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

Numa Marengo & Ryusuke from Predator Magazine at Bolgoda Lake

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.

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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

Another great fishing trip at Bolgoda Lake for our Singaporean clients

Our regular fishing customer Nicholas Han decided to make another trip with some friends to try out some fishing for the Wild Golden Barramundi and Mangrove Jacks again. With perfect weather right up to the week before their arrival we were optimistic, however just before they got in the rainy came down and the water level was high and water discoloured. We decided to concentrate our efforts on another part of the lake which we thought looked better.

Day 1 : In the morning session boat Barra 2 guided by Shaktivel chose to fish a bay where Dr Fred and Iskandar caught some decent mangrove jack and a nice barramundi. While boat Barra 1 with Nicholas Han fished around prawn trap and Nicholas caught a 6 lb featherback on his third cast and some mangrove jack.

After a nice lunch and a bit of a break we went out on the afternoon fishing session around 2 pm. We start to fish the mouth of small river, where the barramundi wait in ambush and Iskandar on Barra 1 caught a nice barramundi. On the tide change we fished around prawn trap and Nicholas on Barra 2 caught some nice Mangrove Jacks and Iskandar missed 3 nice Feather back, Dr Fred caught some nice Mangrove Jacks and ladyfish. Nicholas landed some more Mangrove Jacks and ladyfish.

Day 2 : The mission of the day was for Dr Fred to catch his first feather back on lure. We decided to fish around a prawn trap. After 4 misses in the morning session Dr Fred finally hooked a nice feather back, this fish give a good fight in the current and jumped a lot. Dr Fred was very happy and impressed by the power of the fish. At the same time on Barra 2 fishing Iskandar and Nicholas had a great session with many Mangrove Jacks landed between 4 lb and 6 lb.

Afternoon : Nicholas decided to go with his family on Barra 2 on a tour of Bolgoda lake and bird watching, which his young son loves. Dr Fred and Iskandar fishing Barra 1 went after the barramundi again but the Barramundi were elusive again, but they did land a couple of Mangrove Jacks, Featherback and ladyfish.

Day 3 : Morning Session, we decided to follow the same game plan as yesterday hitting the prawn traps, Iskandar fishing alone on Barra 2 had a great fishing session where he caught many nice Mangrove Jacks,a couple of Featherback, a nice ladyfish and missed a very nice barramundi just before landing. While on Barra 1 Nicholas and Dr Fred landed more feather back and mangrove jack.

Afternoon Session : Nicholas stayed in guest house to have some family time with his son in the swimming pool. Iskandar on Barra 2 decided only to go after barramundi, after trying few spots he has a big one follow, but the fish smashed his lure close to the boat just as Iskandar was taking the lure out of the water, unlucky again with the barramundi... while Dr Fred wanted to concentrate his last fishing session on featherback and mangrove jack around prawn trap. He succeeded in catching another good featherback and more Mangrove Jacks.

Till our next report

Tight lines…

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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