My top five fly fishing video likes

I love making my own Saltwater fly fishing (SWOFFING) videos however, I am just not in the league of the some of the talented fly fishing short film makers out there. watching them gives me something identifiable to strive for in my film making. 

All facets - music selection, image quality, fish caught, locations, equipment, techniques, inspiration - all astoundingly put together.

Aside from Graeme's awesome full length video (Northern Estuary by Insight Fly Fishing) that I watch repeatedly again and again and again........
So much so even my students at my school know exactly whats coming up next! as it is always playing on the big screen projector in the science lab between classes.

Here are my top five in ascending order......
#5 Satori (by same guys as #3)
This video demonstrates the dedication and attitude needed to catch that fish of a life time.

#4 Bad Lands
This clip has three or so SWOFFERs harassing (or being harassed?) by a large school of large Giant Trevally boiling the surface like a school of baitfish. The way the attacking GTs are bulging the surface of the water and shouldering each other aside in an attempt to grab the fly, makes me hold my breathe every time - in a way 'willing' the fish to get the fly and for the line to go taunt singing as it rips through the water. Love it!

#3 Drake Permit
This clip is awesome in its presentation of some single-minded and dedicated SWOFFERs chasing an elusive fish. Absolutely hilarious part where a guy so happy with a good permit on his line one minute changes to a foaming at the mouth wreck seconds later (caution: a few swear words) - we have all been there, haven't we. the guys who produce tis clip have quite a few top-class fly fishing clips.

#2 Bulls of Top
I guarantee that any SWOFFER watching this clip could not contain an emphasized gasp each time the fish in the video miss or nudge the surface fly, time and time again the fish look, half take but no hook up. then there is a series of takes, hard aggressive takes of the surface flies. then the over sized fish posed with their happy captors. such a well structures video. (love the little jig one of the SWOFFERs does early in the clip as they head out to the location - so full of expectation.

#1. Poon Porn
This video gets my casting arm twitching so rapidly, the lines of massive tarpon moving towards the anglers - makes we want to immigrate, today! the massive fish in shallow water, leaping, twisting and turning so rapidly to dislodge the small hook in comparison to head size- amazing.

But there are so many more ............
Go to these three links when you can
7Degrees south - exceptional video on remote island fly fishing - full version on vimeo
High in The Lowlands - about twenty minutes long on Everglades in Florida but same sort of terrain as our northern mangrove areas great inspiration and more dedicated anglers. Also great music by the 'Gator Boys'.
Exmouth, WA  - great fly fishing on Australia's west coast

also go to vimeo.com and look at fly fishing channels - lots of speckled ferals (a.k.a. trout) but find the saltwater gems amongst them

Lee Point-Darwin Harbour report 24th Aug

I almost went back to bed Sunday morning! mostly from frustration.
Because.....
On Saturday there was so little wind in the morning that even a light mist was clinging to the ground on the oval near my house
The trees were as still as I had seen them for a month
I actually dared to raise my hopes of a glassed off morning on the harbour on the next day!

However........on Sunday morning at 5:30am the trees were basically bending over to the wind! Palm fronds flaying about in the strong wind - BUGGER!!!!

But with the usual optimism (studpidity?) SWOFFERS seem to posses overpowered the logic of strong winds and I drove to my mate's place near Nightcliff boat ramp - at the time I was thinking Option 2 and Saratoga at Corroboree that I discussed in a previous blog would have been a far better choice

On launching the boat - I still had issues because if the wind was this strong now, it would only get stronger through the day as with almost every other day this month of August! So what was the point, "go home now", my logical mind was saying but my casting arm won the argument and we ventured forth.

