HOT Fly: Pultz's Poppers for Largemouth Bass

Pultz's Poppers produce... BIG TIME!

I am excited to share a popper with you that is now a staple for Largemouth Bass here at Lake El Salto. More than a year ago, a NorCal fly tyer name Neal Pultz approached me at the Bass-n-Fly expo. He introduced himself and then proceeded to show me a selection of poppers that he had designed and handcrafted himself. My jaw dropped in awe of his fine craftsmanship with balsa wood and paintwork. I immediately told him that I MUST fish these patterns... and soon.

Being a topwater fanatic, I am always on the lookout for the best flies for fooling trophy bass on top. And Pultz's poppers were one of the first "available for sale" poppers that were perfect for the behemoth size and power of El Salto Largemouth. They produce a nice audible "bloop" sound that drives bass crazy. Neal also utilizes a loop style weed guard that works like a charm. It has proven to be highly effective when fishing around, over, and through the myriad of wood structure here at El Salto. My favorite color on this trip was black scale with chartreuse body (images below).

I will post a more detailed and technical post on his poppers when I return from this trip. Fish On!

On-Location Report: Fishing with Dad at Lake El Salto

Dad with a trophy topwater Largemouth at Lake El Salto
(landed on a Gutterres' El Salto Special silver popper)

I am now in Mexico at Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto. This is truly a special trip for me since my father, George (AKA "Jorge" while in Mexico), has joined me for a few days of bass fishing. A father/son fishing trip is always a good time filled with laughter and reminiscing about the good'ol days of fishing together. Throughout my youth, Dad introduced me to fishing and the great outdoors. Now, it is nice to share the experience of destination fishing with him here at Lake El Salto. We have been enjoying the wonderful hospitality at the lodge and, of course, are having some good action for trophy bass! Topwater has been good in the early morning and evenings. Midday, we are fishing subsurface to stay in the action.

For topwater, the group has been doing well on Neal Pultz poppers (chartreuse/black), Gurglers (black), Bubble-Heads (silver/gray), Leo Gutterres' El Salto Special (silver), and Crease Flies (silver). Most of us in the group have been fishing the Sage Bass rod (Largemouth - 330 gr.) - an incredible tool for top water fishing here at El Salto.

Next, the best producing subsurface patterns have been the Flashtail Clouser (brown/yellow/white or all chartreuse), Gummy Minnow, and Hare Grub (olive). We have been fishing the following fly lines for subsurface fishing: Rio Outbound Short with clear intermediate tip, SA Mastery Streamer Express clear tip, and Rio Outbound type III.

Well, it is time to sign off for now... we are headed out for the afternoon session of fishing. I will blog again tonight with more fishing action from Lake El Salto... Fish On!

"Jorge" with another topwater trophy!

Hosted Trip Offering: Amazon Peacock Bass (Jan. 2010)

JOIN US! in 2010 for an Amazon Peacock Bass adventure with renowned River Plate Outfitters. My hosted trip is scheduled for January 15 - 24, 2010. This 9 nights / 6+ days fishing package is scheduled to access River Plate Outfitter's exclusive low-pressure fishing areas in the northern region of the Amazon Basin.

For complete trip details, please click each image below to view an expanded version.

For more information and bookings, please contact us at FishOn@AnglingOnTheFly.com or (916) 539-3474.

Good Fishing To You! - Keith

Fly Tyer Magazine: Land of the Mayan Kings

Mayan Warriors

In the most current issue of Fly Tyer Magazine (Spring 2009 issue), an article titled "Land of the Mayan Kings" features a fly pattern that is superb for Yucatan baby Tarpon - meet the Mayan Warrior. Ken Hanley of Pacific Extremes is the fly designer and author of this informative article. Detailed fly tying instructions and recipe is included in the writeup.

I always carry a full selection of Mayan Warriors in my Yucatan fly box. These flies are an excellent pattern for mimicking shrimp, a desirable food source for Tarpon. Often, Tarpon will key in on shrimp and will refuse fly patterns that have a baitfish profile. This is when the Mayan Warrior is the "go-to" fly.

