Fly fishing hiatus soon to be over - hopefully!

Recently no fishing (as you can see by no blogs writing about my swoffing exploits recently)
  - must be at least 6 weeks of not a fly line in the water
Some has been work related and when it was family stuff keeping me off the water

One of the road blocks to SWOFFING, was that I have been off on a school excursion for two weeks with 23 students and six other adults walking parts of the Larapinta Trail west of Alice Springs - and not much water round there (Northern Purple Spotted Gudgeons (max 20cm) - yes but living always in no-fishing areas
And then once back last weekend - needing a few days recovering from all cooking and organizing I was doing during the trip etc

Since back - work is really starting to suck the life out of me lately, with sooooo much paperwork and 'waste of time' tasks - it is all beyond a joke

So I am now sooooooooooooo ready for a SWOFF - it aches

Conveniently, a recent club meeting I attending was very informative
One fellow SWOFFER (Tony) briefly shared his successful tactics and flies for the larger macks at Lee Point. He gracefully had step by step stages of his favourite fly for these applications for us to look at and photograph (Don't you just love those guys with the knowledge and the experience who actually freely share it for no other reason than to help others catch fish too! kudos to Tony!!)

For the last couple of months it has been these larger macks as a species, in a size and in particualr the flies to target them - that my regular SWOFFING partner, Peter, and I have been working on

In prep for my next outing on the water - whenever? who knows? given no boat trailer roadworthy enough for my boat and Peter being busy (after i told him I couldn't fish this week end and then back flipping after his wife booked his time!) )

So for this next outing I have been tying a few flies in Tony's style but not his quality for myself
the flies i tied are not exactly the same at Tony's yes a few garfish flies but with a tinge of blue, had no red thread for nose so these are pink nosed, (and big time 'fugly'!!!!) Tony's were delicate awesomely tied fly and had "eat me" written all over them. mine are the both big ugly sisters in the Cinderella story in the one fly

Also tied a few 'no see em' rogy dodgy style flies -
All with a long piece of wire attached pre tying stage

Tony used a small metal ring in the leader and but I just did a loop in the wire (due to not having any metal rings the right size). this will readily take a lefty's loop knot or a loop from a surgeons knots to join the leader to the wire loop

Here's hoping the next outing is soon!

20160710 - Lee Point - more Macks and Queens

So tides were not the best, 10knot wind forecasted for most of the day
But we got out there anyway- you cant catch fish sitting at home (tie flies - yes! Fish - no!)

Met a boat of DFR members putting in the water as we were readying to launch our boat
Caught up with them off East Point where a plethora of boats were chasing the queenfish blowing apart the water surface periodically

We all get a few queenfish (the fly fishers anyway!)

After a bit of fun with a few strong queenfish in the raging currents, we leave the DFRs and another ten boats of various bait danglers and lure tossers behind and head off to Lee Point to target the edges of ant bait schools in the deeper water of high tide at Lee Point - hopefully a few tuna about (there wasn't!!)

We find a bit of bait about but no consistency in their location or movement - nor large predators harassing them - or that took a liking to our flies! So we target the current and pressure lines caused by the water moving over and around the reef lines and find plenty of small to medium predatory fish. A heap of mackerel (greys) up on and near the reef sections. A cast to the reef saw out flies being chased by multiple macks as they come off the edge

You had to get the retrieval speed right to get a take, - plenty of tail strikes so at times it took the speed of a water haul or a roll cast to get a strong take and thus a hook up from the macks
Which meant the hook up strip strike wasn't the best - so we loose a few, get a few
Peter commented he had never seen so many macks, acting the way they were as they chased and harassed the flies all the way to the boat - huge numbers of fish about in such poor conditions

Its tough fishing too - lots of swell coming across Shoal Bay with the strong easterly wind, crescending as the wave motion came over the reefs into high chop and swell making standing on the boat quite difficult at times
We are getting fish regularly but Peter had a rough and exhausting time standing on top casting deck in the swell and wind
A rearrangement of tackle boxes gives his some relief as the loose line falls off the top deck in a less tangle prone area now  - much better

We are catching plenty grey macks and queenfish which are at times in their thousands frothing the water
But no major size

Though, I did hook up one standard grey mack about 50cm long and two massive GTs rose form the depths like wraiths, twice the mack's length and as I left in the water at the back of the boat, they both tried to eat it whole a couple of times before drifting off into the depths unsatisfied (me too! the fight would have been short but sooo much fun!)

