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Week 1: January 5 – 12, 2019
The first week of the 2019 season is in the books – and not only are we happy to have made some new friends along this week, but the overall results have us all excited what the rest of the season might bring.
When we welcomed our guest, we saw a very mixed first group with some old and some new faces. Timo from Sweden and Iver from Norway; Daved and John from NZ; Mike from Canada; and Ed, Delbert, Tom, Tyler and his dad Tahsin out of the US. After a quick warm up session and an early “Tapas Night”, where the lodge staff, all guides and our new guest had a chance to get to know each other, everyone was happy to get some rest for the week ahead.
Compared to the previous week (Guide’s Week: Link), the level of the river dropped a few inches, but temperatures stayed stable between 10 and 14 °C! Although the river was clear and looked great, conditions were far from easy. Changing wind, that surprised us with gusts from all imaginable directions made fishing quite tough in some pools. And due to some pretty cold nights, the fish were most active during late morning and early evening hours, while the fishing after sundown did not deliver the desired results.
Usually, the first day of each week starts a bit slower, as everyone has to acclimate to the new environment and fishing techniques. Not for Mike though, he kickstarted his week with a “bang”, landing a great 18 lbs and a couple of 16 lbs fish amongst others on Day 1. Also Daved could kick his week off with a proper 15 pounder. While Timo and Iver were catching good numbers of fish in the mid teens on a very consistent basis throughout the entire week, Mike just did not want to end his streak and kept landing big fish, ending his second day with an amazing 23 lbs whooper. But Tom’s perfect 19 lbs fresh fish out of the same pool did not go unnoticed. Daved did not waste much time on his third day, landing a splendid 19 pounder about 5 minutes into the morning session. And also Tahsin managed a proper fresh 15 lbs specimen later that day. But like so often, being at the right place at the right time is paramount, and that phrase fit extremely well to this particular fishing week. Some pools were working very well, while others seemed a bit “shut down” at times. But which pools were working and which not could change any day or time of day. The fresh fish that were coming in seemed to run at a pretty high pace and a pool, where fresh fish were showing (and taking) in the morning, might not work quite as well at night. While Mike kept catching fish everywhere he went, Day 4 did produce a lot more fish in the mid teen range on all beats, especially during the evening session, where almost every rod got hooked up, amongst them a proper fresh 15 pounder for Tyler.
Fishing slowed down dramatically during the last couple of days and finding good sized fish became a lot tougher. Despite the very tough conditions, John managed to finish his week during the very last hours with a proper 14 pound fish.
Ending a week on a tough day sometimes blurres the reality a bit and might leave you with the feeling of a tough week in general. However, across the board, the numbers and sizes landed during the week were great, especially thanks to those very productive first four days we’ve had. Seeing everybody relaxed and tired, however, equipped with a good glass of Malbec at our last “Tapas Night” together, laughing and sharing memories of their week with us, has us rest assured that even these last couple of days, despite the hard conditions, did not sour up the experience for anybody in this group.
And when we had so wave goodbye to everyone, it seemed like a group of close friends rather than a random mix of fishing clients. And this is exactly what a stay at Kau Tapen should be about. Thanks for a great week full of fun, laughter, good food and new friends.
~ Paulo Hoffmann, Kau Tapen Fishing Guide
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Guide’s week: Dec 29, 2018 -Jan 5, 2019
Guide’s week: the very, very first week of the season, even before the first group of clients arrive. For us, this is a very important week. Not only because we are beyond excited to be back on the river again, but to give our new guides the chance to thoroughly get to know the water. During the winter, high water and ice can change the river bed dramatically and many times you will see pools that have changed a lot compared to previous seasons. Hence, for all of us, it is paramount to walk the banks and check on the pools. Gravel shifts gets washed away and new spots could appear, while old ones might vanish.
Upon our arrival, the river was in great shape! It had cleared up to a very pleasing visibility and the water level was just about perfect. While the weather here never became too warm (between 10 and 16 °C during daytime), snow melt up in the mountains didn’t cause the water level or temperature (always between 10 and 14 °C) to fluctuate too much, it thankfully stayed very constant throughout the entire week.
Overall, the river conditions are looking very promising for the first group of clients to arrive! As for the fish: It seemed like the very first run of fish had been a solid one, as we saw quite a lot of (already colored) fish in the upper part. However, more silver fresh fish are showing in the lower Kau Tapen waters and news from the lower river sound very promising for the next days and weeks.
Guide’s week is not only important for us to get to know the river again and check on all the beats, it is a very important team building phase for all guides and staff here. Personally, I believe we have a great team of guides this year, that will make for a lot of fun on and off the water. All of us are very much looking forward to the season and to welcome our first group of guests.
Stay tuned for our following River Diaries, as we go into the season!~ Paulo Hoffmann, Kau Tapen Fishing Guide
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