Add them to your fly box and go battle Tarpon with the Mayan Warrior! Fish On!

Keith

Trip Report: Amazon Peacock Bass Adventure

BIG flies for BIG Peacock Bass!

On February 18th, our 7 group members traveled from various cities and met up in Miami. We planned our overnight at the Miami International Airport Hotel, conveniently located within the airport at terminal E. The following morning we departed at 7:00AM for Manaus, Brazil on TAM Brazilian Airlines. The 5 ½ hour direct flight was very comfortable since the flight was not full and allowed for each of us to have our own row of seats.

We had all carefully prepared for this trip with great anticipation. There are a few important pre-trip details that included obtaining a Brazilian Tourist Visa within 90 days of our trip departure. Some group members applied for their visa at their local Brazilian consulate, while the rest of us utilized a private visa service agency. We worked with Martin Travel Services in Miami, Florida to arrange our flight itineraries and hotel stay in Miami. They provided excellent service and even secured discounted rates for our round trip airfare.

Upon arriving Manaus, we deplaned and immediately felt the heat and humidity which reminded us that we had arrived at the equatorial region of the Brazil and home to the largest Peacock Bass in the world, the Amazon Basin. We briskly made our way through customs and immigration. After retrieving our luggage, we received a warm greeting by the owner of River Plate Outfitters, Luis Brown. He unfolded his map and showed us that we would be headed for the Upper Itapera River camp in the state of Roraima. He also informed us that fishing conditions were “good” (not great) since the entire Amazon Basin had received an enormous amount of rainfall since mid-December. The good news was that river conditions on the Itapera were good and improving (dropping water levels). The group was excited and optimistic as all fly anglers are…

Angling On The Fly has chosen to work with River Plate Outfitters for Amazon Peacock Bass trips for one specific reason… their mobile strategy for placing anglers in the most optimal fishing conditions possible. River Plate Outfitters has 6 fly-in mobile camps, made possible by their floating cabin barges. This allows them to not only be mobile, but also situate their camps in low fishing pressure regions. And on this trip, this strategy proved its worth once again.

Next, we were shuttled to the Hotel Tropical in Manaus for a one night stay before departing for camp the next morning. The hotel stay is included in the fishing package and offers very nice and comfortable accommodations. After a good nights rest, we headed to the CTA terminal to board our 8 passenger Cessna Caravan float plane. We lifted off and enjoyed a very scenic flight to the Upper Itapera River. The flight took about 1 ½ hours and gave us a wonderful bird’s-eye view of the Amazon Basin and its diverse environ.

The Amazon Basin is vast, covering an area about the size of the continental United States. This region is dissected by the equator, making this a tropical climate throughout the entire Amazon Basin. The months of November through April are when river levels in the Amazon Basin are at their lowest. Because of the vastness of this region, the southern areas of the basin (south of Manaus) experience low river levels earlier in the season starting in October. As the season goes on, the low river level regions transition northward. From the months of May through early fall, river levels will flood to levels as high as 20+ feet. As we stood in camp, it was amazing to imagine that water levels could be at the tops of trees during the non-fishing months. What an amazing dynamic environment!

After doing a fly-by on our camp, we gently touched down on the Itapera River. The camp staff met us on river with their boats to shuttle the group and our gear to camp. The rest of the staff greeted us on the beach with warm hearted smiles and their version of a Brazilian margarita! We were shown to our cabins where we settled in and quickly rigged tackle for a “day zero” of fishing. Yes, we were fortunate to take the first float plane out from Manaus and this allowed us to arrive camp with ample time to get a bonus half day of fishing in. And, day zero proved to be a snapshot of the rest of this wonderful week of fishing… massive Peacock Bass would be hooked and landed this week.

Due to higher than normal water conditions, we fished 8 – 10 weight rods with fast sink-tip fly lines. In many areas, the river level submerged the base of trees. This was a “catch-22” for us,… the Azul and Butterfly Peacock Bass love structure and, therefore, it made locating them obvious. However, on the anglers end of the deal it made for a fishing strategy that entailed accurate target casting to likely holding spots for the fish. The more accurate you presented your fly, the more Peacocks you would entice. Many anglers liken Peacock Bass fishing to playing an arcade video game,… a fun game that rewards hitting the mark.

