Welcome to Sporting News

May 21, 2013
 
Almost Ready!                                                                               

The clap of the Mi8 rotor blades break the silence of the tundra nearly daily as building materials, equipment, and supply stocks are delivered and processed in Ryabaga for the fast-approaching season.  Mechanics, camp staff, cooks, and guides are hard at work, scurrying to put final preparations in place for the 23rd season of our infamous salmon camp.  Since the first crews began milling timber in Ryabaga this past March, there has been a steady influx of Ryabaga staff and mechanics coming and going.  It’s a busy time on the Eastern Kola!
 
Purnache (my canine sidekick) and I arrived in camp on May 8 to find Ryabaga nearly free of snow.  The banks of the river were showing only the last remains of winter ice, and though it wasn’t yet May 16 and the ‘guide rocks’ in Purnache Beat were beginning to emerge.  It would seem that the rapid outflow of ice on Ponoi contributed to the utter demise of three Ryabaga moorages, and the mechanic team was pressed into service in constructing a completely new moorage system for eager anglers.  It is from this crisp new moorage that countless anglers will embark towards salmon fishing heaven.
 
Dan Podolsky was as hard to reign in as a Friesian stallion as he stalked the banks of the spring river, chomping at the bit to wet a line.  Never one to let Dan spend too long in agony, I granted him permission this week, and he has indeed landed several salmon.  Just a few silver slabs were enough to appease Dan’s long winter itch, and he promises that he’s only scratched the surface.  Last Thursday Steve and I doubled on Ponoi salmon with our respective first casts of 2013; we were thrilled to find Ponoi just as we left it… revealing fantastic numbers of clean, bright, autumn run fish.
 
As we look deeper into the coming season we see the riches of Ponoi as never before.  The camp is growing in size and comfort, with even more amenities befitting the finest fishing camp in the world.  The guide roster is impeccable this year, and the staff team is already proving their artistry and mettle in refining the systems throughout Ryabaga.  There is no doubt that 2013 will prove the tightest, most efficient, and most productive season to date.  But the greatest wealth of Ponoi remains banked in the silver that heaves within the river itself, a wealth of more and finer fish than we’ve seen since the camp’s inception.  If the fall run is any indicator (and indeed it is), then we are in for quite a treat.  For the anglers poised on the brink of seeing this place, this is the most wondrous time of all.  Perhaps they, perhaps you, can already hear the Mi8 rotor blades approaching, and the roar of the mightiest Atlantic salmon river that the world has ever seen.
 
-Matt Breuer and the Ryabaga Team.

For more information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 5 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

The week of May 11-18, 2013

Weather Conditions:  Mostly sunny conditions with bit of haze and passing front on May 14 and 15.

Air Temp:  80-85 degrees

Water Temp: 81-83
Wind:  Wind 10-20mph from the East, 5-15mph from the ENE on the 14^th and 15^th

Tides:   A high tide of 10:48 am on Mon. kept high tides during mid-day

Moon Phase:   First quarter moon on the 18th

Wind met the guests upon arrival with a highly unusual “cold front” passing through Tues. and Wed.  It is the first time that anyone could remember a cold front after May 1 and it brought haze, some clouds and fast moving rain showers.  Our 9 anglers made the best of it and fishing was strong for bonefish, but the combination of low light and breeze made it tougher for permit.  Our angling contingent had an international feel as the U.S.-based anglers were joined by folks from Hong Kong and Brazil.

John K. of Calif. had permit on his mind when he arrived.  Fishing with Dion, this return guest started the week off strong, landing two permit in the lagoon on Sun., his first day of fishing.  An amazing feat, that he repeated it on Tues.!  He primarily targeted permit and was amazed at the number of fish he saw consistently and the number of shots that he received day to day.  He ended his week by landing four permit after hooking five. 

AL C. travelled to Tflats with his wife Janyce from Calif.  After being paired with veteran guide Pops, Al and Pops put on their bonefish radar and spent the week targeting bonefish on our oceanside flats.  A new-to-saltwater angler, Al reported seeing “many, many, many” bonefish and thought that his skills improved daily.  Janyce was a member of our Atoll Adventure program and loved seeing the dolphins, manatees, and turtles as well as other marine life.

