Plummer's Arctic Lodge - Arctic Circle Fly Fishing

At 66.4 degrees latitude, just above the arctic circle, this furthest northern sport fishery in the Americas wasn't even on my radar.  Legendary amongst Canadians and serious conventional gear anglers around the world, you wouldn't think a fly fisherman would have any business this deep into the North West Territories, but you might be surprised.  

Red Fin Lake Trout

Plummer's Arctic Lodges have been operating an exceedingly remote lodge on Great Bear Lake (4th largest lake in N. America) since 1960.  In this Arctic no-man's land, summer last for only a brief few days and the entire fishing season is constrained to 8 weeks.  After that the lodge is abandoned for 48 weeks as weather changes very quick in this part of the world.  

The lodge is fully self contained, there are no roads to it, ingress egress is limited to two options: 1) a charter flight (part of your package) out of Yellow Knife or 2) a multi-day ride on an ice-road truck in -40F the winter.  Equipped with 19 guides, a like number of boats and complimented by 2 private turbo otters with floats, the lodge is able to get you quickly to just about anywhere within a 220 mile radius.  Whether you want to fish for any of 8 sub species of lake trout, sea-run Arctic Char, Arctic Grayling, or Northern Pike, you're but a boat ride (or flight) away.

Plummer's Arctic Lodge - Main Lodge

The lodge is renown for IGFA world records.  Aside from booking this lodge, there is no other practical way to fish for these world record Lake Trout (78lb/7oz unofficial, 72lb/0oz official), Arctic Char (32lb/9oz official), or Arctic Grayling (5/15oz official).  For the past 13 years, the lodge has been dedicating a week (this year they dedicated two) to fly fishing and the unique gear/techniques/needs of fly fishermen.  If conditions are right, there are ample blind and sight casting opportunities for lakers prowling the shorelines and shallow reefs, but if mother nature decides to skip summer (as was this case this year), plan on mostly trolling large 6/0 flies behind T-20.

If you know where to look, wildlife is plentiful in this tunderous region which makes Alaska look like a metropolis.  Keep a camera handy and eyes peeled for herds of Caribou, Musk Oxen, Grizzly Bears, Moose and Arctic Wolves.  Also be aware that this is not Alaska where you rarely see wolves and where bears are fat dumb and happy with bellies full of salmon.  This is a no-man's land, animals aren't use to seeing people and there are no calorie-rich salmon runs, so the predators up here will not necessarily try and avoid you, they may even come close to check you out.  You may interpret this as a photo opportunity, but chances are they're sizing you up to see if they think they eat you.  Unlike Alaska, guides immediately turn back when they see a bear.

Arctic Wolf captured by my drone at the Coppermine River - part of a pack of 5 or 6

We did 3 fly outs, one to the Coppermine River, famous for feisty sea-run Arctic Char in addition to the Sulky River, known for large numbers of hungry Arctic Grayling.  We also did a fly out for 2.5 days to the remote Tree River which is just 2.5 miles off the Arctic Ocean (separate post to follow).  The Tree River is the real reason I came this far north...to swing flies to its salmon-sized sea-run Arctic Char, the largest of their kind on the planet.

Grayling Fin - Underwater their iridescence comes to life, take them out of the water and they're dull grey.

The Sulky River Fly out has some magnificent water falls and photo opportunities.  Be aware that lake trout also inhabit the river, so if you hook a grayling that takes you into your backing....now you'll know why.

Grayling on a fly-out to the Sulky River - dull grey when out of the water, see photo above for iridescence.

Turbo otters are fixtures at the lodge and on standby at all times.  Your fishing package likely will include a basic fly out, but there is an a-la-carte menu in the main lodge for additional custom tailored fly outs once you get there.  My best advice is starting on day 1, talk to other like-minded individuals that are also jonesing for an adventure.  If you can corral 3-5 people to join, you cut the cost per person down to a fraction.

Truckee River - The Underwater Experience

Now and again, I'll leave the rod at home and throw on some dive gear, making it a point to find out what's in our river.  I make it a point to explore each and every pool, the ripples and rapids, oh, and don't forget to check under the bubble line.  I find it very informative, it helps me understand how fish hold, where they lie, where they go when they flee, how they avoid heavy current while they feed, how the the rocks and structure create low pressure zones, etc.  It also reminds me that there are some huge fish in this river, and they're usually not rainbows!  This footage is much harder to get than it appears, this is a minute pulled from hours of raw footage. As always, some of the best footage didn't come out or my battery died so I never got the shot.  Wish some of it was clearer but these fish weren't cooperating with me.  More amazing than what I could get on film was how many fish I couldn't get on film.  In so many cases I could see a shadow turn tail and run before I could even get my camera started or before I could get close enough to even film the shadow.  They could see me well ahead of me seeing them in most cases.  The other thing to realize is, at least in the summer, these fish are never sitting in soft water, they're in current and usually heavy current, and while it may look effortless for the fish to hold in that current and feed, once you get in there with them, it takes everything you have to just hold your position, usually forward motion is out of the question, we're just not built like fish.  Enjoy!

