Some questions regarding fly fishing.

Question:

Dear Stuart.

I am planning a trip to your fantastic looking resort; I have heard and read so many good reports on it. I see you allow fly fishing – this branch of the sport is a passion of mine. So I have some questions for you if you don’t mind regarding equipment and flies, etc. Do you allow less than 10-weight gear to be used for smaller species? In the heavy gear (10/12-weight) what flies and leaders do I need, also what lines are best i.e. sinking, floating, or intermediate?

Many thanks,

Johan from Sweden.

Stuart’s answer:

Hi Johan.

Thank you for your questions. There is little information available on our species, but the following is what we use. By all means experiment with fly patterns – not enough people do. You need to bring all your own equipment as Gillhams does not supply fly tackle. All hooks must be barbless or have crushed barbs. For leaders/tippets we recommend Seaguar fluorocarbon, and no wire or multi-hooks can be used. Please be aware though that casting is not easy here due to the landscaped gardens.

We do allow 8-weight setups to be used to target our smaller species, and fishing along the marginal weed is very productive. We do not allow any flies on 8-weight to be dressed on hooks above a size 6. We suggest you bring some shrimp patterns, and buzzers, and small lures like tadpoles and cat's whiskers in white, and also in black and in orange. Also try gold heads, damsels, hare's ear etc. Floating line is all you need in 8-weight with minimum 10lb leaders/tippets.

For our arapaima we use minimum 10-weight setups and recommend 12-weight. Your 10-weights are better suited to our catfish species, but obviously you will hook up arapaima fishing blind by accident. You only need heavy mono not wire; I actually use 44lb Seaguar fluorocarbon all the way through from the fly line in approximately 2m lengths. We understand this is not IGFA legal, but to us the fishes' welfare is more important than any record, plus to land an arapaima safely we have to hand lead the fish into a purpose-built fish cage. Some of our arapaima weigh around 400lb, and when leading these beasts into a cage light tippets will snap when the arapaima shake their heads. The power in a short headshake has to be seen to be believed.

In your 10-weight bring floating and intermediate lines. No line below 35lb is allowed for leaders/tippets, and suggested hook sizes are 1/0 and 2/0. The flies we recommend are deceivers and clousers in white, black, and browns, and use small amounts of red in the throat. Cat’s whisker, tadpoles in black, white, orange, boobies in black, white, orange and damsel work here too, as do big fritz blob patterns. Any fly with lots of life and marabou in it is worth trying.

For 12-weight setups floating line is best. This way you can sight cast to arapaima. We have found by far the best method is to cast at the fish, then use a slow figure-of-eight retrieve. It is heart-stopping stuff to cast at fish in excess of 100lb, with some fish going 400lb, and attaining lengths above 2.5m. The biggest arapaima landed here was estimated at 350lb. The best fly patterns are deceivers and clousers with heavy eyes or epoxy heads, and the top colours are brown and white plus flashes of silver with red throats. Also cat’s whiskers and dog nobblers (tadpoles), in plain blacks, whites or orange. We recommend hooks in 2/0 and 4/0, the sharpest you can find – we recommend Owner hooks, model 5111-141 style SSW.

I never get time to tie my own flies any more, so it is always appreciated if clients bring a few extra flies over for my own use.

Any further questions please do not hesitate to ask. I look forward to meeting you as we do not get so many anglers here who share my love of fly fishing.

Best regards.

Stuart.