First raft trip of 2018

I am just in between two groups of anglers at the moment, so with a few days off i better make the most of it and enjoy a day's fishing for myself. After the cold weather we had and with an other spell coming at the weekend, i knew this was the time to hit a river.

We got a good few fish, mostly jacks on the fly. Intermediate line and large game changers was working well for me. Every time i go out and fish a game changer i realise how deadly this pattern can be! So good that every time i come back home from fishing i need to tie some more for my box.
An other thing that i had time to test properly was the Bad ass glass rod from Echo. My first impression of the 10 weight model was not great as the rod felt fairly heavy in my hand (compare to the one i'm mostly using, the Bandit from Epic). But after a couple of hours casting, i got my rhythm and the rod totally changed my early impressions. I find it very capable at casting large streamers with ease. As with all glass rods, you need to slow down your movements, and with practice it becomes very addictive. I have been fishing fibreglass all the time for the last two years now and it's going to take a lot for me to go back to graphite.

 The Echo is a great entry level rod for the one who likes to try glass for the first time. The Bandit, because of its price tag is better suited when you know that glass is for you and that you want to commit with these rods ( or you are well off money wise..)
I had the chance to try the Bad Ass in 8 weight and its a fantastic rod. It's a lot lighter than the 10 weight. You probably won't be able to cast big chunky chicken flies with it but for the smaller streamers, its an absolute pleasure to use. And don't be scared by using an 8 weight (fibreglass) for pike, these rods have huge reserve of power in the butt section. I had the 10 weight sent to me from Toby at Funky fly tying. I am not longer with funky fly tying due to personal reasons, but if you want to try the Bad ass for yourself, get in touch with funky and get your hands on some glass.Life is too short just to cast fast rods... Ad some fun to your fishing!
There will be a lot less fishing for me from now on as the new season will get very busy here at the lodge, but i will keep on tying flies as the Alaska summer trip is coming fast!

Big Shoals Raft (early) review.

So it's already December...Time really flies.. An other year finishes, as i am now in my off-season at the lodge. Doing some winter maintenance work  at the moment and  getting the place  ready for next year.
Weather is not the best, dark skies, melted snow, windy, cold, humid, damp.... I can't wait to get away for some sunshine.

Looking back on the last few months in my picture files, and the big shoals rafts is the main subject i can see in most of my last pics.I had nearly a full week guiding clients on the raft so far, from single guest,pairs and couples. We went out from late august until mi november, so we had all sorts of weather. And the raft performed very well, from heavy rain as there's is no need to empty the raft with its self bilging floor to really shallow waters in late august. This raft rides on nothing! Even fully loaded and three people on it, it glides on super skinny water. We even pulled it from the river  onto the grass bank and pushed it across a field to access a secluded small lough.That's impossible to do with a conventional boat...

Manoeuvrability is amazing, from holding the raft on the same spot in fast waster to get a client to cast again at a missed fish ( and hooking it) to spinning it 180 to assist sudden direction change during a big fight.
These i believe are crucial attributes in putting people onto more bites, more fish and hopefully specimen fish. This raft has it all.
 The only struggle i had was on a very windy day, with the wind mainly facing us, at times it was hard to hold it.But i wanted too really test it,(and myself) so i didn't shy away from going out in bad conditions. So now i know its possibilities... and my limits.
I honestly had a great time on the raft guiding, and all my clients went away with only compliments for the raft. I definitely had no regrets in making this investment.Thanks again to Ethan at SMITHFLY for all his help and professionalism.

The three days guiding and lodging for summer 2018 are all booked out as well as the 7 day summer packages. Some single day rafting are still available mid august and mid september. If interested, drop me a mail for details and availability: norbertfwa@gmail.com  .

Now we're in the middle of winter, and i am becoming very impatient to depart for Costa Rica.This is my second trip to this wonderful place, i am going back with experience now....Hoping to bring you guys some great footage. I have been very quiet on the blog lately and i am working to bring more regular blogs and vlogs.Don't forget to find me on Youtube and sub.Thank you for the support.
New things are coming to the lodge as well, stay tune all will be revealed soon.

Constant changing landscape at the moment!

Winter sunrise above the lodge!

Back to school!

Enfin les premieres sorties avec le raft. 19 brocs en deux sorties, mais 39 de loupé....Pas facile quand ils prennent du bout du bec...Les niveaux sont biens montés, mais les eaux sont bien claires.

Dommage pour Pascal qui a loupé une très grosse mama....Il va y arriver un jour c'est sur!

Le raft est superbe, confortable, stable, parfaitement conçu pour les rivières de la region.

Finally i get to go out and take my first clients afloat. They landed 19 pikes, but sadly missed a further 39 fish in a two day trip.One of them was an absolute brute of a fish, but was lost at the first head shake.Better luck next time Pascal!

