By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI.

Well, I finally got to take a trip to Cuba. What an experience. I don’t know why anyone would want to fish the Bahamas when they could go to Cuba. The entrance into Cuba is extremely easy and can be accomplished in about 15-20 minutes on the computer. Once that’s done, a trip to Miami and a 32-minute flight from Miami International to Cuba’s International Airport and you’re there. Once we landed, we made our way to one of the local hotels that had been there about 3 years. It was magnificent and the furnishings were great.

While I was waiting to go with my friends, who were going to arrive about 2 hours after I got there, I took a pedicab ride with Raphael. He took me to parts of Old Havana that tourists don’t get to see. Up on top of a small building we had a magnificent lobster meal for about 10 bucks and finished it off with a large mojito. I told him to get in back of the pedicab and I would pedal him around. So for the next 30 minutes he hailed all his friends up and down the street while he drank his mojito.

We took a cultural tour for 2 days which was fascinating. The Cuban people are wonderful. They love the Americans and are polite and they have nothing. Their average salary is $4 a month. They have no cars. They walk or ride bicycles. Once you get out of Havana then there are none of the old 1950’s Chevrolets that have been restored. Only bicycles, horse-drawn carts and walking are available. All the kids I gave coloring books to on the streets thanked me and their parents thanked me.

3-hours north is Cayo Largo where we caught our mother ship from the Italian company Avalon. They’ve got it down right. Each person has their own little state room with 2 beds, bathroom, shower and they wash your clothes every day. The food was fantastic! 5 of the 7 nights we had all the lobster you can eat, chicken, pork and beef. Plus all the rum you can drink and all the beer. It is a price-fixed trip.

At 8-oclock in the morning we caught our dolphin skiff and for the next 8 hours we polled the flats looking for bonefish, tarpon and permit and a variety of other bottom fish. There are miles and miles of flats and the only boats you will see are the ones by Avalon. The Cuban people can’t afford boats or fishing equipment. So, nobody fishes except the charter people. Our guide had been guiding for some 18 years and could spot bonefish and tarpon like nobody’s business. I thought the guides were probably some of the best I have ever had. There were plenty of bonefish, plenty of tarpon, some permit, horse-eye jacks, ribbon fish, needle fish, blue runners and a lot of different types of fish.

It was a great opportunity to see a country that is no military or political or economic threat to us under an embargo that makes no sense. I would go back to Cuba anytime. What a beautiful country. There are miles and miles of antique buildings that are falling apart because they have to money to restore them. But the Cuban excitement is there. The people are happy to be Cubans and they love the Americans. If you ever have a chance to go to Cuba you need to take it because the future of Cuba is a great unknown.

By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI.

On the advice of Matt Ramsey, one of my buddies in Eugene, Oregon, who turned us onto the fly fishing in Mongolia, my travel partner, Chris and I decided to go to Cabo San Lucas and try our hand at catching Rooster fish.  I had never caught a rooster, but I had seen pictures of them, so it was intriguing when we got the invitation.

It was an easy shot from Mobile to Dallas and Dallas to Cabo.  Once there we were picked up and taken to La Venta (which means “the window”.)  This was a small town on the Sea of Cortez that is the home of Gary Bulla Rooster Fishing hide out.

Fishing there is quite different than fishing a lot of places.  Because of the heat, we got up at 4:00am and had breakfast and were on the water by 5:30am.  You fish out of pangas and you do a lot of chumming to get the fish excited.

One of the things that was annoying was the fact that needle fish are everywhere and they are 2-3 feet long instead of 3-4 inches long.  They will take your fly in an instant, so you have to learn how not to catch them.

Rooster fish are under the needle fish and are extremely fast.  They will hit a fly on a two-handed retrieve.

Besides the roosters we caught a number of other species including bonito, rainbow runners, grouper, yellow jacks, and yellow sprite trevally.

We returned to the camp a little after noon every day because it was so unbelievably hot.  Fishing in the afternoon just doesn’t get it.  After a siesta and a cocktail, we were served the best Mexican food you will ever eat.  We did not have the same dish twice while we were there.

Most of the fishing is done close to shore and the water is crystal clear. You can see the rooster fish scooting around under the needlefish and they seem to just appear out of nowhere.  They are great fighters and it was nice to add them to my list of exotic fish caught.

For a great experience and an unbelievable camp with first-class food, try Gary Bulla’s for roosters.

Use a 10 weight or eight weight rod with a sink tip. Line leaders should be tapered from 40 pounds to 30 pounds of pink fluorocarbon. The flies typically are muted colors like brown or off-white.  This seems to replicate the bait fish that they eat.  Make sure you have several rods and several lines if you decide to go to Cabo because there is no place to purchase anything and you run a high risk of destroying some of your equipment on these big fish.

