Topwater Exotics

Enticing a fish into eating a surface fly is the pinnacle experience of what fly fishing has to offer. For many, surface fishing is viewed as a special narrow window of opportunity experienced by trout anglers when the fish are active and agreeable or a fun way to fish for bass in the evenings. Certainly, salmon and steelhead anglers are also fond of the surface fly game, however, for far too few anglers the list of viable opportunities stops there. There are actually a great many fisheries that lend themselves to topwater fishing, especially when an angler is ready to fully commit to fishing floating flies. In this article, we will discuss some of the other less well-known topwater species and where you can target them.

Golden Dorado

Golden dorado are fierce predators and very susceptible to a range of topwater presentations. I have caught them on giant skating lizards, my new RIO Skate Rat fly pattern, conventional mouse patterns, and even on dead drifted beetle imitations. As a rule of thumb, big mice/rats and topwater baitfish flies/poppers are the go-to patterns, but these are not hard and fast rules. When a dorado eats a mouse fly, I actually have no idea if it thinks it is actually a mouse. I have the suspicion that they simply see it as something dark, alive, full of calories, and escaping. For most dorado, that’s certainly to trigger an attack. It is unfair to discuss golden dorado without also mentioning their dark, broad-bodied neighbors, the pacu. Pacu live in many of the same waters as dorado and can reach weights of over 20 pounds. Incredibly strong, cool and wary, they are also very dry fly oriented and targeted with dead drifted patterns that resemble big hoppers, beetles, fruits and nuts.

The two best countries in the world to target dorado are Argentina and Bolivia. All the Untamed Angling (Tsimane Lodge’s) trips in Bolivia offer good topwater opportunities but the very best is the new Heli Program. It also offers the very best opportunities to target trophy pacu with dry flies.

Tsimane Heli Fishing

La Alondra'i

Tarpon

Tarpon are another species that in the right place and time are happy to hammer surface flies. This is especially true for juvenile tarpon. One of the best topwater regions to target these feisty, aerial fish is on the northern portion of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Foam surface shrimp patterns, gurglers, the Tequila Popper, and crease flies are all effective patterns, and some guests that visit the region commit to fishing topwater exclusively. Anglers may miss a few more fish, particularly as these vicious surface takes require a lot of nerve from anglers to resist trout-setting the hook, which almost always leads to lost fish. However, that is more than made up for with the reward of explosive visuals, refusals and aggressive attacks. Additionally, once in a blue moon we see a hatch of enormous green grasshoppers called “langostas”, many of which are six inches long. When these critters are present, almost anything that floats and is big and green will get a lot of attention. Here are our top picks for the region.

Tarpon Cay Lodge

Isla del Sabalo

Sailfish  

Not all fly anglers are aware of sailfish being true suckers for topwater flies. In fact, a giant pink popper tied on a tube with a 6/0 hook is far and away the most popular and effective sailfish fly. It is also worth noting that, despite their great size and strength, sailfish are relatively easy to catch on surface flies, and even very inexperienced anglers can get into them. The reason for this is that the crew hands tease them into very close range and the angler simply needs to lay out a 20-foot cast to the side of them. The hope is that they turn to eat it and rapidly depart the scene. Typically, the best hook set is to do absolutely nothing and let the drag of the reel burry the hook in the corner of their mouth. This is a very dramatic, close quarters eat, where a six-foot fish is lit-up in fluorescent colors. When it happens, and it typically does multiple times each day, you will never forget it! And as an additional bonus, anglers often encounter and catch handsome dorado in the process. They are gorgeous fish, hard, aerial fighters, and can get large enough to peel a lot of line of a billfish rig.  In my opinion, Guatemala is far and away the best place to get multiple opportunities per day.

Casa Vieja

Peacock Bass

Peacock Bass are voracious predators, and many conventional anglers target them exclusively with topwater baits like the legendary Woodchopper. Fly anglers can also do well with topwater poppers, but many refrain from doing so because casting and stripping poppers can be a lot of work! Once on the water it’s imperative to chug them along quickly to create the maximum noise and disturbance possible. For those that have strong casting skills and stamina, the eats are 100% worth the extra effort. The pro-tip and to save some energy is to have a popper rigged ready on another rod and when your boat-mate hooks a big peacock, cast towards his fish as he is fighting it, as there is often other curious fish following the hooked fish. Those followers are particularly likely to take a violent swipe and your fly!

Agua Boa Amazon Lodge

Rio Marie Mothership

Kendjam 

The other jungle destination worth special mention for topwater and dry fly anglers is Kendjam Lodge in Brazil. This destination is pure magic for surface-fly oriented anglers. While their special species of peacock bass are very willing to eat poppers, you can also catch big wolf fish, pacu, and matrincha on top. This is a multi-line weight destination where, depending on the species you are targeting you could use anything from a 5-weight to an 8-weight rod. With that said, almost everything can be accomplished with a good 6-weight or 7 weight outfit. Some presentations will be a truly natural drifted dry fly and some will be popper fishing. This trip is not only an incredible dry fly/topwater fishery, it is one of the most incredible wilderness experiences we offer in our catalog.

Kendjam Lodge