No matter if it’s holding down some piranha or you are fighting with some black marlin, going fishing delivers fun, an insight into the local scene, and of course, dinner.
At some point though, fisherman who have been at it awhile see their bucket lists begin to grow. If they read fishing magazines, you can bet that some of these spots below are on their lists!
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Salmon, the Umba River, in the Kola Peninsula in Russia
The Northern Lights, herds of caribou, snowy weather: The Kola Peninsula in Russia is a true winter wonderland that’s beyond comparison. However, when springtime comes, the Arctic wonderland turns into another type of heaven – one that includes salmon! Every year in May, fishers head to the Umba River there, which is 123 kilometers long. They are out to catch a few of the best and biggest Atlantic salmon in the world.
The Umba River is thought to feature as many as five runs of salmon annually, so there are plenty of opportunities to catch some fish. However, it is not as easy as it may first seem. The area is pretty isolated, and it is not a simple task to wade in this river. Plus, the fishermen must beware of their competitors – bears!!
The season for salmon runs between May and all of October, and it’s a catch and release rule only.
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Giant black marlin can be found in Cairns, Australia
If you go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, you are just about guaranteed to find Nemo. However, you have to be a bit tougher to catch a fish considered to be legendary. The giant black marlin is an example of the top sought-after catches in the world. They can get as much as 750 kilograms, and they can swim as fast as 130 kilometers an hour. Plus, these fish can make even the most talented game fisherman have wrists that feel like jelly after they battle one for a few hours. This spectacular 250-kilometer area stretches in between Lizard Island and Cairns, the most famous fishing spot in the world to find these monsters. People catch more of these giant fish here than anywhere else on the planet.
Come to Cairns at the beginning of September to the end of December to find a marlin.
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Catfish, in the Southern United States
Are you all ready to eat? Then get prepared to noodle, cat daddle, gurgle, or a sport otherwise called hillbilly hand fishing. This sport is the act of pushing your hand inside a body of water; then you wait till one of the flathead catfish that live there reach out and bite you! Then your task is to fight that wiggling burden to the water’s surface. The art of noodling does have some disadvantages. For one thing, those catfish do have loads of teeth, plus who knows what else could be living down in the water? However, this sport is not merely for someone who doesn’t mind getting bit; Native American fishers were extremely skilled at this type of fishing. Plus, in many states in the South (USA), this art is a family tradition that has been practiced for generations. However, it is not a sport you do by yourself. If you Google it on the Internet, you will find lots of expeditions to try your hand (literally!) at hand fishing.
The places hand fishing is allowed include Alabama and Arkansas, as well as in Georgia and Illinois, and also in Kansas and Kentucky, plus the states of Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Oklahoma, as well as Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Texas. The hand fishing season begins in May and ends in August.
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Piranha fishing in the Amazon Basin in Brazil
This could happen to someone you know! You get engrossed in watching a bunch of horror movies dealing with piranhas, and suddenly you are vowing never to go into the water ever again. So, why not get some revenge on those critters by fishing in the Amazon Basin for them? Just travel to the capital of Amazonia in Brazil. It’s called Manaus. They offer tours to both fish for as well as eat piranhas. Be careful; these fish have sharp teeth that can even bite through a steel hook, let alone your fingers. Just one chunk of meat will catch lots of these monsters. Be safe, so the only winner in this story is you!
The Amazon region has a dry span from July to October. This is when the piranhas are ravenous and quite aggressive, so also quite dangerous.
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Goliath tiger fish in the Congo River Basin
If you want a burst of excitement like you have never had before, head to the Congo River Basin to fish for Goliath Tiger Fish! These creatures have an angry temper and have lots of sharp teeth besides. They are like the piranha of the Amazon. These colossal fish have a history of attacking people as well as grabbing birds from the air as they fly over the basin. They can get to one and a half meters in size and can weigh more than 70 kilograms. It’s called Mbenga by the locals. Don’t think that this is an easy-peasy job, as they are quite hard to catch. Fishers have been known to fight with them all day, making this one of the globe’s best challenges in sports fishing.
One of the best ways to fight this magnificent fish is to be safe by joining a unique expedition. The dry season between June and October is the best time to go.
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Go Ice fishing in Brainerd in the United States
Would cutting a hole in the ice and staring into the bottomless void for hours sound fun to you? Well, then head to Brainerd in central Minnesota to take a dream vacation. The Jaycees have a yearly Ice Fishing Extravaganza, which is enormous. It attracts over 12K participants who don’t mind the weather; they want a chance to win some of the $150K in prizes. The people who organize the contest drill 20K holes in the ice at the Gull Lake. Then the fishers try their luck to catch perch, bass, and walleyes.
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Catch some Squid in Halong Bay in Vietnam
You may not believe that anything with the term squid in it would be fun, but you’d change your mind after spending some time at Halong Bay in Vietnam. In the evenings, lots of little boats called junks head there to fish for these squids so they can be turned into squid sausages. It’s a local delicacy! They use bamboo rods, catch nets, and lamps to get the squid to appear. They are attracted to the light, and fishers can capture more than 30 at a time in a mere hour or so. Plus, the bay is beautiful with the still waters and the lights reflecting off the surface, so it’s romantic too.
The season for squid fishing runs from April to the end of January, but the best time to go for the biggest ones is in October and November.
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Grab some Brown trout in the Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego
The phrase Tierra del Fuego is Spanish and means ‘Land of Fire.’ Trout fishers all agree that this region is scorching indeed. It is one of the top places to fish for brown trout via fly fishing. The trout here grow to more than 11 kilograms, and in the Rio Grande river, they estimate there are more than 70K of these trout. It is not easy to get to this area, as it is in the middle of nowhere, but there is a gigantic statue of a trout there, so you will know for sure when you get there.
Even though there are lots of brown trout, the fishing there is very restricted. You are only allowed to do catch and release, and fishing is permitted between December and the middle of April.