The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Best Fly-Fishing

"(Bloomberg) -- It’s the worst of times to be an angler. The fish are smaller, the crowds are bigger, and climate change is ruining everything. And yet, it’s also the best of times: The latest gear makes the sport more effortless than ever, and no location is too remote to access with a rod and reel. For those who like to travel, today’s base camps have begun to resemble world-class resorts with spa services, herb gardens, and wine tastings. The focus is still on catching fish, but booking a top-shelf angling vacation means having options. One day you might be heli-fishing for steelhead, the next you’re chasing them upriver in a 200-horsepower jet boat. The key to the top trips is your guide, an experienced hand who knows the area and will lead you to the perfect inlets, eddies, runs, and other secret spots. Here are 10 experts on their home turf—and the local fish that’ll get you hooked..**Unless otherwise stated, rates assume two anglers. They do not include tips. Rates may increase based on season, accommodation level, and other factors..Before you go:.\t John Gierach on the Nostalgic, Damn-Near-Irrational Appeal of Bamboo Rods\t Paddle-Free Steering Is the Latest Innovation in Fishing Kayaks\t Don’t Try This at Home: The $250 Fish Turducken\t Is It Too Late To Save Wild Salmon?\t The Art of Tying Flies Can Get Very, Very Complicated\t Meanwhile, a Fishing Ranch All Your Own.PATAGONIA.South America’s southern wilds are famous for their vast, sparsely populated landscapes—which are flecked with glacial-blue lakes and untouched rivers full of trout. The Argentine side of the Andes has a drier climate and draws comparisons to the American West a half-century ago: It’s big-sky country, with a gaucho culture and very little competition on the water..THE FISH Patagonia’s brown and rainbow trout are considered ideal for dry-fly fishing. The average river-dweller here is 18 inches—typically your biggest of the day in Montana. But there are challenges: Afternoon winds can hamper even a seasoned caster..THE LODGE Located in the mountain village of Trevelin, Argentina, the PRG Lodge has raised the bar with a smorgasbord of options. “It’s where I go with big-hitter clients,” says guide Oliver White, who recently brought investor Bill Ackman. The 12-room operation is the flagship of Patagonia River Guides, which was started in 1998. It has its own winery, a 220-bottle whiskey bar, and, opening in the fall, a spa. Guests fish contrasting terrain to the north and south, where PRG can arrange stays in traditional estancias or safari-style camping. “They have everything,” White says—including elite guides who will row miles upstream to get clients over fish and still have energy to uncork a bottle of malbec at lunchtime..THE GUIDE Veteran Esteban Oszust is the “best guide I’ve ever fished with, hands down,” says Matt Canter of North Carolina’s Brookings Anglers, which books two trips with PRG a year. “He’s a very good coach, even with inexperienced anglers.”.THE PRICE From $5,950 per person for a week.SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUMSIZE FACTOR: SMALL.THE EVERGLADES.It may lack the novelty of emerging destinations farther south, but Florida remains the place to pursue the most pulse-quickening quarry in the sport. Guides in the Keys constitute a legendary breed; trophy-size fish cruise Boca Grande; and the resident tarpon of the Everglades challenges adventurous anglers year-round. What the state’s primeval wetlands lack in water clarity they make up for in sparse crowds and an abundance of hungry game—ideal conditions for a first-time tarpon hunter..THE FISH Atlantic tarpon checks every box. They roll on the surface, savage small tackle, weigh into the triple digits, and reward anyone skilled or lucky enough to hook one with spectacular acrobatics. Their leaps can snap the line, making the “silver king” notoriously hard to land. “The first time I caught a tarpon, it was so aerial, so visual, that I went out of body for a second,” says Montana-based guide Hilary Hutcheson..THE SHIP Eleven Experience has changed the equation with the live-aboard Outpost “mothership,” which cruises the Everglades from February to April with three air-conditioned staterooms and chef-prepared meals. Overnighting on the 61-foot Hatteras means guests can fish from sunup to last light, a productive time when the other boats have already left for home..THE GUIDE Paul Ray, one of Eleven’s two Everglades experts, has been working the area for 12 years. “Paul is one of the best, if not the best, I’ve ever fished with—and I fish all over the place,” says Wes Bradish, an investment banker in Denver. “He’s passionate about tarpon and will fish 12-plus hours straight if that’s what it takes.”