Fishing day at Bolgoda Lake with Su Lin

I picked up Su Lin from her hotel in Colombo early in the morning and we headed for Bolgoda Lake. She had come to Sri Lanka to meet one of her friend who lives in Colombo and like a true angler she was looking for some fishing. She found us on Facebook and booked a day’s fishing.

On the way she asked me a lot of question about the fish she could catch on the day. I told her about guiding some Japanese anglers a few days ago and they had good action with the elusive featherback. Su Lin was excited & eager to catch one. The boat was waiting for us at the Villa when we arrived and we headed out to fish. We started on a nice spot, a structure where the tide current was strong and offers a perfect place for a Barramundi or a feisty Mangrove Jack. After a few casts Su Lin caught a Giant Herring, her first one and she was surprised by the strength of this fish compared with its size.

After that, we tried some other spots for Barramundi but nothing came. I decided to head to the spot where we had caught Featherback with our last group. When we arrived, we saw some fish rolling on surface but nothing compared with last time. Anyway, Su Lin tried and after some casts she caught a Mangrove Jack.

We stayed a while till lunch time and then headed to the Villa where the cook has prepared a nice Sri Lankan rice and curry.

After a short break, we went back to fishing and I decided to try for Barramundi in the main lake of Bolgoda.. We tried a spot where I had good action a few weeks ago but nothing come. On the second spot, Su Lin caught a Mangrove jack, then another one a bit bigger and another even bigger for a total of 6 Mangrove Jack in less than 15 minutes.

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After that Su Lin asked me to take her to the Featherback spot because she really wanted to catch one. We reached the spot and the knife fish seemed more active. But as usual, to catch them requires a lot of patience. Su Lin cast the lure I advised her to use untiringly. It was on her last cast, just after I told her that we would go before nightfall, she caught one and she was so happy. The last minute fish was the perfect end to a very nice day’s fishing for Su Lin at Bolgoda Lake.

Su Lin is planning another day fishing at Bolgoda Lake when she comes back to meet her friend in Colombo. I look forward to guiding you again Su Lin and next time we will focus on a Wild Golden Barramundi;-)

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

Rainy day at Bolgoda Lake, it's good time for featherback

I picked up Naoya san and his friend at their hotel in Colombo early in the morning. On the way to Bolgoda Lake, we talked fishing and Naoya asked me how the condition of the lake was after all the rainy days in Sri Lanka. From my experience, these aren’t the best conditions for Barramundi but they are really good for Featherback. Good news for Naoya, who has never caught one of these fish before. Naoya’s friend joined him at the last minute, he knows fishing but he is not an expert like Naoya and came along mainly to enjoy a day out on the lake.

We arrive at Ruskin Island, where ours boats are parked, around 7 am. We take time to have a tea and prepare our tackle before we leave for fishing. Starting at some spots to target Barramundi, nothing comes up so we head on to our Featherback spots. When we arrive we see plenty of them rolling on the surface. Naoya and his friend are surprised to see so many fish. But as usual with Featherback you need a lot of patience and never give up. I advise Naoya to fish with special lures and give one of my favourite lures to his friend to use. After a while, heavy rain comes down. Just after when the rain stops, Naoya’s friend has a bite and lands a nice featherback. He is extremely happy, it’s his first fish caught on lure !

This fish boosts Naoya and I feel him start to concentrate more. I give him some advice about how to animate his lure and on his second cast he has a bite but misses the fish. A few minutes later the Featherback start to become more active. The surface of water is full of Featherback rolling everywhere. Naoya’s friend casts close to where the Featherback pack is rolling and immediately has another bite landing his second fish of the day. Naoya casts in the same area and catches a very nice Featherback.

We stay a while longer at the spot but it was time to head back and there was more rain on the way. We have a late lunch at the Villa and I drop Naoya and his friend to Colombo airport. Naoya enjoyed his day fishing and plans to come back soon to make a 4 day trip at Bolgoda.

Hope to see you soon !

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

The Jerry's at Bolgoda Lake

After a great GT fishing trip in Kirinda the Jerrys had planned to finish their trip with two days fishing at Bolgoda Lake.