Article By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI

I’ve just returned from my 18^th consecutive year of fishing the Agua Boa River in Brazil.  It may seem strange to go back to the same place over and over again, but the unique feature about the Agua Boa River is it is one of the few crystal-clear rivers in Brazil where side casting is the main show in town.  The camp was established on an old rubber plantation some 25 years ago by physician Jon, who was a tropical medicine specialist.  The camp is some 200 miles from Manaus, the capital of Lower Amazonia and the capital of rubber export.  Now that rubber is not exported as much, synthetics taking their place, it has become a more metropolitan area where the local people have moved in from the jungle to find jobs and other advancement in the area.

After our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Manaus and overnight in Manaus, one catches a Caravan Cessna to the camp.  After an hour and a half ride you land right beside the camp and walk to your cabana.  The cabanas are stucco, with 2 king-size beds, air conditioning, refrigerator and a separate bath and shower.  The main lodge houses the eating area and an exercise area.  There is a swimming pool out front where you can enjoy a local cocktail after you fish.

The days begin with a breakfast at 7 in the morning, on the water by 8 and fishing until about noon.  At which time your guide pulls up under a tree and you have lunch.  Then you fish until 5:30 in the afternoon.  After a hearty meal at 7pm, most of the fishermen turn in and get ready for another day.

Our trip this year was marked by beautiful weather and no rain (approx. 85 degrees every day) and no bugs.  The river is very acidic because of the many trees that fall in it so there are no mosquitos and no malaria.  Just some no-see-ums that are easily taken care of with some bug spray.

The fishing is done from the front of a metal Jon boat, where the poling platform is on the back and a guy that has super hawk eyes that can see the fish a mile away.  The fishing is done on the river “Agua Boa”, which is a stretch of 135 miles which is dedicated just to the camp and just to the clients of the lodge.  You see nobody else fishing except your group and until recently only took 6-8 people.  It’s all fly fishing, catch and release and single barbs.  The river itself has over 600 lagoons and all the lagoons are fishable.

Of the 350 different species of fish on the Amazon River, you are likely to catch any fly fishing.  This trip we caught at least 15 different species of fish.  Most people target peacock bass, but there are lots of other fish species on the river.  It’s a must to use heavy tackle…these fish can bite through fishing line and fishing leaders very easily.  When fishing for piranha it is necessary to use wire.

Peacock bass are probably the strongest fish I have ever fished for in that they can break any rod you have.  The go-to equivalent is generally an 8-weight rod with a leader of at least 40 pounds nylon.  It doesn’t have to be long because you are casting a heavy fly.  A peacock bass has a mouth so big that you cannot throw a fly so large that he can’t eat it.

Fish can be extremely aggressive and often times they will bite the tip of the rod if it is in the water.

Peacock bass are basically an overgrown goldfish.  They belong to the species Cichlid.  If you go to PetSmart and look through their aquarium, you can actually see fish on a smaller scale of what we catch in Brazil.  Oscars, and little peacocks, and a number of other aquarium fish are all dipped from the rivers in the Amazon and sold for pets.

The guides are extremely knowledgeable and if you don’t think they can cast a fly rod just put one in their hand.

If you are making this trip, make sure to spend a day or so in the city of Manaus and go to the local market which has some of the most intriguing hand crafts and fruits and vegetables that you have ever heard of.  Make sure that you take Cipro, it will reduce your risk of getting Montezuma’s revenge.  Plenty of sunscreen and plenty of bug spray will ensure that you have a comfortable fishing experience.  Good luck and set the hook.

Article By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI

When my friend in Bozeman called me in the middle of spring and told me that they had spaces to fish in Iceland since they had kicked the Russians off the tour, I jumped at the chance to go catch some Atlantic salmon on a two-handed rod.  This turned out to be a real adventure in flying and investigating the country of Iceland.

First, I was informed by my travel agent that I had to fly through Frankfort, Germany, to get to Iceland, although it is only 5 ½ hours outside of JFK airport.  So just following her instructions I found out that for flying purposes Iceland is considered Europe and that’s the way you have to do it.  So, I took off and spent the better part of one day in Frankfort and flew into Reykjavík, Iceland about midnight.  From there we took a shuttle bus to the Centrum Hotel which is in the middle of Reykjavík. 

The next day we were shuttled to our camp the Aurora Camp on the Haga River which is a branch of the east Ranga.  This is supposed to be one of the best Atlantic salmon fishing rivers in the world.  We were not disappointed.