.THE PRICE $4,800 per person for a four-person, four-night guided trip.SKILL LEVEL: HARDSIZE FACTOR: BIG.THE SEYCHELLES.Granite cliffs, lush vegetation, powdery sand beaches: 1,000 miles off the coast of Kenya, this Indian Ocean archipelago feels like paradise. Die-hard anglers agree. “It has the best saltwater fishing left on Earth,” says Texas-based guide J.T. Van Zandt, especially now that the Somali pirate threat of recent years has lessened. “If you can part easily with 20k, you should go.” The wadeable, fish-rich flats of Cosmoledo Atoll in particular have begun to achieve mythical status..THE FISH There are bonefish, triggerfish, and barracuda here, but they all dwell in the shadow of the giant trevally, a bulky apex predator that can average 30 pounds. “They’re tackle-wrecking machines: massive, hyperaggressive, and lots of teeth,” says Joe Codd, manager of saltwater fishing programs for Frontiers International Travel. “You want them to eat your fly, but you also kind of know something bad is about to happen.” Its ferocity puts the “GT” in a league of its own—one reason Codd’s next available booking here isn’t until 2022..THE RESORT The beach suites and stilted A-frame bungalows at Alphonse Island Resort ooze private-island luxury, and its fishing pros have been leading excursions to Cosmoledo Atoll for more than a decade. Starting last fall, the resort began offering lodging there at Cosmoledo Eco-Camp, where guests stay in former shipping containers that have been converted into comfortable, low-impact cabins. During the fishing offseason, May to November, the lodge turns the camp over to marine-conservation researchers..THE PRICE From $14,950 per person for a weeklong guided trip.SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUMSIZE FACTOR: BIG.MARTHA’S VINEYARD.This classic New England getaway has seafood shacks, farmers markets, and historic tree-lined streets, all of which a die-hard angler will happily ignore. Fishing grounds range from saltwater ponds and inlets to beaches, jetties, flats, and action-packed “rips,” the swift currents that run out to sea from shore. In May cinder worms emerge from undersea mud to become big-fish chow near the surface. The island’s massive squid migration, another feeding-frenzy moment, is in June..THE FISH The Vineyard’s iconic species is the striped bass, and for good reason. “They want to toilet-bowl your fly,” says Hutcheson, who’s fished stripers there as a guest. “When they go for it, it’s for the kill.” In September they typically share the water with bonito, bluefish, and lightning-fast false albacore, loading the field for a Massachusetts “grand slam.”.THE INN The Hob Knob ($559 per night), a Gothic Revival inn in historic Edgartown, has the traditional down-home white-columned porch but makes up its beds with sumptuous Versai linens. The full-service spa is a major perk..THE GUIDE Abbie Schuster, 29, represents the next generation of northeastern saltwater guides. She only fly-fishes and has a strict catch-and-release policy, unconventional for a striper specialist. “I try to make it a full experience,” she says. That could mean a full day chasing schoolies in her 23-foot Parker or a mixed program involving beach driving and a guided yoga session during slack tide..THE PRICE $850 for a full-day trip with Schuster.SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUMSIZE FACTOR: MEDIUM.PONOI RIVER.Moneyed anglers are going farther afield than ever to pursue Atlantic salmon, as commercial harvesting, climate change, and other ills have reduced North American runs. The new hot spot is Russia’s Kola Peninsula, whose 25 million acres of tundra and salmon rivers lie almost entirely within the Arctic Circle. The southerly Ponoi River “is so much better than everything else,” according to globe-trotting guide White. Frontiers International Travel spokesperson Mollie Fitzgerald agrees: “They catch in a week what many places in Scotland or eastern Canada catch in an entire season”—on average, 28 fish per rod..THE LODGE Ryabaga Camp enjoys exclusive access to 50 miles of the wide, easy-flowing Ponoi, which guests of all skill levels can fish on foot or by boat. Unlike its northerly neighbors, the Ponoi has two mini seasons, in early and late summer. The accommodations have recently been upgraded from canvas tents to duplex wood cabins with en suite bathrooms. A major selling point is the variety of accessibility—that is, once you’ve taken the weekly charter flight from Helsinki and the two-hour helicopter ride from Murmansk..THE GUIDE Ryabaga’s Max Mamaev has spent two decades on the Ponoi. “He is truly one of the world’s greatest guides—so resourceful, so industrious. I heard he made his first pair of waders out of a chemical warfare suit,” White says. “And I believe it.”.THE PRICE From $7,490 per person for a weeklong stay.SKILL LEVEL: EASYSIZE FACTOR: MEDIUM.THE AMAZON.The crazy-colored peacock bass is just one of many fascinating creatures in the Amazon Basin, but the violence with which this freshwater predator smacks a fly will take your breath away. The capable guides at Agua Boa Amazon Lodge, located on a clear-water tributary of the same name, rarely have trouble finding them. An inexperienced fly-caster can catch dozens of the smaller “butterfly” variety in a day, even using mandatory barbless single hooks; when the water’s low enough, meanwhile, sight-fishing for 15-pounders tests the skills of anglers and guides alike. “It’s an honest-to-God adventure,” says Canter of Brookings Anglers, who’s hosted trips here. “You hop on that charter from Manaus for the two-hour flight to the lodge, and a few minutes in, it’s nothing but jungle.” Granted, the little patch of jungle you come back to each evening has a pool, air-conditioned bungalows, daily