Exmouth is firing.....watch out for the drones!

From Jono Shales

Here's some motivation for fly fishing in Exmouth, Andrew Paget with his first ever permit on fly from yesterday, this was the first cast at the first opportunity presented to him. Awesome stuff !

Trevor Paget with the biggest fish that he's ever caught on a fly rod. After the fish took him into the backing 4 times, he realised just how strong these things are and how hard one can actually pull on a fly rod.

Well done Trevor, a well deserved fish and an absolute pleasure to have you out here in 

A fantastic day yesterday with Andrew and Trevor Paget. Both father and son managed trophy longtail tuna on fly, casting to baitballs smashing around on the surface.

 Here's Andrew with his tuna

Andrew wanted a big queenfish more than anything. Sinking flies below a baitball is a lucky dip of species and you never know what might be down there. Another species ticked off the list, well done mate

Uncle and nephew double hookup on mac tuna. What an incredible day of throwing flies to tuna, mackerel and queenfish

Then.......Best Friday ever, unpacking the ultimate toy

Expect some great footage!

Exmouth Fly Fishing

Saltwater Playground - Paul Cunningham

Mantis shrimp (Original fly by Andy Thomsen).rtf

Cyclone warning about last weekend, so no fishing due to bad weather but at least I could do some fly tying but what to tie?

Started searching web and found this fly

Fly Tying Mantis Shrimp Flats Fly for Permit, Golden Trevally, Bonefish - Andy Thomsen - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7cTwRmfZTik -   If that link doesn't work search for the title of video clip on youtube.

If you go by his videos easily seen as a very talented angler and fly tyer!

Look for his 'toad fly' too - awesome!

Love this mantis shrimp fly - (could be prawn or crab too)

Conceptually, and the way it is tied - intriguing and inspiring to me

This fly for me is one of those breakthrough flies in tying styles

Eyes on stalks as a weed guard, other end of stalks to help the fly sit right way on the mud. Lots and lots of life, even sitting still, given the materials used.

So I had to tie some......... School reports are finished, so I used class time today to tie some while students doing chapter reviews.

Started making eye stalks yesterday which are simply a red bead on heavy mono, burn end into lump, push bead onto hot mono lump, cover with epoxy, set aside to set.

Differences with my versions are the feeler materials being all spinnerbaits lure skirt material and that I tied in rabbit zonker before eye stalks (not as in Andy's instructional video) as seemed easier

I also used magnum zonker strips as a slightly wider cut and more fur (not the olive one in the attached images though - you can easily see the difference in body size compared to white and natural fur versions)

Seems a very versatile fly a suited to many species of fish in the top end.

Flats Barra should scoff them down so too Brown/blue Bastards - I saw so many of these frustrating fish last time out when I was stalking flats barra, the BBs refused all my offerings - so I was looking for a more suitable fly and I think this one is it!

Can hardly wait for school holidays in two weeks so I can test these flies on fish rather than thinking about fishing while I teach middle school kids who for the most don't care about their learning!

See you on the water! - I will report on successful (hopefully) testing soon!

ASH'S CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY

From our man in SA  Ash Ranford

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

The anticipation for this trip had been building ever since my mate Greg asked if I would like to go to Christmas Island and chase Bonefish on fly. Once confirmed that he wasn’t joking and we were actually going to go, preparations swung into action. What flys? What rod? What weight line and type? With this in mind the internet became my friend.

 First on the list was what type of flys? I ended up purchasing a Saltwater Fly Patterns book which had a specific section on Bonefish. Next came the fly tying materials. Ebay and the internet again proved it’s worth here as there are very few shops in Adelaide with this type of material on offer. I bought everything to make the flys from scratch. Quite a few evenings over the next few months were now spent in the shed making them. On one particular occasion, I thought I should do the right thing so I brought all the tying material into the lounge room so I could grace my wife with my presence.  But I managed to spill the super glue on the carpet and by the time I had got something to clean up the mess, the vapours coming off the carpet told me that whatever I did wasn’t going to be enough. No amount of acetone was or did get that glue out. Not a happy camper and the look I got was enough from my significant other…..So the glue and all other sorts of finishing materials were kept in the shed from then on. Literature received from the fishing adventure operators said I needed to take all I need with me so I ended up making 235 flys of different shapes, sizes and colours.

