So the fight was only 12 or so minutes but it felt much longer
(edited the slower boring bits out so not to put you to sleep)
But I got such a buzz out of it
Watched the whole thing myself so many times - reliving the scenario enjoying every moment again
Worse still I want it again! can't wait till next time I can get out there and chase them
Will probably end in tears for me as this was an exceptional one off day of absolute SWOFFING with the fishing gods smiling on me and and that is a very rare thing for me
Day started off that usually way of no fish god smiles with no fish showing except for flighty inconsistent and sporadic longtail tuna always teasing my from afar - with four hours of chasing then casting and chasing then casting and chasing then casting (you get the idea!) for only one half take
But then the stars aligned perfectly and the tuna ate my flies with abandon for a bit over two hours
So I have had a few trips recently - was going to write something - but other things kept getting in the way
On these thrips got a few big queenies, a lot of nothing most times, a very short trip with wife and daughters too
Did see a lot of tuna that was chased and missed - a couple of tiny fish most trips to feed the cats
The girls had a great time on their outing when a large manta ray was doing somersaults in the water right at the side of the boat
Was that all I would have for fishing ?? = Then I realised that was almost it for my four weeks of school holidays
Most of the time I was doing this
Great for the casting arm but it ain't no tight line zinging through the rod guides is it??
Been working around the tradies at my new house for most of the four weeks of the school hols
So with students back at school next week - this weekend was the only one where i would get one more opportunity to get a fish in
So the wind forecast was gentle as - so the plan was to get on the water Saturday morning
Boat all hooked up and loaded the night before but on way to ramp stop to get a bit of fuel and ice for the ice box (always a potential threat to catching fish)
I launched easy as and was heading past Stokes Wharf at 6:43am - just as a big cruise ship was tying up to the wharf (wife wants to go on one of these one day! - me ?????)
I was going to call a couple of guys to be the deckie of this adventure
But I am a bit anxious about the boat - motor sounds crap even after a few grand fixing it
The crack in the hull is back - (never be able to sell the rig and upgrade if I keep writing about this!)
(when I get to rural block I will strip everything off the hull and really get it fixed - by then I might be able to get a new donk for it too????)
(leaked about 15 litres for the 10 hours on the water today - so not that scary but worrying at least!)
IN the positive tho and through a good mate with some bartered few flies and a wooden fly box to carry them in, for a second hand deep cell battery for the new electric - Thanks big time!
Anyway back to the SWOFFING
I avoided Weed Reef this time even tho tide was not too bad for the gravel bar at Weed Reef - instead I headed straight for Lee Point
The idea was to fish the drop - maybe raise some big queenies hiding against the reef edges to the big articulated poppers I had tied recently for such a scenario. Was also hoping for a heap of bait passing through with the tide and being funnelled through the gaps in the reef at the bottom of the tide.
Awesome sunrise too!
I am out at Lee Point by 7:40
The wind is about 8-10 knots - far more than forecast (that was a given!)
I motor around searching, go halfway to Buff creek and turn back to my usual haunt as nothing seen
Here I snag a couple of baby fish - two garfish and a wrasse with awesomely blue canine teeth
I almost go to sleep with the slow action.
I play on my phone - boring!
I check all my knots - boring (on all five rods i had in the boat)
I check my fly 15 boxes (you can never have too many flies given so many scenarios in a day!)
I cast a few times - rest get bored and cast a few more times
Anything to pass the time till some thing happens
I almost head back to ramp but the tide while a neap that might let me get boat out - the day was just too awesome - so why not wait a bit longer to see what happens
The solar luna charts said 11:20 was the time this might start happening
And for the first time in awhile right on queue to the prediction - the fish start showing
Now I HATE with a passion frantically chasing tuna about
Especially when that which is hitting the water surface in one or two tuna and infrequent and inconsistent
But I am so bored even I start to give chase
I zip here and zip there - get close but no cigar (or tuna as is the case)
Much rather be bored!