laundry service, and no end of well-made caipirinhas..THE PRICE From $6,400 per person for a weeklong stay.SKILL LEVEL: EASYSIZE FACTOR: MEDIUM.SKEENA RIVER.Although fish populations near the U.S. border have dwindled, hundreds of thousands of colorful salmonids still flood this massive river system in British Columbia every fall. The mountain hub of Smithers is a 90-minute flight from Vancouver..THE FISH Fortified by years at sea, steelhead are as big as salmon and fight with the leaping, hell-for-leather energy of a rainbow trout. “They are an incredible fish, the epitome of a wild creature—and also one of the tougher species to catch,” says Tarquin Millington-Drake, managing director of Frontiers International’s European office. Patience and casting capability are a must. “There are very few casual steelheaders,” says Justin Miller of the Fly Shop, a California-based retailer and destination-fishing outfit..THE LODGE Frontier Steelhead Experience makes the most of the Bulkley River, which sees about 40% of the Skeena’s fall steelhead run. Its guides steer rafts through tumbling canyons, race 200-horsepower jet boats upriver, and can arrange heli-fishing days on the ultra-remote Upper Skeena. Home base is a baronial post-and-beam lodge, where there’s a pastry chef and a masseuse on hand..THE GUIDE Joel Gourley has been guiding on the Bulkley for 16 years. “He knows every nook and cranny and is a technician when it comes to finding steelhead,” says FSE owner Derek Botchford..THE PRICE From $7,600 per person for a weeklong stay.SKILL LEVEL: HARDSIZE FACTOR: MEDIUM.EG-UR WATERSHED.Landing a 50-inch trout on a dry fly has the ring of a fish story, but not in Mongolia. When a taimen strikes, “it sounds like someone dropping a bowling ball in the river,” says Dan Vermillion, co-owner of Montana’s Sweetwater Travel Co. His Mongolian Taimen Camps, the only foreign outfits with exclusive access to the Eg-Ur watershed, have spearheaded conservation efforts since pioneering this niche offering two decades ago..THE PRICE From $6,830 per person for a weeklong stay.SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUMSIZE FACTOR: MEDIUM.PUNTA GORDA.Belize has hundreds of miles of white-sand flats and the longest barrier reef in the Northern Hemisphere. The Central American nation has been proactive about preserving its aquatic ecosystems: It banned bottom trawling a decade ago, and efforts are under way to do the same with gill nets..THE FISH The finicky permit is the “most annoying fish in the world—that’s why getting one becomes an addiction,” says Schuster, who’s hosted saltwater trips here. Midday sun and winds of 5 to 10 knots will slightly improve your odds of hooking one of these platter-shaped, scythe-finned fish..THE LODGE Copal Tree Lodge is far enough below “Permit Alley” that clients get the nearby flats and five brackish river systems largely to themselves. Placid lagoons nearby are a solid alternative in bad weather. There’s also a rum distillery, an organic farm, and a 12,000-acre nature reserve on the premises..THE GUIDE “A true permit guide is a special breed of person,” says Todd Calitri, Copal Tree’s head of operations. He recommends Scully Garbutt, a native Belizean guide. “He makes sure a client has a great day whether they catch a fish or not.”.THE PRICE From $3,679 per person for a weeklong stay.SKILL LEVEL: HARDSIZE FACTOR: SMALL.THE MARLS.This may be news to the snowbirds of Harbour Island and Eleuthera, but the Bahamas offer some of the world’s best saltwater fishing. Typically you’re casting over sapphire-blue waters onto shallow sand flats in breezy, high-visibility conditions that require advanced skills. Luckily, the dream-vacation surroundings make it easier to shrug off a shutout..THE FISH The silvery bonefish is on every fly fisher’s bucket list, and not just because it dwells in paradise. It launches like a rocket when hooked. “They try to do all this sneaky shit, pull you into the mangroves, smash their face into the ground to try to get the fly out,” Hutcheson says. They’re usually in the 5-pound range..THE LODGE Abaco Lodge is the only outfitter on Great Abaco Island’s Marls, a 300-square-mile stretch of pristine flats. Its on-site boat dock is a convenient luxury. “You don’t get in the guide’s ’87 Toyota and drive 45 minutes across the island,” says Van Zandt, who’s hosting a trip there in June 2020..THE GUIDE Paul Pinder switched from commercial fishing to guiding more than 20 years ago. “No one reads your ability or personality better,” Van Zandt says. “He sets the standard for the other guides.” .THE PRICE From $6,150 per person for a weeklong stay. Shorter trips are available, including $3,595 per person for two-day trips.SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUMSIZE FACTOR: SMALL.To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gaddy at jgaddy@bloomberg.net, Chris Rovzar.©2019 Bloomberg L.P."

The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Best Fly-Fishing

Where to go, what to catch, and the pros to help you land them.

NDTV Profit

NDTV Profit

Follow Us

DOWNLOAD THE APP

The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Best Fly-Fishing

Where to go, what to catch, and the pros to help you land them.

Choose a plan

Follow Us

DOWNLOAD THE APP