Early the next morning we met our guide, Jonah, and took off for the river to fish our first beat.  Fishing with a two-handed rod is a thrilling experience.  I was introduced to it in Quebec about 15 years ago and I try to keep up my two-handed skills, but there is nothing that works better than actually putting it to use and I was able to do that for 6 days in Iceland.  Fishing these rivers is very interesting.  The entire country is nothing but volcanoes and volcanic ash.  So, there are no trees or brush along the river banks.  It’s like walking down a well-manicured yard or golf course to the river edge.  Since there is only volcanic ash there is no mud, so wading the river beds is easy. We spent half the time casting from the bank and half the time casting from the water.  The water is that glacier blue color which is so beautiful on the backdrop of some 37 active volcanoes in the country of Iceland.

Our equipment consisted of two-handed rods, anywhere from 12-14 feet long and tube flies.  Tube flies are interesting.  They were developed in Australia and they actually slide up and down the leader which allows one to change the hook without changing the fly.  They work great for Atlantic salmon. During my fishing excursion I was able to land around 15 Atlantic salmon.  They are beautiful fish – they jump and exhibit all types of acrobatics. 

We were also able to fish for brown trout.  This was done on Lake Kreshen and River Varma and on Lake Thingvellir.  In a matter of an hour or so I was able to land some 35-40 brown trout on dry flies.  Our guide walked up the river and said, “We need to move, there are too many fish on this river.”  I would be so lucky to experience that on any fishing trip.

The days were a combination of sun in the morning, then wind, then rain, then sun, wind and rain.  I think that’s the scenario of weather in Iceland.  Driving around the country you are able to see geothermal jets discharging their steam from the sides of mountains, the backyards of people’s houses and along the roadways.

Iceland is an extremely clean country.  People do not hesitate pick up a piece of trash and throw it in a garbage can.  The United States could learn a lot from that.  In addition, the people are extremely proud and they are generous and friendly to all visitors. They love Americans and are excited to have us as guests.

This was definitely a unique experience fishing for Atlantic salmon and brown trout in Iceland.  I only wish I had more time to cover more of the country.  If you look at a map of Iceland there is nothing but rivers, streams, and lakes.  I understand from our guides that almost all of these areas hold fish.  You could make a lifetime of fishing just small streams in Iceland. 

We ran into a number of Americans in Iceland vacationing, but the majority of the fisherman were from Europe and other Scandinavian countries.  Everybody uses the two-handed rod.  The topography of these rivers dictates that.  Oftentimes you are standing in the water with a sheer cliff of 30-40 feet behind you.  This made a back cast impossible.

I was grateful to be able to go to a place where I could really practice my two-handed casting and I will continue to work on improving my technique.

If you have a chance to go to Iceland – go.  It’s worth the trip even if you didn’t fish.

By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI

Several years ago while fishing our annual Brazil trip, our on-site guide Matt Ramsey from Eugene Oregon showed us a video of fishing for Taimen in Mongolia. These fish are the largest saminoid in the world often growing to 50 inches or more and weighing in excess of 40 pounds. We were hooked. My fishing partner, Chris Nischan, and I decided to go. Since they only book 6-8 guest the positions fill fast. The first leg of the trip is a 15 hour flight to Seoul Korea, overnight to the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, then to the camp on the river by antique Russian helicopter. We decided to stay in Seoul a couple of days – when are you likely to get to this place again? Our guide Sun Woo was excellent. She showed us the DMZ looking across the river to the fake North Korean cities, took us to the market for dining on live octopus, and finished it off with a traditional Korean barbecue. Then on to Ulaanbaatar to overnight in a small sparsely furnished hotel and on to the MI-8 vintage helicopters for a 3 hour ride with the Mongolian air force pilots, who pick up a little extra money flying the fishermen to camp. On to the Eg and Ur rivers, about 20 miles from the Russian border in northern Mongolia. We were escorted to our ger, a traditional Mongolian nomads living quarters, round and covered with hides warmed by a wood stove.

The rivers are clear and fast with marble to baseball size rocks. No paved roads, no cars, only Chinese motorcycles. No fences. The horses, sheep and a few cattle roam the vast grasslands clad “steps “, but beside most of the ger is a dish and a basketball goal. Most Mongolians speak 4 languages: English, Russian, Chinese and Mongolian.The Mongolians do not eat much fish. Even in Genghis Khan’s day, their diet was mutton, goat, and horse. The horse meat we ate was o.k.