In the positive, it was much better launching at Nightcliff, it saves 35 minutes run time to Lee Point than if we had launched at East Arm. In the negative, the ramp is not a steep ramp, quite shallow and with my large tyres that I have on my trailer it means the back tyres of my ute are three-quarters underwater - not good for any metal on my truck! (even though i spray everything at back of ute with lanolin spray)


After a short 5-8minute run to Lee Point at 27knots average, there was 20-30cm of wave chop but the smoke in the air created an awesome pink globe type sunrise gradually, changing to orange then to yellow that was spectacular to watch and was enough to keep us fishing

Then miraculously the wind started to dissipate, the chop died down and it turned in a great morning

Very large schools of big garfish were breaking the surface and large slashes by predators were inducing them to jump about. Smaller bait were also around too, mostly hugging the rock bars at Lee Point that were being exposed by the dropping tide. The predators were herding these food sources against these reef/rock bars

The deckie was racking up the species scoreboard points by catching a variety of reef species - snapper, stripies and parrots on clousers but thought he would go to a large fly and had instant success on the grey mackerel about - but in the crystal clear water watching them follow the fly, slash at the fly, come steaming in from the side and swipe at the fly, or follow the fly right to the boat and then turn away or drop into the depths out of sight - all this kept us casting and casting for a couple of hours.


I went the opposite way  to my deckie and was using a small surface candy size 1, that I would normally use for freshwater tarpon in the billabongs and hooked a few mackerel myself. One took my fly as I paused my stripping to look at something and I just came up tight, only a few metres from the boat. Happened a second time  too but I got cut cutoff so easily on my 20lb fluorocarbon leader. At other times a fast strip of the fly got the macks excited and worked well hookup wise.

Almost every cast and retrieve brought some interest from the large number of grey mackerel about
I did have one quite large Spanish mackerel show show interest in the fly I was casting, so easily different to identify from the grey mackerel in size, markings and colour - it followed the fly right to the boat and its rapid turn caused a swirl of water that was as large as my 4.7m boat - so awesome to watch in the clear water of this neap tide - of course it would have been much better had it hooked up!

We only lost a few flies, so didn't bother with wire traces - the fish were not exactly leaping onto our flies, almost like they had full stomachs and were window shopping with out buying anything

A sporadic pod of longtail tuna starting busting up three hundred metres away but before we got there some lure tossers (and I do mean 'tossers') drove them away, or down?, by driving their boat through them a few times. A kayaker nearby was just as frustrated by their lack of skill in maneuvering their boat upwind and drifting into casting distance from the pod - especially given all the paddling he had done to get there amongst the longtail pod about 1.5 km from shore.

After a few hours of these grey mackerel herding bait against the rock bars and following our flies half halfheartedly, it was time for something else, something bigger, somewhere else - and with the wind still very low in intensity, we drove across the front of harbour looking for birds working  but sadly found nothing. We did get chased along by some naval vessels impressive in their size and weaponry. There was about four larger sized frigates or missile cruisers entering the harbour as we cross it - hoping we were identified as masked gunmen racing our 'speed boat' towards them..

Off Mandorah point on other side of harbour and its outer rock bars - we again found nothing, so we travelled along the shore line and rock bars looking for some action
On a rock bar 200 meters south of Mandorah I had a follow from a 50-60cm barra which woke us from our fishing stupor. The shape of the head, the silver side and that obvious yellow tail made it easy to identify- bugger - missed my nemisis again!

Peter got a small hand sized queenie, while I got a small coral trout on the surf candy, its iridescent blue spots brilliant in the bright light. Both fish taken from very tight up against the rock bar.

There was a dark patch of rock in front of the rock bar (95% exposed at this time of the tide) that turned out to be a school of about 20 largish blue bastards handing behind a rock down current of the tide that was starting to come in

Peter (the deckie kicking my butt in the scorecard today!) inquired about what they ate and what fly, so I got him to tie on one of my BFCW (Bynoe Flats Crustacean Wannabees) as a possible crab/prawn food source. On second cast Peter thought he had snagged the fly, only to have the 'rock' start to move about. He had hooked one of the bastards,sadly the fly come lose after a short run - bugger! Peter was impressed by their strength (so looks like we will be targeting them more often now and tying some more crab like patterns - see future blogs for my feeble crab like fly attempts).


So on that action, we cruised the flat around the corner of this rock bar searching for more bastards, but found trevally, well we spooked trevally, some more spooked bastards. Peter did get a small coral trout on the BFCW fly.

The water was crystal clear but I am using the chop and flash of sunlight on it as my excuse for spooking more fish that I got to cast to.

