Huge NZ Brown trout

Congratulations goes out to Fly Odyssey client Mike Naylor who landed the fish of a lifetime while on a recent visit to Owen River Lodge. It was Mike's first trip to New Zealand and he managed to fool this 11 3/4 pound brown trout. Apparently it was the largest fish landed out of Owen River lodge since opening and is just one of many double figure fish taken by their clients this season. Looks to have been a mouse feeder at some point. Mike finished his 3 day stint at the lodge with another 3 fish over 6 1/2 pounds including one fish over 9lb. 2010 really was the year of the big fish in New Zealand.





For 2011 hosted trip, self drive and lodge itineraries please Contact us via email or call 01621 743711.

Fly Fishing New Zealand Week 2

Our second week of hosted fishing was based in the McKenzie District. Arguably the most scenic part of the country it boast some great brown and rainbow trout fishing. While in the McKenzie we spent time with local Twizel guide Steve Carey and the 'wandering' guide Ian Cole. Both are top class guides and a good laugh around the BBQ as well.


• Paul with a great fish from a big high country river (Image courtesy Paul Procter)

The week was spent fishing the various high country rivers and spring creeks that drain the McKenzie basin. We had another fine week of weather with temperatures exceeding 30 deg C most days with clear blue skies and light winds. This got the tussock cicada in a good mood and provided some of the best cicada fishing I have seen in the McKenzie. A day on the Ahurriri River was most memorable with the fish really homing in on any cicada that was drift down a bubble line. For all the guys this day will be long remembered.


• Dormer with another big McKenzie District brown trout taken from a small tarn.

The biggest fish of the week went to UK angler Ben Garnett who landed managed to land an 8lb fish out of one the numerous small tarns that are scattered through the region The fish was taken on a tiny size 18 corixa pattern. This made up for a large fish lost by Ben earlier in the week which ate his cicada and came off after a long fight.


• Ben with a fine looking 8lb stillwater brown.

Just goes to show the diversity of the fishing sight fishing available. You can stalk big rivers, small spring creeks, bustling freestone streams and small stillwaters all sight fishing to fish exceeding 3lb in weight.


• John proves that you can find big fish in the tiniest of streams in New Zealand. This fish went 4lb on the scales.

Are you interested in joining one of our New Zealand hosted fly fishing adventures in 2011? Trips will be run from 22nd January, 2011. Space is extremely limited. For further details please contact us.

New Zealand Fly Fishing Report

Well we have just completed three weeks of hosted fly fishing throughout the South Island of New Zealand. Over the coming days we will be updating the newsletters page with detailed reports of the fishing that was had. The guys on this trip were lucky enough to experience great weather with bright sunshine and warm conditions on most days which resulted in great sight fishing opportunities and lots of insect activity which had the trout looking skywards.


• A relaxed lunch on the banks of the Mataura (Image courtesy of Dormer Treffry).

WEEK 1 Fly fishing Southland

Week one which was based out of Simon Chu's TROUT COTTAGE in Lumsden. Trout cottage is a little fly fishing hut in Lumsden and provides an ideal base for traveling anglers. Full of NZ associated fly fishing memorabilia it sets the scene for a week fishing SOuthland. Lumsden is in the heart of some of Southland's best fly fishing country with rivers such as the Mataura and Oreti and their associated tributaries a short drive away. The first week resulted in some fantastic dry fly fishing. The willow grubs and cicada's seemed to come on as the weather warmed and the water levels dropped from the previous weeks rain.


• A Southland willow grubber. These fish are usually frustratingly difficult but Paul's willow grub pattern fooled each and every willow grubber we came across. Luck or great design? Its the most successful willow grub pattern I have used be we will find out again next year. (Image courtesy of Paul Procter)

One of the great aspects of fishing Southland is the diversity of fishing situations. One location will find fish sitting high in the water column sipping down willow grubs. One afternoon on a high bank on the Matarua we found fish stacked up waiting for cicadas or blowfly's to hit the water and then there is always the ever present backwater fish. Several of the larger backwaters would find 4-5 big browns cruising for nymphs or looking up for drowned blowflies.