Now let’s get to the fishing. The taimen is what the Mongolian angler experience is about. The taimen is kin to a salmon living in a few rivers in Russia and Mongolia. They can grow to a considerable size with the largest recorded being 231 pounds. A 50 inch fish is considered a trophy. They prefer grayling as their main meal. These fish literally crash the flies, often knocking it out of the water on the take. The take is what you come for. I’ve never seen a more vicious hit, and of course hitting a giant popper on top is the only way to go.  All taimen are catch and release. The taimen are best fished on a 9wt with a floating line, 30lb 6 ft leader with a huge popper, an over-sized juggler might be a better description. The best fishing is done from the boat. Your guide drops the anchor and lets the current move the boat down river as he holds on to the back and guides it. Some fishing is done from the banks but we did better walking the boat down river. Long casts with short pop, pop, pop, 3 inch strips is the method to attract these giants.

There are other species on the river that readily take a fly, dry flies especially. Lennox trout, sometimes called an Asian trout, are a real deal. Grayling and pike are there too. Pull up on the bank and drift a dry fly, it would be unusual if you didn’t get a hit in less than a minute.

Even if you were not a fisherman, Mongolia is an intriguing country to visit. The scenery, the people, and the fishing make this an unforgettable experience.

Thomas R. Dempsey, certified casting instructor Mobile, Alabama.

Fly Fishing Exotic Locations is FUN!

Exotic By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI

Fishing exotic locations is just plain fun, but there are aspects that require preplanning in order to avoid disasters. Doing a little research can enhance your experience and prepare you for any potential problems. 

Make a Budget

When you decide where you are going, set a budget and get all the up front cost from the outfitter. Be specific,many lodges charge big bucks for liquor  and bottled water and some even have a surcharge for gas. Fly in and fly out might be advertised but you may be charged per trip. This can climb into the hundreds of dollars. A good friend of mine was told when they landed for their trip on the rivers of the Kamchatka  that they would have to pony up $800 dollars each to feed the big orange MI-8 helicopter fuel. Fishing in front of the lodge might be your only option unless you fly. Believe it or not there are lodges that do not allow their clients to fish on the property without a guide. On a trip to Mexico we were told not to fish in the waters in front of the lodge because drugs often floated up on land and were collected by the local cartels.

Accomodations

Check out the accommodations before hand. Air conditioning can range from open windows to full fledged USA style. In some locales the air conditioning only works when the onsite generator is cranking. On my first trip to the Amazon we were given a car battery and a fan, welcome to Amazonian air conditioning.

Food

A hamburger outside of the US is a culinary snare trap. You are better off eating what the locals eat. One of the clients on our trip to the Paraná River in Argentina insisted on following a strict vegetarian diet of fresh unwashed greens and veggies. Six days later she is still trying to identify the alien in her gastrointestinal track. Prophylactic Cipro could have salvaged her trip. Pack a jar of peanut butter. The soul food of the international angler.

Medical Needs

We complain about our healthcare system in the US, but believe me it is comforting to know there’s an emergency room or a drug store close by. Being a physician and an angler I try to anticipate any potential emergencies when I fish outside of the US border. Beside taking your personal prescriptions, throw in something for pain,sleep, diarrhea, indigestion, in addition to a little Benadryl for the critter bites. Mild analgesic cremes and antiseptics are hard to come by in the jungle. Band-aids and steri-strips can close a wound until you get back home. If you can tie a blood knot, you can learn to inject xylocaine and extract a hook or sew up a laceration. FYI: We offer a crash course in suturing to our fly club members.

I had the opportunity to experience the Canadian socialized medical care system up close and personal when I suffered an open fracture to my little finger when I slipped on the rip-rap on the Cascapedia River. A trip to the E.R. got me back on the river. Although the care was adequate, they deal in cash only for their southern neighbors. Many international anglers are older who now have put enough back in the travel piggy bank to allow them to take the “bucket trip of a life time”. With age comes health concerns. But you would be surprised on how few fishermen  never consider medical evacuation insurance. You pay $6,000 dollars to go catch Golden Dorado in Santa Fe Argentina, but “save” money by skimping and waving off the Medivac or the Global Rescue that can get you back to a US hospital.

Real bad things do actually happen to fly fishermen. We had a trip to the Agua Boa punctuated with an explosion of the aviation fuel depot and resulting in no fewer than 10 burned people being air-lifted to Manuas. The next year one of the clients down river lost his arm in a schoolboy prank of “let’s see which boat can catch the biggest caiman”. Not to mention the physician who was fishing with his son and an on-site guide when he developed a life threatening case of intestinal obstruction. We were lucky to have some I.V. fluids available, and I had some morphine, the only piece of equipment missing was a nasogastric tube to decompress his swollen stomach. That was solved when one of the Brazilian guides presented us with a plastic gas line. It saved his life until he was flown back to Atlanta.