Later we moved our way further into the harbour with the wind hurrying us along and we found some working birds and got some more grey mackerel behind woods inlet. (that's the point at front of Woods Inlet behind the coral trout, in the right of picture)

Without more indication of fish activity we moved over to Weed Reef and again found nothing.
By this time the wind speed and white caps on the waves was increasing rapidly. So headed  for the leeward side of the harbour near the naval base. There we got chased out of the naval area by some seaman in one of their inflatable pursuit boats - first time in five years I have been chased out of there, weird? might have been due to the extra naval presence in harbour.

With wind still increasing and large swell coming straight down the harbour from the north - plus no fish activity showing we headed back to Nightcliff ramp
With the expected strong winds finally arriving - the assaulting waves and wind wash that we pounded through on way to Nightcliff ramp wasn't much fun - it was a slow wet trip back - but hey its better then working on a Sunday!

Now to start planning the next trip!

'Hall Pass' awarded to me, finally! - now where to go SWOFFING?

Ok, I have been a good father and husband this week and even though I have time constraints due to a an essay that is due shortly...
I have earned a 'hall pass' to go fishing this Sunday - but where to go?

Option One: Darwin harbour
The tides are ones I like - neaps tides working towards spring tides with Sunday's high of 6.4 just before sunrise at 5:55am, low of 2.4 m at midday.
This is good as I can fish first light at Weed Reef or other rock bars like Lee Point for pelagics as the tide starts to drop then fish the harbour arms for some flats species - be home just after lunch time - but hopefully action continues and I can fish the rising tide and the current lines for more pelagics till late in the afternoon.


The only minus is the wind forecast - with 5-10 knot winds first up with patches of higher and lower wind speeds varying through the day - thinking about it its not too bad of a forecast if it stays true.

Would be on the water 6:30am with the predawn light and out to Weed Reef by 6:50am, We would choose actually location we fish first by wind speed and direction and time of tide.

The next decision would be which boat ramp and that depends on where I choose to fish first up to target pelagics like queenfish and treavally - so the first fishing location is down to two places - Lee Point (as too for the bonus of possible Broadbarred Mackeral and Longtail Tuna) or Weed Reef and its usually dependable species.

If Lee Point it would be from Nightcliff but you need a 2.5m tide to retrieve the boat - so that's a mid-afternoon ramp return option with this tide which can also be a problem if wind increases and I cant put in till tide rises.

Otherwise - its East Arm ramp which is good in all but the lowest spring tides - and to take advantage of the low tide flats and other locations to fish on the way back into the harbour as the day progresses.

So option one is looking OK

Option Two: Corroboree Billabong
Tides are not the issue but water temp is - its been quite cold nights recently, down to single digits in the rural areas last week but day time temps at in low 30's. Plus it is a long drive  (am I talking myself out of this option already?).
In the positive wind is less of an issue as less intensity in an inland wind and lots of curves in the billabong to find a point get out of wind. Plus the wind can help with some very good drift lines along the edges of the lillies and weed beds

And I do love my Saratoga fishing, and if we left home at 6am we could be on the water by 8am just as the sun is warming the water. We might miss out on dawn topwater fly action which always worth a long drive but the fish will get quite active between 9am-3pm on sub surface flies and the warming water.

Option Three - Vernon Islands.
Still trying to get here again!!!!

But my inexperience and possible increasing wind have me scared off this option. It can be pretty intense wave action here due to wind and tide in between the islands - especially in my low profile boat. I might wait till the calm weather returns at beginning of the wet season for this much longed for trip. (What an old and soft wuss I am becoming!)

I will chat to my 'deckie', and a friend who might bring his boat, to decide what option we will take.

Fishing report in next blog - hopefully with some fish in it!

Life is crazy busy lately

Sorry no blogs lately - life is crazy busy - worse still no fishing happening!

A friend and long time Darwinite tells me, he never goes fishing in the month of August due to the winds
Now I understand him, every morning lately 5-10 knots of wind and rising in intensity through the day
That is except when I can't take a day or even a few hours off and wouldn't you know it - the wind dissipates  
              - uuurrghhhh!    --    Soooooo  frustrating!

