Fish the Amazon with Gink & Gasoline and Nomadic Waters!
By Justin Pickett
Who’s ready to chuck flies at aggressive Peacock Bass in the Amazon jungle?
We are excited to announce our newest hosted trip with Nomadic Waters! Join us September 10-18, 2021 as we travel to the Brazil interior to chase Peacock Bass throughout some of the Amazon River’s fish-filled tributaries. The Peacock Bass of the Amazon are known as some of the most aggressive, yet beautiful fish on the planet. Found on most anglers’ bucket list, they live within the watersheds of the largest, most biodiverse rainforest on our planet, making this a trip of a lifetime.
Before we go any further, I know everyone is concerned about COVID-19. You’ve got questions and Nomadic Waters has answers.
Read Nomadic Waters COVID-19 policy here: https://www.nomadicwaters.com/covid19-response
Read General terms and conditions here: https://www.nomadicwaters.com/terms-and-conditions
Over the past several years, the Nomadic Waters crew has developed a fly fishing experience that offers amenities and hospitality unrivaled by other operations in the Amazon.
Through their dedicated work they have built strong relationships and gained support from the local Amazon communities, helping grow their mothership program to become an increasingly popular fishing program that welcomes many repeat guests, and hosts, yearly. Yes, the fishing in the Amazon is amazing, but it is the attention to the finest details, professionalism, and their hard-working staff that made us choose Nomadic Waters.
Location: Uatumã River Federal Reserve, Brazil
Trip Dates: September 10-18, 2021
Price: $5500 ($5800 after April 1, 2021). A 50% non-refundable deposit will hold your spot.
Our trip will focus on the prime time of year to fish the waters of the Uatumã River and the surrounding federal reserve. September through October is the sweet spot of time when the water is low enough to bring the fish out of the deep cover, but remain deep enough to navigate our mother ship through the Uatumã’s secret channels. This area has very limited access to outsiders. In fact, Nomadic Waters is one of only three outfitters allowed inside this federally protected reserve. This means that you will be casting in water that has not been fished since the previous year’s trips, literally 365 days before. Because of this, these fish are less accustomed to being fished to, which only increases your chance of hooking up!
Being that Nomadic Waters is a mothership program, we will constantly be on the move. Fishing from top-of-the-line Bass Trackers (don’t worry, they’re setup for fly fishing!) during the day, the mothership will motor to a new location overnight. Due to this and the great size of these waters, you will always have short runs to the fishing and never see the same water twice! Throughout the week we will cover some 60 miles of river, while also exploring some of the countless lakes and lagoons along the way. The mothership is rarely more than 20 minutes away from where we are fishing, so this is a great expedition for those who might want to come back early and rest. Anglers often choose to return to the boat for lunch and a siesta in your air-conditioned suite, or in a hammock on the deck.
This is a great adventure for anglers who are looking for a complete jungle experience. We will have contact with small jungle communities throughout the trip, usually having several opportunities to visit
Read More »Bonefishing: No Dancing Allowed!
By Louis Cahill
This is the number one mistake I see that keeps anglers from catching bonefish.
I know it’s simple but it absolutely couldn’t be more important. I see it happen time after time. Anglers loose their shot at a bonefish and usually don’t even know why. It gets passed off with, “Man their spooky today!” or “Something ran that fish off,” when the truth is, it was you.
The sound of a careless step on the bow is enough to spook a wary bonefish. The rocking of the boat by an angler casting with locked knees will spook a fish who isn’t smart enough to find his own tail. I see it all the time.
WATCH THIS VIDEO AND I’LL SHOW YOU HOW TO KEEP IT QUIET AND CATCH MORE BONEFISH.
Read More »Tie The White Tiger
It was a windy day in November on the west side of South Andros.
My buddy Bruce Chard had tied up a fly he called the White Tiger. It was big and gaudy and orange and every time it hit the water the bonefish went crazy. We stuck so many big bones that day it was silly so when we got back to the lodge I asked Bruce to tie the White Tiger for a video. If your going bone fishing don’t go without a White Tiger.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO!
Read More »The New Ross San Miguel Fly Reel
The new San Miguel fly reel from Ross is an update of a classic design.
Sometimes you can’t beat the classics. While the look and feel of the new San Miguel is all classic, there are some definite performance upgrades, like the hidden large arbor.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE NEW SAN MIGUEL.
Read More »Why All Fly Anglers Should Be Watching Their Back Cast
No fly angler should ever feel ashamed to watch his/her backcast when fly fishing. In fact, if you make a habit of consistently watching your back cast, you’ll become a much better fly caster overtime and catch a good deal more fish when you’re on the water. Just because Brad Pitt in the movie, A River Runs Through It, didn’t watch his back cast in most of the fly fishing scenes throughout the film, doesn’t mean fly anglers should follow his lead. The best fly casters in the world watch their back cast when presentations call for it. They might not do it all of the time, but they sure as heck don’t think twice about doing so, when a specific presentation calls for it.
