about us

A social group of dedicated fly fishers who are passionate about fly fishing in the tropical north of Australia and equally as passionate about the close camaraderie this sport brings. This passion and dedication led to the creation of the NT Flyfishers Social Mob blog site; an interactive and creative outlet where everyone can share our wonderful fly fishing adventures and link into the “after fishing” social events we enjoy in this incredible part of the world.

Friday 18 March 2016

MEMORIES OF MONICA - FISH BY THE BOAT LOAD

Lately we have seen a lot about poor fishing at Corroboree. So I hope this may cheer you up a bit.   Back in 2006 it was a bit gloomy too, but on the 24th of April, cyclone 'Monica'came through and put heaps of water out there.   This little story from Wayne Hinton give you a bit of a picture of the fishing after that in May.

N.T Runoff firing

Wayne May 19, 2006.

"Fellas, went out to Corroboree Billabong today which is only accessable from the Rock Hole side due to the large amount of water still present after the cyclone.  We had one of those days that you only come across every blue moon.   We were in the right place at the right time and found a gutter that had barra stacked up on it as this as the mossies were at the boat ramp.

An incredible 185 barra came over the side of the boat, and around the 230 fish mark, including tarpon, and toga.   

The barra ranged from 30cm up the the 75cm  mark.  I have to thank Roger Bassett the deckie, who stayed back so I could break the magic 100 mark.  Thanks mate!"


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Waynoe with a 75 barra 


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Bit blurry but one of the great togas.
So lets hope that the fishing Gods send us a cyclone or two before the  'Çup'



Wednesday 16 March 2016

Spot Z & Bynoe Harbour

Spot Z

A few weeks ago we did a trip to a billabong we shall call spot Z.  Spot Z is accessed by boat & involves fishing off the bank..........Please remember to be crocwise!
Total for the day 1 Toga on fly, 1 Toga & 4 Barra on soft plastics.

Croc slide (only a baby)

Jack with a small Barra

Hayden with another Barra

Old fart with Barra

Bynoe Harbour

The second outing was to Bynoe, this involved a mixed bag of fish in varying wet season conditions!

Jack's Barra caught in some of the lighter rain

We fished our usual spots with not a lot of action until the tide turned.  There was a bit of action in a creek with 2 Jacks landed & a Barra within 30 minutes.  Apologies but no photo's of the Jacks as the rain was too heavy........

Jack's new PB 64cm
After moving to one of the Bassett's secret spots, Jack hooked & landed his new PB on fly a 64cm Barra.  It has to be said this was a very unlucky fish, the fly had not been stripped when it was nailed.  I am not sure who was more surprised!
On the fly 2 x Barra, 2 x Jacks.  On a micro jig (new rod had to break it in) 1 x Javelin fish, 1 x Goldy & 1 Spanish Flag.

On the way home we headed to the Finiss fresh to dunk the trailer in some fresh water.
The Finiss culvert is the lowest I have seen for this time of year.  A reflection of the poor wet season.  In other years we have not been able to access the Hardcastle road ramp due to the culvert being around 1.1m.  Note the level marker is missing, however the post is still there.

Finiss culvert, note the level marker missing

A new recipe was tried "Almond encrusted Barra".  I can report it was an outstanding success!  A very easy & healthy meal.

Get out there & fish!

Jon



Saturday 12 March 2016

Corroboree this morning!

Took a quick trip out to Corroboree Billabong this morning and had a blast. As “Roggie Dodgie” would call it “a fish a cast”. A bit of an exaggeration but not far off, best was 7 fish boated from 7 casts then dropped the 8th at the boat, BUGGER.

Yes most fish were Tarpon but it was great fun and by using a larger fly this eliminated the smaller one with most in the 40-50 cms range. 

Typical fish!


This is the time that any newbie’s to the “graceful art” of fly fishing should get out there to gain that experience of hooking up on a fish. In my opinion any Tarpon will pull far harder than any Barra of the same size!! Remember, while the fly is in the water a Barra or Toga could be a by-catch of chasing Tarpon!

Toga by-catch!


Finding the Tarpon was not difficult as they were showing themselves everywhere but mainly along the edges of the lilies. There were conga lines of Rainbow Fish (I think that’s what they were) along the edges and schools of baby Archer Fish. Tarpon were attacking with a vengeance on the edges and under the trees.