Christmas Island on the Fly

I don't have time anymore to post much, but I'll make time for Christmas Island.  This was my second trip and I can foresee a third sometime in the future.  Thanks to CXI you don't have to go half way around the world to find bones, trevally, tuna and more.  This trip we didn't get any really big GTs but did get some nice bones.  Most of us had big GT opportunities but the big GTs are hard to fool, and even harder to land from a flat.

Some highlights of our 2018 trip hosted by the Reno Fly Shop targeting bonefish and trevally.

I'll be heading to the Tree River for the world's largest Arctic Char in August, at a minimum I'll post about that trip.

Fly Fishing the Amazon - Xeriuni River, Brazil

When I got the call from Rob Anderson of Bucket List Fly Fishing that a spot had opened last minute for a trip to the Amazon in search of the gnarliest Cichlids known to man, I told him what any fly fishing zealot would - "let me check with my wife".  Rob has been going down to the Amazon after Peacock Bass for 15 years now, he ties some of the most proven patterns for these red-eyed devils and knows the ropes, so I had to call in all my favors to get a hall pass.  Part of the arrangement was that I was to bring my drone (DJI Inspire 1) some 5,700 miles down to document the adventure:

This is my second fly fishing trip to S. America in about a year, but the arid wind-swept southern reaches of the Patagonian steppe couldn't be anymore contrasting to the intensely hot and humid Amazonian jungles of central Brazil.  Wow, what an eye opener, I thought 95 degrees and 95% relative humidity at Christmas Island was hot - that place has wind and ain't got nothin on the rainforest.  Acclimation to the new and completely foreign environment aside, this fishery is absolutely amazing, it's one we all know we have to hit sometime, and now that I've done it, I know I'll have to do it again (safe to say, my wife doesn't read this).  By the end of the first day it was apparent that everything in this ecosystem is actively trying to kill and eat something else.....we were a part of that food chain....somewhere in the middle.

Reno > LA > Miami > Manaus > Xeriuni River > Base Camp

6 rooms and a galley, all w/ AC got it done!

From there we took custom-built aluminum river boats w/ poling platforms and casting decks to all ends of the river system, side creeks and back lagoons.  Each boat was outfitted with a guide from the local village who's lived their whole life on the river.

An 8 or 9wt is all you need out there, unless of course you run across an Arapaima...it's only the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world, looks like a big Tarpon but has a primitive lung and can breath air in stagnant low-oxygen lagoons.  You'll see (or more likely hear them) breach to "GULP" for air, when you do, an 8 won't work, keep a 12 handy.  Whereas I was fortunate enough to get a couple of shots at this shy, rare and elusive fish, I couldn't coax a grab.

Big Nasties from Warpath Flies for the prospect of seeing Arapaima, big buck-tail flies for the bass, it's pretty simple.

I've never been to any destination where I had to cast as much, as long and as accurately as I did here.  This fish are sitting on the brush, I'm mean right on the structure, cast too short and you'll miss them, too long and you're in the trees.   Its unreal, you could conceivably make a 1,000 casts in a day, almost all will be double hauls so prepare yourself mentally and physically and never let the guide see your best cast upfront, otherwise he'll keep you 60 feet off the bank and let you ruin your arm.  I think this is why on the 6th day, God made Rio Tropical Outbound Short, and rested on the 7th.

Hand protection is a must, as is a Boga Grip.  Everything has a mouth like a paper shredder.

You better expect rain...Admittedly, being from Reno, I had know idea what real rain was.

Three species of Bass:

Plus Payara, Arawana, Jacunda, Wolf Fish, Black Piranha, Bicuda and more...

Piranha are murder on your flies...

There will be times when your guide says don't swim here.  You'll learn that means Black Piranha, other times he'll say don't fish here, that means too many dolphin (they get your fish), other times he'll say don't swim or fish here...Caiman.  Our guide proceeded to pull up his pants, his thigh was largely missing....he'd fallen asleep in a hammock, 20 feet from the shore, apparently near a female's nest.

