Big Trip Precautions and Unexpected Availability
Greetings and salutations to all our friends!
Instead of finishing up my second week at Cosmoledo with a bunch of friends, I am at home just getting over a nasty respiratory virus that I caught the week before I was scheduled to fly out to the Seychelles. I had been looking forward to Cosmoledo for three years and not being able to do the trip was…. well, heartbreaking. But there may be an important lesson here. For big trips like this, given all the crap that is floating around in terms Covid and other virus’s, I highly recommend scaling back on social activities in the lead up to your trip. I know that its all but impossible to completely self isolate prior to a trip but some consideration should be given to limiting your social interaction starting at about 2 weeks before you are scheduled to go, just to be safe. We have quite a few guests with Seychelles and New Zealand trips coming up in January, February and March of 2023 and I would hate for anyone to miss their trip due to illness. I didn’t do this in the lead up to my Cosmoledo Seychelles trip and it cost me big time.
Just something to think about.
There is some big news coming out of Bolivia that will definitely impact our guests who were planning to fish Bolivia in 2023 and 2024. While not all the details have been finalized, I can say that the Pluma Lodge and Secure Lodge trips are undergoing some significant changes for 2023 and beyond. Daily helicopter flyouts are being integrated into both lodge fishing programs, along with a lodge rotation, similar to the Tanzania Tigerfish trips, where each guest spends half the week at one lodge before rotating out mid-week to the second lodge. Full details on the Bolivia changes will be coming in the next month or so.
If you are looking for some unique trip opportunities for this winter and Spring 2023, there is still some pretty good availability at many of our favorite locations. Just send me an email and I’ll put together a couple of very strong idea for your consideration. As always, I am here to help.
CASA BLANCA LODGE, MEXICO
April 8-15, 2023
2 slots available
$6,044 USD DBL
Due to a guest family event, we have two excellent slots that have just become available at Casa Blanca Lodge, Mexico. This week has been fully booked out at Casa Blanca since last summer and this is a prime Spring week where all the flats’ species will be available during the week, including some of the large migratory tarpon that start to show up each year in March.
If you’ve not been, Casa Blanca Lodge has an amazing feel to it, where you just know you’re in a special place the minute you arrive. The accommodations, service, and meals are excellent and the fact that the lodge has its own private airstrip only serves to enhance the experience. I really like this facility because of the fishing program and the fact that you can fish each day to your schedule. The skiffs are right in front of the lodge, meaning there is no rush to get out with your guide. He’ll be there waiting for you!
The marvelous diversity of species is one of the great rewards to fishing from Casa Blanca and there are few places better in the spring, for targeting a Grand Slam. Tarpon, permit, bonefish and snook will all be seen and cast to during the week and the guiding from this lodge is at a high standard. Another big plus to fishing Casa Blanca is its location. As the only lodge situated at the bottom of Ascencion Bay, all the other lodges that fish Ascencion Bay are located way up north, in Punta Allen. Guests staying at Casa Blanca Lodge are already on the water, fishing, while the lodges to the north are just leaving Punta Allen to start their fishing day.
Casa Blanca in April is a total homerun!
For more information on availability, please contact the office via email at info@slipstreamangling.com or toll-free at 866 644-7703.
SMITH RIVER MONTANA FLOAT TRIP
May 27-31, 2023
2 slots available
$5,150 USD DBL
We have two slots available during prime time on the Smith River in late May of 2023. The Smith float is one of the great “must do” Western American fishing trips and there are few angling experiences that are as impactful as the Smith River float. Located in the heart of Montana, the Smith River boasts some truly breathtaking views and excellent fly-fishing opportunities for Browns, Rainbows and even the occasional Brookie.
The Smith River corridor is still untouched by major development and offers anglers a truly unique wilderness experience where guests will float through limestone canyons for much of the 59 miles over five days and four nights. With less than 75 commercial trip licenses granted per year, the Smith River is tightly regulated to ensure that this incredible resource is not over utilized.
Everything is taken care of throughout the trip so that anglers just have to worry about fishing. Guests will average floating between 8-12 miles per day on the Smith, with the staff going ahead each morning of the float to set up the new camp with tents (individual or shared), cots, therma-rest pads and transport of your personal gear. The new camp that anglers arrive at the end of each day’s fishing include tent set up, solar showers, dining table and chairs, and campfires. They even do the dishes and turn out the lights. It’s pretty great!
For more information on availability, please contact the office via email at info@slipstreamangling.com or toll free at 866 644-7703.
PATAGONIA RIVER RANCH
March 16-23, 2024
8 slots available
$7,950 USD DBL
After a 4-year hiatus, thanks in large part to Covid, I’m going back to Argentina in March of 2024. In thinking about the time of year I want to do this trip, along with where I’d like to stay and fish from, it was a very easy decision to pick March and to fish from at Patagonia River Ranch (PRR), for my week.
If you’ve been thinking about a trip to Argentina in the next couple of years, this week will deliver just about everything an angler could hope for in a dedicated trout trip to the land of the Gauchos. Mid-March is the Fall season in Argentina, with traditionally warm days and cool nights. This is my favorite time of year to fish Patagonia, with the trout aggressively feeding hard during the day, instinctively knowing that winter is not that far off.
The lodge accommodations are of a very high caliber and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better après fishing environment to socialize in. Strategically situated just outside the town of Junin de Los Andes and right on the banks of the stunningly beautiful and highly productive Chimehuin River, the lodge’s home water is the fantastic lower stretch of the Chimehuin, which empties into the Collon Cura River. The braids in this section of the river are some of my favorite trout water found anywhere and both rainbows and browns are plentiful and can be taken on the dry or nymphing.
The fishing program at the lodge is exceptional, with the attention to detail within the angling program as good as I’ve ever seen. This is an ideal location for anglers who would prefer to stay at one lodge during their trip while being able to access a wide variety of different rivers and fishing environments during the week. With a $2,000 USD deposit, I have eight angling slots still available for the week, at the 2023 price. For all trips booked after April 1, 2023, the 2024 price will kick in.
For more information on availability, please contact the office via email at info@slipstreamangling.com or toll-free at 866 644-7703.
CLIENT TRIP PIC OF THE MONTH
Rick Flanagan with a fat permit,
which was part of a Grand Slam at Cayo Romano, Cuba,
on November 25, 2022.
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