NumBum - Fly Fishing

FLY FISHING THE FRONTIER

I had been to this spot on this lake once before. At that time I was there to climb and this time I was leading a group of trekkers. I had heard stories of large trout in this lake but also new that to the local Peruanos any fish was a "trouche". I dangled the business end of my water filter into the water and in doing so a baseball sized rock clattered into the lake. I have fished all my life. I lie in Montana. I have seen some darn big trout. And the thing that rose from the depths of that Andean lake could have eaten all of them! I actually blinked several times and even looked away once and then back again. The large fish circled, became bored and left. My heart was racing. Could that really be a trout? It was the size of a steelhead! I talked to everybody for several days and found out that fish had been stocked by the government in 1970. Some of the locals speared them and some netted them but no one fished for them. In Huaraz I talked with two local climbing guides who had European clients who had tried fishing for them with no success. I went back to that lake again before returning to the States. I used some poor spin casting gear I had purchased. I fished for two days and nothing. Had some follows, but nothing to get a picture. I needed help. Back home I called up Neil Cote in Missoula. Here is a guy who thinks like a fish, can tie any fly and catch any fish. Neil listened intently to my stories and descriptions. He asked about the habitat and what was in the air and on the ground. He tied some flies. I called my friend Kirsten Gallo. She is an aquatics biologist in Oregon. I asked her about what type of fish those fish might be. And then I waited. The next year I was back on the shore of that same lake. This time armed with my own fly rod, Neil's flies and Kirsten's theories on predation. It took some time, but I caught fish. Missed a couple of monsters. Wished I had a belly boat. Cursed at the incessant winds and had a darn good time. This year I'm going back and taking other anglers. If you would like to travel to an exotic country, ride a horse through some breathtaking high country, try and coax a fish onto a fly, a fish which could be a world record, then have I got a trip for you! Remember that show back in the Sixties called "Gaddabout Gaddis, the Flying Fisherman"? That guy never could have even dreamed this, FLY FISHING THE FRONTIER.

Day one; Arrive Lima, Peru and transfer to hotel.

Day two; Travel by private vehicle to Huaraz.

Day three; Sightseeing and acclimatization touring to Huascaron National Park

Day four; More sightseeing and acclimatization, trust me this is very important, to the glacier at Pastoriri.

Day five; Travel by fourwheel drive to the trailhead and meet our wrangler and get to know our horses.

Day six, seven and eight; riding, camping and fishing at Lake #1. If you guys think I'm going to name these lakes and the area you are crazy, and probably not much of a fisherman!

Day nine, ten and eleven; riding, camping and fishing at Lake #2.

Day twelve; return to Lake #.

Day thirteen and fourteen; on the move to Lake #3.

Day fifteen and sixteen; Lake #3.

Day seventeen; saddle up and ride back out to the trailhead.

Day eighteen; by fourwheel drive back to Huaraz.

Day nineteen; by private vehicle to Lima and celebratory farewell dinner.

Day twenty; transfer to airport and begin journey home.

Click here to download a pdf version of the contract.