Field Report Feb 18th - March 3rd 2012
by Stephan Dombaj

Welsh “In-Waders”

Tracing down the roots of seatrout fishing will eventually lead you too a dead end somewhere in Northern Europe. Where exactly the first flies were swinging down the current in eager hope to touch some chrome fish will remain a secret forever. The United Kingdom is without any doubt one of the most influencial pillars of the sophisticated idea of hunting anadromous fish with a fly. Not only did they spread the Loch Leaven Browntrout strain all over Argentina (and pretty much every former British colony) which decided to go searun pretty soon; but also they do claim the earliest recordings of topic related fishing literature…At any given time, this blood bounded strain of seatrout angling gathers together in form of the welsh invasion better known as the Illtyd-Group…
Since the very first days of this operation, Illtyd’s group has been an essencial part of our season here in Las Buitreras. And he’s more than just welcome. Illtyd Griffiths, fairly renowned even abroad from his local fishing grounds and one of the most experienced forces for seatrout fishing, was leading yet another group of likewise minded seatrout fishermen from all over the UK. And even under toughest conditions, he and his brave men performed…

The hardest working angler harvested both the top rod and the biggest fish reward this week. Lawson Jones, a seatrout and pike guide himself, fished unimpressed by the tough conditions and delivered flawlessly both numbers and sizes. A grumpy old 21lb fish out of the monster-spot „Baranca Negra“ – a pool that is considered to be „manly“ – marks his biggest fish of the week. Backing this big cock fish up by twelve others and the recipie for the top rod was perfect. Congratulations! Being the dominant rod of the week didn’t leave much opportunities for his beat partner Craig, who covered the water very well. The revenge is yours!

The run for the top rod was a tough one though! Illtyd himself missed it just by one fish. Sharing pool alliance with his AAPGAI associates Glyn Freemann and Neil Truelo, it was Illtyd who cared for the numbers and Neil for the sizes with an 18lb fish out of Juan Manuel’s signature pool „Belen“

Simon Frobisher’s and Edward Ma’s cat and mouse game entertained the table during lunch and continiued at the bank in waders. Taking turns on seatrout and being a different but very effective team used their chances pretty well. Simon started the week without a blank session which was hard to keep up as the week went on, whereas „Ed’s“ advanced casting kills lead to some decent fish up to 12lb.

We are not quite sure which team deserves the award for the best bandana/cap of the week this time. Either the Mike and Clive Humphries for Clives Rock’n Roll, Stars & Stripes Bandana which makes all his seatrout look secondary on the picture. Or the the team consisting out of Mark Riley and Mike Cooney, for Mark’s yellow hat which shone from far away – a hommage to a motor-sport legend.

Water & Fishing

Last week’s falling water trend continued unimpressed from our countless rain-prayers and dropped continously from -25cm on Saturday to -35cm. In addition to the fact that the peak of the big seatrout spawning run has already passed the season, even the evening sessions are producing less activity due to the fewer numbers of running fish. Still we are expecting the 2nd big flood of the season – another good push of fresh fish that shuffles the decks in the pools. Expecting also means that it hasn’t arrived yet. Generally speaking: We were facing a tough week with very technical fishing. Our low-water plan – focusing on the morning and evening hours has once again, proven to be effective. The UK-Import, the Snakefly fooled most of the fish this week. It resembles a Sunray Shadow in many ways except for the extended hook placement at the very end of the topwing – deadly effective. Other typical „fading-light“ pattern in darker colors were producting good numbers as usual. The tricky daytime fishing has forced our anglers down to size 14 nymphs, the more delicate one could flick those little bugs over the current and into the wind, the better it worked.

Stephan Gian Dombaj
Camp Manager – Solid Adventures
  • Total No. Of Searun Fish: 62
  • Average: 8.1 lb
  • Top Rod: Lawson Jones (13)
  • Biggest Fish: 21lb – Lawson Jones (Baranca Negra – Hare’s Ear Nymph)
  • Top Fly: Snake-Fly
  • Top Pool: Molino & Old Bridge (Zone I)
  • % of Chrome Fish: 74%
  • Fish < 10lb: 20
  • Fish < 20lb: 1