Post: #1

I've been meaning to post this thread for awhile as I've done a decent amount of fishing around the world now and would like to share some of my experiences with you guys on here and hopefully some of you will also drop some intel on fishing hot spots out there. Myself I am basically a fishing fanatic, I don't consider myself to be advanced but I have been fishing since I was a kid, it really isn't difficult to learn and can be done all over the world. Actually, I've taken some side trips just to catch some fish and be on the water, its such an exhilarating experience hauling in a big catch, in some cases, I even prefer it to sex! Anyway, here's a list of some of my favorite fishing spots I've been to over the years:

Thailand: I didn't know I could fish in Thailand until I went and I was blown away by the fishing there, not only was it great fishing on the ocean and in lakes, it was super cheap. The first spot I went was on the island of Koh Tao where for about $50, I was picked up at my hotel, taken out to sea all day , fed lunch and brought back home. I didn't catch much that day, about six red snappers but the captain of the boat hauled in a king mackerel and a good sized marlin, which was very impressive. The best part was that he cut off a massive portion of the marlin for me to take back to my hotel where I had it BBQ'd for free on the beach. Also, the hotel and a lot of other places in Koh Tao have huge seafood markets and buffets, all for cheap.

This is a similar boat to the one I went on:




Chiang Mai: Again, I had no clue that I could fish up there in northern Thailand but they have lakes with massive Mekong catfish, just ask at the hotel and they'll organize to pick you up, fed you lunch and take you back. I spent an afternoon there and it cost about $50, in four hours I caught about about eight fish, the biggest weighing 20 kilos (about 40 lbs), I was surprised at how much of a fight the catfish put up, my forearms were very sore for a couple days after. They have a full canteen and tackle shop on site and they also serve beer.




Mexico: Last year when I was in Guadalajera for Mexican Independance day,I decided to hit up Puerto Vallarta and I ended up going out for a morning on a small boat with two local guys, the boat was nice and the gear top notch but the price was expensive at $250 for only four hours. The morning started slow but then I landed two dorados (mahi-mahi) and about three yellow fin tuna, I tooksome mahi-mahi filets to a restaurant near the dock and they cooked it up for me. Good experience as it was the first time I ever tasted mahi-mahi and its now one of my favorite fish to eat.

Colombia: I only went fishing here once in bahia Solano on the Pacific coast, it wasn't great as the guy charged me $250 and the gear was absolute shit but I still managed to pull in a few dorados and tuna. The next day another fisherman took me out for some line fishing by hand for about $30 and I caught a few tuna like that and ate them on the beach, that was a much better time. I look forward to doing some trout fishing in the rivers of the interior, apparently there's some decent spots.

Mahi Mahi:(something very funny happens in this video at the 0:10 mark)





Canada: Of course this is where I've done the most of my fishing, growing up on the east coast, I fished a lot in rivers and lakes but never deep sea as I didn't have the funds, I definitely look forward to doing that in the future as NS has some epic tuna fishing, they get 700 pounders down there!

The Giants of Nova Scotia:




Vancouver Island: This was my latest fishing trip and it was one of the most memorable, I can't wait to go back to BC. It wasn't cheap as I paid the guy $110/hour, so the morning ran me $440, but I maxed out my tags and got five nice sized cohos, chinooks and pinkies. I fished out of Telegraph Cove, a very nice spot, the Upper Vancouver Island is one of the most beautiful places I've been, the natural surroundings and wild life were amazing. When I went diving out there I saw several bald eagles and hump back whales, sea lions, otters and although I didn't see any, there's tons of grizzlies up there. My guide was a 69 year old who grows dope in the off season and rolled fatties the entire time we were on the boat.

BC Salmon (he lands it at 4:45)




Alberta/Saskatchewan:

Lots of decent walleye and pike fishing up here, I've caught lots of both, the walleye put up a decent fight and they're good to eat, the pike don't fight too much and I've never eaten it. There's a lodge near Fort McMurray called Winifred lodge and I know guys who go there and recommend it.

[u]Winifred Lodge, Northern Alberta: http://www.winefredlakelodge.com/

That's about it for the major fishing spots I've been, hopefully there's some other RVF guys out there who are into fishing as much as I am and can recommend fishing spots around the world to us. As I mentioned above, its a great past time, you definitely get a major rush after fighting a fish for a half hour or more then finally landing it, especially when you get to eat it, that is a very rewarding experience, feeding yourself with your own hands.

One down side to fishing trips are that they're expensive and often I'm alone so have to pay for everything myself, if any fellow RVF guys are serious about fishing, I'd be interested in organizing fishing trips and if someone has the patience to teach me to fly fish that would be awesome too.

Post: #2

Scotian this is my kind of thread, while everyone on this forum posts about going to bang women in Thailand and Ukraine, I seem to be incapable of spending my holiday money on anything but fishing trips. Nothing beats a holiday where you get up at 3am every day for a week straight and you are absolutely exhausted by the end of it!! I've been all over the Canadian Shield for Walleye, Arctic char, grayling and lake trout, the Rockies for trout, and of course BC for salmon. I'd say the best experience you can go for in Canada is fly fishing on Vancouver Island for salmon in rivers. When they spawn the action is incredible... Rivers so thick with 30 pound chinooks they crash into your feet! Winter Steelhead fishing is also incredible.

