Hawkins Outfitters Puerto Rico-Tarpon

May 26, 2021/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing /by Chuck Hawkins

Fly fishing for tarpon in Puerto Rico

I had my first experience fly fishing for tarpon in Puerto Rico with Zach, Jay and Steve. The tarpon came in all sizes on many different flies. All anglers landed fish with several in the 80-110 weight range. This was an urban fishing environment, while the area was pretty we were in the City of San Juan with the related noise pollution etc. However the sheer number of fish made that perfectly acceptable!

Flies were all over the board with black variation form two inches to 8 inches producing the most action. All of our fishing was with floating lines on 8-9 weight rods. We would start early morning then break mid day for a siesta then hit it again mid afternoon on.

Along with great fishing we enjoyed superb dining, easy flights and great people.

I think fly fishing for tarpon in Puerto Rico should be enjoyed by many, it’s the best tarpon fly fishing I’ve ever seen. Also it’s a spouse friendly destination if a non-angler wants to join you. In 2022 I’ll be hosting two or three, three day trips. I’m already in the process of setting this up, I’ll keep you posted!

Capt. Chuck Hawkins

King Salmon on Streamers

October 9, 2019/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying and Patterns /by Chuck Hawkins

King Salmon, Caught on Streamers

For years most people believed that salmon could not be caught after they entered the rivers on anything but dead drift methods. When dead drifting using indicator rigs or chucking and ducking sometimes you get bit another times you are lining or flossing the fish. While fun to fight such large fish and a great way to get people interested in fishing it isn’t the most satisfying way to catch fish for many.

Due to our 23 years of fishing on the Garden River in Sault St Marie, Canada we have had a unique opportunity to fish for King Salmon that are pretty unmolested in smallish, private river. We tried many different streamers, both natural looking and bright, gaudy patterns. Nothing produced with any consistency. I remember one day many years ago when an olive wooly bugger got lots of interest, never happened again!

Slowly, very slowly, a pattern and some colors emerged. They were pioneered by Russ Maddin and his fly, the Flash Monkey. The Flash Monkey is a typical Maddin pattern, beautifully conceived and expertly tied. It’s very complicated. Far too complicated for me to produce enough of them to supply my Garden River and Michigan Rivers clients. However the basics of the fly, lots of flash creating lifelike movement gave me some ideas.

Dead Eye is born!

I started with a double hook rig, Owner 2-4/0 front hook and a smaller stinger hook at the back end of the tail. Kings often just nip the tail so you need the stinger. Colors came from our experience in Michigan, number one color for Thunder Sticks (hardware) is Fire Tiger, chartruese and orange. The next best is chartruese and white. There have been a couple of other combos that have produced like pink and purple.

The body consists of a heavy dose of flashabou overlayed with a fair amount of Ice Wing followed by a head of Ice Dub. It is easy and quick to tie and as effective as anything I’ve found. The fly should be 4-6 inches long. Salmon are hard on flies. They are big and toothy! I like this pattern because it is a quick, easy tie that doesn’t leave me in tears if it only lasts for one fish.

The Secret Weapon

The pattern, Dead Eye, can be tied and fished two ways. The first is to keel weight the front hook and add lead eyes. That gets it deep and will help it run true when it’s stripped. That means it stays up right and doesn’t spin. This it time consuming but vey effective.

The second variation of the pattern has no keel weight or lead eyes. Instead you fish the fly behind spinner blades. The blades add weight, motion and vibration. They are very effective at getting strikes from king salmon.

I carry small and medium sized blades in silver and gold along with appropriate beads in colors that make sense with the fly. Vary size and color of the blades as there doesn’t appear to be any consistency with what will work.

Retrieves

When fishing salmon with a streamer using the Dead Eye without the blades, a very fast jerking retrieve works best. When fishing with the blade use a steady two handed retrieve. Retrieve it slowly, steadily, just fast enough to keep it off the bottom. With either variation make sure you strip strike, twice isn’t a bad idea. Cloudy days and smaller water will increase your success with either of these methods. Both flies are fished on sink tip lines. My favorite is the Scientific Anglers Cold Sink 25. On the Garden River I use a 250 grain, on the Manistee a 350 grain.

