WHERE TO FISH AND WHEN
For those keen to experience saltwater fishing there are myriad opportunities. The Australian season is well underway and this is the time to target golden trevally and queenfish around Exmouth. Head to the Seychelles and fishing on Astove is starting to reach its peak with great shots at GTs, permit and triggerfish. You could even break the trip with a few nights in Dubai getting your eye in on some queenfish.
JANUARY is a perfect time to escape the short dark days and head to sunnier surroundings in the southern hemisphere.
The trout and sea trout season in Argentina and Chile is underway, with the brightest and most acrobatic sea trout starting to run great rivers like the Rio Grande and Rio Gallegos. Towards the end of the month, water temperatures rise in Patagonia and we enter into the best period for dry fly fishing for trout. The same is true of New Zealand and its many wild and remote rivers. As the cicadas start to sing in the middle of January so comes some exciting fishing.
Closer to home, pike and grayling fishing is good on the UK chalkstreams now.
© Matt Harris
FEBRUARY signals one of the best months in Argentina and Chile with sea trout having made their way upstream and now spread throughout most of the rivers. It’s also a great time of the year for golden dorado on the marshes of the Iberá Wetlands and the Rio Parana system in the north.
There are many great saltwater options too. For bonefishing, The Bahamas is a wonderful destination for this exciting flats species. Andros South, Crooked Island, Delphi, and Abaco, offer plenty of fishing, each with its own particular characteristics. In the Indian Ocean, Cosmoledo has some of its best GT fishing in February as the water has warmed enough to encourage fish onto the flats in numbers. Christmas Island offers price-conscious anglers the opportunity to target the same species.
In the UK, it’s prime time for grayling on the River Frome, and pike on the River Test.
MARCH is a wonderful month to target spring salmon in the UK. It’s not a numbers game but it is when you can catch some truly stunning bars of silver. If you can’t travel north of the border, the River Eden is good for a shorter trip. South America is still fishing very well in March, and this can be an excellent month to target the huge rainbow trout in Lago Strobel (Jurassic Lake) in Argentina. Indian mahseer fishing also gets going around now.
Oman is an interesting saltwater destination at this time of the year; wading the beach for permit in the morning is a lovely contrast to bluewater fishing in the afternoon. Costa Rica is a year round bluewater destination and would make a good escape before the wetter months of May to November. The season also opens in Sudan, a fantastic African saltwater destination offering some of the most interesting and untouched flats fishing on the planet. Cuba, Mexico, Honduras and Belize are all fishing well and it’s a great time to target multi-species billfish in Guatemala.
English chalkstreams open for the trout season in APRIL and elsewhere in the UK there’s terrific dry fly fishing on the River Eden in Cumbria. Freshwater destinations include late season trout in New Zealand, and early season trout on the lower sections of rivers in Spain and Italy. There’s good grayling and trout fishing in Croatia and the trout season opens in Iceland. Those looking for sea run fish will enjoy the spring steelhead of British Columbia.
Saltwater destinations are experiencing superb fishing in April. There are big bonefish in The Bahamas and Los Roques, Grand Slams in Cuba, Belize and Mexico, GTs and more in the Seychelles and Christmas Island, and giant tarpon in Nicaragua and Gabon.
The mayfly hatch heralds prime time on the English chalkstreams making MAY an exceptional time on the river. Terrific dry fly fishing on the River Eden continues along with the spring runs of salmon here and on the River Tyne.
Freshwater Icelandic trout lakes are in their prime with giant wild brown trout feeding well in the shallow waters. European destinations can be affected by snow melt now, but either side of this, the fishing can be wonderful.
Saltwater fishing is still productive. Bermuda’s season starts, conditions are good across the Caribbean and on the Nubian flats in Sudan. It’s also the start of the big tarpon season in Cuba and across much of Central America.
Chalkstream mayfly hatches continue in JUNE with fish in prime condition. Salmon fishing on the Eden continues to be good and big trout can be found rising in the evenings.
All our mainland freshwater European trout destinations are entering prime time including Slovenia, Spain and Italy. For sea run fish, salmon can be targeted across Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Canada, along with monster king salmon in Canada and Alaska. June is also the start of Mongolia’s taimen season.