But the tuna even tho sporadic seemed to be working a couple of "wind lanes" of foam and mangrove leaf
Maybe also because the baitfish where hiding in the flotsam
The slowing tide and medium strength wind were working perfectly for me to position the boat
and drift along the wind lane
I firstly chose the outer wind lane and spent a hour or so frustrating my self
Once I got close enough to get a cast in and got that soft tightening of the line as a tuna mouthed the fly but I just wasn't good enough for whatever excuse to stay tight
But like every young man getting this first bit of you know what - no matter how bad it is - I just had to get more - bugger the boredom and frustration - I wanted that first caress of the fly transferring up the fly line to my tense fingers like you couldn't believe!
After another hour of 'almosts' - I see that there is a fair bit of surface action between the inside wind lane of flotsam and Peter and my favourite reef
There is a few milkfish in the same area distracting me from my prime target - and I have no scum flies in my many boxes so. They are huge! They are not just sipping or scooping food off the surface - they are actually chasing something, with slashing and quick changes of direction regularly - scum eaters only my arse! I have one sip my silicone surf candy meant for a tuna nearby - and I feel the hook point take the meerest piece of lip and tear as the milkie feels it too and screams off for the horizon - Man! They can motor with afterburners! Especially when over a meter in length
I position the boat on edge of reef a few hundred meters east of our favourite bit of reef
I don't chase, I just drift along the wind lane hoping the marauding tuna come within casting distance. The casting arm is warmed up now and I am getting some good distance - even if the flyline is a little waving and wobbly as it cuts through the air). Some drifts not a cast is made - others I get quite a few cast in - but not always effective
And then it is like I am in the fly fishing gods favour as there are tuna all around me
No need for long casts just dangle the fly out of the tip of the rod (not really but you know what I mean).
I have never seen so many tuna in such shallow water.
I watch the tuna zipping about in the almost clear water and pick my fish to lead and tempt with the fly
I get 7 in total in about two hours (am i stoked or what!!!!!) - all mirror images of each other between 80-82cm long and very strong - each one taking me well into my backing
The first one was such a buzz after chasing them for hours
I giggled like a school girl (well sort of) and after I knew the hookup was firm
It takes so much backing I almost see the last of backing streaming off the reel
I get a little worried in won't stop
So I start the motor and give chase - steering and changing speed as the fight ebbs and flows
Absolutely enjoyable to say the very least
Will put together a video of the first fight and put it up soon - these fat torpedos are the best fun out there !!!!!!
I dropped one or two tuna within moments of hook up - why ???? oh well, let's hope that next group comes close - yes! I am on again!
in the next couple of hours Only once in a couple of drifts of 400-500 metres did I not get the chance to cast to feeding fish
Once I was totally exhausted from the struggle with tuna and they are teasing me by actually bumping into the boat and me with having just caught one and the line fully in the reel couldn't even cast to one of the 15 or so cavorting around the boat - when I final get my act together they are gone - me laughing the whole time! - what a clutz I can be when the adrenalin is rushing though me (at many other times too!)- leader wrapped around tip, fly line hooked on something so small you wonder how it could. even sitting down for a drink and they breach the surface near by but are gone by the time I grab rod and am ready to cast (stupid old man!)
Lucky lots of tuna about - as even I can catch a few today!