Conclusion

While fishing for salmon with a streamer isn’t classic upstream, hatch matching trout fishing it is an exciting, suspenseful way to fish. For those anglers that like to swing flies for steelhead or rip streamers looking for big browns fishing for salmon with streamers is right up your alle

I will post a step by step fly tying instruction for the Dead Eye this winter when I have time.

We are now actively booking the Garden River in 2020. This year we had an incredible increase in both numbers and size for both pinks and kings. Check out our website page for more info.

After I finalize reservations for this years customers I’ll post availability for 2020 on that page. Or just give us a call at 23-228-7135 for more info.

Have a great fall!

Capt. Chuck Hawkins

September 6, 2019/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing /by Chuck Hawkins

Hurricane Dorian Has Delivered a Devastating Blow to Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands in the Bahamas

These two islands have been virtually destroyed by the hurricane with large loss of property and life.

Below are a couple of links where you can donate to help rescue and rebuild these two beautiful places.

Please lend a hand!

Capt. Chuck Hawkins

Golden Dorado, Parana on the Fly

January 28, 2019/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing /by Chuck Hawkins

Golden Dorado at Parana on the Fly Lodge

Parana on the Fly

I have been trying to come up with the words over the past few weeks to describe the jaw dropping experience at Parana on the Fly in Itati (Corrientes region), Argentina. It has been harder than I figured it would be to find the right words. I traveled to Parana on the Fly with Ed McCoy and a group of anglers including Jerome, Kean, Robert, John and Paul. We spent a week chasing one of the ultimate predators, “The Golden Dorado”. What a ferocious and unforgiving species, this fish is unlike anything else I’ve ever encountered!! Now pair the Dorado along with an impressive Parana River system that left me speechless due to it’s pure size, flow, and the amount of baitfish it holds. Words can’t describe the overall experience and lasting impression that was left upon all of us who travelled there to fish, truly amazing!!

Michigan Anglers Travel Well

I have always said and believe whole heartedly that if you can fish in Michigan you can fish anywhere in the world and this held especially true on this trip. If you put your time in and train in Michigan you will develop a formidable skill set that will travel well anywhere in the world. I couldn’t have been more

Big Golden Dorado on the Fly

proud of Kean, Jerome, and Robert with how they handled themselves mentally and opportunistically by using the skills that they have honed on Michigan waters. Dorado are not easy to catch by any means and they will test your moxy as an angler.

Golden Dorado require that you have the physical and mental capacity to remain in the game throughout the day. You need a good understanding of gamefish behavior and how they want to kill their prey. Fishing with big streamer patterns was our normal daily tactic. The flies weren’t huge like some that we fish for muskie, but good sized trout streamer patterns tied on 3/0 hooks. While fishing for Dorado you have to be willing to make a lot of casts and believe in every cast. Most importantly when you get that opportunity you need to have the mental fortitude to strip set, “DO NOT TROUT SET”, when the bite occurs. Be AGGRESSIVE on the strip set and be ready to rumble as these fish are as strong as any fish I have experienced, there were some broken rods on this trip!

Bonus Time

It did not take long for Dorado to teach me a very valuable lesson. Having arrived at the Lodge on the banks of the Parana River, the guides gave us some bonus fishing time our first afternoon. Everybody quickly put a rod together, mine being a 9foot 9wt Scott Meridian. I knew we would be stripping streamers so I was rigged with a Scientific Anglers Jungle Titan Clear Tip Fly Line. Our terminal tackle was a 5 foot leader of 40 pound fluorocarbon and the tippet was about 18-24” of AFW 7×7 50 pound wire. This set up could turn over any fly that I was required to throw.

