Travels

Maui Magic

Maui is truly magical; most can feel it the second they get off the plane, others never get it. But then you put on you dive mask some fins and a weight belt. Those are the tools for conjuring Maui's Magic as soon as you go in the sapphire blue waters and gaze at the abundance of life at your fingertips...WOW!!!

The reefs off the southern Maui shores are my favorite. I can walk in from the beach with not a soul in site and relax , study and be a part of this wonderful world. This trip was in August with my son Casey.

British Columbia 1000 in 14 Days

This was my 6th trip to the Majestic Caribou Range in southern BC. Remote fly in fly fishing with my good friend Jon Sarver of 100milefishingcharters.com. This time of year mid June the bug hatches go off daily and in the billions.

I fly fished a 5wt. rod using 1x to 6 x tippets depending how big the trout were. Mostly on dry fly then some leech patterns during midday. These awesome leaping trout varied in size from 12 to 16 inch. to the 28- 30 inch. bombers.

Then we came into some fantastic Lake Trout in the 2 to 9 lbs. arena. This is by far one of the best fisheries in the world; we averaged 90 to 120 fish per day. With 19 hours of daylight during that time, life is as good as it gets.

Inshore Offshore Islamorada Florida Keys Baby!

Yup, the Florida Keys has some of the best fishing in the world huge Tarpon at your doorstep and unreal big game fishing just offshore. On this day, fishing with Capt. Bob Williamson "Bazzilionare" and one of my collector buddies took me out twice that week for Ono/Wahoo 50 to 70 pounds each and huge numbers of them.

Later in the summer fishing just 45 feet, yeah 45 ft from my work bench at the Keys to Life Studio of Art, Pasta and I opened in Islamorada, Ya Ya full of Tarpon 30 to 60 lbs. This day we studied these great Tarpons, took pictures, a few sketches then released back with honor.

Aloha, Trip to Lana’i

Hooweee!
My kind of job, after setting up shop in Maui my good friend Captain Steve Carroll of the 34’ Ho’ Okela took my friends and I off shore to look for Marlin, Ahi and Mahi Mahi. He found them as usual, several Mahi Mahi and one Blue Marlin (100 lb. approx.) tagged and released. After fishing we headed to the island of Lana’i to deliver some sculptures to the Mike Carroll Fine Art Gallery and set-up a display space in the new location.

Next I visited a deer rescue mission. Yes, that’s me holding a one-day-old Axis deer fawn, "Cute little beggar!" Then my good friend, Hal a local legend, took us on a journey to visit his ancestor’s handy work on lava rock. Way up on the hillsides are dozens of petroglyphs of days gone by. My last stop was the local wood mill to collect Koa wood. “The Lana’i Koa is some of the most beautiful wood I have ever seen and is extremely rare”. Only dead trees are harvested and nothing is wasted. Now back to Maui Kihei studio to carve for the rest of the week. Aloha!

Lake El Salto

Here is a picture of the Matolious River Fly Fishing at Camp Shermann by the upper headwaters. I was hooking Brown Trout in fall-like conditions. Absolutely spectacular red and gold foliage with the crystal blacks and blues of this spring-fed river.

Lots of fish, the peak of spawning was going on, so plenty of 2 lb. males, but as you can see we found out where the big girls were hanging out. Randy and I caught 18 fish in consecutive casts between 6.5 and 10.5 pounds each. This was another once-in-a-lifetime experience of epic proportion.

El Salto is an artist’s paradise as well, nestled in the Sierra Madres 100 miles east of Mazatlan. Unbelievable sunrises, over 100 types of birds and a fishing adventure that you’ll never forget. A special thanks to Stave Babbidge of www.hooksportfishing.com and to Chappya at the Anglers Inn, Lake El Salto.

More pictures from Lake El Salto

Holy Catfish!

Talk about travel, in the past 16 months I’ve been to British Columbia (4 times) trout fishing with my good friend, Jon Sarver. Jon owns and manages 100 Mile Fishing Charters. Hands down the best trout fishing in B. C. This is unguided remote fly-in fishing, catching 10 to 100 Kamalupes Rainbow’s per day. Some of the lakes in B. C. have big numbers of lake trout as well. I call it 5 stars camping with beautiful fully stocked cabins. Lots of wildlife which include bears, moose, deer and plenty of birds, eagles, loons, ducks, etc. I take several groups up to this mountain paradise between June and September. Every person who I’ve taken has booked a second trip. Truly Awesome! www.100milefishingcharters.com

Off to Argentina

If you’re a bird hunter this place is the holy land. My buddy, Dr. Chris M. took me down for 10 days that was an "experience of a lifetime." We hooked up with Four Season Outfitters who runs a first class operation. We stayed in huge estancias (estate homes) on ranches most people never get to experience. Starting in the north, we went for dove and pigeon hunting. The flocks in this area were over 5 million birds, that’s very impressive.

Now, we are off to the southeast for 12 species of ducks, 3 Days of that was unreal with limits by 7:30 am each day. Our last stop was the cold southern area of Argentina for 2 days of Magelin goose. Wow! In the mornings we would set-up in cut corn with a spread of sock decoys. The birds that morning just wouldn’t stop coming. My bird boy said to me “don’t shoot until the birds are 7 meters away”, heck at 7 meters I could grab them by the feet. This was a wonderful time with wonderful people, at one of the most beautiful places on earth.

From Hawaii to Florida...via Mexico

I was asked by the Outdoor Channel to join the Hawaiian Invitational Billfish Tournament (HIBT) in Kona, Hawaii for five days of tournament fishing in paradise. Oh, yeah! It was my turn at the rod so I jumped right on it, 13 minutes of fighting a 140 lb. Marlin tagged and released, what a great time! Our team hooked and landed only one blue marlin during the tournament.

Next I went down south to Mexico to the world-class bass fishing lake of “Lake El Salto” hanging with my friends at the Anglers Inn. My friend, Steve Babbidge, “The Bear” is the one that schedules these world-class fishing trips through his company Hook Sportfishing.

I’ve been to El Salto seven times (5 to 7 days) and I’m telling you that this is the best large mouth bass fishing lake in the world. I’ve caught ten fish over 10 lbs., 100 to 150 fish days on 3 – 8 lb. and my personal best is 14.5 lbs.

Ok, back to Florida where I’m at three times a year for the various boat shows. I love Florida with incredible fishing and great art sales. This is the only place I’ve caught 10 different species of fish in the same day. I also frequent the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Library to gather more information on the local fisheries, this is my kind of homework.

Baja Fishing

My favorite trip of the year is the annual “Ken’s Custom Reel 2 Day”. My friend, Ken Corwin takes 12 of us offshore for tuna fishing near the northern Baja coast for yellowfin, bluefin, tuna, albacore, yellowtail and Mahi Mahi when in the area. This trip has produced limits every year but the best part is that I’m with my Bro’s. My fishing buddies are some of the best anglers in southern California and are the real deal. Check out www.kenscustomreel.com.

Since February 2005, I’ve have been filming for my new television show “Wildlife Art Gallery” for the Outdoor Channel’s new HD2 high definition series. We started in Montana then onto South Dakota, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Colorado, North California, Kansas, Colorado, Central California, Texas, Southern California, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington and South Oregon. Yes, over 100,000 miles and thousands of fish, new friends, unbelievable experiences and the most beautiful views, vistas and ocean science this great planet has to offer.

Dream Trips

...to the Amazon, South Africa Alaska, and Lizard Island, Australia.

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©2008 David A. Wirth. All rights reserved.