We move about the Lee Point reef system to find bigger fish and we did find a few 80cm plus queenfish but could not get a take. a follow once but no more than that. They were moving around the edges of various isolated reefs. You could see them readily cruising about slowly and every now and then turn on the afterburners and scoot across the surface hammering and chasing garfish and yellowtial pike if they strayed too far from the edge of the reefs. these large baitfish would leap out of the water and we could follow their desperate efforts to escape by the splashes and diving and slashing through the water of both them and the large predators - very exciting to watch indeed!

The wind and rough water continued to hampered our efforts - easy to blame that than our (my!) poor skill sets I suppose!!

Long day in tough conditions but plenty of fish (if smallish) to hand
Peter did get a nice medium sized Golden - I think his PB

Find hereabouts a poor video of day's action (9minutes too long!)
A video of wild wind and crappy swell - last bit has the frothy water for your edification and as a bit of a tease! - enjoy!

Tying up a frenzy of flies

So been trying to do something other than think on some other things I liked to avoid.......

So have done some fly tying.

Firstly, there were 40x silicone surf candies in size #1 - never have enough of these and
This time they have red 3D eyes slightly larger than the 2D silver based prism eyes I have used before.

Next, some clousers for Corroboree Billabong Saratoga - these based on some tips we all got from the team that came first in the last freshwater comp Peter and I fished recently

Size #2 heavily weighted sparsely tied (maybe a bit heavily dressed by me but....)
The prime colour for the winners was yellow
But I have tied.....
    7x - yellow-white for the winner (didn't have much yellow bucktail anyway)
    4x - orange-black for Peter's favourite coloured flies
    4x - pink-green for the nuclear chicken coloured soft plastics
               that can work so well at times for lure tossers
  and lastly
    5x - all whites that work in most places both fresh and salt
All with mono weed guards for getting deep into the lilies before being stripped out

Next tied were, 21x white clousers for saltwater apps - no weed guards
Size #1 about 3-4cm long, light beadchain eyes
Last time out I had to keep going smaller and smaller to finally consistently get fish and amongst the trevs and queenfish, the Grey Macks that were around, reduced my small clouser numbers significantly due to the multiple bite offs.

I then tied a few (10x) pink white clousers in 1/0 - cause Peter's always seems to catch fish when I don't when he is using clousers in such colours.

Then came some Semper style flies with big eyes tied on 1/0s about 5-6cm long

Then I tied some longer ones about 8-9cm long, tied on 2/0s (should have tied them on 4/0s in hind sight)

For these, I made my own clear skull heads but moulding a dollop of clear silicone into the head area and Then as it dries place the 3D eyes in place. I suggest squishing the silicone into the fibres then reshaping it just right for the desired head shape. Also to dip your fingers in a container of water with a few drops of dish washing concentrate to stop the silicone sticking to your fingers

Later, once the silicone hardens enough, they will get a coating of epoxy over the head will toughen it all up to the rigors of the local predatory fish population

So ready for the next outing - at least in flies!

Brassies, goldens, queenfish and macks at Lee Point

Early start at Peter's to hook up boat and load the gear
We were on the water just before the sun broke the horizon

We did notice a familiar red ute at the Dinah Beach boat ramp carpark, so we might run into other fly fishers on the local harbour today - thought they were all at the tying day out at Humpty Doo

We are determined this time to head straight to Lee Point, no distractions and focus on the longtail tuna - so we zip along at a fair pace once out of the 5knot zone out from Dinah Beach Ramp.

However.....
Busting up fish are busting up fish and just before East Point we find queenfish going absolutely nuts all around the boat
no time for photos or video - just cast cast and cast some more there's fish about
I did send off a phone message just incase someone else wasn't catching any

Peter gets a good one, I get a few smaller ones before we remind ourselves of today's main task and keep moving towards Lee Point

The wind is up and the water rough but we don't get too wet on the rest of the way to Lee Point

But horror of horrors on arrival at Lee Point - there are 7 boats, that's SEVEN too many boats at our favourite spot
We find a pressure wave a few hundred metres west of it and sulk till we start catching grey macks one after the other- unlike the lure tossers, 'offs' and 'jack' were their names (think about it!), who are crowding our new spot when we start catching fish. They actually drove trolling lures right through the area we were casting into in their total misunderstanding our how to catch the fish or favourite fishing spot etiquette

We cast across the current to the side of the boat and as the fly sinks we pause and as it nears the pressure wave we start a fast staccato a strip the flies of the silicone surf candy (me) and a 'no see um' (peter).

