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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.

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

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

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3 comments:

  1. Roger Bassett6 November 2013 at 10:23

    Looks like fun Dave, we have a couple of similar rigs for in the deep too. Great for when the fish are on a deep reef, I don't think you can ever go too far if you are fishing and having fun. Remember "The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing."
    ~ Herber Hoover

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  2. Unknown6 November 2013 at 14:43

    Bloody top idea mate! Just because you like to swath doesn't mean you have a limp wrist. Givem nothing!
    Watty👣

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  3. Unknown8 November 2013 at 07:44

    When you fish that deep. Jewies etc. I put a little bit of foam in the fly to keep it off the bottom and stop snagging,haven't done this for a long time but bit like jigging it works.
    Purists aren't that common anymore its what you choose to do.
    In Bynoe the biggest Spaniards are often in deep holes. Caught a Tarpon in 25ms once out there.

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