French journalist, wildlife enthusiast and chief editor of the famous, French angling magazine “Predator”, Numa Marengo and Japanese price winning Daiwa angler, Ryusuke, joined our fishing guide Nico for six action filled days at Bolgoda Lake.

Bolgoda has a healthy stock of Mangrove Jack, which is one of Numa’s favorite predators to fish for. On this trip though, his goal was a hard fighting Barramundi.

On the other hand for Ryusuke, the aim was set on catching his first Featherback.

The weather for the trip was quite stable with shining sun and a bit of wind. Just a couple of times during the last two days the rain fell heavy in monsoon like ,short 15 minutes bursts.

Unfortunately for Ryusuke, the levels of salt content in the lake had begun to increase as it is connected to the sea. This means that his target species the Featherback, seeks refuge in remote areas with a higher level of fresh water.

For Numa though, it meant very good news, as the saltwater loving Barramundi is more plentiful and aggressive.

During the trip they had very good action, with 25 bites some days, mostly catching the aggressive Mangrove Jack.

Numa missed a very big Barramundi fishing close to the old prawn traps, charging inside the trap and wrapping itself around the bamboo sticks the hook lost its grip. These fish are smart!

On the 4th day Ryusuke, finally landed his first Featherback, just in the corner of an old prawn trap where they usually are seen in high numbers when the salt content is lower in Bolgoda. Numa was also able to manage a bite of a Featherback, using the Drop Shot technique, which is probably a first in Sri Lanka.

On the last day of their stay Numa had a great day, catching several “Barras” between 4- 5kg and finishing the day on top with a good size of 8-10kg.

Both Numa and Ryusuke were very happy with the trip and recommend the destination highly. Especially when they realized that Bolgoda Lake not only offers great fishing, it also offers a great variety of wildlife with the diverse birdlife, big monitor lizards, monkeys and last but not least the huge Saltwater Crocodiles whom are plentiful in the lake.

Sportfishing Lanka Team