On-Location Report: Early Season Bass'n

There is never a bad excuse to get out of the office once in a while, especially if it’s to fish. A group of friends set out in search of early season bass at Lake Mateos and Lake El Salto in Mexico. We are staying at Billy Chapman Jr.'s Anglers Inn and are enjoying every minute of it. Currently the weather is hot and most of the action has been sub-surface. I am happy to report that fishing has been good and with less than a month left for prime time we know that fishing will be incredible this coming fall and winter. Another highlight of this trip is the hospitality that Anglers Inn provides. The level of service is outstanding and has been an absolute pleasure.

Keith Kaneko with a top-water bucketmouth

Although most of the fish caught have been fooled with sub-surface presentations, we have found a good top-water bite in the mornings and evenings. Several 4-6 pounders have blown up on top water bugs and WOW... what a beautiful sight!

Ken Hanley going long

One of the great features of bass fishing with a fly rod at Lake Mateos is the diversity of environs one can cast to. Fly rodders have an amazing advantage in the bass game, we can present very light bugs accurately and quietly to hopped up killing machines.

Keith putting the wood to a razor-back

Almost every time a bass will head for thick cover, be ready to really keep the heat on them. We are all using 20 pound Maxima with 7-9 weight rods.

The reward...

Kevin Doran with a largie

All five of us are complete fishing fools and this is paradise for us. We eat breakfast, are in the boats before sun-up, fish until noon, eat lunch, take a siesta and fish until dark. With all this going on it is amazing that we find time to enjoy the scenery.

Kevin Doran and Ryan Miller watching the grass grow

The gang at dinner (right to left): Kevin Doran, Ken Hanley, Chappy Chapman, "Ziggy," Keith Kaneko, Bill Carnazzo and Ryan Miller.

Anglers Inn has a full-time chef that is truly talented; all the meals have been excellent.

As the five of us continue to work the waters for bass we will continue to bring you more pictures and details from our "fisherman's holiday." We will fish Mateos one more day and then head to El Salto to see if we can't beat the 18.8 pound lake record largemouth. Please enjoy the following pictures, thanks for reading and FishOn!

On-Location Report: Lake Mateos Bass

Angling On The Fly is on location at beautiful Lake Mateos near Culiacan, Mexico fishing for Largemouth Bass.

Bill Carnazzo, Ken Hanley, Kevin Doran, Ryan Miller and Keith Kaneko (taking the picture)

Top Water...


Fishing is hard work, sometimes you just need to relax.


Keith Kaneko with a stout 6 pounder!

Check back soon for updates and highlights on this incredible bass fishery.

Fish Art: Paintings by Flick Ford

During our exploratory trip to Gods Lake last week, the team had the pleasure of spending the week with renowned fish painter Flick Ford. Flick was invited by friend and lodge owner, Robert Gates, to fish for Gods River trophy Brook Trout. He was on a personal mission to catch and release a trophy specimen for his next piece of artwork. He was successful by landing a behemoth Brook Trout measuring 23 inches in length by 16.5 inches in girth - estimated at about 7.5 pounds!

Flick is also the artist for the popular books Fish: 77 Great Fish of North America and, soon to be released, Big: The 50 Greatest World Catches. His artwork is absolutely stunning and intimate. He is now working on the painting of his trophy Gods River Brook Trout.

Check out his website to view all of his artwork - www.FlickFord.com

Video: Yucatan Tarpon Jumps Aboard!

During our angling pursuits around the world, we sometimes encounter some of the craziest events. Often, they are just stories to be told as folklore or myth... this time, we have proof that sometimes "the fishing was so good, fish jumped into the boat!" This is a video clip while Jeff Mueller of Fly Fisherman Magazine was fishing with us at Isla Blanca. Fish On!

On-Location Report: Gods Lake - Final Day

Lake Trout on the fly...

What a way to complete an exploratory trip! Wonderful weather and spectacular fishing for Lake Trout and Northern Pike on the fly. The lake was "glass-out" this morning... no wind! We had great anticipation for sight fishing opportunities for Lake Trout and it all came together for the team. More Lakers migrated from the depths last evening, yielding even larger fish to target today. By the day's end, we each had fishy grins on our face.

I am too tired to write much tonight, so I am going to let the photos below speak for our final day fishing report... Fish On.

Bill with a "girthy" Laker!

Lodge dog "Major" supervising the morning preparations

Morning run for the reef

Jim with one of many Lakers for the day...

Ken with a giant Northern Pike

All smiles after a day of pulling on big Lake Trout and Pike!

Relaxing at the lodge lounge...