Drain coming off the plain fished well


Lines of Rainbow Fish being harassed. 

A great way to spend a morning and even if the fishing is not on there is always an abundance of things going on around you at Corroboree if your keep your eyes open.


File Snake enjoying a Catfish breakfast - Always things happening!

Oh yes the final tally was 53 fish boated, 6 species.

Remember; “You’ll never never know, if you never never go. Get out there and fish!”

Tight lines

Jim Churchley  

Thursday 10 March 2016

NEW ZEALAND FEB. 2016

FISHING REPORT - NEW ZEALAND FEB. 2016

About five years ago Marisa and I flew out of the Gove wet season for a gander at the South Island of New Zealand. On that occasion we flew into Christchurch and picked up a campervan, heading south for a two week trip. The South Island is one of those places that just calls you back … and we heard the call!

We’ve just returned from our return visit but this time we stayed for a month. Instead of the campervan option we elected to hire a small SUV and use cabins at a couple of different camp grounds for the majority of our stay. While the cabins were a little on the ‘rustic’ side they did provide enough comfort for our needs and allowed us to stretch our dollars a little further.
We flew into Queenstown ex Brisbane this trip, which made for an easy inwards clearance and we were searching for our motel in no time at all. After a few days of touristy stuff eg Lake Te Anau cruise and Glow Worm caves, a Milford Sound cruise and a drive down around the bottom of the island on the southern scenic route we ended up in Dunedin catching up with some friends, over dinner.

Our first trip to NZ met with a minor flood event which had just about all the rivers and streams running high and murky which forced us to look elsewhere for clear water. We ended up at Lake Onslow high on the wind swept, tussock covered, hills of Central Otago and fish wise it probably saved the trip … and possibly a marriage! This time around we planned to go directly to Lake Onslow for a week before moving on to Gore, further south.

Lake Onslow
Lake Onslow covers an area of some 830 ha and was formed by the damming of the Teviot River back in 1888. Trout breed naturally in the river and adjacent streams so the lake has a very large resident population of Browns, so much so that there is a daily bag limit of ten fish each! Given that there is no accommodation at the lake itself we elected to stay at the tiny town / village of Millers Flat which straddles the mighty Clutha River. The daily commute to the back of the lake, where we chose to fish, due to incessant NW winds, was a fifty minute drive on a challenging dirt road which deteriorated as the week went on. Although challenging the 22 – 38 klm drive (depending on where you were coming from) was also fun and very scenic as it wound its way up the Lammerlaw Range. Some anglers chose to camp one or more nights at the lake instead of commuting from either Millers Flat, Roxburgh or Alexandra. Overnighting wasn’t an option for us as we had ‘happy hour’ commitments back at camp, each evening. The wind at the lake blew consistently while we were there and mainly from the north and northwest. Some days it was very hard to fish but we’d usually manage to tuck into a lee shore somewhere. 

Our fishing week was Wednesday to Wednesday and Saturday got a little crowded and then throw in a jet boat full of Neanderthals who were roaring around and making life difficult for anglers … we finished early that day and didn’t bother fishing at all on the Sunday.

Top or the range looking down towards Lake Onslow

  Heading back to camp with weather closing in. We ended up driving through cloud … eerie!

Cicada season
We timed our trip to co-inside with the annual cicada hatch which usually takes place late January and into February. We missed the peak period which apparently took place the week before our arrival and produced up to twenty trout per day for many anglers …. I’m sure I’ve heard that same story many times before … should have been here yesterday!  On a warm, sunny and windy summer afternoon at Lake Onslow the sound of chirping cicadas usually means trout throwing caution to the wind (almost) while they gorge themselves on all the cicadas being blown into the lake.

I’m no entomologist so I’m not about to describe Kiwi cicadas as anything other than ‘brown’ or ‘green’ and it’s important to identify which ones are hatching and or splashing down at the time. A good example of the importance of identification was on our last day at the lake. I saw a few more green ones, than usual, flying around and so I tied on a green cicada imitation while Marisa stayed with the usual brown one. I caught four fish in a row and lost probably twice that to missed strikes and over exuberance. I finally convinced Marisa to change to green and she caught the next six browns in quick succession.