Day One : Early in the morning I met the guys on the pontoon where I was waiting with the Barra Boat. Quick check of tackle: rods are little bit long but the action seem good for the predators of Bolgoda Lake. Lure box is fine : with plenty of different kind of minnow – now it’s time to go.

I reach the main lake and start at some spots where I had good success some days before. We fish one of my favorite spots for Mangrove Jack but unfortunately the fish are not so active, despite a large amount of bait. There are a few swirls behind the lure but no proper bites. I decide to move to another area. After a 15 minute drive we start fishing again on the lookout for Barramundi. Big Jerry catches an average size Mangrove Jack.

The area is quite so I suggest checking to see if the elusive Featherback are active. We reach the spot and see a few Featherback rolling on the surface. The sight of the fish rolling make little Jerry crazy, he tries all the lures in his box to catch one of these Featherback, but the knife-fish don’t seem interested. We head back to the Villa for some lunch and a small nap before coming back to that spot later in the afternoon.

Around 2:30 pm we leave the pontoon for the Featherback spot. There are a few quick stops at some Barramundi spots with a couple of small mangrove jack. Finally, we arrive at the spot. The Featherback are there, untiringly rolling on surface. The Jerry’s never give up and cast their lure in the hope to have a bite of Featherback. But definitely, they are not active, finally little Jerry catches a decent Mangrove Jack. This first day was really tough, but I was confident with my plan for the next day.

Day Two : I follow my plan to fish the main lake where I have seen many baits and I decide to concentrate our effort there. On the first spot little Jerry misses a nice bite. At the second spot he catches a mangrove jack, another one and another one again, for a total of 7 Mangrove Jack. Big Jerry catches one and misses some.

We try another spot for Mangrove Jack and the Jerrys have a double hook up of nice Mangrove Jack.

After that, I decide to change the area to try some Barramundi spots. On the third cast little Jerry has a serious bite with a long rush, for sure a Barramundi. After a nice fight, he lands a nice barramundi. Quick picture and we release the fish.

We continue to fish the spot and it’s big Jerry who has a very serious fish, very long and powerful rush. We start to see the fish on the surface, it was a big barramundi in the 7/8 kg mark, but unfortunately on the last rush the fish was off, the lure comes back without the treble hook from the tail, split ring open. Very sad ! We try some other spots without success. Big Jerry catches a jumping Giant Herring and little Jerry a small Mangrove Jack to finish this very good morning session.

For the afternoon session, I decide to stay on the main lake. On the first spot there’s no activity so I try the spot where we had the Barramundi bite in the morning again and big Jerry catches a nice Barramundi.

On the next spot he had another one but again it got off. Unlucky ! We finish the day at some mangrove jack spots and little Jerry catches his 14th Mangrove Jack of the day.

The 2 days trip with the Jerrys was really a pleasure. Lots of fun onboard, we laugh and joke throughout the trip and enjoy every minute. It was a really good trip ! Hope to see you soon in Lanka guys.

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

Species Caught: Mangrove Jack, Giant Herring, Barramundi

Rod: Major Craft

Reel: Daiwa

Lures: Maria, Ima, Duel, Rapala

Nice fishing day at Bolgoda Lake

Barramundi, Featherback, Giant Herring & Mangrove Jack caught by japanese expat Horioko San in a hot & dry fishing day.

Nice to meet you and hope to see you soon to fish again Bolgoda Lake with us.

Sportfishing Lanka Team

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Expats Fly Fishing at Bolgoda Lake

Tiernan has been working in Colombo and like any good fisherman he brought his fishing rods, hoping to fish in his new country of residence. Tiernan is a fly fisherman, in the United States, he fishes in fresh water for trout, salmon and large mouth bass. He has also fished at sea for Redfish and other mangrove fish.

After three months without having gone fishing, Tiernan booked a fishing day with us at Bolgoda Lake. Guiding a fly fisherman is a great challenge for me. I know it’s possible to catch many of the species present in the lake on fly, but I never had the opportunity to guide a fisherman to try. In the past we have had anglers fly fishing and they’ve caught Giant Herring, Oxeye Tarpon, Mangove Jack and even Barramundi for the luckiest.

