Misima Expeditions/ Giant Trevally/ Rock Expeditions

Luke Wyrsta of Rock Expeditions is perhaps the most knowledgeable Giant Trevally Angler on earth!  Luke offers expeditions in the remote Milne Bay Province with base camp on Misima Island.  His expeditions provide the opportunity for a limited number of adventurous anglers to experience this incredible location.  Exploration is made possible by establishing reef camps on some of the last remaining wild islands in the South Pacific. Anglers need to be highly independent when it comes to managing their own tackle, rigging, comfort and safety in this wild environment.  Expeditions are conducted as a wild reef camp format which is one of the reason I really like this trip.  I like the remoteness of camping under the stars, the opportunity to fish new waters each day, and eating the local menu.  This also helps defray the cost of the trip.  If I wanted luxury, I would be staying a few weeks at the Chicago Hilton!!

  Here, the fishing opportunities are countless.  Monster Giant Trevally, Coral Trout, Dogtooth Tuna, and others await to smash your popper, stickbait, or jig.  In all my fishing experiences, nothing gets my blood boiling as to see a monster GT exploding on my popper. 

In these waters swim my dream fish, the Napoleon Wrasse.  Huge doggies are present and later in the season even Yellowfin Tuna.  Spanish Mackerel literally knock your topwater lure into the sky. Huge Coral Trout and monster barracuda are always waiting to devour your tackle.

Papua New Guinea is a long flight for most, but the experience and memories last a lifetime.  I have fished with Luke the past 2 seasons and give the organization and overall experience 5 stars.  I will be heading back to the land of monster fish on Expedition #4 in late January 2020.  I believe a few openings remain if your arms and shoulders can handle these brutes. 

The people in Papua New Guinea are extremely friendly.  I have never had an issue in 3 trips to one of the last remaining countries where the majority of waters have never seen a lure or matter of fact a human!  Contact Luke here on Facebook or give me a shout for more information on this outstanding opportunity.  Also last season Luke started an operation to chase the Papua New Guinea Bass which is the toughest freshwater fish on earth!!

Goliath Tigers--The Congo!!!

Deep in the heart of Africa, swims one tantalizing beast!  This brute has roughly 32 razor sharp teeth with 18 of them always showing even when its mouth is shut. I am sure that Jack The Ripper would be very proud of these giants!   These monsters can grow to sizes exceeding 70 kg according to locals and have even been known to battle a crocodile.  These tigers are not cats, but the Goliaths. 
The Congo River occupies practically the entire territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The Congo River ranks second in rate of flow next to the Amazon River.

David Watmouth of Reel Monsters, Ltd recently gave me a shout telling me about a great opportunity to fish for the "Holy Grail" of freshwater species.  David assures the trip is completely safe.  A good friend of mine recently talked to a fellow angler who has wetted a line numerous times in the Congo and says nothing but good things even so to take his wife and children with him on vacation to this Dark Land.
Davids trips run 14 days and start in the town of Brazzaville where a rep of his company will take you to a local hotel to overnight.  The following morning you are driven 7 hrs by a company 4 x 4 to the village of Ngabe where you set up camp for the night.
The following day you motor to base camp, Mia Pili.  The next 8 days gives you ample time to catch the fish or your dreams.  Later in the trip you head back to Ngabe then Brazzaville for your flight home.  The trips are available June, July, August, and September  which are the best months to land a trophy tiger.
So if you ready for the adventure of a lifetime give David a call at +44 7973 367289 or look him up on Facebook.

Jurassic Lake Lodge; Argentina Patagonia Sept 30-Oct 5

Recently had the opportunity to fish Jurassic Lake Lodge for the 5th consecutive year.  Jurassic Lake (aka Lago Strobel) is perhaps the best rainbow trout fishery in the world.  In 1996, the original stocking of wild McLeod strain rainbows from California were introduced into the Barrancoso River and thus made way into Lago Strobel.  With a hearty strain of rainbows combined with the abundant food source of scuds and an environment of crystal clear highly oxygenated water with minimal fishing pressure and no predators has allowed these rainbows to grow to sizes unheard of.  I along with 6 friends verified that the giants do exist.  We arrived in a blizzard on Sept 30 which is a tad earlier than the normal opening season.  Taking a 5 minute walk to the river mouth found thousands of giants

entering the river to begin their spawning cycle.  I walked about 10 minutes up the river and found more rainbows than water in the river.  Later in the afternoon the group split into 3 groups and fished 3 beats.  Normally the 1st pool in the Barrancoso was the best the past few years, but this time the rainbows were not too active here most likely due to the extremely cold water.  However, the fishing was redhot at the Bay of Pigs and especially the river mouth which are again a 5 minute walk from the lodge.  This year, after a summer of practice, I switched to a fly rod and was rewarded with

hundreds of rainbows topping 15 lbs with 2 giants pushing the boga down to 21 lbs and 20.5 lbs.
  Others in the group did much better than I did slowly jigging white tube jigs.  When the wind made fly fishing impossible I switched to a 5/8 oz Moonshine bloody  glow nose and had strike after strike outside the river mouth.  For the 4.5 days of fishing I estimated the group landed over 2500 rainbows of which at least 7 topped 20 lbs with the largest reported at 22 lbs with the average rainbow topping 11 lbs.

The fishery gets better each year and the rainbows are getting larger due to an extreme growth rate.  I am heading back in April to battle even larger chrome rainbows as told by the great guides at Jurassic. Jurassic Lake Lodge sits on the Barrancoso River which is the only river on Jurassic.  The lodge consists of 10 rooms for clients consisting of private bath and walk in shower.  There is a main lodge building where meals are served and clients gather after a great day of fishing and discuss the day over drinks and are then served fantastic meals which will add to your waistline!  We drove into the lodge from Calafate in a lodge van and meet up with the lodge guides at the end of the highway for a ride in 4 x 4 trucks to the lodge and back.

The ride offers great sites. The only signs of life are ample heards of guanacos..cousin of llamas and a few rheas..cousin of an ostrich. For the remainder of the season which extends to the end of April, clients take a charter flight from Comodoro Rivadavia to the lodge runway. 

   This is a dream trip where the fishing is unbelievable.  Get in while you can!!