FISHING IN AMSTERDAM

DUTCH WALLEY SPECIALIST STARTS GUIDED TOURS

Peter Duyvelshoff - a man born to fish - now shares his in-depth knowledge on walleye fishing with fellow fishermen and tourists alike. His website www.snoekbaarsgids.nl offers guided day trips on the lakes and canals surrounding Amsterdam. An ideal combination for the visiting angler who also wants to enjoy all the other treats of Amsterdam - free thinking capital of the world


Check out Peter's new website

Peter Duyvelshoff is one of the most successful pioneers of modern Dutch walleye fishing and also a trusted personal friend of mine. There is no other fisherman in the Netherlands that holds as many 1st and 2nd place titles during 30 years of competitive Dutch walleye tournaments. In recent years, with team member John van Helvert, Peter was Dutch Champion for two years in a row during the Netherlands National Professional Walleye Tournament. Together they produced the award winning walleye film: ‘Amsterdam, Walleye Capital of the World’ (2000). They worked for over a year on this film with a small professional camera crew, resulting in an outstanding production. Truly unique is the random catch of two Dutch record walleyes live on camera! Apart from being a passionate walleye angler, Peter just loves to fish for salmon and trout in Alaska. For over 25 years he organizes successful fly fishing trips to the Last Frontier. His strength during these trips lies in the fact that he guides small groups (maximum of 5 persons) so that he can devote his special attention to everyone in the group. In the website menu there is a special category with Alaska pictures and more information on the arrangements of these trips.

GLOBAL WATERMASTER part 1

In this series of clips we will follow Patagonia's Watermaster II around the globe. Watermaster II, the toughest waders for all styles of fishing in virtually every part of the world.

In this clip the 'Watermaster II XL Long' is fishing for silver salmon, dolly varden and arctic char in Alaska's Ongivinuk River (september 2008). We're at the junction with No Lake Creek and the fishing was outstanding.



If you too would like to add your clip of a pair of Patagonia's Watermaster II somewhere in the wet parts of this world, drop me a line and we will make it an item.

SILVER STILL LIFE

Not all salmon we caught in the Togiak and Ongivinuk River in Alaska where released. This fresh silver posed and then made it as sashimi and sushi to the dinnertable, an exquisite treat I can say.

The clip [below] shows the drill of a nice lean rainbow trout, locally known as the 'leopard rainbow', that took the monster fly intended for a silver. We're in Alaska, on the banks of the Togiak River, september 2008. Dresscode: Patagonia rain jacket, Patagonia Watermaster II waders, Patagonia cap.

GORE-TEX SMOKES!

Where else than Alaska to give your gear the ultimate test? The rugged environment puts a hurting on every item you’re hauling along.

We did a floattrip on the Ongivinuk and Togiak river last September and we fly fished for salmon, grayling and trout. The weather most days was so so and that meant living in your waders for the better part of the day. The breathable waders we wore came from Simms, Hodgeman, Modulus and Patagonia.

Let me lay it down for you up front: I wore the Patagonia Watermaster II (Long), one of the few waders out there my 6’6’’ long legged stature feels comfortable in. And this one didn’t end on the fire. The Hodgeman did as it started leaking along seam after seam. The Modulus did within two days with multiple pinpoint leakage problems. The Simms did the year before, and I’m talking about the Simms G3 Guide Stockingfoot wader. It leaked heavily along the...stockingfoot.
Now I know full well that one buys a wader just to have it leak on you sooner or later. My Watermaster II however is still in prime condition after two seasons of rather heavy duty. All of my Patagonian stuff, from performance baselayers, to sweaters, to rain jacket, to duffel: they held remarkably well under Alaskan circumstances. I have definitely become a full blown Patagonia fan.

Now for the rods... We broke three # eight rods on Silvers that didn’t choose to jump but went straight for Dillingham and the open sea in one scorching run. I broke my Gatti three piece, a fine example of Italian rod builders craftsmanship but a tad on the fine side for those silver bullets in the Togiak River. So faired a new Sage TCX and a Dutch custom built eight rod that goes under the name of: ‘a fucking good rod’. My Redington Red.Fly and a Snowbee outperformed the brands with the big names altogether. ‘Dutch reels’ where used predominantly (what else?) along with a few System Two’s and the Dutch beauties did exactly what was needed of them. Simply fantastic reels, the whole series. I will spare you the details of all the knots that weren’t up to the power bursts of silvers and big rainbows, suffice it to say that in the end only true blood knots were used. Blood knots on strong tapered nylon leaders and 24 lb test fluorocarbon tippets. Stay tuned, I might be back shortly with more detailed info on our Alaskan adventure.

Power packed fresh silvers on the Togiak river in Alaska.