A few phone messages back and forth sees one boat pull out of the seven and head our way
Its Jeff and Michael in the new blue boat - they too are soon into fish

As the action slows Peter and I move towards our favourite spot now devoid of other boats
We find a patch of bait from 15-24 feet down - such a large thick blotch on the sounder it covers most of the screen
There has to be big fish around it

Remembering the golden trevally Jon White got last week by sinking the fly down deep
We too sink our flies down beside the tight school of bait
Peter hooks up a strong one
I do too

I muscle mine too hard and it breaks me off at the knot - directly under the boat 25 feet down
We chase Peter's 300 meters north from the hook up point and he get a 72cm Brassie for our troubles

That's two good and very strong Brassies in two trips!

But again he is casting into the right places, at the right times, applying the right methods and using proven flies - it all adds up to successful fly fishing
















I then sink the fly again  and hook up to a feisty golden trevally - which I muscle towards the boat but not quite as hard as previously - so no connection breakages this time!

The day is turning out magical - but no tuna yet!
We use the electric to move about and find the bait schools - we find them hit the anchor button on the electric
(a most marvelous invention without a doubt!)
But the schools are nothing like the massive tight pack of bait fish that we found at first

The schools of bait are more like columns in the water now
Again we sink our flies near them and come up tight - casting across current, letting the fly sink and begin a fast staccato strip of the fly

Sadly the wind is howling and as I change mid cast towards another direction and pin my self in the back with a 'no see um' fly - one of Roger's.Whom it seems doesn't crush his barbs sufficiently. It has penetrated my shirt and skin layers below the left shoulder blade with the barb caught under the skin

Peter does the necessary dehooking by wrapping some leader material around the hook bend and pressing down as you snap the fly backwards out of the flesh (not too much blood but the barb did have a tiny chunk of my flesh on it - is that bait fishing if I didn't take it off the barb before I next cast??

After that medical procedure - we get back to casting and catching more fish.

Later, the fish start to get tentative- swarming the flies we strip in but not hooking up
I change flies from a 'no see um' about 5-6cm long (the very one that was stuck in my back earlier)  to a skinny silicone surf candy about the same length, we get a few but are still being rejected by the countless fish following the flies to the boat, I then change to the tiniest white clouser I had in my fly boxes - 3-4cm long and anorexic

Jeff and Michael have moved over to join us, and it is a good omen for me as I get four fish in four casts now that I am using a smaller white clouser

It is still hard fishing in the wind and chop mostly with many casts being made between fish but we are regularly catching fish with slight variations in fly, strip and line type as the conditions and fish reactions change. We even get a few on poppers despite the choppy conditions

Both boats with fly fishers in them then see some tuna 300metres north and we head over but no luck - gone by the time we get there.

As we search and move back to our bait schools we find the water frothy from a thousand queenfish hitting the surface at once

The current is forcing the baitfish against an outer reef line and we park ourselves within casting distance of the reef and start catching fish after fish again. Again casting across current, letting fly sink and then fast stripping as it sweeps along

No major size but so much fun it should be illegal - see Jeff's video on his facebook page
So visual, so exciting!

We move about in between these two long lines of reef chasing fish and catching a few at each spot

Jeff and Michael head back to the ramp - and Peter and I despite the continuing  rising wind and wave keep casting in the hope of something big amongst the average sized grey macks and queenfish

As we moved up current along the reef the pods of aggressive fish seem to stay that hundred metres ahead of us - like always!

