Rainbow Trout, 19lb 8oz Avington Fishery Hampshire
King Mackerel - 40lb + Los Roques
June 22nd, 2009
Chris Ryan - Added his photos to sportfish
Chris Ryan, Buyer and Marketing Manager at sportfish, has added his latest catches to the sportfish staff photo section. heres one off Chris’s Favorites
Take a look at the rest of Chris’s Photos Here http://www.sportfish.co.uk/community/sportfish-photos-and-videos/chris-ryan
June 22nd, 2009
Sportfish Catch Club Launch
Sportfish Catach Club Launchs
The Sportfish Catch Club has arrived share your catches with the community and you could WIN £10*.
Simply email you photos with some information about the catch to Catch Club and we will review and upload your images to the Catch Club area.
Information to send with Your Photo:
Your Name:
Location:
Date:
Species:
Weight:
Length:
Tackle Used:
Short Description of Catch:
*Sportfish will select 5 winners a month from the photos sent in for the Catch Club, the winners will be awarded £10 Online Credit to use on your next order.
Check out some of the Sportfish Staff Photos
June 18th, 2009
TUNA ON A FLY
TUNA ON A FLY - By Ross Keightley
CALAFORNIA BAJA MEXICO-A FLYFISHERS DREAM
Some of the most exciting fishing in the world can be had on the California Baja, a 600-mile strip of land extending south from California U.S.A. On one side is the Pacific Ocean and on the other the Sea of Cortez. It is a part of Mexico as was once California until the battle of Alamo.
June 18th, 2009
British Fly Casting Club Meeting SPORTFISH Reading - July 11th
British Fly Casting Club Meeting
July 11th 10:00am - 4:30PM
British Fly Casting Club
Come along to SPORTFISH Reading, (Haywards Farm, Theale, RG7 4AS 0118 930 3860) for a BFCC club meeting and have a go…..
Two competitions are being held in the 5wt and 7wt divisions. Anyone can enter (for £5.00) and have the chance to join the 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45yd clubs.
Tuition can also be booked on the day at £5.00 for 15mins and then a further 5mins to try and achieve a distance. If you can achieve the distance you will be entered into the club and receive a badge to prove your achievement (badge costs £5.00). Tuition will be available all day long (1`0:45 - 1:00pm and 2:00pm - 4:30pm)
The 5wt competition will commence at around 10:30am and the 7wt will be after lunch at around 1:30pm.
It will give you a fantastic opportunity to meet some of the longest casters in the country!
March 21st, 2009
Allan Shephard reports from the Los Roques Sportfish Trip Day 6
Today was our last full day of fishing. It was a little windier but the good news was that the now traditional final day lobster lunch had been booked at the really charming beach restaurant on Augustina Island. This is a great way to end the week - everybody fishes in the morning then we rendezvous at the island. We take a few bottles of wine in the cool boxes, eat a huge amount of seafood and generally have a fabulous time. It gives everybody a chance to reflect on the week and overall it has been a great success.The guys have all got on really well and I am sure some enduring friendships have been forged. I would like to thank Roxtons and Sightcast for arranging such a superb week for everyone and I am already looking forward to next year’s trip to this fantastic place.
March 20th, 2009
Allan Shephard reports from the Los Roques Sportfish Trip Day 5
I set off this morning with our two Zimbabwean anglers, the irrepressible John and David. We were guided by the wise man of the flats Acadio. Initially we tried for Horse Eye Jacks, but although we had a few follows and a full on fight with a big one we gave it our best and then headed for the flats.
Acadio took us to a long flat in a lagoon. We fished our way along the edge of the mangroves until lunch. The guys fished really well - both have taken to ‘boneing’, as they like to call it, in a really big way. They ended up with over a dozen between them, all stalked in very shallow water. We had lunch in the boat - sandwiches, a salad, biscuits, melon and a few hard-earned beers.
After lunch, just before heading off, we spotted a nice Barracuda chasing some bonefish around. John had a few casts with a green tube and nailed the brute. After a really great fight we got it in the boat and headed off.
It’s really important to carry a lightweight waterproof jacket for days when there might be a short sharp tropical shower. I use the Patagonia Rainshadow jacket which is excellent. It folds away to nothing and is treated to repel water - a first class product.