Read More »Better Casting for Bonefish
By John Byron, The Bonefish Beginner
Tons of great advice out there on how to cast a fly rod. Tons more on how to catch bonefish.
These two streams of good information come together in the universal charge you read over and over again: hey dummy, practice your casting!
These days, travel dead, lodges closed, bonefishing a hope for the future, practicing is good therapy and a great opportunity to be a lot more ready when things do open up again.
Yes it’s true, sometimes you need all the range you can get, heroic throws to the edge of your best abilities. Sometimes too it’s not a cast at all, just a quick flick to put the fly 15 feet from the boat where a fish snuck up on you.
But what should be the goal of your casting practice to tune you best for the majority of shots?
I say it’s fifty feet. An honest fifty feet from the reel to the fly where it lands on the water.
Mark your flyline with a Sharpie at fifty feet, leader included, and leave the rest of the line on the reel when you’re practicing. Hone your casting and aim your practicing to reliably cast fifty feet — all conditions, all directions, all winds. Get good at fifty feet and you’ll catch more bonefish.
Yes, there are guides who’ll say you’ve gotta be good at everything. The answer is … give me as much time on the water as you get and I will be.
The rest of us? Let’s work on what gives us the best shot without all those years’ experience. That’s skill at fifty feet.
If you keep the practice range to fifty feet and ease off the long throws, you’ll gain the abilities you need most of your time on the water. Tighten the loops, land the fly softer, end the wind knots, get really comfortable with your gear.
Probably better at…
Read More »Top 10 Redfish Flies
THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF REDFISH PATTERNS FLOATING AROUND OUT THERE.
All the way from Florida to Texas anglers and tyers are hard at work designing patterns to fool redfish. Most of them imitate the crabs, shrimp, and baitfish that make up the majority of the redfish diet. The great thing about redfish patterns is, for the most part, they are pretty darn simple fly and easy to tie. It’s one saltwater fish that isn’t very picky. Redfish are aggressive enough to take just about anything that’s swimming in front of them. The key to choosing a fly for redfish, like most fish, is knowing what they’re eating that time of year, as well as water clarity, and how active the fish are in their current situation on the flats. There are tons of awesome redfish patterns and it’s not easy to pick a top 10 but here are 10 of my favorite commercial Redfish Patterns.
#10 Kinky Muddler
Big bait, big fly. This is a go to pattern during the warmer months when Redfish are feeding on finger mullet. The low tide flats seem to fill up with mullet and the redfish take full advantage of the buffet. This is one of the best all around finger mullet flies and it works well when the fish are focused on the bigger baits. The Kinky Fiber and Angel Hair provide a big head followed by bucktail, and long stripes of saddle hackle give it the mullet movement.
#9 Fools Gold
An excellent small crab pattern for tailers. Gold body, raccoon tail, and dumbbell eyes to get it down. Works along the bottom like a crab and also gives a soft presentation with its light weight, and small size. Lots of movement and flash to get the full attention of a redfish looking for food.
#8 Fishalicious
Funky but effective on not only redfish but baby tarpon, and snook. The deer hair head gives it almost a subsurface presentation and works great for those actively feeding redfish. Not a very heavy fly but creates a lot of movement when fishing shallow water redfish. The darker Olive/Black color works very well in muddy water situations too.
Read More »Winston Air TH Spey Rod: Video
These new two hand rods from Winston incorporate the technology and materials of the Air rod family.
The Winston Air is one of the most responsive fly rods on the market. Thanks, in part, to it’s nano-silica technology the Air delivers maximum performance with minimum effort. The Air TH, in classic Winston 13′ 3″ length is no exception.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE WINSTON AIR TH.
Read More »The New Able Vaya Fly Reel
The updated Vaya fly reel is a unique piece of fly fishing gear.
Sealed drag, quick release spool, and of course stunning finished inside and out are a few of the features of these hot looking, saltwater safe fly reels.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE NEW ABLE VAYA.
Read More »The First Ten Seconds
CHAOS AND PANIC ARE GOOD WORDS TO DESCRIBE WHAT GOES THROUGH MANY ANGLERS HEADS DURING THE FIRST TEN SECONDS FOLLOWING A BIG FISH HOOKUP.
The decisions you make during those first seconds of the fight will often determine whether you or the fish wins the battle. There’s lots of ways to lose a big fish and sometimes it’s completely out of your control. But one of the worst decisions you can make, specifically when a fish is making a screaming run upstream or downstream of you, is deciding to stay put and not follow. When this happens you better be ready to kick it into high gear and move your ass fast in pursuit. Otherwise, you’ll quickly find yourself with no leverage to apply adequate power to fight and steer the fish. It’s like trying to drive a car on a curvy road without a steering wheel, it’s just not going to work.
Big trout usually only have a couple really long hard runs. If you can stick with them during the blitzing runs and keep good tension, you’ll often find the hardest part of the fight is over with. After that it’s all about being patient and
Read More »