the jaw. They have golden yellow scales and have dark spots on the body, dorsal, and caudal fins.

They are usually found in stream-fed lakes and tributaries, feeding on insects while young then eating other fish upon reaching maturity. A cutthroat can grow from 24 to 28 inches, weigh 8 pounds, and live to be over 12 years old. The big ones often swim with sockeye salmon in large lakes and rivers, with a preferred water temperature range of 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cutthroat stay at the bottom of pools but are known to be aggressive feeders. Fly fishers can use both dry and wet flies to land trophy cutthroats.

Noted for spectacular leaps and hard fight when hooked, rainbow trout are the most encountered species of trout. They have glowing rows of black spots on the back, sides and tail, with pinkish (rainbow) band on both sides.

Rainbows thrive in cool, clear streams and rivers but have been known to survive in warm silt bottom streams, preferring a water temperature range of 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

They mainly feed on crustaceans, plant material and aquatic insects in the first three years of life, then swim away to larger bodies of water to feed on fish, large insects, and even small rodents. Flies like mudders, streamers, nymphs, and egg patterns will likely get these rainbows biting.

Fly fishing is a rewarding hobby, offering stress relief by bringing you close to the natural environment. You’ve just learned a few things about trout, but there are a lot more to know. At least now, you won’t be clueless when you cast your fly.

Adventure Alaska

2009-10-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

BIGGEST CATFISH I HAVE EVER SEEN CAUGHT

2009-08-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

Deep Sea Fish Medley

2009-08-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

Fishing Adventures Thailand

2009-08-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Fish English Name: Siamese giant carp
Local Name: Pla Caho
Scientific name: Catlocarpio siamensis
Fish Weight: 53.00 kg (~117 lbs)
Catch Place : Thailand
Catch date : 18th February 2004
Angler's name: Terry Robert Mather, England
Guiding: Fishing Adventures Thailand / Jean-Francois Helias

Terry's 53 kg giant carp

34 kg giant carp

Last year at the same period (February 2003), my good friend and return client Bruce Dale from England invited some of his best Geordie mates to join him on a fishing trip to Thailand. One of them was a lovely lad by the name of Terry Robert Mather, a game keeper who doesn't have any spare time to fish in his homecountry.

From their first day fishing to the end of their trip, Terry turned out to be the luckiest angler I've ever met. On day 1, he caught a 25.00 kg Chao Phraya Giant Catfish, setting a new IGFA All Tackle world record for this predator catfish species. The next day Terry did it again. He landed this time a 56.50 kg Mekong Giant Catfish which is still today the current IGFA record. Then we headed up for upcountry for some more days fishing in the jungle where Terry hooked up a 6.00 kg Spotted Featherback, again current IGFA record.

Terry's 20 kg giant catfish

This year Bruce & Terry booked us for 5 days and 3 nights. And again Terry stole the show!

On Feb. 18, a French Canadian angler by the name of Francois Cadieux had the chance to experience a Siamese giant carp's bite, landing a 25.00 kg. One hour later, Terry showed to everyone he did not lose at all his very special luck, hooking up a 53.00 kg giant carp (the second biggest ever caught by our clients). This carp gave an amazing fight due to the fact she had only one eye.

Yesterday morning Feb. 19, Terry went on landing an Arapaima of 37.00 kg. This Arapaima was a nice welcome catch to break at last a kind of jinx we felt having. We experienced a total of 7 Arapaima bites within the last 3 days, including bites of 2 big ones well over the 150 kg mark, but failed to finalize a catch due to fish getting unhooked and one broken line.

..and a 37 kg Arapaima

These 2 catches were already nice enough to say that Terry's 2004 trip was a successful one. But Terry, I told you, is a very lucky guy. He proved it by catching next another giant carp, of 34.00 kg this time.

We spent last night fishing together, catching several good size Chao Praya giant catfish with a new bait that we are testing for this species and Arapaima too. This new bait proved to be absolutely great. It works very good with both species. Terry again landed the biggest Chao Praya catfish, a big size 20.00 kg.

It is almost 11.00 am right now here in Thailand. We are entering soon our last afternoon fishing after a tiring fishing marathon with very little sleep. Terry and I are fishing for the giant carp. I'm expecting anything at anytime from him to confirm he is one of the very few anglers on earth to have this kind of perpetual luck......

Francois
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56.50 Kg (~124 lbs) Mekong Catfish

2009-08-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

English Name: Mekong Giant Catfish
Weight: 56.50 Kg (~124 lbs.)
Fate: Released - pending IGFA world record
Where: Thailand
Date: February 18, 2003
Angler: Terry Mather
Guide: Fishing Adventures Thailand
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he Arapaima Gigas, or Pirarucu

2009-08-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

It was around 1:00 am that night of the 26th August 2001 when that 185 kg monster Arapaima gigas decided to take our fish filet bait. As usual, powerful and unstoppable, once hooked the huge predator fish rushed through all the obstacles it could find underwater. The Arapaima went absolutely everywhere, snagging the line several times around pillars of a wooden bridge and stilts of near by bungalows. Its unique strength and speed was amazing to observe. It ran non-stop for a while, then stopped, showing itself later several times at surface level, far at the other end of the lake.