THE FLYS

Next came the rod. As I was flying to Brisbane first before heading to Fiji and then catching the flight to Christmas Island, the lovely airline wanted to charge me extra for taking a fishing rod tube on the Brisbane leg. So I ended up taking two 4 piece rods that fit into my suitcase. I bought an 8wt South Pacific fly rod especially for the trip and as a back up I took a 7-8wt Norstream that was given to me kindly by a moderator of this blog site (thanks Roger). Line was easy as I already had a couple of 8wt intermediate and floating lines, of which one floating line was put on a brand new Koma reel with 200 yards of 30lb backing. 

ROD AND REEL WITH SMALL CHRISTMAS ISLAND GT

The flight to Brisbane was uneventful until my mate Greg was supposed to pick me up. The flight was half an hour late, so this is where some confusion reigned. Out from the arrival bridge, no Greg. Down to baggage collection, no Greg. Baggage collected, phone call to his place, no Greg. Call put over the PA at Brisbane airport, no Greg.  Phone call from my wife, no Greg. I hate mobile phones but actually had mine on me this time, but Greg doesn’t carry one with him all the time, no communication by mobile. Eventually after a couple of hours, phone calls between Adelaide and Ipswich, and there’s Greg. He had been at the airport but the signs hadn’t turned on the arrivals board so he went home which is a good hour from the airport. I arrived and the rest is confusion

CHRISTMAS ISLAND BONEFISH

We headed back to the airport next morning for the flight out to Fiji, then a six hour wait in the Fiji airport before the flight to Christmas Island, arriving there at 0630hrs the following morning in the rain. We got driven to the airport in the back of an open sided truck which was not a bad ride except a little wet. So slightly damp for the check in, but everybody was in the same boat and when you are going fishing in a place like this, who cares? Greg and I were not the only fishermen here for the week as there were another seven guys, six from Aust and one from the US. As it turned out a fantastic group of guys to go fishing with and with some of them being here multiple times, a great source of hints, tips and information.

OUR HOME FOR THE WEEK

The first day of fishing is an optional extra. The majority of the other guys went fishing but we stayed behind to catch up on some sleep and walk the beach front with the fly rod to see if we could entice anything there. Nothing doing but the Crayfish for lunch was worth staying back for. That evening everyone got together over a few drinks and swapped stories.

GETTING TO THE FLATS

The following morning, the routine started that would be our “typical” day for the next week. Up at 0500, breakfast at 0530, back to the huts to finish getting everything we would need for the day before being picked up in the trucks to go either shore based fishing or around to London where we boarded a skiff to go out into the bay. A guide was allotted between two fishermen but could be arranged individually if required. Return to the hotel would be between 1700 and 1830. All fish caught on this trip is catch and release.

TYPICAL FLATS FISHING

Greg and I had Beada (spelling) as our guide for the first day out in the skiff. The wind wasn’t going to be our friend that day as it had turned the water very milky due to the churning sand. Lots of blind casting before Greg got the first Bonefish.

Very elated that we had finally got on to a Bonefish but slightly disappointed at the same time as we had $10 bet on who would catch the first one. So down $10 there. Not too long after that I landed my first Bonefish on a borrowed fly. Of all the flys I made the only colour I didn’t make many of was orange and guess what? That’s the main colour used on the Island. 

To overcome this shortfall I borrowed an orange highlighter pen and coloured some of the small white Clousers and Crazy Charlies. The white thread absorbed the orange colour and these flys turned out to be a hit with the fish. All the hype on how these fish fight and pull on a fly line is true. Even though my first one was only a relatively small one, it went hard. I didn’t land another that day but I was very happy as a massive tick on the bucket list had been achieved. 

BONEFISH RELEASE

The next day the fishing teams swapped around and would stay that way till the last day. Greg and I had Toki as our guide from now on. Caught a few more Bonefish even landing my biggest Bonefish for the trip on one of my yellow Christmas Island Specials which measured 26”. The only downer was breaking my brand new South Pacific rod on one of the Bonefish. Only got just over a days use out of it. Lesson learnt, don’t try and maneuver the fly line with your rod so you can grab it, while you have Bonefish on the other end. So after quite a few choice words it was back to the skiff for a rod change.