Saltwater destinations start to slow with the hotter weather in June, but in turn this brings some of the best big tarpon fishing in Cuba, Mexico and Belize. Christmas Island remains one of our favourite destinations through this time for bonefish, GTs and more. Game fishing in Mozambique is at its best through June and July.
© Gerhard Laubscher
JULY sees a move away from upstream dry fly on the UK chalkstreams and to nymph fishing for those fickle trout we have been tracking. With small olive hatches and late evening caddis hatches it’s a great time to be on the river.
As far as freshwater destinations go, July is the prime month to chase Atlantic salmon in Iceland, Norway and the east coast of Canada. It is also the ideal time to intercept the runs of Pacific salmon in Alaska and British Columbia. July is the peak month to pursue big brown trout on dry fly in Iceland. Alternatively, you could be targeting trout on the wild rivers of the American west during large hatches there.
On the saltwater front, much of the Caribbean is heading for hurricane season. However, those looking for tarpon will find this is the month to be chasing the migratory run in Cuba, Belize, Mexico and Costa Rica. Those destinations closer to the equator such as Los Roques in Venezuela and Christmas Island are prime now.
AUGUST low water on UK chalkstreams requires a stealthy approach, long leaders and small flies. Salmon runs become more numerous on the Tyne.
The freshwater salmon season continues in Iceland, Norway and Canada’s east coast. Sea trout runs kick off in Iceland along with excellent trout and char fishing. Tsimane in Bolivia for dorado, and various Amazon species in Brazil such as peacock bass, arapaima and payara are good now. It’s an ideal time to head to Zambia and the Zambezi River for tigerfish.
August is an interesting month for saltwater fishing. Although hurricane season in the Caribbean and monsoon season in the Indian Ocean, it can be a great time to the hit the flats in Belize and Mexico - enjoying off-season rates.
SEPTEMBER is lovely on the UK’s chalkstreams when cooler daytime temperatures invigorate the fish. It’s now prime time for salmon on the Eden and Tyne.
Freshwater destinations to consider are Mongolia for taimen, steelhead in British Colombia, and trout and grayling in Slovenia, Bosnia and Croatia. The sea trout focused operations on the south coast of Iceland are in their prime.
Saltwater fisheries open up again in the Seychelles in Septemberwhen well rested flats make it a great time to target GTs, bonefish, triggerfish and permit. Alternatively, head to Australia for permit, queenfish and trevally in Exmouth.
As the UK trout season comes to a close in OCTOBER, thoughts turn to the more delicate art of grayling fishing on our chalkstreams. Tanzania’s big tigerfish are among highlights of the freshwater species now, as are the big blue winged olive hatches in Bosnia.
Saltwater wise, fishing in the Indian Ocean gets underway as more settled winds allow access to the Seychelles outer atolls of Alphonse, Astove and Farquhar, as well as St Brandon’s Atoll in Mauritius. Further west, while the weather can still be unsettled, Cuba starts to see its first anglers. Guatemala is superb for bluewater fishing with this being the heart of prime marlin season.
Pike join the autumn offerings on UK chalkstreams in NOVEMBER, along with more opportunities to target chunky grayling. The New Zealand season is beginning to fire as is the hucho fishing in Slovenia.
The saltwater season is in full swing in Seychelles and Mauritius. It’s a great time to combine an East African safari with the Seychelles for a beach/fishing combination. You can still target tigerfish in southern Tanzania or venture further south for highland trout in Lesotho and yellowfish on the edge of South Africa’s Kalahari. The Caribbean, opening up after the hurricane season, continues to offer excellent flats fishing.
Christmas on a beach in the Seychelles, relaxing in a hammock in Belize or hanging out in New Zealand are tempting alternatives to our winter and all offer good fishing during DECEMBER. Maldives, Turks & Caicos and Antigua are all attractive options now with plenty for fishers and non-fishers.
On the freshwater front, Patagonia’s trout rivers are open as are the southern sea trout rivers. Although not prime sea trout season, it’s an excellent time for a multi-destination trip to include some of Argentina’s many highlights.
UK pike and grayling offer good sport along with hucho in Slovenia.
© Matt Harris