Post: #3

Wow Canada is definitely a Sportsman's Paradise. Someday I will try some fishing out there.

I had walleye once. That fish was delicious. I loved the texture. Bass Fishing gets old after while. I want to try something different.

Post: #4

Excellent thread. I'm also a fishing fanatic and complete agree about what Scotian says.

I dare to say I'm a obsessed in fishing pikes and I have tricked them with every single method in the book.
Took me more than 15 years of fishing to figure out how and what's the most effective method to catch the big mama.

Damn, one of my dreams is to come over to Canada fish some very heavy pikes.
They are a size bigger there.

I got a river 100m away from my house so I spent a big time of my childhood fishing, often every day.
I live in the land of thousand lakes so there is always a lake nearby.

I also have great interest of fish from the Salmon family.
I've been flyfishing them since I was a little kid but unfortunatly we don't got any decent sizes here around my place.

What I could really recommend as a fishing trip is to the Nortern Wilderness of Scandinavia. The area got the Arctic Ocean and the area is filled of rivers and lakes.

Especially if you are interested of fishing different Salmon spieces and Wild Salmon.
Many different alternatives in a small area.

You are out in the true wildnerness, in summer time during the white nights there will be a lot of mosquitos so that might be a downside.

Interesting places for me would be:
- Canada
- The Kola penisula in Russia
- Kamtchatka, Russia.

A fishing trip to the Russian wilderness to would be a wicked wild experience.
I even know some Russians who use to organize trips like that.
Not sure if they are still operating.

Be sure to hit me up if anyone are in for a adventorus fishing trip.
Or if anyone is interested of doing some fishing in Northern Scandinavia.

Post: #5

Kai: There is incredible fishing in the States too, I've ice fished for walleye in Minnesota, fly fished for trout in Michigan, Idaho, Montana and Colorado, and salmon fishing in Alaska. No need to come to Canada, there's tons of action Stateside! People Would rather just sit on their cell phones than go out and slay slabs!

Chaos I have Scandinavia on my bucket list, I have heard you guys are fucking nuts about pike. A rite of passage to manhood to catch a 30 pounder. I can imagine the scenery there is similar to what we have in Canada, similar metamorphic shield bedrock depressions filled with glacial water.

Post: #6

Fishing in the Amazon.. This fish is a legend 300+ pounds





I saw a longer version of this video in the past he did end up releasing it.

Post: #7

^^^Wow those are monsters, I may have to look into fishing in the Amazon next time I'm in Colombia.

Post: #8

(10-07-2014 02:46 PM)Chaos Wrote:  Excellent thread. I'm also a fishing fanatic and complete agree about what Scotian says.

I dare to say I'm a obsessed in fishing pikes and I have tricked them with every single method in the book.
Took me more than 15 years of fishing to figure out how and what's the most effective method to catch the big mama.

Damn, one of my dreams is to come over to Canada fish some very heavy pikes.
They are a size bigger there.

I got a river 100m away from my house so I spent a big time of my childhood fishing, often every day.
I live in the land of thousand lakes so there is always a lake nearby.

I also have great interest of fish from the Salmon family.
I've been flyfishing them since I was a little kid but unfortunatly we don't got any decent sizes here around my place.

What I could really recommend as a fishing trip is to the Nortern Wilderness of Scandinavia. The area got the Arctic Ocean and the area is filled of rivers and lakes.

Especially if you are interested of fishing different Salmon spieces and Wild Salmon.
Many different alternatives in a small area.

You are out in the true wildnerness, in summer time during the white nights there will be a lot of mosquitos so that might be a downside.

Interesting places for me would be:
- Canada
- The Kola penisula in Russia
- Kamtchatka, Russia.

A fishing trip to the Russian wilderness to would be a wicked wild experience.
I even know some Russians who use to organize trips like that.
Not sure if they are still operating.

Be sure to hit me up if anyone are in for a adventorus fishing trip.
Or if anyone is interested of doing some fishing in Northern Scandinavia.

It might not be as exotic in terms of fishing in Russia, but heading to Vladivostok in winter, walking out onto the frozen bay of the Sea of Japan, and fishing through holes in the ice is a common past-time. More relaxing than adventurous, unless you go too far out, the ice breaks and you get stuck drifting out to sea.

Post: #9

Anyone ever go fishing in the Caribbean/Gulf Coast or in northern Central America for tarpon & permit?

Post: #10

Hey brothers. Love this thread. I am a big sport fisherman and just went to Jaco Costa Rica two weeks ago fishing and it was amazing. I highly highly recommend it. It is not cheap. But it is worth every penny. I am a big believer to go to a destination I need something other than gaming the women. Even though that was good there also.