BIG BONEFISH

Over the week we alternated between skiff and shore based fishing. The tally of Bonefish slowly mounted along with different types of species caught. One particular day we went after GT’s and I was lent a 12wt rod and reel from Chris, one of the other fisho’s, for this purpose. The guides were “chumming” to get the GT’s around. When one of those things grabs your line and heads out to the nearest coral out crop which is about 200 meters away, you soon learn that is not as far away as it seems after getting busted off. A re-rig, new leader and back out onto the pancake for some more fun. Now knowing what to expect the next time when it took off I put all the hurt I, the reel and rod could muster onto the thing. Nothing like a good tug of war and arm wrestle for the next twenty minutes before finally getting this one in, photographed then released. It didn't feel as big as the last one but weighing in between 40-50 lb I was more than happy to land this one.

GT

The scenery is very picturesque all around the island but especially out on Paris Flats. White sand, clear water, palm trees on the beach, definitely fishing in paradise. The local Islanders are very friendly and accommodating, the villages are simple but enough for the climate and lifestyle this Island has to offer.  Driving in the back of the trucks on sealed and unsealed roads can be an experience, especially with worn shock absorbers. Another hazard for many of the residential crabs is having to move off the road rather quickly to avoid becoming road pizza. At times some of the local birds like to get very close and personal when you are fishing. It is pretty cool for the first time if you are not used to it, but when you are casting to a fish and the bird shadow scares it away, it quickly loses it’s coolness.

PARIS FLATS

Greg has been up around the tropical islands before and one of his things is to bring play equipment or balls for the children. So, on the truck ride back to the hotel after fishing, when a child or children were seen, a tennis, soccer or football was given to the totally unsuspecting recipient. Just the wave and smile on the kids faces made it all worthwhile.

LOCAL CHRISTMAS ISLAND CHILDREN

 The trip came to an end with Greg and I catching multiple Bonefish, GT’s, Goatfish, Queenfish, Yellow Snapper, Puffer Fish, a Giant Herring, a Black Tip Reef Shark and a Moral Eel. I was happy with just catching a Bonefish but to end up with 61 between us was magical.

 

VERY HAPPY FISHERMEN

Ash.

EARLY WET?

We could be in for an early wet this year, lets hope the fish like it!!!!


The US model has a Cat 1 / 2 TC ploughing into the West Top End Coast on Monday afternoon. This is now looking even more interesting. In this scenario Darwin would see gale force winds, squally thunderstorms and heavy rain.

Kicking Frog Fly

Dean Watt with the DK (Dave Krantz) kicking frog....catches all sorts of things...

Weekend at Bynoe

Weekend at Bynoe

After not fishing Bynoe for probably 3-4 years I decided to spend a weekend fly fishing with my son Jack.  Since we had only bait & lure fished it previously I thought it wise to seek assistance from NT Fly Fishers via the email address on the blog.  Assistance came promptly with some detailed charts and maps marked with suggested areas to fish.  Prior to the weekend we were advised Jim would be down there at the same time.  Contact was made and we arranged to meet at the Sand Palms.

Saturday had us meeting Jim on the water around Knife Island.  Further fishing continued on the way to Annie River.  Some barra were sight cast to before Jack caught his first queenfish on fly (released after a photo).

 The fishing was tough, however Jack managed to hook another small queenfish again at knife island on the way back to the ramp.  Returning to the Palms for an afternoon swim to cool off & some snags on the bbq rounded of day one nicely.

Sunday had us start a little earlier to meet Jim at the ramp at first light for a run up to Turtle Island.  We again spotted  Barra which were sight cast to unsuccessfully.  A deviation to the small island saw queenfish feeding, unfortunately they would not take my fly.

 However I did hook and land a golden snapper, this was released into the esky along with another that Jack caught on a lure.  As the tide was dropping we headed back to other flats & creeks to continue fishing.  Jim hooked a salmon briefly at Indian Island.  I managed a small barra at Vigilante which was released to catch another day.