Then almost within casting distance, we have this mass of predators absolutely mercilessly swathing their way though a school of baitfish with utter abandon - and lo and behold in amongst them were these massive metre long (at least) longtail tuna! so fat and so round - porpoising their way into the fray

One longtail attacking the bait so fiercely, shoulders a small queenie, cartwheeling it through the air
 a metre out of the water - where is my lost sports video cam when I need it

We get more macks and queenies but the longtails stay always that three to four cast lengths away

We target the queenies in the middle of two parallel reefs that run east to west
The water is about 16 feet deep
If we cast towards the reef we get the macks, towards to middle we get queenfish

We want the tuna but when they are not there or close enough we get the macks and queens
I cast towards the middle and come up tight - very tight - whats this?
A few strong head shakes of confoundment and disbelief  and then the after burners kick in - TUNA at last!

It takes 150m in seconds is heading towards the reef but with only a meter of water over it - I try to slow it down and dissuade it from its intended direction
I lose it - bugger!  Bugger!!!   ----   BUGGER!!!! (pissed me off for quite some time!)

We are still catching fish after fish in the average sized macks and queenfish
All the double hooks ups and bend rods attract three boats of lure tossers

They crowd us and the water is getting really rough now and wind above 10knots - Peter had trouble standing on front casting deck as it is quite high given the up and down of the wave action, and line control difficult in the growing wind too
Despite the lure tossers closeness, we hook up fish after fish - them nothing (yes!)

I get 9 fish to hand and even lose four or five right at side of the boat while the three lure based boats get nothing
GO THE FLY!!!!!!!! It reigns supreme! like always!

Both us play up the hook ups and the fight - to piss them off further- just couldn't resist
Their lures are too big, they don't allow for the concept that bait don't swim against fast flowing tidal water - (go with the flow please)

The wind and wave action eventually gets too much and we head back in towards Dinah Beach Boat ramp

What a day with at the very least, 70 plus fish to hand, for our boat.
A few good ones mixed in too
So much visual fish porn, we both need an extended rest or we might burn out
Using the poppers saw five or more fish slashing at our surface flies - so very exciting - love it!
Also as soon as we went small (unlike last week when they took bigger flies) - hook up after hook up

The trip back was a little wet but Peter was real happy with the new prop he had installed - made the boat travel heaps better in the following seas
He even enjoy putting his feet up and was checking Facebook (see below) - where Jeff had already up loaded a few pics and a video

You know how about this time last year I wrote about getting soft not wanting to go out unless conditions were perfect?
Well, I think with all the recent poor weather fishing we have done lately, we are toughing up
Big seas, strong winds, wrong tides - we are still getting out there and most times getting into fish in numbers and in size
Both Peter and I are really enjoying our SWOFFING lately

Without a doubt, we so need to diversify our targetted species like changing to milkies instead of queenies and so too to go after the species up the harbour creeks - like barra and threadies

But hey, you can't knock a 70 plus fish count on a day outing within sight of a capital city, can you? - heaps of fun today!
Who wants some?


please check out Michael's video of his and Jeffs efforts today! Me-n-Jeff Chase Macs

To Vernon Islands for Nothing and back to Lee Point for lots

So, it was going to be five boats heading to Vernon Islands but late withdrawals meant only two boats for the high tide launch at 5am

The ride to the Vernons was slow given you couldn't see the swell in the dark and it could get quite bumpy
The moon had been lighting up the boat ramp but as it set - the pitch darkness shut down all vision

We arrive prior to the dawn but with enough light to see no indications of scales about at all

To cover more area to find the fish.....
Jon and Jack went to the first beacon on the western side
Peter and I went to Oliver reef - this shallow reef sits in over 35metres of water around it
It screams fishiness but nothing

Travelling around the western side of islands we get hit by a heavy rain squall
and put up the Bimini to sit it out

Here is Jon and Jack White waiting for rain to stop

The most awesome rainbow appeared towards the end of the squall

We fished the northern tip and its sandbar - a few skittering baitfish but again nothing despite the conditions and locations that usually always add up to good fishing

As the tide drops we fish the edge of the reef as it steps down into the water. Herons sitting on edges indicate the lower spots through which the last baitfish would travel through and hopefully the piscatorial predators would be laying next to for the same reasons as the Herons

The channel into the blue hole is fascinating in its structure. shallow flat reef several hundred metres wide, then only 10-15 feet out it is 6-9 feet deep and then that distance again it is 50 feet deep
Predators should have been working this edge, large ones but not this day
We did however see a few large sharks, and lots of seaweed and mangrove leaf debris in water

