This is a busy time of year for us. We just got home from an almost month-long trip to Argentina, Easter is this weekend, Mexico next week, and opening day of trout season here is April 18. Thinking of opening day, our stream Fishing Creek is in really good shape. We've had a nice slow snow melt with no high water or ice jams. Water level is perfect and we're looking forward to a good season.

Although the weather is still very cold here, the forecast is for warmer weather toward the end of this week and we know that soon the little blue quills and black stoneflies will be hatching followed by the Quill Gordons, Grannom caddis and Hendricksons. There will probably be some high water from spring rains so if you're headed out to fish anywhere in the northeast, don't forget your streamer box. Our super buggers are ready and waiting!

Thinking about spring fishing and all the different types of flies and rigs that one uses makes me think about leaders, fly casts, and presentation. I'd like us to look at three RIO leaders, the Powerflex Trout, Suppleflex Trout, and Steelhead/Salmon. The Powerflex and Suppleflex are favorite designs for trout fishing anywhere.

The beefed up butt section on the Powerflex helps turn over heavy indicator rigs while still allowing delicate precise follow through for dry flies. The Suppleflex though is made of a very soft, supple copolymer material with excellent knot strength. The supple nature provides featherweight presentation and does not impede the natural movement of a fly in the current, perfect for dry flies and soft hackles. If your nymphs and strike indicator are not turning over, it may be because the leader material is too soft. On the other hand, if your sulphur spinners are landing too hard on the water or if you're getting refusals the fly may not be floating naturally because the leader material is too stiff. The diameter may be correct but if it's too stiff the fly won't act naturally.

When throwing big streamers or heavy split shot you may find that the leader doesn't turn over the cast. If the leader lands in a bird nest at the end of the cast, the fish won't untangle it to get to the fly. Not only that, but the bird nest can result in knots in the leader which can break when a fish strikes. If this is happening to you, make sure of three things: (1) Is there enough line speed to deliver the cast? (2) Keep the rod tip a little higher when throwing this type of rig so the cast has time to turn over before falling on the water, (3) Is the leader material too soft to support the weight? Within the last year or two, we've discovered the beauty of using a RIO Steelhead/salmon leader with big streamers. The heavier stiffer butt section makes it easier to turn over heavy flies and deal with wind. If you're a serious streamer fisherman, you will want a couple of these leaders in your pocket.

There's nothing like early season trout fishing. We can enjoy this special time of year more if our tackle is properly matched and using the best leaders in each fishing situation will help us do that. We hope you get out often this spring, it will be over before we know it.
Next time we'll talk about rods for each of these situations.

And lastly this week, I stumbled across this video clip of Jack Gartside and enjoyed seeing it again. It has been around before, but if you haven't seen it, or simply want to enjoy it again,here it is. It's a good reminder of what was important in Jack's life. There's a lesson here for us too.
                 http://midcurrent.com/2014/10/12/video-hatch-fly-tying-legend-jack-gartside-forever-a-boy/

 -Cathy

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and we are all looking forward to it.  The snow is really melting here and the sunshine feels wonderful.  The opening day of fishing season here in NEPA is just a few weeks away, April 18th.  Our office is busy scheduling guiding and casting instructions for those eager to get out on the water.  If you would like to be guided on our private waters this Spring, call us at 570-925-2392. Our guides are fantastic and love what they do.  We also offer Weekender Packages if you'd like to receive individual instruction and then follow up with a day of guided fishing.  We would love to hear from you and share this beautiful fishing area with you. You can find more information about our packages and pricing here.

ALSO,

We had a cancellation in our Mexico departure April 6-14, which includes tarpon in Campeche and bones, permit, and snook in the Yucatan.  One room open.  Drop everything and come along!  Visit our website for the itinerary.  

Global Rescue

We are in Argentina writing about Global Rescue from personal experience. A few days ago, Mary Innocenzi had trouble removing a contact lens after a particularly windy, dusty, day on the Malleo River. Her eyes were dry and scratchy when she got back to the lodge, but didn't think too much about it. The next morning she had excuriating pain on the left side of her face and couldn't open her left eye. We decided to take her into the clinic in San Martin de los Andes. On the way we learned that she had Global Rescue medical evacuation insurance so we called them from my cell phone in the car.

We had heard reports about how good Global Rescue is in extreme medical emergencies and I wondered how this would go. We certainly had an emergency, but it wasn't like a fractured pelvis in the middle of Bolivia or something like that. We were in a comfortable vehichle a few minutes away from good medical care. Well, I have to tell you that our experience with Global Rescue was over the top. Not only did they stay in constant contact with us, but they wanted to know all the details of treatment and were very concerned about Mary's condition. Even after seeing a doctor in the local clinic and returning to the lodge, Scott from Global Rescue called several times to follow up on Mary and the treatment. We were all very impressed and decided right then and there that this is the insurance company we want in any emergency while traveling anywhere!