Guest cabins

Canada's Gods Lake Lodge Staff

Celebratory steak dinner!
(left to right: Flick Ford, Keith Kaneko, Jim Christensen, Ken Hanley, and Bill Carnazzo)

On-Location Report: Gods Lake - Day 4

Doubled-up Lake Trout with Ken Hanley

Today was an incredible fishing experience at Gods Lake. We had ideal conditions for fly fishing - low wind and overcast skies. And of course, more Lake Trout arrived on the shallow reefs. Our team prospected a number of areas and found Lakers in small pods. Once again, these fish congregate around shallow rocky shoals and/or a substrate of small boulders. In some areas, we even observed Lakers chasing bait on the surface.

Today, Ken and I spent some quick moments studying the bodily characteristics of the Lake Trout. The first thing we noticed is the mouth structure, which definitely represents that of a pure predator - wide jaw and a mean set of teeth. Also, the body markings and fin colors make this fish a thing of beauty. We felt appreciation and honor in viewing a species that is so elusive in the depths for most of its life.

The average size window of these Lake Trout have been 5 - 12 pounds. However, today I did get abused by a Laker that we estimated at 20 pounds plus. It doubled over my rod and, unfortunately, I was not able get a cradled boat-side view of it. These fish give a fight of powerful surges and bulldogging head shakes. We dropped our fair share of these fish today due to their propensity to roll and twist during the fight. They are amazing creatures and it is exciting to fish for them knowing that some Lake Trout of 50 plus pounds have been landed in Gods Lake.

Well, tomorrow is our final day of fishing here at Gods Lake. We are hoping for proper conditions to pursue more Lake Trout, but are happily ready for "plan-B" too... trophy Pike! Check back tomorrow and we'll have more to report!

Bill Carnazzo with his Lake Trout of the day at Gods Lake

On-Location Report: LAKERS UP! Gods Lake - Day 3

Success! The "Fish Gods" of the lake smiled upon us today and brought up the first Lake Trout of the season. What an exciting experience to fly fish for "Lakers" around shallow rocky shoals,... or "reefs" as the locals call them. For most of the season, these creatures of the deep lurk and feed at incredible depths in these northern lakes. However, in September these fish migrate from the depths and dwell in the shallows to feed vigorously before the fall spawn and the long winter freeze.

Along the shoreline are great expanses of granite slab that extend out into the water and form these reefs. Our target areas for Lake Trout is very specific on the reefs - find "bouldery" (basketball sized) rock structure that is adjacent to deep water. Here, the fish congregate and feed on minnows and smelt that live amongst this enriron. This is the reason why fishing baitfish patterns in lighter colors proved to be effective. The top producer today was Blanton's Whistler in red/white and punch colors (2/0 sizing).

To add to this wonderful day, Bill and Jim had an incredible session of "Piking" today - they landed more than 50 Pike today! They fished Umpqua's Gen-X Bunny fly in red/white (3/0). These fish are super aggressive and, therefore, want very robust flies. Their most successful environs to fish these Pike was submerged "cabbage" with about 3 - 4 feet of water above them. This time of the season, most of the Pike are seeking warmer lairs to hold and feed. The submerged vegetation provides this insulation and heat absorbtion from the midday sun. We are fishing these areas with Rio's new Outbound "Short" with clear intermediate belly. This fly line has been essential to maintain the depth contol of our flies throughout the retrieve over the top of the cabbage.

Finally, today was an absolutely gorgeous day to be on the water in remote central Canada... look at the picture below and you can see why this lake is called "Gods Lake".

On-Location Report: Gods Lake - Day 2

We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunrise and a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, hotcakes, and porridge. And of course, a hot cup of coffee is always welcome on a cold morning in the Manitoban bush. Today, our group focused on fishing for Pike amongst the submerged cabbage in sheltered coves and bays. None of us landed "master-angler" sized Pike today, but good numbers of fish in the mid to upper 30 inch class were landed.

The ferocious grab of these powerful fish often rip line from your stripping hand. A finger sock (ie. stripping guard) is definitely a must when fishing for these brutes. In addition, we found that a stripping bucket (ie. line management device) is essential when fishing mid-ship and/or when the wind starts blowing. It minimized tangles in the running line and keeps it away from "line-grabbers" on the boat. These simple, but essential, items make fishing for these species more enjoyable (and less frusterating!)

The outflow of Gods Lake begins the headwaters of Gods River. With the renowned Brook Trout fisheries of it neigboring province (Labrador), this river has been overlooked by many destination anglers. This river is home to trophy Brookies that often average 18 inches, with solid opportunities at some over 20+ inches. Today, Robert landed a beauty that measured 22 inches - more impressive than its length, is its girth. The Brook Trout in this river have incredibly robust body proportions - an indicator that this fishery is healthy with plenty of food sources for these ravenous Brookies.