Travelling from Hong Kong, return guest Michael C. fished with oft-requested guide Dubs.  Having fished together in the past, these two switched on the A-game and set out to target permit.  The breezy conditions hindered their ability to pole and hunt permit in Michael’s preferred method, but they did see numerous permit and had a fair amounts of shots to tailing fish.  They also did report strong bonefishing both north and south of our location.  Michael’s wife Rachel was a member of our Atoll Adventure Program.

Ray D. of Calif. arrived as a first time saltwater angler and guide Daniel proved up to the task as he took the newbie under his wing for the week.  Ray quickly got the hang of it and landed his first bonefish shortly after leaving the dock on the first morning.  With Ray and Daniel’s communication improving as fast as could be, Ray focused his efforts on wading the outer flats.  They reported good bonefishing, especially in the mornings with the rising tide.

Trig I. and Glenn D., both from Conn., visited as a reunion of old friends.  Glenn was our only partial week guest as he arrived on Sat. While Trig fished full days every day, Glenn took advantage of scuba diving in the morning and then transferred to the fishing boat for the afternoon to target bonefish.  Both anglers had trying moments between the gusty conditions and low clouds the beginning of the week.  As the week progressed, Trig became enamored with catching his first permit.  On Tues., he and guide Willie hooked a large permit.  After fighting the fish through the first couple of runs, the fish headed to the mangroves and Trig tried to stop it.  Unfortunately, the line snapped, leaving the angler shaking.  Losing the permit consumed him for two days.  However, on Thurs. he was graced with a second chance and this time made his mark by landing his first permit.  On Fri., Trig’s son Jason joined him for a one day fishing outing.

Guide Michael fished with our Brazilian guests, Luis A. and Jacqueline O.  These two anglers had fished in Florida the previous week for tarpon and now were heading here for bonefish, permit, and just about anything else worth catching.  They had successful fishing each day and over the course of the week landed bonefish, barracuda, snapper, mackerel, and jacks.  Post-Tflats, they were heading to the Turks and Caicos.  We wish them both safe travels.

Tsimane Fishing Report

3th-11th May 2013

Secure Lodge Fishing Report – May 3^rd to 11^th  

Overall Conditions.

We started the first group with dirty water due to a big rain in the arrival day. After that, watercolour got clearer very quick, deserving good fishing for the next 3 fishing days. Second group came along when water conditions were perfect, not too clear not to dirty, fishing slowed down quite a lot and catches were sporadic, anyway, there were a couple of 20 + pounds fish landed on the upper beats of Secure River

Weather conditions.

Temperatures were high most of the days between 28° and 33° Celsius but, temperatures drop at night making the night very comfortable for a good rest.

Water Conditions.

Temperature of the water has been very stable throughout the week between 22° and 26° Celsius.

Fishing.

All the beats have been good while the first group was here (3^rd to 7^th) many fish between 8 to 17 pounds were landed  but all the big fish were lost. Pacu was difficult, actually, we always see many of them feeding in the deep pools, but, is very important to approach them without making any noise, as soon as they feel something strange, GONE! Luckily Flavio managed to land a 15 pounds Pacu on his 3th cast after arriving!! .

Second group (7^th to 11^th ) had similar fishing activity but bigger fish on average,  luckily last day Puma Damiane managed to get a great fish over 23 pounds on beat 1. Pacu activity was a bit better, being 4 of them caught and one very close to 20 Pounds.  As fishing equipment, we mostly used floating and intermediate lines, 40 pounds Mono/ Fluoro and 40 pounds steel leader in the end.  Regarding the flies, in the beginning of the week we had to use big flies but as far as the weeks went we had to go smaller due to the clarity of the water.  

Biggest fish of the week.

23 pounds Dorado caught by Puma on beat one.

Alex Trochine  – Secure Lodge Manager

Pluma Lodge Fishing Report – May 3^rd to 11^th  

Overall Conditions

The weather has been generally warmer unlike other weeks. Pluma and Itirizama rivers course have been reduced but still very clear, excellent for sight fishing. Pacu have been very active, and there are nice dorados around. We think you might be a little aggressive in the clear, shallow waters at Pluma and Itirizama

Fishing

Zone one upper water have been great for fishing with many middle size dorados . Pacues have been easy to catch with small streamers tied in 1/0 y 2/0 hooks, short tail and tied with marabou. Red and black, or orange and black have been working really well.