But the day didn't end there - - yes there's more
The tuna turned off and disappeared like knock off time for teachers at the end of term
One moment everywhere - then a desert again
The tide had turned, the wind died off and was changing direction and about to increase
So I head back into the harbour
I check the usually spots but nada on way to ramp
I haven't used East arm Ramp in a while and thus haven't checked out Shellie Island for a long time
I thought I might pick up a few little queenies for cat food - may a biggish one for my dinner
I catch a few queenies and a trevally all small but just what I was after
Then I spy some swirls with large sickle like dorsal and caudal fins slicing the surface
I just couldn't resist targeting them in the calm water on the lee side of the small rock outcrop
In a desperate move - I take a small polarfibre clouser and cut off the beadchain eyes but it is sinking too fast
The hook is a heavy hook - so I tear a bit of foam of a chewed up gurlger fly retired to the matting on the boat deck and feed it onto hook point up to hook bend to slow down the sink rate
It worked a treat! size 1 7766, olive green and a touch of burnt orange polarfibre/craftfur
I cast to one monster milkie and my bad casting land the fly on its head and that was the last time I saw that one
I scare a few more, lead a few by too much
But eventually I get the cast just right, using a figure 8 strip (takes me back to my trout nymphing days) - the fish hardly had to move - but did verge towards the fly and sipped it down - much to my joy and excitement
I have not seen line disappear that fast in such a short time - in a very long time - even the tuna I caught earlier in the day were made to look slow in comparison
Got it back to the boat eventually but three runs it took and eventually it wore through the 20lb leader (or took advantage of the wear and tear of the earlier tuna and I didn't bother to change the leader more likely!)- I almost had it in the net three times before the leader broke - bugger! bugger! bugger!
must target these speedsters more often!
I modified another fly, then hooked up very next cast but it managed to throw the hook (??) near the end of the first run
and that was it! they all left the area
but........
I was living the SWOFFING dream!
Who would not want to live in Darwin with all the SWOFFING ops it has!
Not the first few hours of boredom of course - but definitely everything after!! you bet ya!
Will edit that video tomorrow evening i have of that first tuna - hopefully post it in next blog.
Until then - are not longtails a gorgeous fish! (see below - so fat too!)
Finally got Peter to write up some trip notes on his Tuna Day (without me! have I said that before?)
here it is.....enjoy!
*********************
Got the disappointing news on Friday that my usual fishing
mate, Swoffer Darwin, would not be joining me Saturday for a day on the
water. The missus is away and I just can’t sit at home and twiddle my
thumbs - so I figured, I can ‘go it alone’.
I had a look at the BOM METEYE and
found that the wind might be in my favour for a good part of the day. I
also heard the ol’ fishing bloke on 104.9 say that he thought Lee Point would
be good given the tides, water clarity, etc.
Got all my stuff together
and set out about 6:30am. Turns out my boat is just small enough to
manage on my own. It was a bit of a struggle without any help but no
worries. On my way to the launch I realise I’m low on flies. I
think to myself, could the Stig be up? Of course he’s up, he has two kids
under 6. So I text him and then head off to fuel up. The
boat’s had the same fuel in it for months, have to mix with new before going
out. While fuelling, Stig answers the text and I head straight for his
place to pick up a donation of ½ a dozen flies, to go with the other dozen he’d
already gifted me. I have to get my tying room set up toute de suite. J
The run from Dinah to Lee Point was mostly calm and
uneventful, with the exception of a bit of uncomfortable quartering sea, salt
spray in my face between Cullen Bay and East point. I then rounded East
Point to thankfully encounter better wind/water conditions.
Arrived at Lee Point about 8:15am and set the electric
anchor next to the reef. There was plenty of visible bait in the water
and soon after - the mackerel showed up. Two of the flies the Stig had just
given me were bit off almost immediately. I tied a wire lead on the next
one and landed two small Macks, probably 50 cm range. Something bigger
then hit and broke me off.
I put on a surf candy and landed three more small
macks, all of which were visible to cast to. While fighting these small,
fly stealing fish, I looked out towards Gunn Point and saw several birds about
800 - 1200 meters out.
I watched this for several minutes before deciding
that I better go and check it out. While powering towards the birds and
what looked like slashes, I could tell these were tuna! My knees started
to knock and the heart started pumping feverously.
I got close to small
schools of surface disturbing tuna on several occasions and did my best to
follow the birds and slashing fish, jumping from helm to top deck each time I
powered in close to them.
It’s unbelievable how fast these creatures move
from spot to spot. It had me wondering if it was the same fish after they’d
move 600 meters in what seemed like a couple of seconds. My tuna
following tactics took me further west towards the hospital and I finally got
right next to a 30-40 strong school of tuna within a cast length of the
boat.