I met Tiernan at the villa, we had a coffee and prepared the fishing equipment. Tiernan was well equipped, but I took my fly rod and my fly box just in case. We headed out at around 7:30 am and started fishing on our Barramundi spots. The weather was perfect and the surface of the water flat. We saw Oxeye Tarpon rolling in some areas, Tiernan missed 2 and we are headed to another spot for Barramundi but there was no activity. Then I decided to go on our favourite spot for Featherback. When we arrived we saw plenty of these “knife fish” rolling on surface, Tiernan couldn’t believe his eyes ! Unfortunately he didn’t have any bites from this elusive fish but he caught a very nice Giant Herring.

It was time for a lunch break back at the villa. In the afternoon, Tiernan wanted to try the morning spot again for catching a featherback. At the spot there was the same activity as the morning, the Featherback were rolling on surface, but this time I gave of Tiernan a favourite fly of mine. An orange & yellow Enrico Puglisi. On his second cast, right where a Featherback was rolling, two strips and bang ! Fish on !!! First Featherback ever caught on fly at Bolgoda Lake !!!

Congratulations Tiernan ! After that we changed spots to try again for Barramundi and Tiernan caught a nice Mangrove Jack to finish his fishing day.

It was a great trip that has given me more confidence to guide fly fishermen at Bolgoda Lake. If you are travelling in Sri Lanka and would like to have a couple of days fly fishing at Bolgoda Lake give us a call !

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Sahara & Yamada back in Bolgoda Lake

After their previous great fishing trip, where they caught some nice Barramundi and Mangrove Jack, Yamada san and Sahara san scheduled another Bolgoda trip. It was a pleasure to guide these two expert Japanese fishermen on the last trip and I was excited to be guiding them again, especially Sahara san who had lost 2 nice fish on the last day of his previous trip and was out for revenge !

When I welcomed the guys around midnight at Colombo airport it felt like a reunion of old friends. We loaded up the gear and set off for Bolgoda Lake, talking fishing, remembering fish lost or missed from the last trip and catching up on other fishing adventures. We arrived late in the night at Bolgoda and set a time of 7am to go fishing which sent everybody to bed to rest for the following day.

After breakfast and coffee, the morning of the first day we started out fishing some spots looking to target Barramundi. Sahara’s lure box looked like a mobile tackle shop! He has obviously been doing some shopping since his last visit and had plenty of nice minnows specifically for this trip. I noticed a nice Duel Hardcore Flat Minnow and advised him to start with it. After landing a couple of ladyfish Sahara san has a serious bite close a lily-pad patch and a nice 66 cm Barramundi came to the net after a couple of jumps. Great start !!! They caught some average size mangrove jack and dropped a few Oxeye Tarpon, before we headed back for lunch.

After a nap we set out to target the elusive Featherback. When we arrived on the spot we can saw them rolling on surface. Sahara san fished a lipless from Bassday and Yamada wanted to try his luck on a soft plastic. First catch was 2 nice Mangrove Jack.

Sahara changed his lure for a spoon and immediately had a bite from a Featherback. The fish jumped and sadly shook the lure. We tried another spot for Barramundi and Sahara missed one close to the boat and Yamada hooked one but on the first jump the lure came free. We returned to the initial spot for Featherback and on the second cast Sahara landed one.

With Darkness fast approaching, I decide to fish the spot where Sahara lost his 2 big fish on his previous trip and after a couple of casts Sahara has a serious bite but the hooks didn’t set properly and he lost the fish. Damn !!! Same spot, same fisherman with the same lure and again lost, amazing ! Wonder if it was the same fish ?!

The morning of day two we were greeted with overcast weather and a little rain. We tried some Barramundi spots but without success but caught some average size Mangrove Jack and a couple of ladyfish.