Still there is fly tying.......
I have so many flies tied as the wind howls outside, that I may not need to tie anymore till Christmas

I may have to donate a few to local fly club again for door prizes - so I have the excuse to tie some more

These ones are one of the very first saltwater flies
The main ingredient is bucktail

BUCKTAIL BAITFISH - catches most SW predator species
I tie a little flash at bend of hook
Over this I tie some polar fibre - pink or white but mostly white
From hook bend to half way along shank tie some ice chenille - I mainly use pearl ice chenille
Then reverse hook and tie on a bunch of white bucktail with the tips point past the eye of the hook
Put hook right way up then tie on contrasting bucktail colour
wind thread all the way to the eye of the hook being careful not to tie last few wraps of thread too tightly as it may flare the bucktail too much
Ensure all fibres are flat on hook shank, then on front quarter of hook shank apply a few wraps of lead wire up to eye of hook
Apply a few wraps of thread over the lead wire - then apply a little super glue to hold it all in place
Place thread at start of lead wire
Fold bucktail back over the hook shank
Wrap thread at this point to form head of fly - you want the head to bulge a little - the lead wire helps do this
Again be careful not to tie last few wraps of thread too tightly as it may flare the bucktail too much
Tie off thread - optionally I have tied on a band of red thread here to form gills
Give head a lite coating of epoxy - place on drying wheel
Once dry (better if still a little tacky), place on a prism eye on each side of head
Give head another lite coating of epoxy - place on drying wheel
Tie twenty or so or more, and go fishing!

Enjoy!

Barra Thing tying instructions

So was it windy on the weekend - NO!!!!!   (crazy BOM wind forecast)
Did I get anything done that I wanted - NO!!!!  (brother-in-law pinched the tools I wanted before I could!)

So no SWOFFING!, and nothing off the 'to do' list (except reading a few journal articles for an essay I am writing for my Masters Study)
At least I got some fly tying done

Here is one of my top flies - the Barra Thing, that I tied 30 or so of over the weekend.
I don't know the origins of the fly but looking at it, it is definitely a whistler style fly
I have been using it for as long as I can remember
It is a simple fly, easy to tie. using a few and easily obtained materials - mainly rabbit zonker.
I have caught most Estuarine species with this one, in the fresh too where Corroboree billabong Saratoga love a red headed one either white or black for the tail. Even got a small freshwater croc on one once, on a fishing trip to the top of Cape York many many years ago.
The fly has heaps of pulse and push through the water, or fished crawling along the bottom ever so slow
when it has a weed guard - toss into the mangroves or right at the back of the lilly pads


Take you chosen hook and lay down a bed of thread
Tie in a weed guard, I use 20lb nylon covered wire, that hooks over the hook point - leave it straight till it is in use.

Tie in dumbbell, beadchain or other eyes depending on desired fly sink rate - I have used plastic eyes for patterns I want to fish very shallow water with

Tie in some flash, I like using two colours of flash based on the main chosen colours of body and collar materials

Tie in a piece of zonker at bend of hook (extra wide - magnum size I think it is known as commercially) if you have it or can get it)

Unseen in photos but tie in some ice chenille for one third of hook shank - colour appropriate for zonker colours used


Then tie in your contrasting coloured zonker or cross cut rabbit strip between the chenille and the weighted eyes - fill this area thickly with material.

You can then tie in a narrow collar in front of the main collar to add more contrast but I don't do this always - just with this black/red version I really like casting to Saratoga

Tie some more and go SWOFFING!

As you can see below I tie this pattern alot and use it a lot .

you can use all white ones in the salt that work - awesomely!
You can carry permanent markers of various colours and depending on food source, add bars or dots when on the water.
The two tone zonker strips work wonderfully as well

No fishing this weekend - just a little fly tying

Some fish have been caught midweek by others (see  tales from the tinny Facebook), exactly where I was on Sunday in 20_ knot winds, at least it wasn't on the fly. Sadly, I don't think I will be SWOFFING this weekend!

The wind forecast is way up for this Sunday and I really have to make some steel brackets for a bench seat I am making for students at the school I work at - extra credit activity! Additionally, my last subject for my Masters study has also started - essay due in four weeks, article responses every week for next six weeks. uuggghhh!!!!

So seeing I cant always go SWOFFING, I am so glad I have fly tying to break the stress and tension of my busy life.

So on this Sunday instead of being out in hte boat, I will be cutting and welding rather than casting, retrieving, striking and 'yaaahoooing' the many fish I could have caught.

So,tying some flies for that next possible trip I haven't fixed a date for as yet is the next best thing - if not foreplay.

