tough windy day.....

So I had the man flu - so I cancelled with usual SWOFFING partner Peter for fishing on Saturday

Come Saturday - I was feeling better, so the two of us went to the Darwin Boat show - not exactly the same caliber as a boat show on the east coast but all the same we went. Peter was chasing a 6 kilo or so, 7 foot spin rod for his wife to use on outings

We pulled apart every boat there as how unsuitable they were for fly fishing and the prices where ridiculously outrageous when compared to what I have been researching - like a 21 foot glass bay boat from the US, even with freight being far more value for money. But the comparison was unfair given the main market up here is for trolling the rivers for barra or dangling large lead weights with bait attached into deep offshore holes.

All this talk of fishing and the bits that go with it - got the optimism flowing and with flu tablets in hand we head out sunday morning to see what would eventuate.
5:30am at Peter's (well I was a bit late unusually), but on the water shortly after, and almost to Lee Point by the time the sun started peeping over the city.

The water is slightly choppy, with wind around 5knots from SE.
High tide was about 2 hours before, low tide would be 11:20am

Conditions were very similar to the time I got 7 tuna to hand and dropped 5 a few weeks ago
But it was tough going, with wind and tide not quite right
Tuna that did show were very flighty and then gone as if they had never been there
The birds were everywhere but not concentrated except above large schools of long finned trevally
Wasted a lot of time a lot of time chasing these

We cruise about and cruise about, we follow birds, we chase splashes
Eventual Peter spots some more splashes near a shallow reef in close to shore, water depth 13-16 feet at that stage of the tide.
Peter gets in a cast as we cut the motor Momentum of the boat doesn't allow me to get any movement on the fly but Peter testing out his "wife's" new spinning rod with a chrome lure, with a new reel with a high ratio of of retrieval hooks up and the fish goes off, almost spooling him before I could get the electric motor following the fish that seemed to be heading for the horizon and nothing was going to stop it

Peter starts to get some line back and the worry of being spooled ebbs and we start to enjoy the initial speed and then prolonged power of these wonderful fish

With that fish at hand, we quickly travel back to the previously hook up area hoping for more
Again the fish are there
Peter again hooks up first, this fish not running as hard so I risk cast back into the region we are drifting away from due to wind and tide

The flyline is, amazingly all laid out nicely for a change - no crap cast, no tailing loop, for once a lovely tight loop unfurling behind the boat to lay straight out on the water. I give the fly a few seconds to sink.

I hear Peter's reel singing as line is being rapidly ripped off the reel against his drag.
I turn to see what direction it is running thinking I may have to repeat the previous episode of chasing his fish with the electric.

I start to strip my line in as fast as I can (to then assist Peter) and I only get two strips in, and the line comes up tight.
You beauty!!

With Peter's fish heading one way and mine the other it is a bit crazy for a while. Peter gets his close to the boat, mine is heading for the same horizon as Peter's first fish. I have 10 or 20 wraps of backing left by the time my fish stops its first headlong run.

Peter's is circling the boat by this time but it bends the light single hook he had on the lure and gets off when almost to hand.

Now I can concentrate on my fish. I start to get line back but this fish is dogged in its struggle for freedom.

I get the fish back to the boat but unlike my tuna from my last successful tuna trip this fish starts the circling and diving deep when it can.

It puts up a valiant fight.

I was using my 7 weight so I could not really put too much pressure in it, though I did put one or two times a mighty bend in it.

While I was working the fish hard with rod direction changes and trying to flip it over on the turn - that fish really put it to me and it took far longer than previous tuna I had caught at Lee Point to get to hand. Though in my defence I was handicapped (my excuse) as when bleeding Peter's fish at the back of the boat and he was motoring back to the hook up area - I was laying over the side and rolled a canopy support inbetween a couple of ribs. Talk about getting soft - it hurt like hell.

Eventually we got the fish to hand (82cm to fork) and we head back to previous hook up area

But by the time we got back to the hook up area - the tide had dropped and the fish had gone. - bugger!

With a taste of success we keep hunting and chasing but no more tuna.
We fish a smudge in the water that is a mixture of tiny bait, a heap of small queenies and a couple of larger specimens circling the area.

We get a few queenies, Peter drops one large queenie that spat the lure during a very high but totally  unattractive - jump-twist and flop back into the water

We chase these quite a while, for the last part of our time the fish seemed to be doing some sort of mating ritual rather than taking bait off the surface. up rapidly and back down. We try various flies and lures to no avail.

I did hook up strangely and unexpectedly a bat fish and a barracuda.