Two of my guides had then to proceed to the strategy we use in that case, when the angler's line is snagged in obstacles, to save his catch. One of them spent an hour swimming, often underwater, to find out where the snagged line was. Meanwhile the second one, each time it was necessary, was spooling out the line from the reel, cutting it, getting it free from the snags, tying promptly the two line pieces. The angler, Joe Taylor, would then take contact again with the monster fish and fight it until he got snagged again. It took a total of 2 very long hours before the fight could be ended. One hour spent working on the snagged line, and another 60 minutes for the tug of war with the giant fish. Under IGFA rules, you can guess fighting the fish that way wouldn't have been sanctioned by an All Tackle World Record. Too bad, that Arapaima was almost 3 times bigger than the fish of the present record: a fish of "only" 67.13 kg caught in the Rupununi River, Guyana, by a certain Ed Migdalski, in April 1953. That monster fish is currently the Asian’s biggest freshwater fish ever caught with a rod.

Thirty-five of those Amazonian Arapaima gigas have been introduced in Thailand 17 years ago. So far, only 6 specimens have ever been caught. The 2 last fish landed were hooked by legendary European angler friends whom we had the privilege to guide during their stays. In December 2000, Arnout Terlouw, a wellknown Dutch globetrotter angler, fishing writer and editor of the prestigious magazine Karper, was the very first foreign angler to catch an Arapaima gigas in the Kingdom of Siam. We estimated that fish at 110 kg but I believe now it was certainly much heavier. After that catch, we experienced around 30 more Arapaima bites. Unfortunately, none of those fish that took our baits were landed. We just couldn't finalize. Those fish either spit the bait, got unhooked, or broke our visiting anglers' lines in obstacles.

That second fish landed in August 2001 by our UK angling friend Joe Taylor was much bigger. That monster was weighting an impressive 185 kg, had a length of 263 cm and a girth of 185 cm. That catch of a lifetime was more than well deserved. Before landing this fish, Joe had previously experienced with us a total of 7 Arapaima takes during his 2 previous Thailand fishing trips.

It was on a Saturday night and about 50 Thai people stopped fishing and came to watch the action. Once the fish was netted, a huge ovation from the Thai crowd congratulated all of us. Joe, as the "hero" of the day, and us the Fishing Adventures Team as his accomplices. Every one was clapping loudly his hands. It was a very amazing and emotional moment and a few tears came out of Joe's eyes.

Jean-Francois Helias

Mark with 106 lbs of Siamese Giant Carp

2009-08-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Common Name: Siamese Giant Carp
Fish Weight: 106 lbs
Date: November 9, 2004
Location: Bung Sam Lan Lake
Angler: Mark Clark
Home: UK

Here is a pic of a helluva Siamese Giant Carp catch weighting 106 lbs and caught on 9th November 2004 by our English client Mark Clark. He scored this tremendous catch on the 2d day of a 3 days fishing session at Bung Sam Lan Lake. A nice reward for his very first trip to Thailand!

154 lbs Mekong Giant Catfish from James

2009-08-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

Common Name: Mekong Giant Catfish
Fish Weight: 154 lb
Location: Bung Sam Lan Lake, Thailand
Angler: James Heighes
Home: Petersfield, Hampshire, UK
Date: March 17, 2006
Guiding Team: Jean-Francois Helias' Fishing Adventures Thailand br>
Just a few words to inform you we had a tremendous Mekong giant catfish catch this morning (March 17, 2006) by a UK angler, by the name of James Heighes.

James (25 years old) is from Petersfield, Hampshire. He's mainly into carp fishing in his homecountry. He booked us for a single day fishing which turned out to be the kind of unforgettable one for a sport angler.

James hooked up and landed a 154 lb (70 kg) Mekong giant catfish after having fought it for an hour and a half. Unfortunately again, his catch cannot qualify for a IGFA world record though it was much larger than the current 63 kg IGFA All Tackle world record. The unstoppable giant catfish succeeded to entangle James' line around structures not less than three times during the battle. Rules were broken as we had to swim and touch rod, reel, and line to help freeing the snagged line out of the structures, so we could secure the catch.
Jean-Franois Helias

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Smoked Flounder

2009-08-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

We caught a flounder that weighed almost a kilo (980 g) in our net. This is Johannes holding the flounder. The easiest and best (?) recipe for flounder is to smoke it. You just need some salt, a smoker and the fish!