The raft performed flawlessly, it's comfortable, stable, very safe, easy to manoeuvre.Its like it was built to match the local rivers here.This is my favorite way of fishing and guiding.

Big Shoals raft.

Finally the raft has arrived! It wasn't an easy process. First the choice of raft, something that is suited for the local rivers, not to expensive, robust and  practical.
I purchased the River Boss jacket from Smithfly earlier in the year, and it was a pleasure to deal with Ethan. So i tried my luck to see if he wanted to export one for me. And to my surprise it was not problems. I was a bit worried if it was a good idea at the  start, because i had other companies that were asking for so much money to import it here, and this before paying any import tax...
I'd like to take the other that tried to help me in this quest, Grant Fraser at Killeloop, Toby at Funky fly tying and Mark from Smartlures in Holland.But i found a perfect balance, in price and quality with Smith Fly.
Here's a quick video of me collecting the raft from Dublin port. Next i will film it on the water!

Ca y est! Le raft est enfin arrivé a l'ile verte! Ca n'a pas été si facile, entre le choix du raft, le prix, les taxes d'importation, le cout d'envoi.
Il y a quelques mois de ca j'ai acheté une nouvelle veste respirante ,la River boss de chez Smith Fly .C'est la que j'ai eu les premiers contacts avec Ethan, propriétaire de Smith Fly.
Son raft et parfait pour les rivières du coin. Les guidages commencent bientôt, et deja une bonne partie de septembre 2018 est réservée. Ces séjours commencent en juin jusqu'a septembre et pour deux personnes max.
Merci a ceux qui m'ont donné un coup de pouce pour importer un raft ici, Grant Fraser a Killerloop, Toby a Funky fly et Mark a Smartlures.
Une petite video de la bonne reception du raft au port de Dublin:

River guided tours, update.

Its been a hard few weeks trying to secure this raft...But to cut a long story short, the PAC1300 from Outcast is no longer on the cards...Partly due to two things. Firstly, its a very expensive raft from the start, put on top of this the shipping and VAT, it's basically the price of a small car...After speaking to a few guides that regularly guide State side on this type of boat, the majority said the same thing..its expensive, and its a nightmare for catching fly lines due to the shape of the frame. So back to my search and this time i finally have found something that looks fantastic.The BIGSHOALS raft from SMITHFLY. A lot lighter than the Pac1300, (120 lbs compare to 225lbs). This means many things, ease of transport, rides higher on the water and if we need to carry the raft over some obstacles that we may find on wild rivers (drift wood, fallen trees, shallow stretch of water).

Plenty of room for every one, plus gear.

One other big thing that i like about the big shoals is the smooth frame, far less bits to catch your fly line. Space is greatly improved too, especially for the angler sitting in the back.
The model being sorted out for me will have an arched supports under the seats, meaning a higher sitting position for the anglers.

Arched seat supports. Front and back lean bar.

 Ethan from Smithfly is very easy to deal with, professional, and knows the needs of guides.The raft will be ready at the end of the month, so i'm hoping to take the first bookings at the start of july.
For any inquiries mail me directly:norbertfwa@gmail.com More details will be revealed as soon as i have fresh news.

Apres plusieurs semaines de négociations pour arriver a me procurer ce nouveau raft pour les guidages en rivières, je laisse tomber le modele de chez Outcast (le PAC1300). Pour deux raisons, premièrement le prix, entre le prix de vente, l'importation et la TVA, c'est presque le prix du petite voiture neuve!
Puis après avoir discuté pas mal de fois avec des guides aux Etats Unis qui travaillent beaucoup avec ce genre d'embarcations, ils m'ont donnés pratiquement  la meme réponse...le Pac est lourd et son armature en metal est un cauchemar pour coincer la soie.Donc de retour sur le web...Recherches, e-mails, textos, messages..pour enfin trouver le raft qui me convient. Le BIGSHOALS de chez Smithfly
En effet le big shoals est beaucoup plus approprié, plus léger, 120lbs comparé au PAC1300 qui pèse quand meme 225lbs.Ceci est un énorme avantage, il se déplace dans très peu d'eau, facile de transport, et on est jamais a l'abri d'un arbre couché au milieu de la rivière...
L'armature métallique du Bigshoal est très bien pensée, il y a très peu de coins pour emmêler la soie.Il est un peu plus long, ce qui donne un avantage énorme, surtout pour le pêcheur placé a l'arrière. Le modèle que j'ai choisi à des support de sièges courbés pour donner une assise plus haute et plus confortable.Ethan , directeur de Smithfly est très professionnel et connait bien les besoins des guides.Le raft devrait être prêt a la fin du mois.Normalement les premieres sorties sont prevues pour le mois de Juillet.
Pour plus d'infos sur des séjours de guidage en rivières, vous pouvez me contacter par mail: norbertfwa@gmail.com