Newsletter September 2024
It has been a long time ...
... since I last contacted you via newsletter. I prefer fishing and being outdoors rather than spending my time in front of the computer. Every now and then I write something in the blog or call for support when it comes to preventing harmful projects in our waters.
In my job electronic communication and exchange is important and takes a lot of time, so I appreciate it all the more that I don't always have to be on my smartphone or computer in my free time. With the exception of WhatsApp for communicating with colleagues and friends, I avoid social media as much as possible. As you may have noticed, I'm barely on Facebook 10 times a year. You'll usually have to wait a long time for comments from me there. However, I will try to send you a newsletter more often in the future. If you don't want this, just unsubscribe from the newsletter and read it here.
Free Slot available!
The course season is coming to an end. Once again, many course participants attended the various courses and private courses were also very popular.
There is still one place available on the last Masterclass course on September 21/22, 2024. If anyone would like to join, please let us know quickly.
The courses for 2025 will be posted on the website in November.
Good News for Hucho Fly Fishers
As you know, I spend a lot of time fly fishing for huchen in winter. I fish in waters that are all publicly accessible, usually in Carinthia, Styria and Slovenia. That means driving 1300-1500 km on the weekend, because unfortunately I don't live nearby. Fishing for and landing an unspoiled huchen in private stretches is not that difficult if you are there at the right time. Doing this in public stretches and regularly catching huchen without a guide or local support is something else entirely. This is what appeals to me. Simplicity has never been my thing when it comes to fish.
The equipment is extremely important if you want to have any chance of catching a huchen. For years I have been trying to develop perfect hucho rods and lines to make things easier for you. I have chosen professional partners for this. Three of my rod types are available through CTS, either as blanks to build up the double hander yourself or you can get them as a fully fitted rods directly from the company. The rods cover different weight ranges, depending on the size of the body of water, the water level and of course the size of the streamer. I don't earn a cent from this. My only interest was to have a rod built that met my expectations and that I would enjoy using. CTS made this possible for me. I fish with equipment that I can trust 100 % and that makes casting much easier with the special setup. The three rods (GF Hucho Hunter 600, 725 and 925) are all 11.6 ft. long, a length I consider to be absolutely ideal.
The shooting head that is so loved by many, the Mucho Hucho Super Sinker, was developed in collaboration with RIO and is sold as a private label line by Rudi Heger as a regional representative and wholesaler. Unfortunately, it has not been available for a long time. The Mucho Hucho LoWater, which I have been fishing as a prototype for two seasons now, also fell victim to the post-Covid period. RIO decided to only produce series of at least 10000 pieces of their proven lines, and that is an impossibility for a small niche like huchen fly fishing. So the production of private label lines was postponed.
Now for the good news for the coming huchen season:
According to Rudi Heger the Mucho Hucho Super Sinker and the Mucho Hucho LoWater shooting head should arrive in October this year.
I know that many are waiting for it, and I am pleased that it will finally work out and this line will then be available to you too.
Cuba 2024
My wife and I decided to visit Cuba again this summer. We have been to Cuba several times. We love Cuba and we always had a wonderful time there. When I visited Cayo Santa Maria for the first time in summer 2009, Cuba was completely different from what it is today. In the past the driest weather could be expected from November to April. In April, the first migrating tarpon showed up, travelling along the coast to their spawning grounds. Spring was generally considered to be very sunny, but windy and less hot, while summer was more consistent in terms of weather with less wind and a calm water surface, which is of course advantageous for sight fishing. However, it is much hotter in Cuba in summer, and the water temperatures can crack 30°C. In autumn Cuba was never an option for me because of the hurricanes. Hurricane Ian flattened several hotels in 2022 and many are still under construction. So it is quite risky to visit Cuba at this time of year. Cayo Cruz had to be almost completely rebuilt after this hurricane. Ian even divided the island into two parts. A lot of construction or rebuilding is currently taking place on the Cayos.
Cayo Paredon is hardly recognizable. In 2015 there was only an old lighthouse with a rather run-down lighthouse keeper's house. The huge beach was pristine. Now there are three giant hotels with several hundred beds each near the light house. They are so huge that they look like a small town from a distance. Unfortunately, the idyll is over there.
