Majora Intelligent Fishing

About Enrico

Surrounded by the saltwater of the Mediterranean, Enrico learned about fishing in his native Sicily before he could walk while watching his father and uncles catching dinner. Gaudy chicken feathers that seemed to attract some of the largest fish especially intrigued him.

But his passion for fishing remained latent while he was urged to pursue a career in the culinary arts. He worked as a chef in a hotel in Sicily where he eventually met his American wife, Karen. He continued to work as a chef when he arrived with his bride in the United States in 1980.

Even though he was bound to the kitchen, he still found time to explore fishing opportunities here. With Karen's help he learned about fly fishing at the Connetquot River State Park Preserve on Long Island, and other New York State streams. That summer, Enrico hooked his first trout and that instilled in him an insatiable thirst to understand why fish "eat" artificial flies.

"Daddy, that looks like the fish in our fish tank."
"Yes, I know," said the father. "That's why it catches fish!"
Over the winter, Enrico forces himself to read English by subscribing to fishing magazines and reading books on fly fishing. He also discovered Orvis and fly tying. It was, he says, a watershed experience, and incidentally, quite different from the creation of the crude artificial flies he has constructed from his mother's chicken feathers on snelled hooks.

Since that year, Enrico has expanded his knowledge of fish and the reasons they are attracted to artificial. But something kept drawing him back to the sea. So he took the knowledge he had recently accumulated about fresh water fishing and added it to his earliest memories about catching saltwater species. He then took to fishing several local Long Island beaches.

He opened The Practical Fly Shop in Little Neck, NY in 1992, where his customers encouraged him to create many of his innovative flies. That led him to experiment with more durable synthetic and natural materials to create flies that eventually became part of the catalog of offerings that are now marketed through Enrico Puglisi Ltd. as EP Flies and EP Fibers.

Today, Enrico no longer maintains The Practical Fly Shop, but through Enrico Publish Ltd., his innovative products are making a major impact on the future direction of saltwater fly fishing. His unique hand-tied flies are recognized around the world, and he has been invited to demonstrate his meticulous tying techniques across the United States and Europe. All of his patterns are designed to match specific baitfish and to be eminently fishable.

Recently, while appearing as a featured guest tier at a major fishing show, a youngster standing with his father pointed to one of Enrico's creations and said, "Daddy, that looks like the fish in our fish tank." "Yes, I know," said the father. "That's why it catches fish!" That was a proud moment for Enrico because that's what he wants to create for his customers -- flies that catch fish!

Paolo Chiovelli - "Fun Fishing" Testimonials

I was born in Viterbo on May 5th 1977 and I believe my first fishing experience was at the age 2 o 3 years, as my father was - and still is - a very passionate fisher, especially focused on carpfishing and black bass fishing
I will never forget my first fishing experiences with my father as well as the sleepless nights before the fishing sessions. These sessions always seemed to be too short, as I was already totally bewitched by this sport.
Fishing has always been an important part of my life (I believe I rid more than 5000 km with my bike and over 10000 km by motorcycle to go fishing). What I liked the most was looking for the biggest and outstanding fish, especially carps, but also black basses and pikes. In 1993, at the age of 16, I discovered carpfishing from a book written by Roberto Ripamonti. It came to me as a revelation!! I remember reading as much as I could about this marvellous technique. Together with my best friends I started arranging 2-3 days sessions and fishing my first big carps (8-12 kg.) with great satisfaction.
In 1996, one of my articles - a 6 page article entitled "Alviano, an oasis of peace" - was published on the Italian magazine "Pescare Carpfishing" ("Fish Carpfishing"), where I described my experience fishing in the Oasis of Alviano. There I started fishing carps for the first time, experimenting baits, terminal tackles and examining carps' different behavior, depending on the season, the time and weather, and so on…the editorial staff contacted me and asked me to wirte more articles. I remember answering that I preferred to go fishing rather than to write arrticles….
In 2001, after many years of unsatisfying work, I decided to transform my passion for fishing in my primary job. Therefore I took over an old "hunting and fishing" shop in my town. At the beginning it was quite tough but already full of satisfaction. FREE TIME Fishing Center was born, the first shop ever in the province of Viterbo entirely specialized in carp fishing and spinning.
In the meantime I continued fishing at the Lake of Bolsena with good results (my personal score is of 22,5 Kg) and some of my articles were published on another fishing review: Carpa x Tutti (Carp for everyone)
Lake of Vico:
At the end of 2002, I decided to approach one of the most difficult and impervious lakes, a vulcanic lake where nobody had ever attempted to fish. Everyone - even local fishers - totally ignored the presence of carps and therefore nobody ever fished one in that lake
Some of the first carps I captured in that lake weighed 17.5kg - 15kg - 18.5kg. These carps had never come into contact with a traditional setting or with boilies…the lake was really difficult and even if carps were there, it was really tough capturing them… one night in Semptember 2003, I captured a giant carp of 24 kg. Unfortunately, the pictures I took were of bad quality….during following years I fished in most parts of the lake and set a new personal score of 23.300 kg.
I currently collaborate with a private television (Sky) in a program called Passione Pesca 814 dealing with documentaries on fishing.