• Dormer with a feisty Mataura brown. An hour was spent on this fish with over a dozen fly changes. At times it lay within 3 feet of our position. Keep still and they won't know you are there!!! (Image courtesy of Dormer Treffry)

Dormer, Pete and Paul all enjoyed some memorable catches in all of these situations with fish ranging from 3-5lb. Of course as always in New Zealand there was the missed opportunities. Large fish that make it back to the willows, several straightened hooks and the ever present 'quick strike' that succeeds in pulling the fly out of the fish's mouth before he has a chance to taste it!!



Paul with a big cicada munching Oreti brown trout (Image courtesy of Paul Procter).

Are you interested in joining one of our New Zealand hosted fly fishing adventures in 2011? Trips will be run from 22nd January, 2011. Space is extremely limited. For further details please contact us.

Merry Christmas

Just a quick thank you to all those who have booked trips and travelled with us in 2009. We at Fly Odyssey wish you all a very Merry Christmas and and a festive time catching up with family and friends over the New Year period. We have some new and exciting developments for 2010 which include:

1. We will be running the first exploratory liveaboard trips to French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Kanton island in the Pacific in the newly built liveaboard BONEFISH (See pic below). We will be releasing dates and prices in early January 2010.



2. We are now the exclusive European agent for Casa Veijo Chac in Punta Allen, Ascension Bay, Mexico. The 'Casa' is local permit guru Manuel Chac's 4 room lodge with a capacity for 8 anglers. Fly Odyssey clients have been fishing with Manuel for several years and always return full of praise. The lodge offers the most competitive pricing in the region and is a must for the Permit junkie to visit.

3. We have also teamed up with Chile's finest trout fishing outfit Estancia Del Zorro and Cincos Rios Lodge. The Estancia is a 15000 acre property that it is riddled with springfed streams which are stuffed with big brown trout (as the photo below attests). Cincos Rios is situated on the banks of the world famous Rio Simpson and offers the chance to drift, wade and even jetboat into the headwaters and tributaries chasing the brown and rainbow trout as well as the salmon that inhabit this system.



4. We have also joined forces with Palm Valley Outfitters in the US who are exploring and opening up new and unfished waters deep in the Southern Yucatan Peninsula as well as operating a lodge in South texas for Redfish and white-wing dove shooting. Jeff at Palm Valley will also be acting as our US agent and running some saltwater fly fishing hosted trips to Christmas Island and Australia so if you have any questions about any of the destinations that we offer and are based in the US please give Jeff a call on (956) 428566 or email Palm Valley Outfitters for more information.



Merry Christmas
Mat

Turneffe Permit

Congratulations goes out to Phil who landed his first Permit while fishing down at Turneffe Flats last week. The group had tough weather with rain and overcast skies from Hurricane Ida making fishing conditions difficult. Here is his story. Makes me want to get out onto the flats just reading about it.

Hiya Matt,

I got it on a Merkin, hook size 1. We chased the pod of permit up and down the mangrove shore, going through the fly box as we went. Gave it three good shots per angler per fly then swapped over and changed the fly. The guide said our best chance was if the fish moved in close, right up against the mangroves. They did and I was lucky enough to be standing on the pointy end of the boat at the time.

The fight was scary, several long searing runs, sometimes towards the mangroves or close in along the shore. I was convinced it'd get snagged and break me but I guess the fishing gods were smiling on me that day. I still don’t quite believe I actually landed (boated?) the fish.

cheers,

Phil

Orvis hosted fly fishing arranged by Fly Odyssey

We are pleased to be involved the launch of a range of hosted fly fishing trips to some of the worlds finest fresh and saltwater destinations in conjunction with Orvis UK. Orvis have recently added the whole range of trips which include destinations such as Mexico, Iceland, Bosnia and the Bahamas to their UK website where the trips are detailed in full.