My tying desk is quite untidy at the moment. I had this made almost 20 years ago now, from the day it arrived home, it was too small and has been ever since, I really need five times as many draws now, to make it tidy!

Once I get the write up done of what I was tying, I will post  the step by step image or video.

Sunday 20140804 report - too damned windy!!!!!

The Wind was up from first light - bugger!
But we still went and launched the boat in the predawn light and headed out front of the harbour for the hoped chance of a tuna or mackerel - wind chop already 10-15cm. The area around the ore loader was like a wash tub - waves every which way tossing my little 4.75m Stessl ProTournmanent punt every which way as well.

Along the way and once at Lee Point - not a thing to be seen in the 20-30cm chop - let alone trying to cast in the exposed region of Lee Point rock bars.


After an hour of being blown about on Lee point, we hugged the coastline checking for probable schools of blue salmon on the Casuarina beaches but none were seen. We kept punching through the chop back into the harbour and the wind. Half way back we found a pod of Fringefin Trevally (Pantolabus radiatus) off Nightcliff rocks but little else. These pretty and little trevally (can grow to 40cm) were scooting through hammering very small bait. They would have looked great in the saltwater aquarium I am trying to build at school.


We worked the usually spots on the way back to the ramp for no sighted fish or bird action

The wind was getting up maybe 20-25+ knots, white caps on every wave and decent swell. My boat with its 60hp merc, loaded with two big 6foot plus guys and esky full of drink and ice can do 27 knots over calm water. However, the part of the trip from Darwin wharf (Stokes Wharf) to the Ore loader it was 5 knots max with the swell, wave and wash assaulting us as if some body was throwing a bucket of water over us every second wave - not enjoyable at all!

When we got to Shelly Island in front of the ore loader we found a touch of respite on the leeward side of it but still no fish.

Not wanting to head back to the ramp as yet and given tide was just starting to turn for the day, we thought we would give the flats at Wickham point a go before it got too skinny. Along the way the Rocks and its several large mangroves that sometimes hold queenfish and trevally at high tide that face the Ore loader were searched - again nothing. Further around the point we were sheltered by the peninsula from the worst of the wind if we stay in close. Positively, we started seeing baitfish being harassed and movement of larger fish at the edge of the mangroves.

The water was very dirty as if stirred up. In amongst the dirty water we saw occasional flashes and surface slashes particularly at the merging area of dirty and clean water, that got us casting with more purpose than at any other part of the day.

We managed a few small queenies, though nothing to break out the camera for (sub 30cm size). There were some other larger fish about but they were focused on puffing up the sand and whatever they found to eat in it. Not too sure what species they were as not quite blue salmon or the like, nor queenies. They had a blueish tinge about them, forked tail with black on the tail, about 30cm long and lots of them swimming around in the dirty water - we could not interest them in any type of flies - they were also very flighty.

After an hour or so there we steadied ourselves for some rough water and headed over to Little West Arm for hopefully some snake drain and barra action as the tide dropped. It was another slow wet ride. Once there we could have done with about a meter less water as the tide timing wasn't right nor were the fish cooperative.

It was a first time visit to the arm for me - it looks like a very productive water. So need to and must plan a return trip with a better tide. The main fish we found were three one meter sharks heading out of the arm, there were also plenty of baitfish and archerfish on most side creeks and drains. But none of the desired fish were found. We went right up to the three ways rock bar (1-2 metres underwater at the tide time we were there) and went 5 or 6 hundred metres up the middle creek, casting repeatedly to the mangrove edges and drains as were moved along.

About 3pm, enough was enough, the wind had exhausted us - we headed home. Out the front of Little West arm, the wind had dropped off a bit, maybe down to 10 knots and the wind with the tide rather than against it as earlier in the day, so the ride home was much gentler on us.

In summary, not much of a day first time back on NT saltwater for my deckie Peter after four weeks back in his home of Canada chasing steelhead and the like but much warmer at least. We wrote this day down to experience and begin to look forward to our next trip.

I was thinking as I write this trip report, of next Sunday as a possible but the wind again is predicted to stay strong - so might head to freshwater instead of Vernon island group as previously blogged about. I will discuss the options in my next blog.

My wife didn't agree with this or find it funny

I thought it was spot on and hilarious check out link - http://www.drakemag.com/back-issues/