Glyn Freeman and friends on the Rio Grande

Glyn Freeman writes about his week at Villa Maria on the Rio Grande, Argentina:

A change of venue this year from the Rio Gallegos to the Rio Grande a little further south. I went with a couple of friends Mark and Phil booking through Jim and Bob at Halstead and Bolton and have to say that all the travel arrangements were flawless, ran very smoothly and with no delays. We were looked after royally from the beginning of the week to the end of the stay at Villa Maria on the lower Rio Grande. There is a shop at the Villa with anything you may need from flies to waders if you have forgotten something.

Phil on the home pool which was a five minute walk from the fishing lodge.

The food was good, an endless supply of big juicy steaks, fine wine and beer in copious quantities, the staff were fantastic and friendly, the fishing guides Gaston, Pele and Ben really knew their business. There are two lodges, one you sleep in, have breakfast and evening meal and one on the river during the daylight hours where lunch is served and siesta, all very civilised.

That fish looks just like how I felt after a couple of days of fine living!

You could fish the very productive home pool during siesta time if you felt you had any strength left after the morning session and big lunch, not many did!

Guanacos were a regular sight along with the huge Condors.

 

Mark into a nice sea trout.

I have to say that the sea trout fishing and tactics that I was used to on the Rio Gallegos did not work that effectively on the Rio Grande, the pools are really quite deep in places and heavy tips were the order of the day to get down to the bigger fish. It took me a couple of days to get tuned in to what was needed and after that thankfully it was fairly plain sailing.

There are a lot of very big fish on the Grande, many were lost that week from our party with some in the high twenties. it was surprising just how small some of the successful flies were during the day and how big the leeches that were used just on dark.

The wading is very comfortable and the pools fairly easy to read, there is plenty of water to go at and if one pool is not working the guides are quick to take people to another. We shared the week with Skyler an American who did very well, Tony from the north east and two south Africans Richard and Richard, all were excellent company with a good humour which makes the week enjoyable.

There were pools that required some long casts and others less than twenty yards or so, all very manageable with the right outfit.

Some of the fish were like hooking the back of a passing car.

Very fresh fish just off the tide.

The biggest fish of the season so far at Villa Maria was taken by Mark at 26.5 lbs, followed by…

24 lbs, the boy done good! (pictured with Gaston the head guide)

 

The last evening was just something special, I did not want to come home!

Highly recommended!

Rio Grande Sea Trout season off to good start

The sea trout season on the Rio Grande in Argentina is now underway and the Villa Maria water has got off to a good start. Lodge manager Gaston says despite unsettled conditions and some strong winds,  the statistics for the past week, the second of the season, are the best for four years.

Unsettled conditions are to be expected at this time of year, but it's encouraging that fish were being taken on lighter lines and smaller flies and nymphs already.

Gaston's just sent us his report. Here's what he says:

"At the beginning of the week the level of the water was still a bit higher but still clear.
On Monday we had heavy rain showers for one day and two nights, along all the way
of the Grande rivers and the resulting watershed brought about a very sudden rise of
almost 6 inches of clear green water from the Rio Menendez.

The weather was less than accomodating this past week. Some fishing sessions throughout the week were very good and some slow. Changing weather and river conditions seemed to have a negative effect on the fishes' mood. Anyway these adverse conditions were overcome, finishing a week with excellent results. According to our statistics for the same week, the best in the last four years.
So, I am safe in saying that we had a very successful week.

River Conditions: The river is continuing to drop and clear on a daily basis.
Temperature of the water is perfect, about 11 degrees.

Fishing Techniques: As the water temperatures rose as the week progressed, we started
to use smaller flies and lighter lines. In fact, the two biggest fish were caught with
leeches, chartreuse fished with sinking lines and long leaders.

Flies used: At the beginning of the week, with the water still cold, we fished mostly
with leeches. Later in the week as water temperatures rose, flies such as the green
machine and small rubber legged nymphs provided the most action.

Fish: By the end of the week we landed a total of 89 sea trout, however 27 fish were
also lost. The average weight was 9,7 lbs. The average fish a day was 2.7 and the big
fish of the week was 22 pounds.

Conditions of the fish: Most of the fish this week were very fresh. Only a few fish were
turning."

We'll watch the conditions carefully ahead of our two weeks down at Villa Maria in February/March.

Accessible Golden Dorado Fishing

We've been looking for a long time for some great fishing that is easily accessible from Buenos Aires - something special as an add-on to a sea trout or dove shooting trip. Well, we've finally found it. 