The weather was perfect & Jim's guiding excellent.  However the fish didn't turn on as expected.  I guess thats why its called 'fishing' & not 'catching'.

THE 'WHITE' BOAT

Regards,

Jon & Jack White

UPDATE (From Sonny Jim)

Both Jon and Jack's casting will put many of us to shame. Fantastic to see such a good casting arm on someone so young. The thing that p....d me off about young ones is their energy. After 2 full days on the water in stinking hot weather, Jack was eager about getting home about 4.00pm with enough daylight left to grab the shotgun and get out to the reserve to shoot geese. Me, I was anticipating bed for around 6.30pm!!

Jim

IMAGINE!!

From Jono Shales

Jono Shales

Imagine the footage you could get with one of these things ...http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision/

DJI | Phantom 2 Vision

www.dji.com

DJI is a Creative Technologies Company and the global leader in UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) design specifically for photo and video applications. Our mission is to empower creative minds with the tools necessary to share their wildest imaginations with the world. Join us!

 

Busted off - Twice, busted, and done!

From the Stig;

I launched in the predawn light at east arm boat ramp Sunday morning only a few trailers in car park when I launched, totally full when I pulled out.even trailers parked along road leading to ramp. Despite plenty of birds and fish slashing along the way - I drove straight to wickham point a kilometre or so away.

High tide was at 10, so the tide would soon be nearly half way in, this meant the water would still be funnelling around the rocky points concentrating the bait and thus the Pelagics. From the moment I anchored, I had a blast, casting to pods of fish working the area right to the top of the tide and then as the tide starting to drop, more of the same, but on the other side of the rock and sand bars with water flowing over the structure instead of around - changing the options slightly.

I started off using a small white clouser - for which I had hits but not enthusiastic ones, so tried a surface popper and had some awesome surface strikes but no takes. Then tied on a larger blue over white clouser fly 10cm long but the fish would follow all the to the boat viciously slashing at the back of the fly but not really eating it.

So I tied on a pink white clouser big silver eyes about 7cm long and did they like it or what?  They took this fly so hard that many times they had it lodged right down their throats!

     

All day I caught fish when I cast into the vicinity of surface action. Sometimes the action was sub surface with broadside flashes of gold and silver down deep as an indicator of where to cast.  I caught countless trevally around 45cm - real sluggers in a fight,  but the queenies were most prevalent ranging from small to medium 60cm fish.

As for the busted off........

At one time, I was on to a patch of queenies when out of nowhere a monster 80cm+ threadfin salmon coming from the side took the fly , shoving aside the small queenie chasing the fly not metres from the boat only just below the surface. Visually in the clear water, a unique experience to witness. It took off strongly and 15minutes later, with about 100m backing off the reel it busted me off, never saw it again - during the fight it would take a bit of line then it would take a lot. The leader was very frayed where it broke off so must have worn through. A bit disappointing not to get it to boat as I think threadfin are the best tasting fish in salt water. Awesome fighters too!

Very next cast while tying on a new fly, a bow wave could be seen coming towards the rocky point, with baitfish and jelly prawns jumping wildly in every direction along its path. I tied on that fly so rapidly hoping my knot would be sufficient given that the shaking of my hands in anticipation of the big fish opportunity was not helping - 'buck fever' I think it's called.

Just it time the knot was finished between the many rapid glances at the approaching bow wave, finally one quick cast right on target and first strip BANG - straight on - but no fight just meekly coming to the boat, even got the net out early but when the huge fish saw me, the boat and net - it went ballistic to put it mildly.

Line zipped out at an amazing speed (no big joining knot to hamper the out going line like last time - I fixed that on all my reels after the last trip and lost fish) 10-15minutes later I got it back to the boat and off it went again - twice this occurred. First run it took nearly all my 200 metres of backing and I was ready to drop anchor and chase it but it turned back to me.

Each run was a little shorter than the next but just as strong.

The next net shot arrived and I missed again - bugger! Double bugger! This fish was huge - an easy 120+cm, massively deep in shoulder width and body depth - one of the biggest fish I have had on fly since coming to Darwin, almost close enough to touch - TWICE!!! A bit like the time I was on a plane sitting next to a super model - but that was two things to touch, not close enough to touch twice! Missed the touch that time too!

