Opening day of baseball is one of my favorite days. My Fantasy teams (all three) are ready to rock. The Cubs are still contenders and life is great. But this opener is more special than ever, Granny and I are on our way to Madagascar to celebrate our 20th anniversary. How did she do it! Yes indeed this is a fishing trip. Is there anything else? We chose Madagascar because from what I saw on web images, there are some of the most exotic looking palm covered beaches I’ve ever seen. Furthermore and most important, I Google Earthed the place and noted that the surrounding waters look to consist of flats, coral reef, channels and plenty of blue water. It looks absolutely incredible for fly fishing! And being that this tropical island is less than 1000 miles from the ever so famous saltwater fly fishing waters of the Seychelles, this could be epic!
If we travel this far, why not just go to the Seychelles? Well, it’s as simple. The Seychelles fishing packages are super expensive and winging it like Granny and I often do, is next to impossible. Madagascar however is cheap and it appears you can wing it. So off we go.
The bad news is however, research on the internet has not been all that promising. Although the blue water fishing for marlin is first class, the inshore fisheries where we can fish on our own may be dismal. The only reports we found (and very few) were that all water you can walk to has been virtually fished out. Not good news for us. However, we aren’t scared. Sometimes places get bad rap from anglers just because they don’t have the “popular game fish” such as bonefish. It can be like; an angler says his fishing stinks near his home because there’s no trout. Yet this very angler has a trophy bass lake a block from his house. Anglers can be pretty stupid sometimes.
We’ll see. I’m not too worried about catching some fish and having a great time. Our goals are feasible. Granny and I both need to see that famous cool-as-heck-rotating-eyed Chameleon. We’d like to see some lemurs. And if we’re lucky some bad-ass snakes. We also need to get some rest. A winter of constant work, shows, travel and a postponed Brazil trip have taken its toll.
Most important to me however, I want to catch five new species on the fly. I’d love one of them to be a milkfish, an Indian Ocean triggerfish or a dogtooth tuna. The other four species can be anything cool from a small colorful grouper to a new trevally species. I'd also like to get some killer photos and come home with another great PowerPoint presentation to take on the road with me next season. That’s about it.
Granny and I said goodbye to the snow at 4 AM this morning. We drove over Teton Pass and flew from Jackson, Wyoming to Salt Lake City and now we are headed to Atlanta. We have a four hour layover and tonight we board the 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. We will overnight in Joburg then Saturday fly to Nose Be, Madagascar which is a small island on the North West side of the main island of Madagascar. From there the plan is to catch a boat for a tiny island called Sakatia and there’s a bed and breakfast type place that we will base out of for a week. From there we plan to head to the mainland and take in a National Park. Then to an island of Madagascar’s east side called Isle St. Marie. Whether I have internet access along the way is unknown. However, stay tuned. I will write about every day of the trip and post them when I can. Like other journeys that many of you have followed before, every day will e accounted for even if I have to post some when I get home. The “Currier’s Blog” is back on track!
Speaking to the fly fishers in 
I have been locked down in my work for three weeks now. The closest I’ve been to fishing is packing for 
around for seed – as long as Granny keeps the feeders full this weekend! 
Yes, that’s my old car almost completely buried in snow in mid March. There’s some absolute garbage falling from the sky today here in 
because of deep snow and even better, the lake is covered with three feet of ice. Nonetheless, I sit here daydreaming about tailing mirror carp. 
might incorrectly assume that it is a separate species. But it’s not. It is actually descended from common carp bred by monks back in the 12th century to have few or no scales, making them easier to prepare for eating (Although we’ve tried, my friends and I haven’t had much success making them edible!). 
catch, no two will be the same, but all will be beautiful. 
Today is officially the first day I can wake up and not be bummed that I’m home instead of fishing the 
I also managed to catch up on some art projects. I decorated some 
The species info I posted last week about several fish of the 
next week I go to 
I will be hosting my annual peacock bass trip to the 
The snow here in the 
As promised I’m going to keep writing about the many fish species you might catch while 
in shallow sandy areas often times with the butterfly peacocks. They are spooky because of the shallow water but if your fly gets to them before they see you casting you’ll get a strike for sure. I’ve never seen them bigger than the pictures I’ve provided but they are known to reach 6lbs. What I like about them is their beauty. Even though I show two different colored ones, both are all the same species. 
along the bank you find them. Usually several burst out after your fly but only the biggest one can fit it in his mouth. 
hurts to have a good look at them! 
The floods in the Amazon are very unusual for this time of year. Now is towards the end of the dry season and typically the water levels are extremely low on the rivers we fish. Usually the water is clear enough that we sight cast to huge peacocks. But it is the Amazon. It is the rainforest and sometimes Mother Nature can throw a twist. We’ll just have to hope that everything gets back to normal for next year. Did I say “next year”? Yes I did. Amongst my rescheduling of this years trip, I went ahead and booked next year’s trip. The dates for 2012 are February 11-18 and I already signed up two. So if you’re ready to enjoy this incredible fishery, contact me soon! 