Golden dorado are one of the finest game fish in South America, and we've been fishing for them in northern Argentina for quite a while. But here is something different - fabulous dorado fishing within about a 40 minute drive of Buenos Aires.

Golden Dorado are one of the most exciting freshwater fish

The ease of access makes this a perfect bolt-on to one of our other adventures, such as sea trout in Patagonia or dove shooting in Cordoba. If you're in Argentina next year, you've got to try this.

Explosive fishing

This is explosive, floating line fishing, with plenty of visual action and jumps galore. Because the location is so close to the Argentine capital, you can add a day excursion (or a few days) on to your trip and the guides will simply pick you up from your BA hotel early in the morning and drop you back in time for dinner.

Multiple hook-ups are common

The fish are typically in the 2lb-12lb bracket, but there are larger fish there. It's a great chance to see some spectacular scenery, experience a new type of fishing, and get extra value from your trip to Argentina - and all you have to do is book an extra night in the hotel!

Dorado country - beautiful scenery

Of course, for the ultimate dorado experience, there is Pira Lodge, in the Ibera Marshlands in northern Argentina. But for a taste of the golden dorado, this is superb.

Fish up to 12lbs are common - with some larger

- Bob

Fish the Canadian Rocky Mountains

We've just put the finishing touches to a great trout fishing package in the Canadian Rockies.

AAPGAI Master instructor Martyn Armstrong has scouted out the best trout streams and the best guides on both sides of the Continental Divide.

Native Rocky Mountain cutthroat

We've put together our own itinerary that will allow our rods to fish a different trout stream every day for wild browns, rainbows and cutthroats - with plenty of fish over 20 inches and in prime dry fly season, too!

Curtis Lamey and his team of guides will put our team on the best rivers for wade fishing and will float large sections of some of the larger rivers in drift boats - the ultimate way to fish in the Rocky Mountain west.

Typical scenery and mouth-watering fly water

For trout anglers, it really doesn't get much better than this, and the all-inclusive price is great value for such a high quality trip.

Check out our video slideshow on the fishing and read the full trip details.

For more information call Bob Sherwood on 07831 688849 or email fish@halsteadandbolton.com.

Fernie - heart of the Rockies and our base for the week

 - Bob

Kate's salmon from Kjos

Not to be outdone by a team largely made up of AAPGAI instructors, my wife Kate returned with us to Kjos for our annual back-end trip this year and had a lovely salmon on the very first session. 

Lovely fish on the first session from the tributary

The hen of about 9lb came from the small Bugda tributary on a size 16 Green Butt tweaked just below the surface right at the tail of a pool. On a 6-weight single hander, the fight was spectacular.

Not sure who's the more excited, Kate or KJ!

In contrast to the bonanza this team enjoyed last year, fish were much harder to come by as the runs across Iceland this year (with the odd exception such as Midfjardara and Sela) have been disappointing.  But Kate wasn't to give up and landed another one much to the excitement of KJ, our wonderful guide who made the five days fishing an absolute delight. And she lost another fresh fish too.

Waterfall fishing on Beat 1

The team of friends was as much fun as ever and who can fail to enjoy fishing in such fabulous scenery. Beat 1 with its waterfalls was especially spectacular with the good water height.

The team

We'll be back next year for what has become one of the most fun weeks of our year!

- Bob

Midfjardara 2012 - Hosted Trip to Iceland

We were back in Iceland in late August for our annual hosted trip to the Midfjardara system, undoubtedly one of the best salmon rivers in Iceland.

This is classic Icelandic salmon fishing, with a river of waterfalls, a canyon, crystal-clear water and small pools, fished with single-handed rods. It is always intimate, exciting fishing, but this year the forecast rains had failed to materialise and the water was lower than anyone could remember it.

Low water and stunning scenery on Midfjardara

Clearly, this was going to mean the fishing would be at even closer quarters than usual, but the low, clear water meant we could spot fish easily in all the holding pools. Though there did not appear to be as many fish as we had seen the previous year, we could see large groups of fish in all our favourite pools - which was more than enough to get the hearts pounding. 

Salmon clearly visible lying in the tail of the Blue Pool

We kitted up with six- and seven-weight rods, long leaders and small flies. Nick Moody, back for the second year running, and Guy Titchmarsh, started us off in spectacular style with a seven-fish session  from beat four, after finding the famed Tynhylur, or Bridge pool, crammed with salmon.