River Structure

As we set out for the afternoon of bonus time on our 3rd spot we pulled into what is best to describe as a Dorado kill hole, meaning a big piece of structure in the middle of the Parana River. The Parana river is massive system that dwarfs anything we fish here in Michigan, average flows are reading around 150,000 CFS. To put this into perspective the biggest flows I’ve ever guided the Big

Parana River with Rock Island Structure

Manistee River was around 6000 CFS. Flood stage on the Parana is somewhere in the millions of CFS, this River is beyond big!! So the structure that these Dorado are going to use to ambush prey is going to have to match this trend. On the first afternoon of fishing we pull up next to a rock structure in the middle of the river and you see this big seam kicking off of the rocks and it looks fishy! Lucas, my guide for the afternoon, wants us to throw the fly next to the rocks and slowly strip the weighted deceiver pattern through the fast water along the rocks. Read more

Dry Fly Fishing in Patagonia

January 17, 2019/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing /by Chuck Hawkins

Shortly after the Christmas holidays ten of us took off from the USA and headed to Argentine Patagonia. Our airport destination was San Marin de las Andes. Our ultimate goal was to arrive at Spring Creek Lodge in Junin de los Andes. As a result we would spend the next eight to eleven days pursuing brown, rainbow and brook trout with mostly dry flies. We were there for dry fly fishing in Patagonia.

Our host, Gustavo Heibaum, owner of Andes Drifters assured me when we booked this trip that we would be in the middle of the best part of the season for dry fly fishing in Patagonia. Above all we should experience the fabled dragonfly hatch! Our group consisted of three couples and four single men including my son, Zach and I. The group was mostly comprised of very experienced anglers except one wife. Above all she was coming to both increase her fly fishing abilities and enjoy some non-fishing activities.

The Waters we fished

The location of Spring Creek Lodge near Junin is ideally central to a lot of very well known lakes and rivers in northern Patagonia. Famous rivers abound in the area. The Rio Chimehuin, Malleo, Collen Cura, Alumine and Calefu are all within a reasonable driving distance. Lago Troemen, Lolog and Lacar have great dragonfly hatches and big numbers of very good sized trout. Over the next ten days some or all of us fished most of these waters.

The Flies

As mentioned earlier, this is dry fly time. Consequently I couldn’t get much response on streamers. The fish were just plain looking up! Broke everyone’s heart…not! When dragonflies were hatching, those imitations were the ticket to success. The number one pattern was Gibson’s Dragonfly an Orvis bug. On the rivers and in the lakes with no hatching dragonflies the usual top dry flies were Fat Alberts in Black, Brown and Pink. The PMX in large sizes 4-8 tied either in a Royal or Peacock bodies produced a lot of fish. After these two the Chubby Chernobyls in a variety of colors was hot. In other words these three flies were the only dries needed 95% of the time.

Dry fly time meant six weight rods were the stick of choice. We had more than average wind many days. This was more than we would normally expect. However even with the wind, most of us stayed with the six weights and fought the accuracy issues. While difficult at times we still managed to catch a lot of trout. The line of choice for most of us was Scientific Anglers Amplitude floating line. It’s a half a line weight heavier than normal. It did a great job fighting the wind and turning over those big flies.

The Calefu and the worm!

We were lucky enough to able to fish the Calefu, it requires a two or three -nights camping trip. It runs almost entirely through private property. The Calefu can only be floated in spring or fall as it drops so low that you can’t get rafts through during the summer months. Firstly, it’s a superb trout stream with lots of pocket water in the beginning half. Secondly, the allure of lots of trout and the natural beauty of the river and it’s surroundings make it one of the best floats in the area. Massive rock out cropings look down on you while you are throwing dry flies to trout up to twenty-two inches long! In other words it’s a little slice of heaven!

In addition to having this water available we were lucky enough to hit the beginning of the worm hatch. Small chartreuse worms congregate on the willow trees along the rivers and devour their leaves. In slower stretches these little worms provide great protein to cruising trout. Plopping a worm in to slow water will usually cause a trout hunting worms to turn and come to the offering. Browns and rainbows of significant size can be had by fly anglers.

Non-Angler Options

This trip was the second time that I’ve had a guest that took advantage of the non-angling opportunities that Gustavo offers. For example our guest rode horses and had a private workshop with a world renowned photographer. She kayaked, hiked, got tango lessons, learned about Argentine cooking, and visited art galleries. Along with that she mastered a fly rod and caught a bunch of trout during their 9 day stay. Argentina isn’t just about fishing!