Once in the blue hole again we found nothing - I got one trevally, we saw bait in the shallows acting nervous but nothing comes to hand

We venture to the beacon on south side of eastern island, but nothing here as well. I like this beacon on the top of the tide more than when we got there but you can't have it working for you everyday

We then pop over the the landside blue hole but all quite here too
So given a change in the wind about to occur and no significant fish for the day we head back to Darwin

As soon as we arrive we spot fish frothing the surface - right at my usual Lee Point - spot X
We get a few queenies

Then Peter gets one cast in and lets the fly sink a touch more than normal and hooks up to a strong fish

It's surging runs has Peter working overtime to control it
We cover a large area of the reef as the unseen fish takes long powerful runs and we tag along

We call it for a few species first for the long runs a tuna, then for the periodic head shakes a trevally, then as it hasn't jumped it can't be a queenie unless it is tail wrapped or foul hooked

We also talked about sharks given length of the fight that was occurring
But then we see it and Peter is ecstatic - he has been after a large trev for a while now
while not a metre to the fork like those on the front of fishing mag covers - it is certainly giving Peter a hard time

His new fly rod that he won at a recent fly tournament is working well - a TFO Mangrove 8w

The fight is quite extended but we eventually get it to hand - a 76cm Brassie Trevally

I checked Peter's leader and hardly a scuff mark from such a long fight with a powerful fish

Coming back to the same area we hooked the trevally, we see the tell tail signs of large queenfish swirling at the edge of the reef we have seen them so many times.

Peter puts in the right cast into the right place with the same fly he had caught the trevally on and hooks up straight away.

Once we would be so careful with large queenfish but now after catching so many recently we know just the right amount of pressure to put on them.

So the fight,despite many jumps, was over fast

After a long dark trip to Vernons after no significant fish at such a great location , and then back to Lee Point - it was weird to be into good fish at the usual location so close to the city

Peter was using one of the flies he won at the last club meeting raffle
a rodgie dodgy fly - a 'no see um' type sparse fly

Three casts two big fish on the same fly
It was good fly fishing

Jon and Jack White got a few fish too at Lee Point but then called it time and headed back to ramp
Peter and I stayed for some more casting practice and hopefully a few fish

We then see Jon and Jack stop and fish busting up all around them - TUNA???? or macks?

We scoot over to join in and get many follows on the flies
only 20 foot of water this time almost to top of tide
last time it was same area but a little wider and 35 feet of water at the bottom of the tide

But if the baitfish are there you would expect the predators to be there
And so they were
There were smudges of bait seen at first, up close you could see the tight balls of them and then the water would erupt with slashing porpoising longtail tuna

We tried several types of approaches to the schools and it was awesome to see two or three fish on top and then as we approach see 20-40 of them go under the boat

I think we would still be there, if I didn't have to get home for the wife's night out with friends

Would have definitely been better to hook up but even seeing the torpedoes react and chase your fly was out of this world exciting - even though they would turn away at the last moment!

Peter thought his day was going to be the best ever when he hooked up amongst feeding tuna - only to have a 55cm grey mack come to hand. Sadly, we knew it as soon as it started to fight it wasn't a tuna.

So great day for Peter, all on the one fly! - time for me to tie a few of them for the next trip
I got a feed of fresh fish (small trevs and queenfish that I caught) for my girls who demand fresh fish for dinner after I get on the water for a fly fishing trip.

Here is a short video of bits and pieces from the trip

Calm by weekend?? - Quite windy the last few days

Well hasn't the wind been nasty the last few days?

Quite blustery by early in the morning!!!!

Hope it blows itself out by the weekend for our planned trip to Vernon Islands, an hour or so north of Darwin, given I want to head out from Nightcliffe boat ramp and go 19 nautical miles from there to Gunn Point and the Vernon Islands just beyond. 

If it doesn't stop blowing, we will have to enter the water at Leaders Creek Ramp

There is a launching fee if you want your vehicle parked in a secured area but you can launch yourself

Don't know of the fee for this.