 It’s easy to capture a few cicadas for identification purposes as, on a good day, they’ll be smacking you in the face, crawling up your nose and down the back of your shirt and crawling all over your sunnies. It’s also important to note that these cicadas are small, roughly half the size of our Aussie ones. The size issue is critical if you’re tying or buying prior to heading off to NZ. The time to experiment with other flies is when things go quiet ie not warm enough to get the cicadas active. Other imitations that worked for us were foam blowflies and hoppers. I’m sure that most trout anglers that know more than me (that would be 99% of them) would suggest other patterns as well. I just worked on the ‘match the hatch’ principle. Even during these major hatch events trout can be fussy and refusals are common.

The splashy rises of trout on a cicada binge has to be seen to be believed! Some afternoons it was like hail stones hitting the water with noisy splashes all over the lake. We reckoned that the fish making the most boisterous splashes were the teenagers, for obvious reasons, whereas the larger fish were a bit more circumspect and usually sipped their victims after giving it the once over, or at least most of the time.

For those interested in stats the fish count for seven sessions at Lake Onslow was twenty eight brown trout landed ranging from tiddlers through to fish in the high forties and low fifties with the largest going fifty three cm. We missed many more fish than we landed and were busted off by some really good fish. Some American friends of ours who we fished and socialised with during the Lake Onslow phase of the trip have been returning to the Lake annually for the past nine years and have caught browns up to nine pounds in weight. They maintain that the average size is getting bigger, especially during the past couple of years. That news, which was also supported by some local anglers, is very encouraging for future trips.

The Lake Onslow browns are beautifully marked

All fish caught were in excellent condition

Small fish were quite common


A nice brown showing slightly different markings

  

Lake Onslow is tussock country and as you push your way through tussocks, ranging from knee high to head high you should whisper a little prayer, of thanks, to the gods …. because there are no snakes in New Zealand!

Our American friend, Matha, with another nice fat brown

Gore
A large rural town in the far south of the island and the self-proclaimed ‘World Capital of Brown Trout Fishing’ and they even have a huge trout on a stick!



We moved on to the town of Gore, in Southland after our week at Lake Onslow. We settled into our rustic hobbit house at the Gore Motor Camp. To be fair the cabin was adequate for our needs and at an excellent rate of $40 per night, including linen, we shouldn’t complain.  Our intention was to fish the rivers and stream around Gore but while our intentions were admirable our skill level wasn’t quite up to the task and bad weather dogged our every step.

While February might have been a great time to fish Lake Onslow it wasn’t for fishing the Mataura and its various tributaries. The trout in these waters and there’s plenty of them, have been relentlessly hammered since the season opened in October and they’ve seen every trout fly ever invented thrown at them over those past few months. Good anglers with local knowledge and some visiting anglers utilising guides were still catching some good fish but after having to replace two rods only two days into the trip we weren’t in a position to shell out the folding stuff for a guide although it would have helped our cause considerably. The other problem was there was no guides available at the time having all been fully booked in advance.

Heavy rain upstream had the river and streams running high and dirty for the first couple of days so we spent the time checking out the various ‘angler access points’ throughout the area while we waited for the water to clear up. If the dirty water wasn’t enough to the NW wind started blowing again.  To fill in the time we visited the Gore Visitor Centre which has an excellent fly fishing history display amongst other historical presentations. We also attended the sheep dog trials …. It was actually a great spectacle … until were forced back to our cars by gale force winds and cold rain. We even drove down to Invercargill to visit Bill Richardson’s Transport World which is a fantastic display of vintage and classic trucks, cars, tractors and old machinery. The best display of that type that we’ve ever seen!

During breaks in the bad weather days we managed to improve our fish spotting skills in the rapidly clearing rivers. Spotting trout was one thing … getting them to eat was another thing entirely.

Marisa unrolling a good cast on the upper Matura River

It did take us a little longer than it should have to find out that we were using leaders that were way too short at twelve foot and heavy at six – eight pound and flies that were too big. We finally twigged, got some good advice from a local and armed with fifteen foot leaders with 4 pound tippet and size eighteen and twenty mayflies we finally managed to catch a few Mataura River browns. While we didn’t have the success we’d hoped for, on the rivers and streams we certainly filed away loads of information, locations and local techniques for the next trip to the South Island … and there will be another one, or maybe two.