At this last attempt to net the fish it took off again and about 10m from the boat it did a massive missile launch to what seemed several meters into the air, where it twisted and wrapped the leader around its body breaking me off.

I wasn't exactly happy but smiling all the same for the experience. 35minutes of mayhem and fun.

Love my fly fishing! Bring it on!

As for the busted....

Third cast I of the day, I finally broke my first fly rod while fly fishing in over 35years of fly fishing

This while high sticking the rod trying to grab line to haul in a small trevally. Silly old bugger!%#£€¥% -  this did piss me off.

Hope TFO have a good return policy for rods won in competitions.

Lastly, the 'done'......

I was so exhausted from the heat, fish caught and two monster fish missed, from casting stripping fighting and releasing fish after fish for the last 5+hours (and pissed about the broken rod tip of my favourite 7wt) that I was done, and it was only 11:30am when I left the fish still slashing into the bait

I was home in 20 minutes later, relaxing in the pool with a drink and lunch.

Really, Who would want to live in a capital city anywhere else in Australia! Go, Darwin with so much awesome fly fishing at your doorstep

MORE ON DREDGING

From the Stig 

Crosscut dredging Squid with mono loop 3D eyes

Talking about bottom bouncing the fly in the depths for bigger fish......

I had been wanting to tie some squid patterns for a past  SW comp – and based on the fun I was having tying with rabbit fur at the time (i.e. the Furry Crabs and the Barra Things), I thought I would use some white zonker or crosscut to form the body – the problem was – what about some light weight eyes so I can have the squid swimming rather than jigging as happens with bigger eyes that are usually lead based.

Putting together a few different ideas I have read in the past and what I had on hand in materials - this is what I came up with a mono loop for the eye. It worked awesomely for reef species off Dundee

I hope you like it and that it may give you some ideas.

Take thickish lead wire wrap down hook shank, tie over with. Thread and a touch of super glue

Tie in a few rubber skirt pieces from a spinner bait skirt

I bought a bunch of skirts online from Basspro and use them for crab and shrimp patterns

•   Take a long shank heavy duty hook of your choice

•   Tie in some pink marabou or rabbit (or whatever as long as it is vibrant in water) for squid beak section and creates colour contrast against the body materials)

•   Tie in a little flash twice says long as beak material

•   Also tie in two or so, slightly thicker & longer strips of plastic off one of those squid skirts used in big game fishing for the head of trolled gar baits.

•    

•   For the eyes & away from the tying vice form a tear shaped loop in heavy mono and wrap with tread to keep it in the desired shape leave long enough mojo tags to help with tying in later

•   Take a 3D prism eye and glue it to mono using a dollop of epoxy

•    

•   Back on hook shank near the start of hook bend - Add a lump of thread to help flare eyes later

•   You then tie in tags of mono to hook shank tying tightly right up to lump of thread to flare eyes

•   Add you rabbit fur strip to form body and you are done.

Then go dredging the depths for the big buggers.

  

Here is a close up of the mono loop before tying in the crosscut for the body

If short takes occur with nips at tentacles -  add a stinger hook with some braid - maybe use those red coloured chemically sharpened hooks.

DREDGING WITH DAVE

Report from Dave

Hi guys

Recently I have developed an interest in fishing deeper water with the fly. After some initial frustration where I straightened a few hooks on my billabong-style flies and also lost fish because I could not pick up line fast enough, I decided to change approach. I started by whipping up a few flies on sturdier hooks, solving the first part of the problem.

All too often as fly fishers we are scared to hook larger fish due to the pain of a protracted fight where the fish has the upper hand. Even on my 10wt I could do nothing to shift bigger blue water targets like GTs. With the aim of overcoming this, I invested in a Redington 14wt and a Cheeky Thrasher 475 reel.

I loaded up the reel with 300+ metres of 50lb braid and topped it with a Scientific Angler 600gr Bluewater Express sink tip. A lot of people use 25 or 30 feet of T17 or similar with a running line but I like the knot free experience of the SA line. A longish 20lb tippet with a short length of Tyger knottable wire (I use 30lb) for macks is all I need at the business end.