I cast in front of 3 fast moving fish swimming within 15cm of the
surface and watched one turn and grab the Stig’s green and white heavily
weighted clouser. I lifted the rod like any good Canadian would and off
it went, burning a line into my left index finger as I tried to get the line
off the floor without any tangles. It hit the reel with about 50kgs of start-up
inertia and I was into my backing in what seemed like a nanosecond. yeeh haaaah! (note from editor: read that with a huge Canadian drawl)
I
tried to tighten the drag and got knuckle busted pretty good. It ran hard
into the backing a couple of times and then stopped on a dime on the 3rd
run and started coming back at me as fast as it had left. I tried to pick
up line with my Bauer Jr Mac but all of a sudden it turned and went away
again. I felt it tighten up again and pop, it was gone.
Disappointment set in and I started wondering what I’d done wrong. After
a couple seconds of deep, analytical brain function, I figured it was my
Canadian style trout lift/strike that had resulted in a poorly set hook.
Dang!
So with the vigour associated with semi-success and the feel
of the power of these fish, I got back at it and started chasing again. I
chased and chased but couldn’t get close after several attempts.
I had a
dark-side rod along and started looking at it longingly. Assuming that I
could get a jig into them from much further away I broke all my own personal,
purist rules and picked it up. All of a sudden, there were tuna
everywhere around the boat.
With dark side rod in hand, I flicked the
jig, hooked up briefly but it came off. The fish remained close to the
boat so I picked up the fly rod again. The line had been out on the floor
and was tangled from the wind so I was unable to cast and all of a sudden, it
all went quiet.
Realising that I was more than able to get close enough
for the fly, I put the gear rod away. I continued to chase what appeared
to be groups of 20 or more tuna and I hooked up to 3 more fish on the surf
candy and another big minnow pattern I tried, none of which stayed on the line
for more than 3-5 explosive seconds.
I was getting very frustrated and
then things died off completely. No more fish. I thought for sure that
I’d missed the opportunity but was happy that I’d been into one good one and a
couple of brief hook-ups. I anchored again and the tide started to
turn.
An hour or so went by without much in the way of
sightings.
The tide was now moving out and I could see a few birds
further in towards Buffalo Creek/Shoal Bay. I motored over to see what it
was, assuming packs of small Queenies as we’d seen here many times
before.
To my surprise, it was multiple packs of tuna in what appeared to
be 30+ strong schools. These fish seemed more aerial and aggressive than
before. I motored within a cast length and immediately next to the boat,
30-40 tuna were hitting bait and splashing everywhere, not caring that I was
there.
I put a cast in front of 2 particular fish, stripped several times
and both followed fast. One grabbed the fly within 4 rods lengths with an
amazing full side view.
This time, I strip set the hook much more
aggressively and off it went like a freight train in a tail wind. After
multiple tangles of the Rio Leviathan running line throughout the day, I
totally panicked as the fish was tearing the line through my hand, unbelievably
it all went out behind the fish and hit the reel with similar force of the
previous fish earlier in the day.
This time I could tell that the hook up
with good and I played the fish out over approximately 20 mins. It
finally came close enough for the gaff and in it came. What a moment of
excitement that was, my first tuna on the fly!
I leaned over and hit the
button on the GoPro, mounted on top of the motor and held the fish proudly for
a few seconds of video.
Wow, talk about being totally frickin’ worn
out and elated after all that. After calming down, having a cold drink
and catching my breathe, I realised that I’d actually been into at least 7 tuna
thus far, fortunately having landed one.
The fish continued to bust up in several places within about
3 square kms. I followed a couple schools, got close once more but the
running line tangled as I tried to put a cast into them. I cursed and
vowed to send Rio a strongly worded e-mail about their shitty, bailing wire
running line.
All went quiet again and I motored back to the tip of the
reef where a couple of boats were anchored. I saw some good fish movement
close to the reef so thought I’d anchor there and make some late lunch.
The anchor came on and I laid out a long cast adjacent to the reef. Just
as the line landed on the water, 11-12 tuna swam next to the boat and right
under my running line.