With high tide just before dawn the trip winding out from the ramp to the bay will be fairly easy and safe but still be careful in the dark

For the week end, I am currently tying up some big poppers - based on Bob's Bangers 

These will be jointed poppers with the front being the foam popper covers in gold foil with large eyes, the popper face coloured red

The rear section of this jointed fly will be a strong hook with a tail of yellow schlappen feathers and a collar of Xmas decorations that was originally a Santa beard ($4 from one of those cheap Dollar Cents (or sense)  shops ) - basically a long pearl ice chenille.

Should entice a few of the larger specimens hang off some shallow rock bommies off Western Vernon Island and its companion islands

Here is the kick board (so much cheaper at $14 than buying a large and similar thickness sheet of it both from Clark Rubber - the sheet was $248 a square metre) and the Santa beard

Anticipation is rising....

Large queenies and trevally, tight to the fly line is all I see in my day dreams........

Every wrap of the thread on each fly is another reason to hope in its intended outcome of another fish to hand..

Go on - tie some flies.....

Get on the water, get the fly in the the water...

Get tight to some fish, tearing line through the guides of your rod......

You will never want it any other way!! 

I guarantee it!

Anyone interested in fly fishing the Vernons?

Anyone interested in fly fishing the Vernons? 18th June?

As I have heard some gr8 reports recently about the area, so am very keen to fish it again after a few outings a fair while back

So 4:45am-5am launch just before high tide from Nightcliffe (or go via leaders creek if worried about the wind in afternoon - but also may be plenty of corrugations on the Gunn Point rd)

Head straight line for top end of Vernons – smith reef and another similar spots –

About an hours run, so that's about 30-40 litres of fuel for Peter’s 4.8 formosa and his 90hp suzuki. He has a 110 litre tank so we should be right for travelling about once there to some degree and the to and back of the trip – but might take a jerry can of 20 litres just in case the tuna are active over a large area. Peter only sits at 5000rpm for his motor most of the trips we have done in past, so we get fairly good fuel economy at those revs

High tide 5:30am so we should get there just as tide starting to run

Hopefully some large trevally and queenies of these reefs and the other bommies around the islands or nearby

Want to visit at some time the beacon on south side of eastern island as a mate has been catching 80cm+ brassies there, they also got a 105cm GT – (on lure gear - almost an hour fight)

Got my ten weight set up with fast sinking fly line, and a spare fly line (in case a big one shreds it on reef) and also taking some bigger flies 4/0 - 6/0 for them, with heaps of pulse - i.e. lots of fullish schlappen feathers and rabbit fur etc, big eyes too. a few big poppers too!

With approx an hour or so to go to low tide - Would then like to get into and fly fish the blue hole on eastern side of western (northern??) island - maybe eat some lunch in here too – a few big fish but mostly smaller fish but an aquarium of species – got 17 species last time in this area alone. Got a great little water fall that predators hang out near - don't forget some shrimp/crab patterns - but clouser will do fine. The channel into this blue hole is full of stripies, small coral trout and a plethora of other reef species, at times big jacks too!

As tide starts back in, again go stake out the outer reefs and bommies chasing big trevally and queenies again

Hopefully, there will (definitely?) be Spaniards and longtail tuna about so will chase them as needed and as they appear, or we find some birds working (you will need extra fuel if u chase these most of the day!) - don't forget a few mackerel flies with pre-tied wire bite tippets. I tie mine with about 5-7cm of 20lb-40lb single strand wire straight onto hook eye and have it ready to tie on flurocarbon leader attached to my fly line.

probably head back about 3:30-4:30 to ramp, hopefully getting back to Nightcliffe for top of of the afternoon tide.

Caution: if any west in the wind direction it will mean a wetter and rougher trips, so be ready for it (well worth a bit of discomfort to fly fish such a great spot), afternoon more likely to be rougher

We could all use the same radio channel and try a few reefs till we find congregation of fish - i.e. cover more area but not miss out if fish nearby are going nuts!. we can sort out radio channel later closer to day of trip

Some might like to try the inshore blue hole, particularly its northern exit which can really fire. the mangroves on land side for barra - so bring your barra flies too.

There is also a snake drain on some mud flats on the sourthern most island on its eastern side that can fire for barra – so some could try a little flats fishing as the tide drops out of the mangroves.

any other questions - then message - Swoffer Darwin

got three boats as definite - so far

- so already will be a great outing.