As we left last nights campfire the giant raindrops were starting.  Five minutes after hitting the bed, the drops turned to downpour.  Soon the heavy patter on my tent was joined by flashes of lightening.  Thunderstorms hammered away on Bhutan’s Himalayan Foothills on and off till morning.

 

 

The last shower fell around 5 AM.  By 5:30 the angler tents were rustling.  We’re camped at the mouth of a tributary, but not only that, after a fresh rain there was a good chance some huge golden mahseer were attracted.

 

 

 

Again, due to my lucky catch day one, I kicked back and watched the guys work the confluence runs.  I enjoy my coffee taking it all in.  Honestly its one of my favorite things to do.

 

 

 

 

The guys fished hard but there was no reward.  Not even a touch.  To compare golden mahseer to a fish folks are more familiar with – think brown trout.  They can be extremely moody.  Yeah, you may think conditions are perfect.  But the browns don’t.  You don’t see them.  You don’t catch them.  You start asking a few questions.

 

 

On a dreary day like today it doesn’t take long for confidence levels to disintegrate.  After the first hour a couple of the guys rolled in.  Then when the smell of breakfast drifted beyond camp, in came the rest.  There’s nothing like a Himalayan breakfast after a long stormy night followed by a tough morning of fishing.  Especially when there’s deep fried boiled eggs – delicious!

 

I finished mine about the time the guys reached the table.  Now I was on mahseer duty.  When I sip my morning coffee on a river I’m still fishing in a way.  This morning I was watching the guys, the river, double checking all my gear and making a plan for my own attack.  After I tried all my strategies unsuccessfully I found a high perch and observed again.  I saw no mahseer.

 

Bryant planned for a delayed departure today.  First, he wanted us to fish the tributary hard and well.  We certainly did that.  Second, only 15 minutes down river we faced our toughest whitewater challenge.  Bryant knows rivers and rates this froth of water as a 4.5 rapid.  All his boat runners are pros.  When we got to the top they began the scouting.

 

 

 

 

The crew double checked all the gear to make sure it was tied down so securely that even if a raft flipped, the gear would remain attached.  Watching this leads to an immediate concern for camera gear.  Chris and Jim are seriously invested which is why these film/photo missions are so successful.  Their best option was to load their packs and hike down below the rapid.

 

 

I’m sure a “Currier, Jigme and Bobby Satpal” running the rapids with the crew would make some great extreme fly fishing film trailers, but no thanks.  One thing you can count on with me in any film, I’m not acting to make things look cool.  If you see me doing it – that’s my norm.  If you don’t see it, that’s because I don’t.  My whitewater days ended on the Zambezi in 2005.  Almost the unthought-of way.  The three of us made the boulder grunt of a hike downstream with Jim and Chris.

 

The whitewater run was short but intense.  I watched our rescue kayak paddle through first.  These aces of violent water always lead the way then wait at the bottom to pick up unlucky passengers that get thrown overboard.  If you’ve never done a whitewater trip its hard to explain the force of water.  The up and down and side to side is far stronger than your tightest grip or any strongman’s body core.  If flying through the air overboard isn’t bad enough, think about doing a rapid without the raft!

 

Me, Jim, Chris, Bobby, Jigme, the cook staff and numerous others of the Himalayan Flyfishing crew sat at the bottom of the rapid and watched our four rafts make the run.  The floats were wild but for the most part they went well.  The most part.  Unfortunately Bryant got sideways in his pontoon with the worst of the rapid.  His right oar broke loose of the oarlock and he was at the mercy of the rapid.  Though he didn’t quite flip, he injured his thumb.  Luckily he can still cast.

 

It took over an hour to get from out of the boats above the rapid to back in them for fishing at the bottom.  We were anxious.  Because yesterday was such a short float trip day, I had the pleasure of fishing with Bobby once again.  We jumped out of the shoots on fire.  I started us off with the first golden of the day.

 

So were there no goldens at camp this morning?  Or were they just not feeding?  Ahh, the mysteries of fishing.  But in a matter of minutes I proved at least one was feeding so there had to be more.  And there was.  We dropped through a small rapid moments later into a run that looked good.  It was Bobby’s turn.  Cast.  Strip.  Fish on.  And it was a smoker!

 

Bobby was in his backing quick.  His fish made a downstream run towards the next rapid.  Most rapids aren’t like the 4.5 we walked around but there are plenty of 1-3’s every mile (remember the drop in elevation here).  No matter what, if his fish went down the rapid it was a lost fish and possibly a fly line too.  This is when our strong 30lb Fluoro leaders along with a proper bend in the rod take over.  Bobby was able to turn his fish.

 

Soon it was time for me to help with landing.  I took hold of the net that proved itself small on day 1.  I was a tad nervous.  With big goldens showing hard to find I didn’t want to screw this up.

 

Conveniently, Chris was on board with us today running the film camera.  Chris is always good luck.  He already had the camera rolling and he got in position to see the landing unfold.

 

I’m certain you’ll see this in our film.  Bobby got his fish close to me a couple of times.  I don’t jab with a net.  With an experienced angler I wait for them to slide the head in the net.  Bobby skillfully did exactly this, but like with my fish, the net was smallish.  Fortunately, on our second attempt I scooped him. And funny, as I got him I slipped and fell but kept the net in the air.  TG!

 

This was a gorgeous creature.  A thick mahseer with the normal golden mouth to the front (go back to day 1 and see the mouth on mine).  Bobby is a true pro at handling these kings of the Himalayan waters and after a couple quick mustache adjustments, smiled with his fish.  Awesome catch!

 

 

 

Bobby’s golden took off as if to fight again after the release.  Then we had our high-fives.  But instead of celebratory Druks, we got back to fishing immediately.  Jim, Bryant and the others floated on down ahead of us.  Bobby and I in fact walked the run where his fish came from.  But that was it.  That would be the last golden of the day.

 

 

We weren’t without catching fish before floating to camp.  The chocolate mahseer fishing continues to mind boggle.  These hard fighters are so off the charts its incredible.  I’d caught them my previous trip to Bhutan but not in numbers or size like this.  Everyone cleaned up on chocolate!

 

We drifted stealthily into camp at 4 PM.  Bryant has beautiful camp spots each night.  And each has its own tributary where the mahseer should be stacked.  But for some reason, they continue not to be.  We all fished hard till sunset.  Jigme caught the only fish, a small golden.  We’ll try again in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

It was drizzly tonight.  Its hot still with temperatures at least in the high 70°s.  It was an ideal night for sitting around the fire sipping Druks with the guys while dinner was prepared.  We had another fantastic day to celebrate.

 

We eat dinner here around 7:30.  Several of Bryant’s staff do the cooking and believe me, they know their stuff.  We usually have some sort of chicken along with asparagus, rice, bread, a spicy chili dish and something you have to try.  It’s always lovely and there’s plenty of it.  Good night!

 

Upon return from this wonderful journey, this trip will be available at Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing