Still late with the fishing report, but here an highlight picture of a big GT caught by one of our regular japanese angler during a 3 days popping and jigging trip, beginning of the month.
Stay tuned full report coming soon !!!
Tight Line
Capt. Nico
Nice fishing week end at Bolgoda Lake !!!
Last week-end, I was guiding Maeda san and Ito san, 2 Japanese anglers who work in India and have planned to come fishing at Bolgoda Lake to caught Barramundi, mangrove jack and featherback.
With the unusual rains last week of January and first week of February, fishing at Bolgoda was a bit tough due to some murky water, but we always manage to put our clients on some fish.
Hopefully for our two Japanese last week end was the first day without rain and slowly water was getting better.
Saturday morning, we try to catch some featherback, but without success, Maeda san had a nice bite but was not connected to the fish, it's only in the afternoon session we start to found some activity and Ito san caught a Barramundi and a Featherback.
Sunday, water color was much better. The morning the guys have fun with some nice mangrove jack.
Just before lunch Maeda caught his first barramundi and just after he released his fish, Ito san caught also one nice barramundi. Few minutes later, on the same spot Maeda san lost another decent barramundi. The afternoon was more tough has the current was going slower as the fish activity.
For their first fishing trip at Bolgoda Lake our 2 Japanese anglers enjoy the place, so relaxing compare to the crazy New Delhi mega city where they work in India. Definitely, they will come back at Bolgoda Lake and I have the feeling Maeda san as a GT angler will come back also to cast some big popper next time.
Guys, thanks to come fishing with us in Sri Lanka, really nice to meeting you and I am waiting to see you again soon.
Tight Lines
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Hot popping and jigging action for Japanese anglers !!!
With some delay, here is the full report of a great 3 days popping and jigging trip with Japanese anglers Nakamura san and Hayato san beginning of February.
The first day, we mainly go for popping and despite some slight green water due to some unusual heavy rain days before, the guys have 5 bites and caught 3 GT in the 15 kg range and Nakamura caught a nice 20kg + end of the day.
As we have bites early morning and end of day, the second day we do a mix of popping and jigging. The morning, Hayato san caught 2 small GT and miss a bigger one. Just before lunch, I decide as planned to reach some of our jigging spots. Good move, as the sonar show me some nice marks and the guys were immediately tight with fish. They caught some amberjacks, black tip trevally, Gt's and a nice long nose emperor for Nakamura.
On the way back, I stopped on a couple of popping spots and on the second spot, I spotted a bait school in surface. Nakamura san, cast his Carpenter Gamma and a big GT came and smashed his lure very close to the boat. The GT missed his stickbait and on the second bite it grab it properly. Nakamura strike, but sadly the hook were not set properly and he lost the fish... Tomorrow is another day...
Last day, we discover a very nice water color on the first spot and I told the guy, that will make the fish more active, especially the big ones. And it's what happen, on the second spot Hayato san had a big bite, the fish goes on a powerful rush and straight in direction of the rock. I started the engine, and followed the fish to make sure the line don't touch the rock. After some epic boat maneuver to keep the fish far from the rock, Hayato san can finally fight his fish safely. After, a hard fight, it's a cracking big GT and we landed on the deck. Not the biggest GT of Hayato san as it's a regular GT angler onboard Big Dipper with Fukui san in Japan. But Hayato san told me this GT was the most tough fish he has fight.
On the next spot, it's Nakamura san who had also a big bite and again very close to the boat. This time Nakamura san set properly the hooks and start an epic battle with a healthy GT who gave him a hard time. And it's another nice big GT we landed, that fish was a bit heavier than the one of Hayato san. We try a couple of others spots without success, than we decide to reach the jigging spots. As the previews day, the sonar show us a lot of big mark and we are expecting some good action. But the most frustrating scenario happening, they don't have a single bite !!! We try different jig action, slow, fast, short shape jigs, long shape jigs, colors etc... but nothing decide these fish. We back a bit earlier as the guys have a flight early in the night, I just stopped on the couple of popping spots, but like I was expected we don't have bite as it was a bit too early.