Check back tomorrow for another on-location report from Gods Lake! Fish On!

Bill with a 38 inch Northern Pike

Exploration: Fishing in "Gods Country"

Ken Hanley with a massive God's Lake Northern Pike

Part of the "work" in this business is having to venture to remote destinations to explore new fly fishing opportunities for our customers. This week, I am traveling with a team of friends and colleagues to explore the late-season fishing at Gods Lake in Manitoba, Canada. The team includes Ken Hanley, Jim Christensen, and Bill Carnazzo of northern California. Our travels brought us to Winnipeg on Friday, with an overnight at the Hilton. The following morning, Gods Lake Lodge owner, Robert Gates, and his friend (and renowned artist) Flick Ford met us in the lobby of the hotel. Together we shuttled to the Perimeter Air Charter terminal for our flight to Gods River. After a 1.5 hour flight, we landed safely and hopped in the lodge transport boat for the 17 mile ride across the lake to the lodge. Finally, we arrived at the lodge and settled into our rooms. I was very pleased to see the wonderful new guest rooms that Gods Lake Lodge completed this past Spring. The team was excited and ready to begin "work"...

Lake-side Gods Lake Lodge

Our focus this week is to fish for shallow-water Lake Trout and Pike, along with Brook Trout in the river. Well, we just completed day one of our trip and we have not been disappointed! Located about 360 miles north of Winnipeg, this fishery is home to trophy Pike that CRUSH flies presented over the tops of "cabbage" (submerged vegetation). Today, our group landed 4 "master-angler" class Pike,... Pike measuring 41 inches or more. Ken topped the list by landing a massive specimen measuring almost 44 inches on the tape, and a tad over 20 pounds on the BogaGrip!
Gods Lake is renowned amongst conventional anglers for producing giant "Lakers" up to 50+ pounds. One of our objectives for this week is to target these fish that will move up onto shallow-water rocky shoals as lake temperatures drop. Unfortunately, we fished these areas this morning with no luck. This region has experienced unseasonal warm weather that has kept water temps above average for this time of the year. With a cooling trend forecasted throughout the week, we are optimistic about finding "Lakers" moving into the shallows. We will keep checking!

Jim with a Master Angler 43 incher

While we fished the main lake today, Robert and Flick fished Gods River for Brook Trout. They landed some really nice Brookies, 3 of which were master-angler size (over 20 inches). Flick topped this list with his 23.5 inch Brookie that he fooled with his personal tied, articulated "meat" leech pattern.
Well, that is the quick report for today... enjoy the photos and we will post again within the next couple of days. Fish On!!!

Fishing Report: Nicholas Dean Lodge

Swinging Up Steelhead is on the menu for anglers fishing in British Columbia.

Terry Thomas, Dave Matthews, Don Powell, Sam Dasher, Sonja Sorbo, Carl Riccoboni and Craig Dennis are all enjoying the incredible fishing surrounded by Nicholas Dean Lodge. While fishing the Lower Copper, Sam and Terry both hooked and landed legendary steelhead while swinging massive flies with their spey rods. They have also been able to land some giant coho salmon. It looks like the group is having a great trip,... way to go!

Check back soon for a full post-trip report.

New Book: Tying Furled Flies by Ken Hanley

Hot off the press is Ken Hanley's new fly tying book (cover shot above). For years, I have watched Ken at fly fishing shows tie some of these fly patterns. I have always been a believer in fishing sparse patterns, and Ken's flies truly embody this characteristic. Ken ties a variety of unique patterns that are effective across a multitude of species. The photographs of tying steps is some of the best that I have ever seen in a fly tying book. Also, there are even a few "hero shots" of your's truly on a few pages too! ;-) Check it out at your local fly shop!

Fish With Us!... Hosted Trips and Special Offerings

Angling On The Fly has just posted a listing of hosted trips and special offerings for late-2008 and 2009. We are proud to offer a selection of incredible destinations during prime weeks of the season. Please click on the image to the right to view your options and start planning your next adventure!

Video: Tarpon Cay Lodge with Gary and Jason Borger

Gary and Jason Borger produced this informative video piece on Tarpon Cay Lodge. This father-son team had a wonderful trip and experienced all that Tarpon Cay Lodge has to offer for Yucatan Tarpon. During their week of fishing, they had incredible fishing for "baby" Tarpon of 5 - 20 pounds and migratory Tarpon up to 100 pounds! The video also features Lee Haskin, a Targus fly designer that has developed a variety of effective flies for this destination. Together they had an incredible experience fly fishing for the "Silver King"... enjoy!