During our week of fishing, a remarkable 51 “double-digit” Peacock Bass would be landed. The largest Peacocks (by species) landed include an impressive Azul Peacock of 20 pounds landed by Jim Christensen, a 15 pound Paca Peacock landed by Shizuo Nakawatase, and an 11 pound Butterfly Peacock landed by me. This was an incredible week for size of fish landed… 20, 19, 18.5, 17s, 16s, 15s, 14s, and numerous 10s – 13s.

A variety of flies worked throughout the week. Burk’s Punk Bait, Fuch’s Agitator and Deception, Blanton’s Whistler, Reynold’s Gen-X Bunny, Flashtail Clousers, and a variety of personal tied creations by the group. Each day we had to experiment with the retrieve of these flies. On some days, the Peacock Bass were aggressive and pounded on a rapidly retrieved fly. On other days, a more methodical retrieve with pauses was the ticket to fooling the fish.

Throughout the week, we were fortunate to have dropping water levels. Each day we would look at a designated marker stick with hopes that the river continued to drop. Our conditions improved throughout the week and that made for some very happy anglers! This tropical environ is so dynamic in many ways. We had a couple of days of rain showers, a couple days of overcast, and a few days of pure sunshine. The overall range of daytime temperatures deviated between 80 and 90 degrees.

The water levels did impact the average numbers of Peacock Bass landed. During our week, the average was between 20 – 30 Peacock Bass per day. During years that the water levels are normal in the Amazon Basin, averages much higher are achieved. But again, our group was very pleased with the fishing because of the trophy sizes that were being hooked. Even the guides were amazed at the much larger than average size of Peacocks being landed. During the week a number of group members raised the bar on some of the guide’s personal best on the fly. It was such a joy to see how the guides would often get more excited than the anglers about a trophy fish landed or lost! Our skilled guides’ names were Caju, Carlos, Ronaldo, and Sydney.

After each day of fishing, it was not the “landed” fish that dominated story time,… it was the dozens of mystery sized Peacock Bass that broke 40 pound and even 50 pound test leader material The immense torque and power of Peacock Bass resulted in battle wounds of line-burned fingers, ripped stripping guards, and even melted fly lines. With the higher river levels, anglers had to make an instant decision whether to “try” to stop these beasts from powering into the submerged trees and structure, or to just let them go and hope that our guides could swim them out of the entanglement. Sometimes, we made the wrong decision only to have our flies broken off and left in wonderment if it was a “20 plus’r”…

On occasion, the Peacock Bass were too powerful for us to stop and they would end up fleeing into deep cover and structure. It was at that time that the guides would, without hesitation, jump over the side of the boat, swim and follow the entangled fly line, and retrieve the trophy fish from the snags. It was amazing to witness this event, as guides seemed to be equally at-home in the water just like the fish they were in pursuit of. They would pop back up to the surface with the recovered trophy Peacock and a big smile of success and accomplishment. These guides are truly committed and hard working.

Another incredible skill of the guides is their ability to truly hunt the trophy sized Peacocks. Our guide would always be watching subtle movements on the surface of the water in lagoons. Sometimes, he would say, “Cast to the bubbles! Cast! Cast!” We learned that trophy Peacock Bass will hold their young (fry) in their mouth and occasionally let them out to feed near the surface. It is at this instant when fine bubbles emerge on the surface and it is time to quickly cast your fly through the fry and entice the protective parent. A number of our trophy Peacock Bass were landed with this strategy. Other instances of “the hunt” included the guide watching for subtle bulges in the surface. Giant Peacock Bass displace a large volume of water while cruising due to the sheer mass and size of their body. It was very exciting to fish this way, knowing that a hook up was going to be a trophy fish.