In conclusion after having spent forty plus weeks chasing trout in Patagonia, this time frame was the very best I’ve seen for the dry fly angler. Andes Drifters has been my choice for at least a half dozen years as the very best outfitter in Northern Patagonia for the discerning angler/ traveler. If you have Patagonia on your bucket list let Hawkins Outfitters and Andes Drifters design a program for your specific wishes and desires. You’ll be happy you did!

Capt. Chuck Hawkins

Argentina Anticipation

October 3, 2018/in Destination Travel /by Chuck Hawkins

Argentina Anticipation

Very often during this time of year I find myself anticipating my annual trek to Argentina. I go to Patagonia every year to fish for Brook, Rainbow and Brown Trout in lakes, rivers and spring creeks. We base out of Spring Creek Lodge near Junin de los Andes. Most trips also include a short camping trip to access waters that can’t be floated in one day. We usually fish dries (with or without droppers) and streamers. Depending on the water you fish one or the other may be more productive. Fishing also varies with the time of year, trout season opens November 1st and closes May 1st. Remember, the seasons are reversed, November is spring, April is fall.

Some years I also go to northern Argentina to fish for Golden Dorado on the Parana River. Both locations are among my favorite places in the world to fish. At both locations the Argentina experience is the full package, the fishing, people, food, wine, guides and equipment are all top shelf. Every need will be met and most likely exceeded!

In 2019 we have two hosted trips, one to each location. Jon Ray and Ed McCoy are hosting a group at Parana on the Fly, January 5-12, 2019. They have one spot available. The cost is $4750 for 6 days, seven nights all inclusive except travel and gratuities. I’m hosting a trout trip to Patagonia with Andes Drifters from December 29, 2018 to January 5-7, 2019. The dates are flexible you just need a minimum of 7 nights. The cost is $5250 all inclusive except travel and gratuities. This is super prime time for dry fly fishing, especially the dragonfly hatch. Big fish eating on the surface during the day! I have two spots left!

Watch this short video on trout fishing in Patagonia. It will wet your appetite.

If you want more information on these two opportunities give me a call at 231-228-7135

Northern Patagonia Best Trout Fishing from Andes Drifters on Vimeo.

Alaska Trip 2018

September 7, 2018/in Destination Travel /by Chuck Hawkins

Alaska, the last frontier!

I’ve just returned from two weeks in Alaska. The first week I spent chasing rainbows, Arctic char, silver, pink and chum salmon. We were at Angry Eagle Lodge with Hawkins Guide, Jeff Topp, General Manager, Derek Boschma, and Owner, Andy Miller along with several long time Hawkins Outfitters friends.

The Fishing

We caught all of the above species on egg patterns, swung flies and top water wogs. My two best fish were a 25+ inch rainbow (think steelhead) that I caught on a swung fly and had to wrestle out of a log jam! The second was actually multiple silver salmon that ate top water wogs (think poppers) with reckless abandon. It was epic! In addition to fantastic fishing we had great bear viewing! The bears were enjoying nature’s bounty and seemed to care less that we were around.

The Lodge

2017 Salmon Fishing Garden River Recap

October 6, 2017/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing /by Chuck Hawkins

Salmon Fishing Garden River

Garden River 2017 Recap

Fly fishing on the Garden River First Nation for King, Pink and Coho salmon, along with steelhead is the best in the Midwest. The reason is privacy, this section is private,owned by the Garden River First Nation, a band of Ojibway Natives. No one is fishing where we are! The lack of pressure makes the salmon more likely to eat a fly and the steelhead beyond willing!

The Garden River fly fishing in 2017 started with a run of very large pink salmon. Usually when we have larger than normal pink salmon the numbers of fish is less than normal. That was not true in 2017, it was huge run of pink salmon. Fresh fish continued to move up the Garden River until the end of September!