Also had a nice Tarpon on for a bit - that broke me off and then proceed to stick it to me by porposing and high jumping in front of the boat with my fly in the corner of its mouth.

Eventually the wind which has moved around to the north creates waves and chop too ugly to remain at this location and we head back to ramp. Defeated for most of the day with the frustration of chasing and chasing but re-addicted by the one tuna we caught each - and left wanting more of that sizzling run and power!

OH, again the fly for the day was the silicone surf candy (its on its cheek - was right down its throat during the fight with the leader tucked safely in the corner of its mouth - so lucky given the extended fight!)

I want more! 

What about you?

No fly fishing but some fly tying at least

Most free time lately has been working around the tradies at our new house  which has occupied most weekends

But with wife away on conference this week, and a couple of school camps over the next two weeks however gives me heaps of brownie points for fly fishing opportunities

So while I can't be on water as much as I like - at least plenty of time for fly tying - well once rugrats into bed and asleep of course - so have been tying flies in the evenings (and in non class lesson at work!) on a great note: the youngest daughter is showing a great interest in my "man craft" of fly tying - might be a next generation tyer in the family.

So over the last week........

Firstly tied 50x 2/0 clousers - had heaps of size 1 tiny whities but need a few larger clousers for the bigger pelagics currently targeting in open water (above wrecks and reefs etc)

Great simple fly to tie - catches everything!
while some bag the fly out - it is a must have when all the 'realistic' flies are not working.

While bucktail was the originally material use for the pattern when it arrived on the scene in 1987 - thanks Bob C (30 some years ago, been that long that I have been tying it!), the range of synthetics is vast and far more durable, then again a while ago I exclusively  used marabou which is very fragile in a pelagics mouth - go figure! Have also used goat hair and calf tail for smaller hook sizes this prefered to synthetics for tiny versions.

A great fly as most will tell you and to quote Lefty Kreh

I believe that this pattern is the most important and effective underwater fly developed in the past 20 years. During the past three years I have been able to catch 63 species of fish in fresh and saltwaters around the world with this pattern!

— Lefty Kreh 1994 in The Professionals' Favorite Flies

I tend to tie the pattern more traditional in style (I think that's the term for my versions) than some clousers out there that use a crazy charlie style wing where both wings are on hook point side of shank.

Rather............
I tie in eyes first on top of hook shank - half way between hook point and hook eye
Then I tie in a touch of flash material two or three strands for 1s-2/0 sized flies (some use more)- wrapping this material to hook shank most of the way to hook bend (less fouling of flash material hopefully also keeps the flash inside of the two wing material tufts - hopefully to create depth and subtlety of the flash

Some tie the flash material long, well past all the other materials but I like mine imbedded in other materials (less tail nipping??? who knows but works for me!)

Next tied in is the first wing material - this is the wing material that is usually the lightest colour, the one that will be on bottom of pattern as it moves through the water after being inverted by the weight of the eyes (it's all about the physics - I am sure someone has explained how and why the fly inverts somewhere on the web - look it up maybe when you have a bit of time)

I wrap this wing material on top of the hook shank from in front of the eyes to about ten wraps of thread past the tie in point of eyes as this helps stop the eyes from moving if your tie in method is a little slack (a few thread wraps under eyes and a couple cross wraps over eye tie in point helps too) - adding a touch or brush of nail polish with each material added to the hook - this helps to make fly more durable.

A side note - the length of the wing material is usually between 1.5 to 2 times the hook shank length but it really depends on the material you have and what you are tying the pattern for. but that's a start for wing length at least

I then turn hook over in the vice and tie in second tuft of wing material, wrapping it from hook eye to just in front of the eye tie in point - causes the wing to rise slightly - so when the fly is stripped the material pulses and then spreads - adding more movement to the pattern - well I think so anyway

And that's it - tie off thread and give another coating of nail polish to the thread areas!

So tie it, better still tie 20 of them!
Take them to the water and get one of them in the water!
It's how you get a fish to tighten your line! it makes you smile lots!
Go for it! Just do it!

Last lot of flies tied during the past week - were 42 silicone surf candies

21x 2/0 and 21x size 1

(was tying 20 of each but must have lost count somehow!!)

Need a heap of these as I keep giving them away to people, 5 or more at a time

Search through my past blogs - somewhere you will find a step by step blog entry on how to tie these very successful patterns - I never launch the boat without them! A full box of them just in case!

Looking forward to using them all - hopefully on coming weekend for at least one day out of the two available

Tight lines everyone