Bookings can be made via the Orvis Sporting Traditions Agency or by contacting Fly Odyssey.

Alphonse Island Report

Mad keen saltwater fly fisherman Mike Youkee has just returned from Alphonse island after visiting during the opening week of the season. He has provided a very informative report which can be read below. We have some special deals at Alphonse this season so if you are planning on fishing the Seychelles in 2010 this is a great time to book.

Hi Mat

Well, just got back from Alphonse and difficult to describe how good the trip was. After two days resting up in Mahe (the main island of the Seychelles) after the long trip down, I met up with the rest of the group for the flight down to Alphonse. This takes around an hour as Alphonse is some 250 miles southwest of Mahe.

The group comprised eight anglers including me -- a Spanish lawyer and his wife, an American author and his wife, two South African guys, an expat Brit based in Hong Kong and me. I was paired up with John Mitchell the expat in the boats, although all rooms were single occupancy except for the married couples. So, there is no fear of having to share with someone who snores like a gorilla, or vice versa!

The guides are of various nationalities -- South African, Norwegian, American, Seychellois and are highly competent and experienced. Their boat handling is fantastic and needs to be, particularly when fishing outside the reef for milkfish. The day starts with a trip over from Alphonse the resort island, to St François where the fishing takes place. Once inside the reef the anglers are deployed from the big boat with their guides in the skiffs. The trip over takes around 30 minutes and it is a good time to put on your sunblock and make minor kit adjustments.

On the first day, John and I were teamed up with Vaughn who trains the guides and we had a trainee named Andrew, who was very good. We were very soon into the bonefish and both had fish to seven pounds by lunchtime with many specimens of around four to five pounds. There were very few juvenile fish and although we did see some, there were some real hogs of bonefish mixed in with the average size of around three pounds. We rounded off the day by species bashing over the edge of the coral and had some interesting fish -- juvenile bluefin, various snapper and spangled emperors. Indeed, even bonefishing you are quite likely to catch small bluefin, junior GT and that first day I picked up a small golden trevally, only the third that Vaughn had seen in his long involvement with the fishery.



Both John and I were keen to get stuck into the GTs and we spent much of the rest of the week chasing up GTs. We finished the week with John on two fish to my one, although we both had other hook ups and numerous sightings of fish. Of the eight anglers, and it must be said some were novices, five landed GT’s.

We had a shot at milkfish one morning when the tide was right outside the reef. The technique is to dead drift a weed fly through a school of milkfish and hopefully the two will connect. Not so in our case as we swam the fly through the school many times with no luck. Vaughn, of course, managed to hook and land a milkfish as well as catch the largest GT. The American author managed to hook up but parted company with the milkfish after 15 minutes, a kilometre from where he started.



There’s lots of fishing although more than the maximum of 10 anglers would cause a problem. The species diversity gladdens my heart as I find bone fishing great the first 2-3 days but I yearn something different after that. You can certainly find that at Alfonse. In the evenings you can fish right outside your chalet and depending on the tide you can reasonably hope for five or six bonefish and 10 or 12 fish of different species in the hour or so before dinner.

The accommodation and food is at the luxury end of the spectrum. Although it can cater for up to 90 guests the resort is only being used at the moment for anglers and this of course is to our benefit. There is a well equipped fishing centre where you can buy kit or tackle, or borrow equipment if you are unlucky to break a rod as I was.

It’s about the only destination in the Seychelles currently operating and compared to other visits to the Seychelles I have undertaken, the fishing has been of higher quality with a greater range of species -- I had never till this trip fished for milkfish. It’s on my radar for a return trip next year maybe coupled with a trip down to Cosmoledo.

Regards
Mike.

If you are planning on booking a trip to the Seychelles in 2010 then please contact us or call +44 1621743711.