We receive Flavio and Thiago from Brazil, who brought the carnival to the lodge.  At Coruya sector (Lower Secure River) and lower Pluma River the Brazilians anglers had an amazing time with the guides Gabriel, Guido and Vicente (Chucky)! They enjoyed catches of dorados between 30 and 36 pounds, not bad at all!!! As they knew our chef Nelson from long time, they invited him to spend the day with them, of course he had to delight them with a BBQ at the river and he even had chance to catch a nice dorado too.

After that, we hosted a repeater group of Argentineans (7^th to 11^th). We had a few fun days with Jorge Diamani  “EL PUMA “  who got  two huge dorados above 25 pounds at lower Pluma and more than 20 landed fish. Other anglers of Puma´s group were able to get some action at this beat too.

In resume: Dorado Fishing has been excellent lately.

The Itirizama River sectors have been very good lately with lots of 8-11 pounds fish and some specimens pretty bigger. Alejandro took a true gold bar about 18 pounds, and there have been numerous cannibal attacks this period that made the anglers loose fish a few times, or getting just a piece of it. Anyway it´s an amazing show to enjoy!

Upper Pluma has not been very good at all, even when water was not very clear, fishing was slightly hard with only few results, but upper Pluma always deserves some surprises, and was time for Quique Olivier, end his journey with a fantastic dorado around 17 pounds. Both fisherman and guide enjoyed the spectacular run the fish made downstream!

At lower Pluma many large fish have been rolling on the surface by the time of this report, and while they may be harder to bite when in this behaviour happens, just one action can be certainly incredible!

All floating lines worked well, but some fish were taken with full intermediate and intermediate tips. Flies all black, black and red or black and yellow were the best colours. Small flies in the range of 1/0 to 2/0, with a length of about 2 to 3 inches were a good choice for pacu.

Biggest fish of the week.

38 pounds Dorado caught by Flavio on Lower Secure (Coruya Zone).

Juan Carlos Moreno – Pluma Lodge Manager

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

I have the following rods left...

Thvera - Physically the easier of the two sections of river - I have 1 rod 6th to 9th July at £4,980 - this is right at the start of prime time and should be excellent.

Kjarra - The wilder, more remote section of this wonderful river - I have two rods for 27th to 30th July at £4,770 - this is towards the end of prime time when the river is full of fish.

 You can read about Thvera and Kjarra on our blog here.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

The week of May 4-11, 2013

The week of May 4-11, 2013

Weather Conditions

Air Temp:  Mostly in the high 80s.

Water Temp: 80-82

Wind:  5-15 mph from the East and Southeast

Tides:   High tide at 7:30 a.m. on May 6 kept high tide during the morning hours

Moon Phase:   New moon on May 9

Fishing this week was a tale of two weather patterns as we had 4 days of calm conditions to start the week with a gusty end for our anglers’ week.  We had a full house this week, with approximately half were returning guests.  Four anglers landed their first permit!

Proving that the family that fishes together stays together, Gene and Michael R. of Colo. were met at Turneffe Flats by family members Suzy and Jonathan S. of Wash.  This family has fished with us several times in past years and they choose Daniel and Michael as their guides. They changed angler pairings throughout the week and worked a bit of good natured competitiveness into their fishing day.  Although everyone had daily shots at permit, Jonathan landed his first permit with Michael. Turneffe Flats has become an annual angling pilgrimage and we hope to see them again next year.

Tom and Mary M. of Tex. visited for the first time.  These two anglers arrived ready to tackle the bonefish and had dreams of permit in their future.  Mary would usually fish the morning for bonefish, returning to the lodge for an afternoon of rest and relaxation while Tom would head back out for an afternoon of fishing.  Mary was amazed at the number of eager bonefish and on Thurs. morning had landed 8 before lunchtime.  With guide John’s patient instructions, this angling pair’s skills progressed, culminating with Tom landing his first permit on Fri. morning.  Congrats Tom!  On Fri. morning, Mary spent some time with our cooking staff learning to make empanadas, a dish she had struggled to make in the past.

First time flats anglers Nick F. and Jon G., of Ill., had one heck of a trip.  Over the first few days, fishing with Dion, they honed their bonefish radar under near perfect conditions.  Each angler hooked two permit during their trip with each landing one.  Both permit were their first.   Their partners, Stephanie and Amy, enjoyed searching for manatee with guide Abel and the Atoll Adventurers and also enjoyed plenty of lounging poolside.