We ended up with 30 Mahi. All over 15 lbs. We actually got tired of catching them. 5 Pacific sailfish and hooked into one striped marlin look to be bout 400 pounds. We lost her though.

Need the right captain and be there at the right time of the year. But for sportfishing it is one of the best locations in the western hemisphere. I will try to attach some photos soon.

Post: #11

(10-07-2014 09:34 PM)tattiemasher Wrote:  

(10-07-2014 02:46 PM)Chaos Wrote:  Excellent thread. I'm also a fishing fanatic and complete agree about what Scotian says.

I dare to say I'm a obsessed in fishing pikes and I have tricked them with every single method in the book.
Took me more than 15 years of fishing to figure out how and what's the most effective method to catch the big mama.

Damn, one of my dreams is to come over to Canada fish some very heavy pikes.
They are a size bigger there.

I got a river 100m away from my house so I spent a big time of my childhood fishing, often every day.
I live in the land of thousand lakes so there is always a lake nearby.

I also have great interest of fish from the Salmon family.
I've been flyfishing them since I was a little kid but unfortunatly we don't got any decent sizes here around my place.

What I could really recommend as a fishing trip is to the Nortern Wilderness of Scandinavia. The area got the Arctic Ocean and the area is filled of rivers and lakes.

Especially if you are interested of fishing different Salmon spieces and Wild Salmon.
Many different alternatives in a small area.

You are out in the true wildnerness, in summer time during the white nights there will be a lot of mosquitos so that might be a downside.

Interesting places for me would be:
- Canada
- The Kola penisula in Russia
- Kamtchatka, Russia.

A fishing trip to the Russian wilderness to would be a wicked wild experience.
I even know some Russians who use to organize trips like that.
Not sure if they are still operating.

Be sure to hit me up if anyone are in for a adventorus fishing trip.
Or if anyone is interested of doing some fishing in Northern Scandinavia.

It might not be as exotic in terms of fishing in Russia, but heading to Vladivostok in winter, walking out onto the frozen bay of the Sea of Japan, and fishing through holes in the ice is a common past-time. More relaxing than adventurous, unless you go too far out, the ice breaks and you get stuck drifting out to sea.

I would love to do this. Has anyone been out to Russia fishing. If so how was the experience?

Post: #12

Costa Rica

Did a brief trip report on the Costa Rica thread. On my trip there. But it was mainly a fishing trip. So thought I would give a little info here. First of all if you like offshore fishing then you will love CR. It is one of the best fishing destinations in all of the western hemisphere. We stayed in Jaco which is a big fishing/surfing town on the Pacific coast. It has everything you need to go for the big one.

Their fishing season is from November through about May. However we were there in September and it worked out good for us. We fished on a charter called the "Spanish Fly" out of Los Suenos a very fancy expat community with a top of the line Marina.i will attmept to post a couple of pics to show you how nice this place is. But is one of the best I have ever seen. Every possible ammenity. And it is not too expensive to stay there. About half of the cost of a similar place in the US. Expect rain a lot of it. I am from Florida and I thought I knew what heavy rain is but it is nothing compared to CR. Plan a few extra days in case of rain. Otherwise you can go all the way there and get rained out and get nothing.

No one was catching fish when we got there. But because of having the right boat and the right Captain we were on the fish every day we were there. I cant stress how important this is. The other captains and locals were so surprised that we got so many fish. The Spanish Fly is a little expensive but you dont want to travel to CR pay a charter that is a little cheaper and not get any fish. Besides this captain (his name is Danny) wins most of the tournaments down there. And last year they released the only recorded albino Blue Marlin in history. This is a really big fucking deal. So rare.

I will post a picture of the boat. It is a 48 foot Maverick. Which is a wood core fiberglass sport fisher. Exceptional boat as well. Cost was $1750 a day plus tip. If you go down there during season you have to reserve way in advance the place fills up. I also hear that the Cocal Hotel the local P4P spot is a madhouse at this time also. It was kind of quiet when we went.

We caught 30 Mahi/Dolphin, from 15 pounds to 45 pounds. We caught so many fish that we were getting tired of bringing them in. We caught 5 pacific sailfish from 70 to about 110 pounds. And some bonita and some small yellowfin tuna. We hooked into a really nice striped marlin about 400 pounds but lost him at the boat. He was backing down too fast for my buddy to reel.

What a trip. If you have any specific questions PM me.

Post: #13

Trying again with pics. lol

Post: #14

Here is the marina.[/align]

Post: #15

The boat.

Post: #16

Great pics Reco. Nothing tastier than mahi

Post: #17

You guys use lures or live bait for that?

Post: #18

Thanks. Ballyhoo and skirts mostly Islander and some soft skirts nothing really large. Even on the Marlin I thought they would use rigged Bonita but they just used heavier 50 class rods with the same baits.

Post: #19

Just bagged a 60kg Blue Marlin near Manzanillo. The other boats have been catching a lot of sailfish. Cruising around right now. Heading to Ixtapa soon...