Each day the fishing schedule included breakfast at 6:30AM, depart for fishing at 7:00AM, lunch at Noon, and return to camp at 5:00PM. Drinks and appetizers are served, with dinner being served at 6:30PM. Often, our story time after dinner only lasted until about 9:30PM or so. Most of us were quite tired after battling Peacocks all day.

The pre and post fishing hours at camp are easy going and relaxed. The group always round tabled on the beach and shared stories from the day’s adventures. Our camp host was Bibi Kahn, a wonderful host that was a wealth of knowledge about region’s culture, flora, and fauna. The rest of the staff spoke very little English, so Bibi dutifully acted as translator when we wanted to ask questions of the staff and guides. The guides do, however, speak adequate “fishing English”, which enabled them to communicate the fishing strategy and even entertain us with some very comical fishing humor.

Most of the staff was from Santa Maria (“Boi Acu”), a small fishing village far down river from our location on Itapera River. Some of the guide’s wives worked as camp staff and even brought some of their children to live at camp with them. It was so apparent how important “family” is here amongst these locals. At the day’s end one would hear joyous laughter and conversations from the kitchen and staff quarters. It was quite apparent that they are a happy people that are truly in touch with their life in the Amazon Basin.

Surely, the guides were excellent at every aspect of their job as a fishing guide, from finding fish, fly selection, boat handling and positioning, fishing strategy, to overall attentiveness to the anglers needs. But what most impressed me with the guides was their willingness and interest in sharing more than just the fishing experience. I will explain this with an excerpt from my travel journal:

“I am captivated by this place! Today, our guide “Caju” was motoring us to our next fishing spot, when suddenly he dropped to an idle and slowly began to motor over the steep bank on our left. I looked back at him and he had amazement in his eyes and said “Priguica! Priguica!” Not understanding Portuguese, Shiz and I looked in the direction of where Caju was pointing. As we got closer to the bank, we saw a small hairy creature grasping onto a tree branch that was partway submerged along the river’s edge. In total amazement, I suddenly realized that Priguica means “sloth” in Portugese. We were able to quietly motor right up to the sloth and take some amazing photos of this amazing animal. Caju said he was just a baby and even petted it on the head before it slowly crawled back up the branch and into the top of the tree. This truly has been one of the highlights of this trip to the Amazon. And, Caju even said that this was a first for him too, to be able to have such a close encounter with this very elusive creature of the Amazon jungle.”

The Amazon Basin truly offers so much more than just fishing. The keen eyes of the guides were always on the lookout to show us something interesting about their environment. Throughout the week, our group saw otters, dolphin, “mutim” birds, yellow rump taningers (“Japim”) and their nests, Morpheus Butterflies, Howler Monkeys, McCaws, Caiman and their nests, snapping turtles and nests, Tapir, and many other fascinating creatures of the Amazon Basin.

In addition to the variety of wildlife in the jungle, it was also amazing to see the many different fish species that share the river with Peacock Bass. Our group landed a variety of species including Jacunda, dog fish, mud fish (“Traira”), Red Tail Catfish, freshwater cudas, and of course, the infamous Piranha. The most apparent feature on some of the fish in the Amazon is a voracious set of teeth. On occasion, we would get a missed grab while retrieving our fly and soon discover that the back half of our fly had been a meal for a Piranha or some other toothy creature. Bring lots of flies if you fish the Amazon!

For the Peacock Bass and other species, it is truly an underwater world of predator-prey, and even cannibalism. One of the most memorable scenes was to witness 3 pound Peacock Bass skipping across the surface in a meager attempt to flee from a behemoth Peacock Bass waking the surface close behind. Often, the finale was a bowling ball sized explosion of water that signaled a meal was had. This aggression, power, and speed are what make Peacock Bass an incredible gamefish on the fly.

By the end of the week, all of the group members posted incredible personal bests and countless fish stories of behemoth Peacock Bass lost. Our only regret during the trip was having to leave this amazing fishery and return to civilization. For me, this trip is at the top of my lifetime list of angling highlights and memories… I will return next year for sure! Fish On!

-Keith

Trip Photos: Amazon Adventure...