Weather Struggles

Garden River Steelhead

The dominant characteristic of 2017 season was the lack of rain and high air temperatures. The last significant rainfall was in the week of Sept 10th. After that a couple of small thunderstorms was it. The rainfall in the week of Sept 10th brought a nice run of large king salmon upstream along with a nice surprise, steelhead! For the next 10 days or so we had great fishing with all species available.

The Garden River Fly Fishing was humming right along until mother nature threw us a curve ball, 5 straight days on 90 degree temps and a continued lack of rain. This shut off the fish tap and started reducing water levels. The fishing suffered accordingly. Most noticeable was the lack of steelhead.

Salmon and Steelhead

The day that the weather broke we had high temps in the low 60’s with clouds and drizzle all day. That brought in another small push of kings but not many steelhead. That gave us enough fish to finish our Garden River 2017 adventure.

Many thanks to all of the anglers that fished with us up north in 2017. All in all it was a pretty good year. Weather hurt us a little but didn’t kill us!

Most of the customers rebooked their spots so we have limited availability in 2018. We have Sept 8-10, 4 spots. This date may be reduced to two days as it is prime pink salmon time and great for kids. Call for details of reduced pricing for children. On Sept 20-22 we have 4 spots available. These are prime time for all species with historically steelhead start showing up. Available dates are subject to change. Learn more about the Garden River on our Travel page.

If you have any questions or want to book one of the remaining openings give Capt. Chuck a call at 231-228-7135

Dorado

April 20, 2017/in Destination Travel /by Chuck Hawkins

Dorado

I’ve recently returned from three weeks of fishing in Argentina, my favorite place in the world to fish. Due to adding 8 days of fishing in northern Argentina, I’ve added another reason to spend time in Argentina with a fly rod, Dorado!!

They are beautiful, ferocious jumpers that take a fly readily. Consequently dorado are a fly anglers dream. Dorado are one of the most bad ass fish I’ve caught. Another plus is the fishing reminds me of trout fishing, hitting structure, running seams etc. Most of all imagine trout that average 8 pounds, can reach 40 pounds and you have dorado.

Dorado Trip to Parana

November 6, 2016/in Destination Travel, Fly Fishing /by Chuck Hawkins

Chuck Hawkins is hosting a Dorado trip to Parana on the Fly Lodge in Corrientes, Argentina, April 1-7, 2017

Dorado are considered by many knowledgeable anglers to be the fiercest fresh water fish in the world. The Upper Parana River has the biggest Dorados in the world! We are fishing the Upper Parana River In Correntes Province. Were we fish is a section of the river known as Alto Parana, which is the tail water of Yacyreta Dam.

Floating line streamer fishing is the most effective method for catching dorado. They are an ambush predator, so much like trout fishing here in Michigan you are casting to structure created by rocks and wood. Fantastic fights follow when you hook up. These fish run and jump with the best of them. Average fish run 5-10 pounds, most anglers will land a fish around 20 pounds and most weeks behemoth 40 pounders are caught.

In addition to dorado the Parana River system holds good numbers of Pacu (8 to 12 pounds) and Pira Pita (to 10 pounds). These fish are caught on dry flies mimicking fruits and flowers. Both species are highly sought after gamefish. The large size of these fish coupled with a dry fly rise situation makes them a very fun quarry.

An average week (if there is such a thing) will see an angler land 15-30 Dorado per angler plus 10-20 Pira-Pitas, and 2-3 Pacu. Big mean fish on streamers and dry flies, warm weather and a great lodge, what a trip!

The cost is $4450 per week all-inclusive except gratuities and flights. This price is based on two anglers to a room and a boat. You will fly into Buenos Aries Saturday morning arriving by noon. You will catch a connecting flight to Corrientes at 4:00 Pm arriving there at 5:30. You will fish all day for 6 days and then depart Corrientes Saturday morning April 8^th for your flight home.

Come join me on this world class adventure!

Chuck Hawkins

231-228-7135

Words are hard to describe these great fish. You can get a good feeling for the water, the lodge and the fishing by watching this video

Upper Parana, River of Gold & Mystery. from Andes Drifters on Vimeo.