All in all, these 3 days fishing were great and for their first trip in Sri Lanka Nakamura san and Hayato san enjoyed a lot their trip and they have already plan to come back soon. I am waiting to see you again guys !!!
Tight Lines
Capt. Nico
Big GT for Japanese angler !!!
I just finished a nice 3 days popping trip with 2 japanese anglers.
Here is one of the good size GT caught.
Gt's bites getting hot on popping !!!
Full report coming soon.
Stay tuned !!
Tight Lines
Capt. Nico
Fly fishing and GT popping trip for Japanese couple traveling in Sri Lanka
Hideaki san, his wife and their lovely daughter are a Japanese family living in Russia. They planned to spend 3 weeks holidays in the warm and sunny Sri Lanka for Christmas and New Year. As Hideaki san and his wife love fishing, they booked days fishing with us at Bolgoda Lake for fly fishing and at sea to target GT's on popping.
First day, they fished at Bolgoda and they have great fun with the mangrove jack and caught some nice ones. We tried to catch some featherback, but these elusive fish were not keen to play with them.
Second day, we went on sea and it was mainly Hideaki who was fishing. He had 5 bites and caught 2 Gt's.
I really enjoyed to guide Hideaki san and his wife. I have also done a bit of baby sitting with their daughter when they were fishing, but that was great time as she was so funny.
Thanks to come fishing with us and I hope to see you again somedays.
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
They talk about us in Japan !!!
Here is our first news of the year and it's for our japanese anglers : this is the last cover of the japanese magazine Salt World, where you can read a nice article about fishing with us in Sri Lanka for popping & jigging.
Thanks to the chef editor Moto san for this article with beautiful pictures.
We were very busy guiding clients all these last days and we are late with our fishing reports, but that will come soon.
Stay tuned
Tight Lines
Capt. Nico
Great catches at Bolgoda Lake !!
What a nice fishing day at Bolgoda Lake last week guiding Ryuji san from Dehli.
Total of the catch : 3 barramundi, 1 big featherback, couple of nice mangrove jack and a nice river GT !
It was nice to met you Ryuji san and I know you will come again soon at Bolgoda Lake for another great fishing day
Tight Lines
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Successful Popping & Jigging trip for VIP Japanese anglers !!!
Last week, we started our sea fishing season with our first group of angler. This group was composed of Yamada san our travel agent in Japan, Omoto san from Salt World Magazine, Otsuka san the CEO of Studio Ocean Mark and Sano san, field tester for CB One and SOM.
During these 4 days fishing, they had an insane jigging session the first day, where Sano san caught a nice dogtooth tuna and Otsuka san a 30 kg GT. Mainly the catches were GT's, I have try some deeper spots to look for amberjack but sadly without success, anyway our guest were happy with the powerful GT's.
Popping was a bit slow at the beginning, but the last two days the reef and our different popping spots were on fire !
They caught some nice Gt's and nice king mackerels. Average size of Gt's was around 15-18 kg.
The biggest fish was caught by Yamada san with a decent 20-25 kg fish and sadly Sano san lost the 2 biggest fish, who broke the line on the reef.
A very nice trip to start our sea fishing season. A report of this trip will be publish soon in Salt World Magazine.
It was nice to met you and guiding you guys.
Tight lines
First fishing trip of the season with great Japanese anglers
I had our first sea fishing trip of the season on our new boat Diviya and fishing was good !!!
Just finished a nice trip with in guest star Japanese angler Sano san, field tester for SOM and CB one, who caught this nice dogtooth tuna on jig.
Otsuka san, CEO of Studio Ocean Mark was also part of the trip and he was lucky to caught the biggest GT of the trip, an estimated over 30 kg fish also caught on jig.
This fishing trip will be publish in the famous Japanese magazine Salt World.