I have received a number emails requesting that I post more pictures from our Amazon Peacock Bass Adventure. So, here they are with commentary:

Guide Caju and Shiz with a trophy...

Happy campers on the Upper Itapera River...

Guide Sydney performing a dental check on Mr. Piranha

Snapping turtle eggs on the beach...

Big teeth on the Dogfish wreak havoc on flies!

The week ending count... lots of "grandes" landed.

More teeth...

Wade with another trophy Azul Peacock Bass!

The dining tent... good food and drink!

Jerry with a trophy Peacock Bass...

Jim "going BIG" again...

Our camp...

Surprise catch... at 26 pound Redtail Catfish!

Lots of amazing insect life in the Amazon Basin...

"Punk-Rock" Piranha skulls on the beach...

My personal-best 19 pounder...

Hello from the Amazon!

My group and I just returned to civilization and are now in Manaus, Brazil. We spent the past 7 days fishing on the Upper Itapera River (tributary to the Rio Branco). We had an epic trip with excellent fishing for trophy Peacock Bass on the fly. We fished with River Plate Outfitter and their remote mobile camps. This was one of the most exciting and interesting adventures that I have ever experienced. Great fishing aside, we saw a myriad of jungle wildlife and other fascinating natural wonders. And the best part of the experience was spending the week with the staff of River Plate Outfitters... natives to the region with such a friendly interest in sharing everything about the wonders of their cultural and natural world.

Look for my complete post-trip report in a few days... I am now resting my hands and arms after a week of battling the Peacock Bass of the Amazon. Fish On!

-Keith

Report from Tarpon Cay Lodge...

Guide Pedro and Leslie with her first Tarpon... two thumbs up!

Last week,... my wife, Leslie, and I returned from the Yucatan. After a few days of business meetings at Isla Blanca, Leslie and I then headed to Tarpon Cay Lodge with owner, Marco Ruz, of Yucatan Fly Fishing Adventures. It was Leslie's first visit to Tarpon Cay Lodge and her first time fishing for Tarpon. Despite a blustery north frontal wind, we had incredible fishing for baby Tarpon amongst the mangroves. Leslie jumped a few dozen baby Tarpon... yes, a few dozen! Way to go Leslie!

It was a nice reminder of how special this fishery really is... even in the winter months, fishing at Tarpon Cay Lodge can be spectacular. Leslie was fishing a red and white SeaDucer. Smaller sized SeaDucers (no longer than 2 1/2 inches) are one of the staples for Yucatan baby Tarpon. Small flies and an all floating line presentation with an 8 weight rod... what a pure fishing pleasure!

HOT Flies: Haskin's Floating Minnow and Deep Cover Shrimp

Candy for Baby Tarpon ... Haskin's Floating Minnows

I just returned from the Yucatan with visits to Isla Blanca and Tarpon Cay Lodge. This was my annual "business trip" to meet with owner, Marco Ruz, of Yucatan Fly Fishing Adventures. Of course, these business trips entail a bit of fishing too! The winter season in the Yucatan is always a roll-of-the-dice in terms of weather and fishing conditions,... so fishing was not the first order of focus. However, we did get out for a couple of days of fishing at both destinations and, despite the stiff north frontal winds, we were reminded how special these fisheries are... we jumped our fair share of baby Tarpon for sure.

Another confirmation revealed itself on this trip... flies that just plain work! Lee Haskin is fly designer for Targus and has spent a number of years perfecting flies for Yucatan Tarpon at Isla Blanca, Tarpon Cay, and Isla del Sabalo. His innovative baby Tarpon flies are optimal for targeting fish in the mangrove and shallow water environs. Our favorite Haskin flies for baby Tarpon are the Floating Minnow and Deep Cover Shrimp (weedless). These slender profiled flies ride high in the surface film and cut a soft wake that is attractive to baby Tarpon.

If you are headed down the to Yucatan for Tarpon, these flies are a must-have in your box. Fish with confidence, because these flies produce!

Deadly for baby tarpon amongst the mangrove environ... Deep Cover Shrimp (weedless)