Later on in the morning we found Oxeye Tarpon rolling on surface and we decided to focus on catching one. Sahara had never caught one before and was very excited to add one to his species list. I advised him to use a small silver minnow he had plenty of bites but the Oxeye tarpon like their bigger cousins have a hard bony mouth and are not easy to hook. Finally, after some perseverance, Sahara landed one which put a big smile on his face – mission accomplished ! So it was back to the Villa for lunch and a nap.

That afternoon, we focussed our efforts on the spot where Sahara lost his fish the day before. This time we had a bit more luck and we landed two very nice Mangrove Jack and Yamada boated a Wild Golden Barramundi.

The morning of the last day dawned sunny and hot. On the way to reach a spot for Barramundi, I spotted an area with some bait activity on the surface and decided to try our luck. Third cast and Sahara caught a 63 cm Barramundi – good decision !

We continued to fish the shallow area and again Sahara had a bite. This time the fish looked bigger and it turned out to be a nice 67 cm Barramundi. Lucky and happy fisherman!! We rounded off the morning session with some Mangrove Jack and ladyfish.

That afternoon Sahara wanted to try again for Featherback and asked me to bring my light spinning rod to show him how I use my "Finesse" technique to target Featherback. We arrived at the spot in the upper reaches of the lake and found plenty of Featherback rolling on the surface. Yamada fished with a lipless and Sahara with a spoon. After 30 minutes without success Sahara asked me to demonstrate my technique with a 5 cm soft plastic Bass Assassin shad and the 2g jighead. The lure is very light and sinks very slowly. The technique requires a lot of attention because if you want your lure to reach the bottom, your line needs to be little bit slack and a bite of fish can be a light « toc » you feel in your rod or you’ll see your line begin to slightly tighten. On my third cast I caught a Featherback (phew!).

Sahara gave it a try and on his second cast he missed one. Sahara is a really good fisherman and a fast learner, after few cast he hooked a big Featherback.

A few minutes later Yamada had a hit on his lipless, the fish gave a good account for itself leading us to believe it was a Mangrove jack, but to our surprise it turned out to be a Black Seabream – a specie we had never caught in the Lake system before.

With sunset fast approaching and the light fading we decide to try another area for Barramundi. After a few casts, Sahara missed a big fish leaving us gaping at a huge swirl in the water. Yamada was up next with a nice hit, the fish ran straight into the lily pads fouling up Yamada’s line, luckily after some deft manoeuvring Yamada managed free his line and the fight was on. The fish was strong and after an intense fight a very nice 76 cm Golden Barramundi was landed.

By this stage the sun had set and the day was over, I asked the guys to have a few last casts, just in case and Sahara caught a 56 cm Barramundi the last fish of the trip.

What a nice way to finish their trip with 4 barramundis, a big Featherback, a new specie with the black seabream and a couple of decent Mangrove jack.

This trip was a great success, guiding Yamada and Sahara will always be a pleasure and guess what ? They want to come back again ! I am waiting for you guys!

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Learning to fish at Bolgoda Lake

Sanjeeth and Jane, travelling in Sri Lanka for their honeymoon decided to spend two nights and a fishing day on Bolgoda Lake.

During breakfast, I met this young couple from Bangalore in India. We talked of the days they had spent in Sri Lanka and started talking about fishing. That’s when I discovered they have never fished before. I wasn’t expecting that! Anyway, we decided to start the day with a casting course and end up practicing on the boat. After a 30 minutes casting course from the shore, we went fishing. The first casts were not so accurate and there were a few mistakes like to forgetting to open the bail arm or close the bail arm, but after 1 hour of practicing they were both casting more accurately. Jane had the first bite of the day, with a big Giant Herring jumping in the air but the fish come off. Around 10 a.m. the heat started to be uncomfortable for the couple so we headed back doing some trolling along the way. We had one bite but the fish was not hooked properly.

After a nice Sri Lankan curry and a quick nap, Sanjeeth got on the boat for the second part of his day fishing, but Jane preferred to stay at the villa, have a rest and enjoy the swimming pool. We headed straight to the area where we’d found some fish activity the morning. When we arrived, Featherback were rolling on the surface, but being fussy eaters, they didn’t have any interest on Sanjeeth lure. Sanjeeth suggested I take Jane’s rod and join him for a few casts. He was fishing middle water and I tried on the bottom. After a couple of cast I have a proper brutal Mangrove Jack bite, the fish went straight to the structure and I was stuck. I tried to release the hook from the structure and managed to get it free but without the fish.