Don't worry about backing, it's not about that, it's an all out do-or-die tug-of-war when you hook these guys, you have about 30 seconds of furious jumps, tugs and desperate dives around brush, if you win that battle and get him out in the middle, you often win the war.

Drop me a line if you are thinking about going, I'm happy to share what I know about travel, gear and arrangement, I'm also happy to put you in contact with Rob.

Hope you enjoyed!

Northern Nevada - Bows, Browns & Bucks

Fall is a great time to get out in Northern Nevada, the Truckee is in full swing with good mayfly and caddis hatches occurring.  Yeah, not as many fish around Reno as years past, but I've seen a couple of slobs.  Give it a couple more years, the River in town will be back to her old self.

I cam across this Wandering Garter Snake, he popped out of a rifle I was fishing with a healthy brown in its jaws.  Second time I've ever seen something like this:

             

Hey snake, try it on this brown...I've yet to observe redds yet but this cold snap could trigger the spawn.

Remember that bottom fly can tell you a lot about what's in the river.

Truckee River doe in Reno, not too afraid of me.

Broke away to the Nevada Oregon border for a great mule deer hunt.

I can't imagine a better overall year-round outdoor paradise.

Down Time - Preping for Peas

Getting ready for a trip to the Amazon next month for Peacock Bass on the fly, in so doing, I'm breaking out the drone and getting back in the saddle again.  I was testing some new firmware updates out at Anderson Park and came across this hawk hunting.  He let me tag along for a few seconds.

Jurassic Lake - Fly Fishing Patagonia Argentina

I was wondering how Jurassic Lake Lodge could ever make such a boast - "the most prolific rainbow trout fishery in the world"...I stopped wondering that last week.

One of the Lodge staff shot and edited this video for me, I can't thank him enough, his name is Germán Cerrotti (malevofly@gmail.com) and he's as accomplished a videographer as he is an accommodating and friendly person.  My only contribution to the endeavor was footage I manage to capture from my drone (DJI Inspire 1) which Germán eagerly spliced into his work.

Jurassic Lake Fly Fishing from the fly syndicate on Vimeo.

Situated in southern Patagonia, in the Argentinian province of Santa Cruz, Lago Strobel (aka Jurassic Lake) is a 65 square kilometer (16 square mile) body of water.  To be more descript, it's an 800 foot deep caldera filled with about 300 feet of alkali water.  Situated east of the Andes, it's fed by a sole year round tributary, the Rio Barancoso.  This river has cut a deep and rugged channel through the Patagonian desert steppe ultimately terminating in the lake.

Jurassic Lake Lodge is the only lodge on the lake, the only lodge with exclusive access to the most productive bays on the lake (the legendary "boca" and the "bay of pigs") and is the only lodge with access to the most productive first half mile of the Rio Barancoso...despite what marketing for their nearby competitor might suggest.  If you're making the time and financial commitment to go this far, spend an extra grand to get to the A+ waters, trust me on this.  The best way to describe the lodge is exceedingly remote, off the grid and basic.  That said, it has all you'll ever need for a wonderful experience including a SUPERB guiding staff, great food, warm beds and showers, private baths per each double occupancy room, a warm dining room and lounge and a large selection of delicious local Malbecs always being uncorked.  A generator runs half of the day and powers type-A outlets, a satellite TV and something the Argentinians referred to as "satellite internet", but I don't believe in unicorns either.

Due to a diet of crustaceans (scuds), the trout flesh is the same color as Sockeye Salmon which also lives on a diet of crustaceans (plankton).

Trout Sashimi - Ever seen red trout meat?

Gaucho-style lamb BBQ

Getting to and from the lodge is a journey and experience in and of itself, you're going to need some help from Fly Water Travel, they're experts in this field.  From Reno, NV we had 2 domestic US flights, then a red-eye to BA, then a transfer to the domestic airport, then another domestic flight to Comodoro Rivadavia and finally a charter plane to a newly constructed gravel runway right at the lodge.  A chartered Twin Otter eliminates the infamous 7 hour "road to hell" and substitutes 1.5 days of 4x4 travel for world class angling...provided the Patagonian winds allow the Otter to land.  Upon our departure, we experienced sustained winds of 146 KPH (91 MPH) so we learned all about crossing the Rio Barancoso when swollen and the "road to hell" after all.

Rio Barancoso after a rain storm in the Andes.  They tell you to roll down the windows because if the truck gets swamped, you won't be able to open the doors...yeah, that advice made me feel better too.