Dave testing the 14wt        Photo: Peter Zeroni

A tevor from the deep   Photo: Peter Zeroni

Goldie fell the another dredge fly  Photo:Peter Zeroni

Mac's had to be in on the action too      Photo Peter Zeroni

Anyway, it works a treat. I can fish deep and knock over fish like nobody's business. Anything down to about 30m is fair game with this approach. Purists may scoff but I see no reason why I should be undergunned just because I like fly fishing. The outfit is also very light and I can cast with it all day, so I can see some applications for extracting fish from the lilies too! 

I have attached a few pics. I would be interested to hear what you think - have I gone too far? I don't know but it is great fun!

At the other end of the spectrum, I have also bought a split cane 6wt to muck around with. It's a lot of fun to fish with and feels surprisingly modern in the hand.

Cheers - Dave

THE MOB'S CHRISTMAS PARTY REMINDER!

NT FLYFISHERS SOCIAL MOB CHRISTMAS PARTY SATURDAY 14th DECEMBER, 2013  

Email :  ntflyfisherssocialmob@gmail.com for more details.  But hurry !!!

STORMS AND JELLY PRAWNS

Just back from fishing the flats around Bynoe.  Some big storms came over while we were there, pushing a lot of fresh and cloudy water out of the smaller creeks.  The storms were that violent, Graeme had to pull his boat out each night because it was in danger of floundering in the heavy rain.

With the fresh running out came the jelly prawns.  At one creek we thought it was dirty water that salmon were rolling in but when the dirty water moved against the tide we realised it was a huge school of jellies.  Getting a hit on the fly in these schools was difficult initially, but as the storms laid off the hits started to come.  

At one spot, near the old ramp, opposite China wall in the Charlotte, there was probably a two hundred yard long area, just as the tide began to come in, that had every fish  rolling on the jellies in that two hundred yards just out of the bank.  We have never seen such big blue salmon, we are used to the 40cm to 50cm size, (which by the way are back in schools in the deep holes) but these rolling on the jellies were up to 70cm.

At that spot we found that a white and blue or sea foam DNA fly was unbeatable.  Everything hit it.  From the blue salmon to the tiny mouth almighty's, everything was feeding on jellies.  Barra were boofing right on the edges, so to catch them we had to cast either onto the mud and bring the fly back to the water, or you had to be able to do those casts under the mangroves, that the www. connection.mob (Williams, Williams and Williams) tried to teach us at the Ski Club a few months ago.  That is, stop/pause your forward cast to tighten the loop so it will go under the trees.  That's how I understand it anyway and we had a ball practicing those casts out there. We will need a refresher later on because if you are going to sight fish the flats, you need those accurate casts and be able to get them amongst the mangroves. (Hint for the www. connection.mob).

Just another bit of information too.  When the rain stops, its bloody hot and humid, take plenty of shade and fluid.  The heat seemed to affect a lot of small barra too.  On some of the larger flats you could see groups of them in about six inches of water, and they appeared to be drousy.  It took a fly to hit them to get them to move, and then they would just swim back into their mob.  They were only small, and they seem to be playing, running on their sides and running into each other.  It was only on the edge of these flats that we managed fish, and they came out of the drains, where I assume the water wasn't as hot.

There are huge bloody threadies out there though, rolling on their sides in the shallows and it needed very long casts to try and reach them on the big flats that were too shallow for the boat. (Even thought of walking the flats to get to them.)  You could see them about 100 feet away in Vigilant, going in circles and cleaning up the jellies.  We got a lot of distance casting practice there, but did no good on them.

Knife Island had heaps of bait balls, (not jellies) and the smaller pelagics were herding them up onto the edge of the island.  There was the odd big fish that came through as well, but the smaller fish, ranging from 40 to 60 for the queenies, and 20 to 40 for the trevours, kept taking the flies.

All in all we had a ball, and just a bit of advice, because we wanted a heap of photos, off both the camera and the go pro, I downloaded them each evening off the cameras onto the small computer, then wiped the card clean so I had plenty of room on them.  Now I can't get the bloody computer to work.  So when you down load off your memory card, don't delete them until you know you can get them back.