In the early evening the fish start to be more active, we started to see a few follows. I decided to change my lure for a small popper and immediately I have a bite, a big Giant Herring started to jump like hell, I give the rod to Sanjeeth and he landed this nice fish.

I give him the lure and he had a bite, but he missed the fish. Finally he had one, a bit smaller, but his own fish, the first one !!

So happy for him. We could have had 30 minutes more of fishing but it looked like there was a storm approaching and it was time for us to return quickly.

It was a pleasure to have Sanjeeth and Jane on board. They enjoyed their day at Bolgoda Lake with the wild life, landscape and their first experience fishing.

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

Daniel getting back into fishing

Daniel was travelling for business in Colombo and decided to getting back into fishing at Bolgoda Lake for a day charter with fishing guide Nico. During this day, he caught a beautiful 67cm Wild Golden Barramundi & an aggressive Mangrove Jack.

Well done Daniel ! We hope to see you again to fish in Sri Lanka with us.

Sportfishing Lanka Team

First fishing trip for our japanese anglers Yamada & Sahara

We had two fantastic guys from Japan, Yamada-san and Sahara-san arrive at Bolgoda Lake in our Villa. Yamada fished for GT's with us before and wanted to try the great Barramundi fishing at Bolgoda Lake. Sahara has fished for different freshwater species at various destinations but this was his first experience fishing for Barramundi.

The next morning they were ready to prepare their tackle and excited to start fishing with their guide Nico. The morning activity was slow with a few bites and no success landing a fish in the boat. They headed back to the villa for a nice lunch and a well-deserved break.

After lunch and a short rest, the afternoon displayed good activity in one of our favorite spots. The Featherback were rolling on the surface where some small baitfish were jumping. After a couple of casts Sahara’s gold colored jerkbait was hit by a Barramundi. The fish provided an acrobatic display, jumping a lot and fortunately after a few minutes, saw the inside of our net. This was the first Barramundi for a very pleased Sahara-san.

After this quick success, we target the Featherback. Fishing for “knife fish” requires a lot of patience from the angler and that you are able to stay “zen”. Sometimes you can see dozens of fish rolling; literally everywhere on surface without one single bite and all of a sudden in 5 minutes you land 2 or 3 fish… It’s exactly what happened this afternoon. Sahara manages to land his first Featherback, misses another one and Yamada has one too, but on the first jump the hook pulls and the fish comes off.

On the second day we decide to fish one of our favorite areas for targeting Mangrove Jack. Mangrove Jack love structure. You need to cast very accurately, right on the structure or under an overhanging branch to get the typical brutal bite of a Mangrove Jack. You then need to pull the fish off the structure as quickly as you can to have a slight chance of landing it, especially with fish over 2 kg ! Sahara’s cast is very accurate as a result of his previous experience fishing for trout in Japan. On the first crank of his second cast for the day, his Jerk Bait was smashed ! The fish was a Mangrove Jack for sure and on the first run it heads straight for the structure and soon after snaps the 30 lb leader. After this incident Sahara makes a longer 50lb leader but the next few hours prove unsuccessful.

We decide to try another area where we find more activity. Sahara again misses a nice MJ, Yamada catches a small one and finally 15 min before we go back for lunch Sahara in two casts manages to catch a Featherback and a nice, very red MJ!!

Afternoon comes around and we decide to try for the Featherback’s again. They are there, but show no interest in the lures presented in front of them. Yamada instead catches 3 small Malabar Trevally and a Tarpon. Sahara hooks and lands a nice MJ and a couple of Giant Herring before the night comes.

The morning of the third day the activity is a bit slow with just a couple of bites and nothing landed. The most likely explanation is that, the rising air-pressure is the reason the mouths of the fish stay shut. For the afternoon session, we go out a little bit later because of heavy rain pouring down over the lake, but luckily this rain make the fish hungry and active. Yamada quickly starts off with a Malabar Trevally. Sahara then follows with a nice 62 cm Golden Barramundi taken on a Rapala Flat Rap!