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Bass Fishing Techniques-Winter Opition

2009-08-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

Bass fishing techniques in the salt water in winter can be a tough business, but there ara a lot of bream, salmon and drummer some toys warm.The first onsetof winter chill sees many rock anglers simply hanging up the standards in a bid to stay warm d glamour of the season.The slow warm-water species, decrease with the hot currents, and slower residantel Rock specics pelagic wet and cool on the reign of rust along the cold ocean rock.Bass Fishing techniques Much excuess now come into play for the average angler, with most over the nippy tempreatures and slicing forzen winds whip from the icy inland.

Bass Fishing Techniques It is easy option to take an interest when a mate seems more than a simple fish remain in the comfortable lounge with a warm welcome Doona, and sipping on a hot cuppa with your ugg boots while reading one of your favorute edition of salt water. With a little foresight and careful planning, but bass techniques during the snow season can be so pleasant and exciting as you it.Most winter forage species quite happy thought, the day begins early and during the coolest part of the dawn can avoid confidence in a few Fisheries still occur.

In the early afternoon are much warmer than the morning sessions with the sun during the day temps notches a few degrees, and in this sense, afren stories could be a better bass techniques techniques choice than the cool, crack of dawn missions.Before planning a conference, please note that if you dressed to the elements, the chances are you much more fired up to stay longer and keep your mind on the job in hand, rather than miserably complain about how cold you are and how much dough would go home. It only takes a certain amount of time before a fishing mate complain, and get pictures of heat, the better for you, and you type in the head and back to winter hibernations in the safety of the Lounge attracts.

Rock Bass fishermen bebefit bass fishing techniques, the most a good pair of strong non-slip shoes, wet weather trousers and a quality spray jacket, if the conditions are in their worst.On the other hand, can be found in the odd warmer days, when the Executive Board and Shorts at - T-shirt is suffice.Whatever the prevalling situations that prepard to see you enjoy your session on the stones much more.With each session on the rocks dishing many different situasions as the day progress, worth an assortment of hooks, lures and floats, along with a few different sizes only Guide
in one case, the target species prefferd play hard ball.

Often cast by simply in a pack of hooks groper, a few pea-size boards, black fish swim with small hooks, split shott, drummer and bream hooks and boards, a few lures matel and small handful of plastics, just about every Fang scenario for bass techniques shouls a change in the nature or location.

Is two flashes better than one?

2009-08-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

Is two flashes better than one?

I admit it, I have become a fanatic follower of http://www.strobist.com/, their Blog and Flickr community. What these guys can do with the strobes is quite fantastic and the information you can get through their archives is nothing short of amazing. I have no special desire in becoming a studio photographer, neither load my room with Soft boxes, Umbrellas and alike. I'm a darn outdoor photographer, most of the time floating on a small boat with a bunch of dangerous guys fully rigged with the strongest rods and reels chasing monster fish. This is where I belong and this is where I want to improve my photo skills. Narrow, small, uncomfortable, wet and rocky environment. Not a place for a stand with a honeycomb grid, no way. To work here I will have to take advantage of small portable flash units, in my case two Nikon SB600. Actually, until yesterday I owned one and I was trying to make an old Metz 28 work as a slave unit but the thing is crap with the digital camera and won't work properly. So I decided to go for a second proper strobe, more reliable, that allows me for an accurate control and that can be managed directly from the camera Menu.

Without the off camera flash the best I could get is photos like this one above: light is quite harsh, obviously too direct and yet it worked more or less OK for the mags, is still a decent backlit image. I wonder what 2 speed lights attached left and right of the camera, or in any other different manner could work on portrait like these, an to be honest with you, I can't wait to try it. In less than one week I'll reach my friends for few days of fishing in the Mediterranean sea. I might skip some tackle here and there but you can be sure that all my new toys will be with me. I hope I will be able to post some new pictures all taken with my floating lightning set up, it will take some trial and error, sure, but this will make it even more fun. Just hope my friends (and the fish) are patient enough.

Fishing report for first week of June

2009-08-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

Our last two trips out have been quite good. We have added a few new species to the capture list and the weather has been holding steady.
We did a bit of trolling on the first day. After all it is Wahoo season and they do taste good.
Now, with a Wahoo on board it was time to try for something else. Out come the skirts and here comes the Mahimahi.
As always when fishing around reefs you can expect sharks. Usually Black tip and White tip sharks are the first to turn up. Here is a nice Black tip caught on a popper.
That is followed closely by a Red Sea Bass. Normally considered a by-catch when fishing for GT's, but they do put up a good fight on lighter gear.
From XstreemFishingComFor those of you who have never caught a Mahimahi before let me tell you. They give a good fight, especially on light tackle but the kicker is when you bring them in the boat, they go mad. They are actually very dangerous, especially with hooks in their mouths. The best thing to do is put a wet towel over their eyes and they will calm down enough for you to hog tie them. If you miss with the towel look out, they are going to go ballistic. The upside to all of this is they taste great.

The next trip out saw us poppering the reef with 30lb and 50lb spinning gear. This time my good friend Captain Charles Wakeham took the wheel so I could also fish.

First up is a nice little Queen fish.