The lake is a biological anomaly, devoid of fish until McCloud River Rainbows were transplanted in the 1990's, these fish quickly flourished due to an almost limitless scud population.  As I understand it, this allowed them initially to grow to gargantuan proportions, but what's kept the population in check and therefore the average size of the fish extremely large is the ruggedness of the lake's only year round spawning tributary, the Rio Barancoso. 

An endless torrent of rapids and waterfalls prevent most fish from successfully navigating to the upper sections of the river which are most suited for spawning.

 Below is an aerial drone photo of what the call "the Big Pool".  It's only 500 yards up from the lake and practically the only substantial piece of soft water for the first mile or more of river.  Because of a really rough rapid immediately below, most of the biggest fish can't even reach this first and only rest stop before the next mile of continuous rapids guarding the upper spawning grounds.  The concentration of spent fish is so high here that after a short while you'll realize there is no sport in fishing this section of river and will move on in search of a challenge.  The fish in both the lake and river will take mice and attractor dries.  Additionally, fish will grab streamers on the swing, all of which make for a great angling experience.

I found sight fishing in the side creeks, pockets and edges of heavy rapids a good balance of risk/reward.

The lower section the river has more hot chromers.

 Now there are two primary beats near the lodge on the lake, the "boca" at the confluence of the river and then the "Bay of Pigs".  Each had their own nuances, challenges and opportunities.  Below, my buddy Clark is displaying a quintessential chromer from the Bay of Pigs.  Their color gives them away but you can easily identify a chromer hook-up blind folded: your reel will scream and the fish won't spend much time in the water.

  Not every fish is in the teens.  Below is a pretty average fish, and yes, I'd put the average close to 10 on certain days, but not quite 10 pounds, you'll inevitably get a few 4-5 pounders.

The lake's alkaline waters are a petri dish culturing the lakes biomass, primarily scuds which fuel this fishery.  I never attempted to max out on the number of fish I caught, for me it wasn't about that, but I'd estimate on my better days I caught between 400 and 500 pounds of trout.

An aerial drone photo of the "Bay of Pigs", about 200 trout foraging on scuds immediately below.  The fish school up and move a lot, they'll come in, feed heavily, then move out.

Word to the wise, protect your hands, these fish are as toothy as the women in Buenos Aires are leggy, and they're live wires to boot.  We learned after the first couple of days that there is an advantage to being able to C&R fish up to 12 pounds w/o a net or forceps - flies last longer, you don't have to chase down a net and you can get back to fishing much quicker - you just hand line them once you got them in close, but it's murder on the hands.  Not to mention the cuts you'll get from retrieving your floating line all day.  My buddy Jay discovered Minnie Mouse and Goofy bandaids held up the best - My Little Pony not so much...he plans to write the manufacturer when he has free time.

I get pretty geeked out about history and had an opportunity one day to travel to the other end of Lago Strobel to meet the 80 year old Gaucho and his next two generations who own the Estancia underlying Jurassic Lake Lodge.  Their contiguous land holdings total 45,000 hectares (111,000 acre) and boarders Lago Strobel, most of Rio Barancoso, Lago Quiroga Norte and Lago Quiroga Sur.  They were so humble and lived so modestly you'd never know they had such a wealth of real estate.  We shared the traditional Argentinian social drink of Mate, a hot herbal tea which is passed around and continually recharged with hot water and fresh herbs.

Below is some real gaucho shit, that's a wild horse they just shot and are butchering, and yes....they plan to eat it.

With Lodge owner and manager Carlos Lopez (in the orange puffy above) translating, we were able to attain permission to traverse a 4x4 road beyond his modest homestead in search of ancient Indian Petroglyphs estimated at 12,000 years old (amongst the oldest in South America and North America for that matter).

Puma Tracks

Rhea tracks? (indigenous flightless bird similar to a small Ostrich)

Mother and Child's feet

Unassuming rimrock - site of the petroglyphs

Baby's feet

Lizards

 Armadillo foraging near camp.

A Guanaco, an ancient camelid of the South Americas, a close relative of the Llamma.

What an amazing place, I did my best to describe it but it's one of those "you have to be there" experiences.  There are many similarities between Jurassic Lake and Pyramid Lake in my back yard: Large alkali lake over 300 feet deep and receding, white limestone tufa rock surrounding its entire boarder, a mixture of rock, pebble and sand beaches, unusually productive waters, disproportional biomass, trophy sized trout eclipsing 30 pounds, remote, rugged and wind swept with almost electric turquoise waters acting as a terminus for a sole feeder river.  Throw in petroglyphs more than 10,000 years old and the  similar ancient Native American association and you damn near have a match!

I hope you enjoyed this post!