When the sunset arrives, the fish get more and more active and we can see the surface boiling with chasing predators. Yamada catches a very nice MJ and loses a big barramundi, which bends open the treble hook on his lure. When the night has come we decided to head back to the resort but with certain plans of returning to the same area the next day to get our revenge!

The last day we concentrate our effort’s specifically on various Barramundi spots around the lake. The morning starts out great as we fish a very productive area where we catch 2 Barramundi and a couple of Giant Herring. We also loose a nice MJ and a Featherback in the structure. The largest Barramundi of the trip is caught by Sahara, a nice 68 cm taken on a spoon normally used for trout fishing. 

During the afternoon we head back to the spot of the day before, ready to have our revenge! The activity is the same with many bait fish jumping on the surface and some being chased by larger species. This results in two bites, and what bites they are !!! Sahara casts right on top of a shoal of smaller fish getting attacked by predators close to the lily pads and immediately the predator attacks his lure. The swirl on the surface is huge and Sahara strikes properly, but for some reason, the hook pulls on the first run.

A few minutes later at a shallow spot, Sahara again has a big bite on his lure. We see a big swirl on the surface and the V-shaped waves of the fish following the lure ! But the braided line breaks on the strike. To break the silence of the disaster Yamada tells his friend: “I think you hook a croc bro”. Everybody laughs and we decided to come back to have a cold beer with some nice Japanese snacks at the villa to celebrate this great trip!!

Yamada San and Sahara San have promised to return soon. Yamada still wants to catch a Featherback and Sahara definitely wants more of the big Barramundi swimming in Bolgoda Lake !

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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A couple from Alaska try fly fishing at Bolgoda Lake

Brad and Melissa arrived at Bayou of Bolgoda on 08 February 2015 to try out fly fishing at our Lake Fishing destination in Sri Lanka.

Day 1: Fishing the last two hours of daylight

2 fish for 3 bites. Clients, Brad and Melissa from Alaska arrived in the afternoon and wanted to fish the two last hours of daylight. It was quite windy so the fishing was done in a small bay where they managed two small GT on their fly fishing equipment before it was completely dark. They were excited to try the fly fishing on the lake as they had very light tackle, with a weight of just 4-5 weight on each rod. They had also brought one sinking line and one floating to be able to try all different depths, getting their thin 5lb leaders where they wanted them.

Day 2: Crocodiles and adapting fishing to Bolgoda’s environs

4 fish for 14 bites. The day started early at 05.30 with a flat surface and spotting many big crocodiles on the surface very close to the boat. The first fish were a couple of nice Mangrove Jacks around 35cm close to the prawn traps, with a strong current keeping the cloudy water at a steady pace. We also managed to hook a small Tarpon in amongst the small floating islands of vegetation where the fish seek refuge. The tarpon took on a small bright streamer on the fly fishing equipment, which was the method of choice for the Alaskan couple.

The evening brought rain, but they managed a fun fishing with streamers for jumping Giant Herring just outside the resort in the dark hours.

Day 3: Lures and Fly working well at Bolgoda

9 fish for 12 bites. Same as the day before the fishing began early in the main lake with sunny weather and calm conditions and it produced 12 bites before 10.30 in the morning! The fishing was great fun with many Mangrove Jacks taking both lures and flies hard. At one point Brad caught 2 Mangrove Jacks at the same time on the same lure, a small white and green wobbler close to the small temple island in the middle of the main lake and Melissa caught the largest “MJ” of the trip at over 2kg, taken on a chrome colored lure right next to a big rock. This is always a good feature, holding many fish at various depths.

The evening brought with it a storm and heavy rain, and the couple made the decision to head back early.

Bolgoda is a truly unique destination. The environs and the species make the lake a versatile fishing environment suitable to casting lures and fly fishing. Once you’ve spent a couple of hours working out how to adapt your style and technique to the lake you’ll be rewarded with a fun and exciting fishing experience.

Daniel Anderson - Swedish Fishing Guide