We had also some good action on popping, stay tuned the full report will come soon.
Tight Lines
Capt. Nico
Hiro & Miyazaki san back to fish in Bolgoda Lake !!!
After their last successful fishing trip, Hiro san and Myazaki san came back to Bolgoda Lake and as usual they had a good fishing day.
Morning was a bit slow, they missed a couple of fish as ladyfish and a featherback for Myazaki san. After a nice lunch at the Villa, they had a very good evening session with 2 nice wild golden barramundi around 70 cm, a featherback for Hiro san and a couple of small mangrove jack.
Another great fishing day for our expat japanese anglers.
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Great fishing for Hiro san and his friend Miyazaki san
Our regular expat Japanese anglers Hiro san & Miyazaki san, had a good weekend fishing at Bolgoda.
They caught some nice Barramundi like the 80 cm caught by Hiro san, but also some good size featherback and the usual Mangrove Jack with a nice 50 cm up.
Two other nice species were caught during this weekend, a black sea bream and a juvenile GT which gave a hard fight with light tackle.
It was nice to see you again at Bolgoda till your next trip
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Very good fishing at Bolgoda Lake for Japanese angler
Ryuichi san, who is living in Thaïlande has booked a week end fishing trip with us at Bolgoda Lake and he has a great trip guided by our local guide Shaktivel !
During this 2 days, he caught 8 barramundi, plus some other species like the usual mangrove jack, Oxeye Tarpon and juvenile GT's.
Great action on the lake for a memorable trip for our japanese angler !
Congratulations and see you soon Ryuichi san !!
Tight lines
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Amazing fishing day at Bolgoda Lake
Last Sunday with our regular Japanese anglers Hiro san & Miyazaki san, we had certainly one of the best day fishing at Bolgoda Lake.
They caught 9 barramundi, they also missed or lost 4 or 5 more and they caught countless Mangrove Jack in the 40 cm up range !!
The barramundi were so active, Hiro and Miyazaki have a double hook up. It was insane !!
Tight lines
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Another great day fishing with two expats Japanese anglers at Bolgoda Lake
Yasuhiro san and his friend were in business trip in Lanka and they decided to have a break to fish at Bolgoda Lake.
During the morning session they caught a dozen of Mangrove Jack with some big one up to 45 cm. After a delicious lunch at the villa, we started the afternoon session on Barramundi spots. At the beginning there was some wind which don't make the fishing easy, but just before the evening the wind stopped and make the Barramundi hungry. They had 3 bites and Yasuhiro san friend caught two nice Golden Barramundi.
We finished the day to target Featherback but they were not keen to bite their lures. Anyway, all in all it was a very enjoyable day fishing at Bolgoda. Yasuhiro which is also a GT fisherman, has planned to come back with his GT tackle for his next business trip in Lanka.
It was nice to meet you guys, I am waiting to see you again and to have fun.
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Great fishing days at Bolgoda Lake with Japanese anglers : Yuzo san & Satoru san.
Satoru san fished with us last January and caught some nice Mangrove Jack, but he was unlucky with the Barramundi. But on the first day of this trip, he caught the first barramundi ! Good start !
A bit later and after they caught some mangrove jack, Yuzo san had a serious barramundi bite. The fish goes in long and powerful run, a bit scared Yuzo put some pressure on the spool with his thumb and lost the fish. His lure came back with a hook less and a strong split ring completely open... A serious fish for sure.
In the afternoon, he miss 2 nice golden barramundi, fortunately for him, he caught a juvenile GT and a featherback in the evening.
Second day, on the morning session Yuzo caught another Featherback and Saturo a baby barramundi, plus some usual mangrove jack. Just before lunch Satoru caught a nice barramundi.