Mary suffered a cut cornea and has not had a comfortable week, but she continues to fish with an eye patch and she says it's getting better everyday.

www.globalrescue.com

Hair Clips for Rod Clips

Ted & Ginger Reznik are with us in Argentina and have come up with an inexpensive, clever way of keeping their rods safe and organized in the guide vehicles everyday —when they break down their 4-piece rods into two pieces they use hair clips to keep the pieces together. By sliding one end of the second section into the neoprene reel cover on the first section, both sections are held securely together with the hair clip. It's simple and easy, and if a clip is lost, it's cheap to replace. Great Idea! Thanks Ted & Ginger.  

This is one of those don't-leave-home-without-it products that can save your fishing trip.   

At the moment we're in Patagonia on the Rio Malleo river with a group of anglers from Frontier's. The weather is perfect, hatches are unbelievable, and the fishing is over the top - so the last thing we need on a day like this is leaky waders, just ask Jack Innocenzi. The Rio Malleo is a cold, cold spring creek and when Jack's right wader leg started to fill with water he knew he was in trouble. We turned his waders inside out and we could actually see the hole on the seam. Out came the UV Wader Repair from Loon Products. One quick application and within minutes the hole was sealed. It's important that the material is applied in a shaded area and then exposed to the sun. It sets up in seconds and you're back fishing in no time. In the Loon wader repair kit is also a UV light in case you don't have sunshine to set the repair.

For more information visit www.loonoutdoors.com.

It's no secret that Barry and I feel very fortunate to be aligned with the Farbank companies, Sage, RIO, and Redington. Not only because we think the products are the best, but because the "brass" are really serious fishermen. These guys care about the sport, the resource, and the future. It's what they do on their days off, just ask Russ Miller, Far Bank Pro Site Supervisor, who is holding the beautiful steelhead in the picture. 

So, it doesn't surprise us to read that Travis Campbell, president and CEO at Farbank, began talks with TU brass earlier this year and has added Far Bank to the list of Wild Steelhead Initiative supporters. The Wild Steelhead Initiative
(WSI), will eventually encompass east and west, wild and stocked. The Great Lakes steelhead introduction program has been hugely successful and offers us easterners a place close to home to fish for magnificant steelhead. At the same time, no one can argue the value and sheer beauty of a wild, free, northwest steelhead, there is nothing like it. With organizations and people working together on both sides of the debate, maybe we can find common ground and move
forward - for the sake of the fish as well as the future of the sport.

And that brings us to two very good recent articles in our industry magazine, Angling Trade News, about wild steelhead, the WSI, the issues at hand, and the organizations and companies who are coming together to find that common ground.
Look for "Why Wild Matters" and the "Currents" column. It's good reading. Click here to read the current issue.

What a way to start the trip!!

Nico Fliess hooks and lands a record brown trout from the lake at Tres Valles. 

The monster brown measured 33" length, 16 pounds, and was perfect in every way.  The three of us were fishing this morning hoping for a nice fish to photograph when Nico landed this fish on RIO 3x tippet, his 590-4 Sage ONE rod and RIO Grand line, fishing a #12 caddis pupa.  His reaction was, "I am so happy", which was repeated many times, followed by

"I've never seen a brown trout this big", and added as an after thought, "I love my Sage ONE."   It was the best morning we've ever had on the lake with 12 fish landed, none under 6 pounds!  We love this place!

Here is Cathy's follow up from last week's Report from the Field.  It sounds like they've had a great trip and I'm anxious to see the photos that Barry brings home.  There will be lots to do next week before they head to Argentina but I'll try to post a collage if I can get my hands on some of them.  For now you can read about the big trout they are catching below.

It's Wednesday morning here and our group is packing and getting ready to leave Owen River Lodge. We were talking at breakfast this morning about the trip and how lucky we have been with the weather and the fishing. It's been an incredible 2 weeks. Other than some wind and rain in the first couple of days, the weather has been blue-bird perfect ever since. The rivers are all in great shape, perfect water levels, crystal clear, and good dry fly fishing. The hot dry flies here at ORL this week have been parachute Adams, cicadas, and a new blow fly pattern. The name, blow fly, doesn't do the fly justice. It's a fairly large black fly with a white wing, it's easy to see, makes a great indicator fly, and the fish love it. As always, trailing nymphs or fishing a double nymph rig with various pheasant tail patterns always works well. We've had lots of double digit fish this week and Barry and I had a day with two double digits, one 10 and one 11 pounds. All of the fish are in extremely good shape, partly because it's a mouse year. There's no place like New Zealand for big, wild, healthy fish! Now it's time to come home for a week before we leave for Argentina - next on our radar.