Gear to Pack

Gear to go should be a minimal amount but adequate. Let your clothes serve a dual purpose. Leather shoes never dry out in a tropical region,wear synthetics with no-scuff bottoms. Quick dry pants are great and cotton is always cooler than anything manmade. Now all you need is a Buff, a hat, and 2 and I mean 2 pair of polarized sunglasses. In the colder climates, layer. Your waders keep you dry and warm. Don’t fudge on quality. Buy the best foul weather gear on the market, you’ll never be sorry. It is nice to have those extra rods and reels in your luggage provided your luggage arrives when you do. When you fly on an airline such as Lloyd Areo Bolivia that has only one 737 in operation you had better carry on a rod, reel, flies and anything else you can cram in your backpack in case your gear doesn’t arrive. There are baggage handlers and airport workers that know very well what an Abel reel is worth. If you can’t afford to lose it, don’t take it.

$Manners

Tipping your guide always brings up a discussion behind the potted plant just as you are about to depart. Always ask before the eleventh hour what the usual tip comes to. Sometimes it is included in the package, great. An all inclusive tip in one lump sum is better than having to tip each person in the camp. I like to tip a little extra on the front end. It is doubtful that we would have seen some of the special  “honey holes” if we had not greased our Bahamian guide’s palm with a few shekels on the morning we pulled away from the dock. Consider packing things like an extra pair of sunglasses, a Michael Jordan tee shirt, a spinning reel, Marlboro Reds, some cosmetics for the house maid who makes you bed, think what you like and the chances are they will like it also. We pack a suitcase with goodies for the camp personnel evey time we travel. On one trip my partner sharpened all the cook’s knives, man, we got anything we wanted from the kitchen after that. Leave the guides whatever you can spare, they will remember you the next time you show up. Let’s not forget about cash, I mean folding money. U.S. currency the universal ticket to a smoother trip abroad. A $20 dollar bill in your passport will go a long way in getting you that window seat on the plane for the long ride back home.                              

Mementos

Always bring back something you can look at while you are sitting around in a coma planning your next trip. My buddy still uses the paddle to propel his Riverhawk on the Caney Fork River that Pablo made for him for the lofty sum of $5 dollars. Those shellacked  piranha  for .50 cents make great gifts. I traded my B.C. guide a UNC basketball cap for a hand-carved cane. Don’t travel without a digital camera. I take one small point-and-shoot waterproof [got some great under water shoots of piranha eating cheese out of my hand, really] and I take my bigger camera for the proverbial grip and grin photos. Film was cheap but digital is cheaper, and provides instant gratification. You are always sorry for the trinkets you didn’t buy and the pictures you didn’t take.

Finally, there are some universal truths that traverse all national and international boundaries:  

1. If anything bad is going to happen the chances are it will happen on the water. Never was this any truer than during our trip across Lake Illiama in Alaska the wind lifted the aluminum jon boat like a kite and dumped 3 of us in the frigid water. Wear a life jacket then at least they can recover your body.

2. ” When in Rome………” Yep, be nice to the locals and especially to anyone wearing a uniform,a badge, or packing an AK -47. I witnessed a bunch of “bubbas” from lower Mississippi lose all their take home goodies and the better part of their personal fishing gear and clothes after back-talking the security guys in the  airport in Caracas. And when the guy in shorts and a t-shirt insists you pay a deplaning tax while you wait in the airport for the plane to be refueled, just do it. You are in his backyard.

3. Assume nothing. Always allow some wiggle room on the front end and the end of your trip. When I planned my trip to Newfoundland, Lee Wulff’s Brook Trout Haven, I was told to allow 2 to 3 days travel time on side of the trip to allow for foul weather. The 9 p.m. scheduled flight out of Miami Int. to Manaus never ever left before midnight. Tape a thin roll-up sleeping bag pad to your back pack so you can curl up on the floor in the airport and grab some zzzz’s while you wait for the flight crew to roll in. My Delta agent upon hearing my travel delays reminded me to think before I bad-mouthed the US airline system next time.

4. You can never be over prepared. The next best thing short of first hand experience is to talk with someone who has made the trip before. The Angling Report is a great resource that is unbiased offering you a look at numerous fishing locations covering the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

So,now you are ready to experience that once in a life time trip that will brand you as an international  angler. Heck, you might get your picture on the front of Fly Fishing in Saltwater or American Angler. Oh, one more thing, don’t forget trip insurance.

Have fun.