Nick Moody in action

It wasn't long before the team were into fish. Ailsa Smith had a salmon on beat two within ten minutes of starting, while I watched from high on a rocky cliff face as Richard Williams latched into his first salmon on a single-hander on beat five the following morning (and enjoyed a precarious sliding descent to be at the water in time for the photographs!). Suffice it to say Richard was clearly impressed by the fighting abilities of these fish on the light rods.

Micro conehead Frances flies proved deadly

The team were also quickly into the intricacies of Icelandic salmon fishing, with dead-drifting, upstream casts, short stripping, and micro flies adding new dimensions to the traditional salmon approaches. Particularly exciting was the visual nature of the fishing - not just in spotting fish but in watching the fish move to take tiny flies from on or near the surface, often from deep lies, or to slash at small collie dogs stripped across the top.

Among our 84 salmon landed for the week (any plenty more lost, notably by Nick as soon as Guy had tempted fate by mentioning that they hadn't lost any in the first session), were some truly memorable moments. Nico Stephens opened his account with a spectacular fight from an 84 cm fish while I watched his wife Avril leaning her whole body into the battle with one strong fish.

Avril Stephens gives no ground in a tight spot

Richard and I watched stunned as an 80cm-plus hen rocketed from the depths to take his tiny size 16 fly twitched in the surface, just beating a far, far larger fish to the fly. The resulting battle was nerve-jangling as the fish went ballistic - maybe it's just as well the big one didn't get it, Richard!

Richard Williams watches every run of the fish in the clear water

And then there was Paul Lalwan's continuing incredible run of form. After catching not one but two 26lb-plus sea trout on his first trip to Argentina, Paul insisted he would be happy just to catch a salmon. To no one's surprise, he continued in the same vein, landing a 96cm fish as his first ever salmon. He also entertained us on the final day by catching a fish immediately after going for a short, unplanned swim in just a few inches of water - truly irrepressible.

What a start - Paul Lalwan's first ever salmon

Guy, fishing with the determined Jason as his guide, was a fly fishing assassin all week, even turning his attention to the char when beat one was slow, and landing them to over 5lb on small nymphs. As ever, Rabbi was a great host at Midfjardara and the food and the lodge was superb. Nick Moody has fished around the world in recent years and rated the food as the best he had ever had in any lodge, anywhere. At times the wind howled and at others the sun shone down brightly, showing off Midfjardara's mountains, glacier backdrop and canyons in their best light. To top it all, we even had a breathtaking show of the northern lights on a couple of clear evenings.

Ailsa takes in her first view of the canyon

Rabbi has put together undoubtedly one of the best guide teams in Iceland (and there is tough competition), and Alejandro, Jason and Dolli worked their socks off for the team all week. Jim and I were acting as extra fish spotters and had a great (if a little chilly!) time watching the fish's reaction to the flies as we perched stock still on rock ledges directly above the water, trying to direct casts right onto the noses of individual fish.

Richard's 81cm hen - which was dwarfed by the rival that it beat to the fly

In the low water conditions, it was inevitable that most of the fish were starting to colour up (just the way the Icelanders love them, in fact), but that did not effect their strength or the power of their runs in the slightest. And as the water was still very cold, the fish all powered back into the river, needing almost no recovery time. Next year, we'll hope for higher water and more running fish, but Midfjarda showed that even in less than ideal conditions, it can still deliver spectacular, visual salmon fishing.

Ailsa with a cracker from Middle Skyphylur

We'll be back at Midfjardara in August 2013, and if you'd like to join the team or would like more information on Icelandic salmon fishing, contact Jim Curry or Bob Sherwood. We love the river so much, we're always happy to talk about it.

And in the meantime, enjoy the slideshow of this years trip.

- Bob

International Fly Fishing Weekend at John Norris

Halstead and Bolton International Fly Fishing Event, Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September

Come and catch us this weekend at everyone's favourite tackle and country clothing shop, John Norris of Penrith.

Both Jim and I will be at the store all weekend to talk about international fly fishing adventures to all corners of the globe.

So whether you are seriously planning a trip, considering various destinations or just wondering about that trip of a lifetime, drop in and have a chat.

Jim and I will be discussing freshwater and saltwater destinations, and can advise on the pros and cons of different countries, the best rivers and lodges, special techniques you might need and, of course, exactly the right gear to take.

We'll also have plenty of videos and pictures on show to whet your appetite, so do come and see us this Saturday and Sunday at John Norris of Penrith.

- Bob