While we are very new to trouting with this being only our second attempt we still managed to catch some nice fish and learn a lot more than we knew before. It’s totally different to what we knew in the tropics as some of you would already know!
I’ve used feet and pounds in this report because … well … it’s a trout thing … and I can!
If you intend to visit the South Island and we can help you out with any information don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Cheers
Marisa & Lyle
 


Some handy information

Flights
Flights into NZ are easy to find and some good deals are available from time to time. We flew into Queenstown which besides being a nice place to visit puts you in a great place from which to explore the many trout (both brown & rainbow) lakes, rivers and streams further to the south.

Vehicle Hire and fuel
We hired a late/current model Toyota Rav 4 through Apex Rentals and clocked up over four thousand kilometres during our stay. The small SUV handled the farm tracks, dirt roads and highways in its stride. Our friends hired an older model diesel, mid-size 4WD through another company. Unleaded petrol was expensive and averaged $1.85 per litre whereas diesel averaged around $1.00 per litre … however the Kiwis impose a diesel tax of .06 cents per kilometre so you need to do the maths before deciding on what vehicle you wish to hire.

Fishing Licence
Five years ago Marisa and I were able access the NZ resident ‘family rate’ for our licence. That has now changed and anyone not resident in NZ is required to purchase a ‘Non Resident’ licence which cost us $161.00 each! Not once were we asked to produce our licence however with a maximum fine of $5,000.00 it’s not worth the risk.

Gear
We took three 6wt rods with us and, due to unfortunate circumstances we broke two of them during the first two days of or trip. Fishing with one rod between us didn’t work particularly well and we quit fishing within hours to go in search of another rod. We ended up having to purchase two new rods, keeping the third as a backup.
If fishing as a couple make sure you carry one landing net each. We had one between us and had to do lots of scrambling to get to each other quickly, with the net.
Vests are a must have, not just a fashion accessary!
While plenty of anglers had the latest in name brand waders, boots, gaiters etc we chose to ‘wet wade’ as do many of the locals. Poly tights under quick drying Columbia style trousers with neoprene socks and wading boots will keep you warm enough.
Fly’s
Other than a few leftover cicada flies from our last trip we purchased most of ours while we were in NZ. At around NZ$2-3 per (spun deer hair) fly it was relatively cheap investment and usually gained you useful information as you discussed your wants and needs with the shop staff. Blowfly’s, hoppers and royal wulffs worked at times, on the lake but on the streams it was tiny, tiny size 18 or 20 parachute adams or mayflies that were required

Accommodation
As touched on earlier we elected to use cabins during our stay. We utilised the Millers Flat Holiday Park while we were fishing Lake Onslow. . Accommodation can also be found at Roxburgh and Alexandra which also are nearby to Onslow as well as Poolburn and Manorburn reservoirs. We used the Gore Motor Camp for fishing the Mataura River and tributaries.
There are many other options such as self-contained ‘batches’ that will sleep anywhere between two to eight as well as short term holiday house rentals depending upon what your comfort levels require and budget allows. You can still go the motorhome / campervan option however you’ll be very limited in your access to some areas.


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Wednesday 9 March 2016

Inaugural club meeting of the 'NT Flyfishers' held

Recently there was held the inaugural club meeting of the 'NT Fly Fishers', on the Wednesday 9th April.
17 in attendance plus 12 apologies (everyone of those apologies either going to or coming from fly fishing trips we hope!!!)
The get together was held at the Palmerston Golf club on schnitzel night - so most enjoyed a great meal as well

Photo of those in attendance
The steering committee looked at the pros and cons of forming a club from 5:30pm
And presented their findings to those in attendance at 6:30pm for a vote

It was then a unanimous vote to form the club from those attending
All looking keenly forward to starting off the new club
With the need for plenty of communication being of prominent discussion

On that point all agreed to send a huge thanks and much kudos to Roger and Cathie for the Social Mob blog site and Facebook page that has a kept us all excited and informed on Darwin region fly fishing and associated fisheries information.

In a months time the steering committee will present an outline and costings of a club structure and club committee requirements, hoped for competition details and potential sponsorship etc

Meetings will be on the 2nd Wednesday of each month - so that's the 13th April for the next one
but note it will not be at the golf club due to expansion construction at the golf club house at that time, so look out for info and email for those details as it becomes available. hoepfully back at the club house for May's meeting,

The Palmerston golf club will most likely be the location for future meetings with its well lit putting green right next to the eating area that will be great for pre-meeting casting practice

A special thanks to the steering committee for all their work so far.