On the afternoon session, finally Yuzo san caught a wild golden barramundi. We try also for featherback, but they don't seems very active, then on the last hour before back to the Villa we fished some good spots for barramundi and Satoru san hooked a big wild golden barramundi. Fish was strong, he came twice a long the boat and we saw a very big fish. After a bit of stress during the battle, I finally put the fish in the landing net and it's an absolute beast which is on the boat deck. This wild Golden Barramundi was stubby, his lenght was 89 cm for a weight of 22 lb on the Boga Grip. Satoru san was so happy and I saw his hands were shaking as the one of a kid who caught his first fish. Such a long time I haven't seen this kind of emotion from an angler and I was also so happy for him.
Last day the morning session was a bit tough due to some windy condition, but we manage to catch some mangrove jack, tarpon and lady fish. The afternoon, on the first spot Yuzo san caught a nice wild golden barramundi.
After that some serious lightning were coming fast, then we decide to end the fishing day and the trip.
It was a really nice trip, the guys enjoyed a lot to fish Bolgoda Lake and promised me to come back soon with friends. See you soon then.
Nico-Head Fishing Guide
Japanese Gold Digger at Bolgoda Lake !!
Our regular Japanese expat anglers Sugimoto & Hashimoto came for a week-end to fish at Bolgoda Lake.
Weather was good and the Wild Golden Barramundi active. They caught some usual mangrove jack, Sugimoto lost a very big ladyfish and Hashimoto was the lucky angler who caught all the barramundi. Another great fishing week-end at Bolgoda Lake !!!
Lures of the week-end : Rapala Shadow Rap Shad and Shadow Rap Deep
Big barramundi for Japanese angler at Bolgoda Lake !!!
Very busy these last days guiding at Bolgoda Lake and no time to put our last fishing reports. But here, a picture of the fish of the day, a proper "fat boy" Golden Barramundi (89 cm for 22 lb) !!!
Our clients lost also some big one, who opened some serious split ring...
Stay tuned, fishing report coming soon !!
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Another good day fishing at Bolgoda Lake for Hiro & Miyazaki san !!!
A week ago Hiro san and Miyazaki san were back for a day fishing at Bolgoda Lake with our fishing guide Shaktivel and as usual they have a great fishing.
The rain of days before make water color a bit murky in some area of the lake and don't make the fishing easy for them, but Shaktivel with his good experience of the lake found some good spots with clear water. Morning only Miyazaki san caught fish with 3 nice mangrove jack, one was 49 cm and give him a good fight. Hiro san just lost 2 lady fish.
Afternoon, Shaktivel try another area and Hiro san break the ice catching a 50 cm Golden Barramundi. After that catch, they want to have a try on the featherback, which were active due to the rain of the last days. The elusive knife fish were rolling every where, but not of them were keen to bite. At sunset time, Shaktivel decided to have a try on one of our good barramundi spots and Hiro san, who has caught his personal best Golden Barramundi on his last day fishing a month ago, caught another big one of 83 cm !!!
Like he told me : "This fish was few centimeter more than the one I caught last time, but completely different fight and weight !! It was Big Mama !!
The Bomber Long -A hooks were bended and snap also was almost broken."
Congratulation Hiro san for this very nice catch and hope to see you soon for another good day fishing at Bolgoda Lake !!
Nico - Head Fishing Guide
Popping and Light Jigging at sea !!!
Last week, we received 2 Japanese anglers working in India for a 2 days trip Popping and light jigging.
Weather was nice, just the water was a bit green, but GT's were keen to smash the floating stickbait of Takagi & Egawa.
On light jigging, they have great fun with some black tip trevally and groupers.
Last day GT's were more active, they caught 4 fish, miss 3 and lost a big one, which broke the leader on the rock.
It was nice to see some GT's on surface action. I enjoyed to guide Takagi & Egawa. Hope to see you for another week-end trip guys.
Capt. Nico
Sportfishing Lanka will be in Japan !!!
We want to inform all our Japanese friends, Sportfishing Lanka will be at Keep Cast fishing show in Nagoya on the booth of Angler's Nest.
Please come to meet our Head Fishing Guide Nico and let's talk about fishing in Sri Lanka !!!