Unpredictable Weather
The climate change obviously has a growing impact on the island. The weather has become less predictable than before. This spring, March and April were rainy almost all the time. If you book an expensive week with Avalon (you need to book a whole week, on Cayo Paredon you need to stay for at least three days if you book via Flyfishing the Run), you simply cannot go out by boat if the wind is strong. You are then forced to wade the banks with a guide, even though you had actually booked and paid for a skiff. Some years ago it used to be possible to book spontaneously via the Cuban company Marina Marlin if the weather was fitting. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case since Avalon took over. That's a real shame. I saw guides hanging around with no customers. If they could have been booked for daily trips they could work. They need an income, too.
Avalon also doesn't allow DIY fishing in the areas they are operating. In summer, the weather on the Cayos was pretty consistent in the past. This year, however, we had permanent winds of 20 to 40 km/h! I was also on Cayo Cruz. I didn't fish there because I was travelling with my wife and, as I said, you can only fish there if you book for the whole week.
Short-term bookings of skiffs
This means that for a nearly $6000 destination (per week, not including flights) you have to wade the shore with a guide in a leeward but still milky bay at temperatures well over 30°C. This is of course anything but what you expected. On Cayo Guillermo it is possible to book a skiff at short notice via Marina Marlin at much cheaper rates than at Avalon, if the guides are not booked. Unfortunately, the guide who was responsible for planning the trips on site had caught the virus that is currently spreading on the mainland of Cuba and was laid up. Being able to go out on short notice may not work out as planned as they seemed to be not very professional in regard of bookings. A lot of maybes and promises ... It was different at times Duniesky was managing Marina Marlin's fly fishing operations. As a wind of 20 to 40 km/h was blowing, it was not possible to go out by boat to the tarpon flats but with some will of the guides we could have fished on the leeward side. So my plans for 2-3 day trips were literally blown away by the wind.
Nevertheless, it was possible to fish from the shore. This requires a good knowledge of the flats, which I thankfully had. You can catch some nice fish there and some of the flats even have tarpon. The fishing is still good there and there are still plenty of tarpons, because they're not that good to eat. However, the weather this season was not what you would expect there in the summer, and fishing was therefore very limited for me as you need to spot fish. Wind makes it very hard, if not to say impossible some days.
Poverty is spreading
While in the past you could get almost anything and there was never a shortage, in the last few years America has turned off the tap for Cubans and is also sanctioning countries whose boats bring food and essentials into Cuban ports. Tourism has also been attacked. Anyone who spends their vacation in Cuba will now have to apply for a visa for the USA, even if their country is visa-free. This means that many tourists avoid Cuba so as not to block other routes. Cubans lack everything. This means that even if you are staying in a 5-star hotel, you have to expect that the water may only be very hot one day and there may be no cold water available, or that the bedding cannot be changed as often because it has to be washed on the mainland but the power is turned off there several times a day to keep the tourism on the Cayos running. They lack electricity, drinking water, petrol and basic foodstuffs. People are now starving on the mainland, some elderly people who can't work anymore even die because of hunger.
Cuba is in a very, very serious crisis. That is why you see more Cubans than ever fishing from the shore with nets or with harpoons or fishing rods. It is not good for the fish stocks, but it is understandable because they are fighting for survival. So you have to be aware that if you go to Cuba you have to expect restrictions.
Cuba needs tourists
Avoiding a Cuba trip would be the wrong thing to do, because Cuba lives from tourism, and the country does everything to ensure that tourists don't suffer from the things that are happening behind the scenes. Since the Cubans are very nice people, they're happy to accept that. However, I find it shocking that a 5-star hotel has to give out plastic cups at the lobby bar because the state can't afford to produce glass anymore due to the energy crisis. For me, on an island where it's important to avoid waste (and especially plastic), this is simply a scandal! However, the Cubans are a proud people and won't let the Americans get them down, even though they're trying with all their might to convince the population to overthrow the government, even if it costs people their lives.
Go to Cuba and enjoy the hospitality, the country and of course the fishing! Please accept that some things will be a little different due to the crisis.
I wish you good autumn and winter fishing. Enjoy the time on the water!
Tight Lines!
Günter Feuerstein