Carrying over from the previous week, Jon and Estelle B. spent a total of 10 days fishing with us after travelling all the way from Australia.  Jon spent nearly every waking sunlit hour fishing the flat in front of the lodge before getting in his skiff.  Although he had spent the previous week with guide Willie, this week he fished with Dubs and joined another return guest, Doug C. of Colo. for a portion of the week.  After Jon left,   Doug carried on by focusing nearly all of his efforts on permit.   He reported that he “had his shots,” but did not get a permit to cooperate.

Angling legends Steve and Gina Abel of Calif. joined us again.  They have been visiting Tflats for over 20 years and brought angling friends Greg and Tina S. to fish the flats for the first time. Also joining the Abels were Diane and Bill C., who enjoyed our Atoll Adventure program.  The four anglers rotated their fishing pairings with veteran guides Pops and Willie.  Both Greg and Tina landed their first bonefish and Steve reported hooking several large bonefish on Tues. afternoon, losing a huge fish as the hook straightened out after it ran around a coral mound. We enjoyed hearing the tales of past fishing at Turneffe and we look forward to their return.

Lifetime memories with family and friends are just part of a trip to TF.  Graduations and weddings are on tap next month and there’s no better gift than trip to Turneffe Flats.

For more information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 5 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

We are very proud to announce the opening of our 4^th season at Tsimane!  The rivers received us in great condition after a quite stable rainy season, and there are now massive schools of small baitfish and sabalos arriving, which means many dorado following them!  These give us an idea of how great the fishing season will be!

This is the most extraordinary season opening since our beginnings in all aspects. The very first groups enjoyed a lifetime fishing experience and Tsimane operation is running better than ever.

Despite the amazing fishing conditions, many improvements were made to the whole Tsimane Lodge operation as new 4×4 vehicles at Pluma Lodge – Toyota Hilux and Suzuki Samurai’s and new Cabins for the host and extra single angler at both Lodges. The staff of guides and chefs are playing

And one of the most important news this season are the new Headwaters Tsimane Camps at Upper Pluma/Itirizama, and Agua Negra in June. These are confortable camps and we decided improve even more the Agua Negra camp to create a lodge environment, with electric power supply, double based cabins with beds, private bathrooms with hot water, a spacious living room and extraordinary location in front of river with a magical view to the Secure River. But the most important feature is new small road and a new 4×4 vehicle, which runs from main camp up into mountains making possible to reach new areas in upper Agua Negra River. The road runs close to the river adding important extra miles to fish. It’s much less physical demanding than Pluma/Itirizama camps and makes the Agua Negra operation a superb new option with untouched virgin waters.

We hope you enjoy this news and we would like to invite all to join us to another season at Tsimane waters. There are some few special available rods for this season. Ask us for more details.

Weather conditions:

Weather has been good throughout the week, temperatures between 25 and 33 degrees Celsius every day dropping in the night to 17 to 22, just perfect for active fish while fishing and a comfortable sleep after full days under the sun.

Water conditions:

Water lever has been very stable, temperature between 18 and 25 degrees depending on the day. Almost every night little rain in the headwaters of Secure River changed the color of the river clearing up quick in the afternoons.

Beginning of the week has been good, many fish has been hooked and landed, luckily some of the anglers landed fish over 20 pounds and a couple of them reaching almost so pursued 30 pounds range! After the third day of fishing, we sight very high activity in the lower beats, a big schools of baitfish and Sabalo was filling up the river with life. Luckily for us, many Dorados , Surubis, Yatoranas and Pacus were following the run making the fishing very exciting for the following days, we had anglers landing more than 30 fish in the sessions.

The run of small baitfish and Sabalo lasted four days and now has passed the lodge and keep going upstream. This has been the first run of fish we have received until now. We have information that another is approaching and will reach our fishing area in a couple of days; for sure we will keep you posted about it.

Best fish of the week.

Two big fish reaching 27 + pounds range has been landed, one on Cachuelas (beat 3) and one on the Canyon (beat one)

Pluma Lodge

We started the week with a few rains that allowed us to start the trip without many concerns; this rains made their influence on the temperature and level of the river. At the lodge´s opening we received some long time guests and was a very productive start with a lot of captures at Coruya zone, place where the morrajas (small baitfish) were making their way up, generating constant hunts of dorados and catfish. Those captures were between the amazing 20 and 25 pounds range!  For our surprise an amazing pacu fishing was discovered in coruya zone, adding more action in a so remarkable fishing area.

