Saltwater Fly Fishing (SWOFFING) Darwin, NT: Fly choices and tactics for the Darwin 2025 Saltwater Competition October 3rd,4th&5th

The 26th Territory Saltwater Fly Fishing Challenge is being held on the 3^rd, 4^th and 5th October 2025.

This is a challenging fly fishing contest held in the fish rich waters of Bynoe Harbour, 1.5 hours drive south west of Darwin city. This vast natural harbour, with its myriad of fishing options, is a fly fishing haven. There are ample mud flats that provide outstanding run-off sight fishing opportunities. The usual rocky outcrops, islands, creeks and tidal estuaries provide numerous surface and deep water fly fishing challenges. the waters hold a vast array of species.

This is a catch and release tournament that focuses on seven specified target species :

Barramundi,
Salmon,
Tarpon,
Queenfish,
Trevally,
Mackerel and
Snapper.

The Challenge is to land all of the 7 species in one day. You can submit scores for 20 fish per specified species, and you can also get points for every thing else you can convince to take your flies.

Tides for the 2025 competition will be rising neaps with not much tidal movement, chosen for the best flats fly fishing opportunities, but this choice in turns limits the mackerel and other pelagic type species who like more water working through the harbour system and its ‘choke’ points or current confluences.

Day 1 tides

Each day's success is about choice of species to target and the location you will target them - and then adjusting your plan if you are hanging too long in one location without catching a target species.

My initial plan is probably start with targeting mackerel and queenfish first up where some water is flowing with candies, poppers and craft fur baitfish fly patterns.

We (my team up with Peter) feel confident to get these two species based on previous comps but we want to get them quick so we can move onto other species to give us more time if possible on the flats. these are species with which you can rack up lots of points if they are about, but last few comps the mackerel have been scarce - so again the dilemma of the choice of comp points based on catching lots of fish or focusing on species based points comp - comes in to the planning and choices to be made throught each day of fishing.

Then a quick move to a few rock bars for snapper, trevally, with some shrimpy patterns. for the flies in image below the top right is a redfish crack type with large shrimp eyes, going clockwise we have another redfish crack type fly, then a shrimp pattern on a jig hook and main ingredient of a brush with micro legs, then a great fly I have used in past for bonefish on Xmas island but upsized for Darwin rockbar applications - based on a fly called a Ghost Sprimp, lastly the iconic 'Squimp' which at times can be very effective in all sorts of situations. (others in the past have used the most simple plain white clousers all day and done well points wise but where is the fun in all the possible tying prep prior to the comp in that idea!)

Then depending on timing of tide we will be on our way to the flats for barramundi and hopefully a threadfin salmon = these hopefully caught on 'redfish crack' type flies above and on the best flats fly in the 2024 Salt comp for us – based on the US Snook type fly – the Estuary Minnow, this as tide drops out of the mangroves and barra move onto the flats to target baitfish etc emerging out of mangroves – we will have an hour either side of the low being the best timing for these two species,

Below is a barra caught on an Estuary Minnow (olive) in last year's comp. Ended up being largest caught for the 2024 comp at 62cm. Hoping for bigger this year (dont we always hope and dream!)

Lastly (or maybe earlier on Day3 due to tides progressing), some back creek holes for a tarpon, also a chance of a beach salmon if we did not get a blue or a threadfin salmon on the flats. These locations up the creeks are better at top of tide but best to target the other harder species so its a dilemma of choice when to move on or arrive.

I have in past comps managed several good sized tarpon at first light, but at other end of the harbour - but travel times are reduced is we stay in the region we fishing in last years comp.

The tactics on these back creeks bores me to tears, cast tiny flies on sinking lines, wait ages for it to sink to bottom of hole (20-30feet), fast retrieve, repeat until you get a tiny one (most are) but it does help you get the last of the 7 species if no other option works and time is limited.

And you do want to target the seven species in a day from a competition result perspective as the points for seven species is considerable. Only 9 or so anglers have done it before in the competition’s history so it aint easy as planning to catch the seven. Though one angler did it on each of the 3 days in a previous comp.

So that’s the plan – pending weather conditions, prevailing or changing winds, it is also the start of the wet season so early and large amounts of rain can greatly affect the fish species and numbers caught!

But at least the flies are tied!

Now I just have to catch the fish!