Nick Reygeart of Gin Clear media has just finished off a trailer of his latest film on Iceland. We have been closely involved with Nick's trip helping to organise access to many of the rivers he has fished including the Minnivallalaekur, Jokla, Breiodalsa and Tungalaekur. As you can see by this trailer the fishing is spectacular.

The Source-Iceland

In 2010 we have numerous hosted trips to each of these rivers. For those interested please contact us for more details.

Iceland: Monster Brown Trout

Iceland is home to one of the oldest strains of brown trout in the world. It is believed that the fish of the Minnivallalaekur river link back to the brown trout present in Iceland at the last Ice Age 1,3000 years ago. Through genetic popultion research these fish are believed to have been involved in two post glaciation re-colonisations of brown trout through Northern Europe. I recently visited Iceland for these brown trout with UK wild brown trout enthusiast Paul Procter to check out these fish for ourselves prior to our recent Orvis hosted trip to the Minnivallalaekur lodge.



The Minnivallalaekur lodge makes an impression on you right from the start. Sitting as close to the home pool as possible the lodge offers panoramic views to the inspiring and active Mount Hekla. But it is the three large speciens of brown trout adorning the walls that make any fly fisherman drool. These fish all in excess of 10lb provide a motivation to tackle up quickly and get onto the water. The river itself is spring fed and crystal clear offering the opportunity to see these monsters lying on station in the deeper pools when the conditions cooperate.



Over the three days of fishing we caught glimpses of 10lb+ fish but trophy brown trout don't come easy no matter where you fish in the world for them. Instead we managed fish in the 24-26 inch range, the largest of these weighing in at 6 and 1/2 pounds. An epic wild fish by anyone's standards.



Iceland is only a short 2 hour 30 minute flight from the UK and provides a unique experience. Having fished New Zealand for over a dozen seasons I was most impressed with the quality of fishing on offer. In fact I came to the conclusion that if a trophy fish was what I was after then Minnivallalaekur river would most likely be my first port of call.

In 2010 we will be running two group trips to the Minnivallalaekur lodge. The first will be during the first week of July 2010 during the prime black fly hatch. The second will be last week of August when the terrestrial flies like 'daddy long legs' abound and the brown trout become more aggressive with their spawning urges beginning to take over. For details and pricing please contact us or call +44 1621743711.

New Belize Destination: Hopkins

We are pleased to unveil our new Southern Belize destination. Hopkins village is located a 20 minute flight South of Belize city in the Stann Creek district. This small fishing village is located a short run to some of the world's most prolific permit flats. Combine this with the countless lagoons that tarpon make their home and the ever present bonefish and you find yourself in an ideal saltwater fly fishing location. This destination will be part of our hosted fly fishing packages will several hosted trips running in 2010. We have just had UK fly fishing writer Toby Coe head down to Belize and check out the place and here are his thoughts:

Mat,

All of my nonsense about 'not being particularly fussed about permit' turned out to be exactly that as soon as I got to Belize. Like probably every other flyfisher that has ever seen that big black tail waving in the air, I was an instant convert. Although a remarkably unsuccessful one. Due to sheer ineptitude on my part, I didn't land any permit during my three days of fishing with Jim, although I got a lot of shots. However, Jim did have a nice fish of around 7-8lb.

I was amazed by the number and size of permit we saw on the flats. On our best day, we probably saw 40-50 permit, including a couple of shoals of around a dozen fish. They weren't small either - Jim reckons the average size of permit down there is about 10-12lb and we saw some clonking fish, including a really nice fish in the mid-20s that gave me a severe case of buck fever.

Caught a few bones too and saw bonito and jacks smashing bait, plus a heap of tarpon, both out around the cays and also in the creeks and mangroves. The sheer variety of fishing in the area really has to be seen to be believed.

Jim's house is fantastic! Beautifully finished, very comfortable and right on the beach. There are some great local restaurants and bars nearby as well. Hopefully the attached pics will help give an idea of what it's like out there!

Cheers, Toby

For trip information please check our Special Offers page.