March 19th, 2009
Allan Shephard reports from the Los Roques Sportfish Trip Day 4
Today was less windy and we were blessed with more of the sunshine needed to transform this incredible place into paradise. I had a great day - I went out with Phil and guide Raphael on a permit hunt. These magnificent fish are hard to find and even tougher to catch. Raphael came up trumps and found three large permit to cast to, but we let him down by never really making the most of the opportunities presented. In spite of this we still had a fantastic time with a good horse eye jack, some exciting barracuda and a few nice bones.
The major excitement was provided by Ricky, David and John who booked a day with an offshore fishing operation run by a great guy called Alex. Alex runs a 35′ Contender powered by twin 350hp Yamaha engines. The boys had a brilliant day but only caught two fish, however one of them was a 200kg blue marlin! This fish fought for a full hour and a quarter and did everything from tail walking across the surface to diving to the bottom in 600ft of water. The guys played the fish as a tag team. Ricky did the bulk of the really hard work playing the fish for the first 45 minutess. This was done with 30lbs class stand up tackle without any harnesses or fighting chairs. David eventually landed the fish. Well done guys!!!! There was other excitement too - a full set of teasers was lost to another big marlin, two sailfish took baits but failed to hook up and another tuna was caught.
This superb blue water fishing adds a whole new dimension to Los Roques - the marlin fishing is world class. Alex thinks up to ten strikes a day are possible at this time of year. He really knows his stuff and has the equipment at his disposal to give his clients a great experience. I will certainly recommend a day of blue water with Alex to future rods.
March 18th, 2009
Allan Shephard reports from the Los Roques Sportfish Trip, Day 3
Fishing was slower overall today - by Los Roques’ high standards anyway. We still had bonefish for most of the party with a few barracuda, jacks, a blue runner and some other bits and pieces thrown in for good measure. The main problem, certainly from a bonefish perspective, was the lack of sunshine. Walking a flat when it’s overcast means you really have to rely on the bonefish breaking or disturbing the surface in some way to reveal their whereabouts. When the sun does peak through it’s as if the lights have suddenly been switched on and the fish are much easier to spot. The sun also has a big effect on the temperature of the shallow water on the flats, it warms quickly and the bones respond positively to this.
Fishing off the beach has become very popular with the team as a finale to the day. We have found that by far the most effective pattern is a large gummy minnow. The best place to cast it is next to one of the many diving pelicans that hunt along the beachfront. As the pelican surfaces and tries to separate the water from the many small fish in its beak, bonefish charge in and help themselves to the stunned fry. If you cast a gummy close to the commotion and let it sink through the water you will be rewarded with some arm wrenching takes. These are all good sized fish and every one fights like fury. I had one today that ran the flyline and a good length of backing out five times. I also have a deep line burn on my finger from a bone that took off like a greyhound.
March 17th, 2009
Allan Shephard reports from the Los Roques Sportfish Trip Day 2
Yesterday was the beginning of a great saltwater flyfishing adventure for most of the team. Today the plan came together and everybody enjoyed a fantastic day’s sport. Together we landed around sixty bonefish - not bad for a team that generally had never tied a bonefish fly on before yesterday. There were three star performers today. John with a cracking 10lbs bone stalked on a flat, Phil, who not content with eleven bones caught during the day went out with me for and a couple of hours on the beach in front of the posada and added another five bones between 4 & 6lbs, all on the deadly gummy minnow.
Probably the most exciting fish of the day was a 60lbs king mackerel landed by Andy. After a marathon struggle on a light spinning rod the monster was eventually landed, trolling a rapala plug. His boat partner Ricky had to be content with a nice blue runner, also on a diving rapala. Jim had great sport with barracuda including a fish that was attacked by another barracuda on the way in. The attacker was much larger and managed to bite Jim’s fish in half.
Such a great day’s fishing certainly took its toll on the team - a relaxing visit to a beach bar saw several of the guys fall asleep on the comfortable bean bags on the beach in front of the bar. So a really super day with everybody in really high spirits. The weather was also much better - which we hope is a sign of things to come.