By the middle of the week as the second group arrived would arrive, we received John, Jack, Phil, Esteban and the Kier Family.  The Itirizama were in perfect shape with lots of sight casting action and the epic was a legitimate true blood Itirizama bad face resident dorado caught by Jack.

That evening some strong rain fall in upper river and the next day the rain would show up again, but wouldn´t stop our anglers to get what they came for, at Itirizama more than ten dorados were caught and many groups of pacu had been seen. At Pluma the fishing slowed down because of the water conditions but that wouldn´t stop Phil to catch the first cat fish on the fly of 2013 season Coruya sectors still keep giving us great surprises.

Best fish of the week

At May 3rd we were happy to received five guests from Russia, and even the conditions weren´t the very best in terms of water color they managed to get the biggest fish of season, a dorado that weight 36 pounds, caught by Vladimir.

For more information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 5 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

The owner of the Breidalsa river send me this picture taken at the top of the Breidalsa watershed on Monday. He feels that unless there is a major heatwave, water height are looking good for the whole season!

There are a few spaces still left as follows:

Breiðdalsá afternoon 23 July to 28 or 29th July 2-3 rods for five-six days.
Combo Breiðdalsa & Jökla five days from afternoon 30 July to noon 4 August 3 rods.
Jökla six days afternoon 7th to noon 13th August 4 rods.

For more information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 5 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

John Gendall Flyfishing & Blechenyden Bach Accommodation

Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lake National Park, South Island.

This is a personal recommendation because I have known John Gendall for close to 15 years. He first guided me in New Zealand, then he came to work with me in Russia at Ryabaga Camp on the Ponoi for five seasons where he was superb and we have kept in touch ever since. Many of my friends fish with John each year and I have no doubts in recommending him for a really personal fishing experience in New Zealand. John is truly one of the good guys…

Tarquin Millington-Drake

John Gendall and Polly Anderson operate a small authentic luxury fishing lodge in Nelson Lakes National Park. With a maximum occupancy of 4 guests you assured personalized authentic service both on and off the river to the highest standard.

John and Polly offer an intimate and luxurious style of accommodation in the charming cottage privately situated on the large private property. The cottage, built in 1945 and recently restored, overlooks Black Valley stream, has an open fire and large comfortable bed and even a pet eel! Enjoy home cooked in meals in the main lodge, which consist of organic NZ meats, vegetables and seasonal fruits.

John has guided in the South Island for 18 years and fished all his life. Needless to say he has a few tricks up his sleeve. John is also a well-travelled fisherman, guiding on the famous Ponoi river in Russia and on the Snake river in Jackson Hole, USA.  John’s enthusiasm for the sport and environment is infectious.  

 John’s long time friend and second guide is Jonathan Greensmith (Greenie). Jonathan’s extensive knowledge of both Canterbury’s and Nelsons backcountry is attributed to 16 years guiding and flying helicopters in these regions. Jonathan is extremely personable “classic Kiwi” with an uncanny ability to put clients onto the “big ones “.

Location is paramount when it comes to a fishing trip, John has three major catchments to choose from and over 30 different rivers within 1hrs drive, thus ensuring quality fishing to all levels of fitness and abilities in all weather conditions throughout the fishing season

The area also has a host of options for the non-fishers which John and Polly are happy to facilitate, these include lake and National Park walks, Marlborough wine tours, horse riding, Abel Tasman beach’s, Nelson shops or simply feeling welcome to relax around the lodge with a book.

For more information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 5 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Frontiers were at the Sportfish Show on 11th and 12th of May in the wind! It was a well attended show with lots of interest and activity.

Our very own Tarquin Millington-Drake was interviewed by the Fieldsports Channel and features in their report. Have a look here and start watching from 10.56 on the clock. 

Thanks to Sportfish and Farlows for a great weekend.

For more information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 5 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Dear All,
Ryabaga seems to be shaping up in great form from what the team in camp can see.
The weather is good, temperatures in the +6+10 range, sunny.
No snow left in the ground around camp, big tent is up!
The river is clear, no ice left in seems!
Dropping fast, guides rock an inch under water.
Boats are ready and some in the water as I write, no fish reports yet.
Ryabaga will be on-line next week to recieve photos and daily updates.
All together a promissing Spring for a great kick-off of the 2013 season,
Those magical Home Pool evenings will soon be upon us.
fingers crossed!
Best, Steve