We just got an email from Barry and Cathy, currently in New Zealand.  It sounds like they are having a great trip although anywhere with some sunshine sounds good to us in NE PA right now!  The snow, ice & cold have settled in here, however I just keep reminding myself that February is almost half over and Spring is right around the corner.  Below is Cathy's summary of the week.  I'm also including a link to RIO's Blog which Barry wrote.  It's a fun story about his recent trip to Erie where he joined up with two fishing guides.  We hope you'll take a look.

Report from the Field

We have finished our stay at Riverview Lodge in Hamner Springs, New Zealand, and are now at Owen River Lodge, near Murchison. Both on the South Island. Our group finished up a great week at Riverview despite tough weather the first day. After the wind and the rain, the week turned out to be a beautiful fishing week with enough breeze to keep the sand flies down and lots of sun to make spotting fish easier for the guides. Four 11 pound browns were landed in our group of 5 anglers and a lot of 5 to 9 pound fish. The most common size this week seemed to be 6-1/2 pounds as almost everyone caught fish in that range. Of course, we all saw fish bigger than 11 pounds and that's what keeps us coming back to Riverview. Our favorite rod has been the 590-4 Method with an In touch RIO Grand WF5F line. We've got two of them and they make a perfect outfit for NZ, turning over long leaders and big flies in the wind. John & Robin Gemmell are wonderful hosts and we look forward to our next visit with them. If New Zealand is not on your to-do list, it should be! We now look forward to 8 days fishing at Owen River Lodge.    -Cathy

Barry's RIO Blog

Click here to be taken to the RIO Blog

I know, there are thousands of good charities and worthy organizations out there doing amazing work, and all vying for our donations. We are not asking you to donate, but just want to share a story with you about the Taimen Fund (although we will include a link to donate, should you be so moved). It's an interesting story from Sweetwater Travel, with whom Frontiers works with to arrange Mongolia fishing departures.

At one time, Taimen had the largest range of any salmonid in the world - they swam from the Danube in central Europe all the way to Russian Far East. Today, after years of abuse, the Taimen can be found in a few small remnants of its original range. Mongolia, and specifically the Eg-Uur watershed, has one of the healthiest populations of Taimen left on earth. There has been fishing for Taimen in Mongolia since 1995. In 2004, with the help of the World Bank, Sweetwater helped form a 501(c)(3) called The Tributary Fund. Now transitioned to The Taimen Fund, this fund under the leadership of long-time Mongolia guide, Charlie Conn, has raised money to help insure that the world's largest trout can always call Mongolia home.

Through conservation efforts, a monastery has been rebuilt on the upper Eg-Uur, and have employed River Keepers to patrol the river to insure the fish are protected from illegal fishing and netting. These efforts are succeeding and the Taimen population is still super strong. Barry and I have hosted two trips to Mongolia's Eg-Uur Camp for Taimen and we and our guests will vouch that it is an amazing experience. We've visited the Monastery and met the monks who will keep their hand on the pulse of this wonderful fishery. The Mongolian people are warm, friendly, and display a unique sense of humor; and they love having us visit their river. In the 1930's, Russia destroyed many of the monasteries and either killed or drove off the monks, but today the monasteries are being rebuilt and the monks, at least here, are taking an active interest in the health and welfare of the river, their lifeblood.

Through association with many Mongolian conservation agencies and organizations, the groundwork has been laid for the future of taimen protection in Mongolia. The Taimen Fund hopes to continue their flagship River Keeper program in the Eg-Uur watershed and will work closely with Taimen Conservation Alliance to forge community partnerships.

We will return to Mongolia, maybe in 2016, and will look forward to another very special week in Taimen camp and among these beautiful, kind, people and those big gorgeous fish!

-Cathy

Does this winter weather have you thinking about someplace warm? Somewhere south of the border? Well, we've got the perfect combination of baby tarpon, bonefish,snook, and permit on the schedule for April 6-14. Reward yourself for getting through winter with a saltwater trip that combines Campeche and the Yucatan. There's no better combination if you're looking for a trip that is easy in and out, all the favorite saltwater species, and no extra travel time. From most places in the U.S., you'll arrive in Campeche the same day you leave home. 8 nights/6 days. $4,650 pp, double occupancy. Refer to our website for complete details and itinerary. Come soak up the sun!