Holy crap, it was amazing to see them in formation
like that. I stripped fast as….but couldn’t see where they’d gone by the
time the line came in. I motored around on the electric and saw some
nervous water about ¾ of a cast away.
I put a cast into the middle of it,
strip strip strip and the line came tight very quickly. I was on again
with a great fish. I followed it out to deeper water assuming it was a
trevally after it had gone into my backing twice. The tide slowly drifted
us back towards the reef and I set the anchor about 8 boat lengths to a small
tinnie with two local blokes in it.
They watched closely, wondering what
I’d hooked on to. The fish showed itself and it was a bigger tuna. It
circled the boat about 15 times, I horsed this one more aggressively because I
was running 30 pound Maxima off the nail knot.
He had so much power I
couldn’t get him close enough to hand. After 20 or more minutes, I was
about to get into gaff position and it did one more pump out past the electric
motor, which was on anchor at this point. All of a sudden, a huge shark,
which I’d estimate to be in the 3+ meter range, came up and hammered the tuna
right in front of the boat. I let the pressure off hoping it could swim
away but the line went slack and the cut leader came in with no fly
attached. What a moment that was. Both the guys in the tinnie went
mad with excitement having just watched that shark attack.
Totally spent after the long day and the shark incident, I
decided to pack it all in. I had 8 tuna on in one day with one in the
esky so I was satisfied to quit at this point. Fish were still busting up
all over the place, which was hard to turn my back on but it was now 4:30pm and
I had 20+ km run and a boat to clean up and put away. I’m guessing but I
think I sighted as many as 150 – 200 tuna within 4 boat lengths throughout the
day. Boy oh boy, it’s great to be home!
Peter
Editors note:
and next day he gets into the big bad ass queenfish (93cm his newest PB)
So all Saturday I am getting messages
Now these are the types of messages no fly fisherman wants to get after turning down a fishing trip
They went like this
"Just lost a tuna after a 3-4 minute fight!"
"They've stopped - I saw at least 30 individuals- Drive me crazy"
Then a few messages back and forth concerning his faulty start up battery
Then - "TUNA BACK - BYE"
"That was brief"
Later on
'In em again - lost one"
No messages for a while so I write back - "got one yet??"
No reply for a while longer
Then
"Lost another - I am going nuts"
How did this come about........
With Peter keen to get as much fishing as possible with his wife away, when I could not get away from family commitments to be a deckie, he offered others to join but still no takers - so he went by himself
The weather was better than it had been for a while wind wise and the tuna, thus Peter too, took advantage of it
And Peter found himself amongst the tuna more than ever before. These messages where making me go nuts too - sitting at home finishing student reports and doing house work
The next message was - "I finally got one - I am going to faint!"
The selfie he sent just didn't do the fish justice or Peter's efforts to get a tuna while solo on the boat
well done Peter. (remember about sun angles when taking photos please!)
His tally for the day was 8 hooked, one sharked just before the netting took place and one to hand for sashimi
Now we had planned to go together on the Sunday, so I was really looking forward to getting out there at 6am Sunday morning given the above action the day before.
Even tied 20 silicone surf candies and 10 salty gurglers the night before to ensure I was ready to go
Sunday morning Peter was a little stiff and sorry for himself when I arrived, but we eventually got the boat loaded and soon found our selves launching at Dinah Beach Boat Ramp
Launching at Dinah Beach had its usual hassles with "anglers" with no idea, no etiquette, and could not even begin to explain how they do what they do while doing it wrong! (stupid!!!!)
Ensure you can start your motor before you get to bottom of ramp, take the straps off at top of ramp, what ever you do get out of everyone's way while you screw it up!
Better still grow a brain!!!
Anyway after waiting for the crazy brain dead people to get out of the way - we zoomed off
as the water was as flat as
We stopped for nothing till we get almost to Lee Point where we found a couple of tuna porpoising around the surface
A few other boats about with lure tossers on board but sadly kept bombing the fish, we were carefully targeting, by racing into the middle - in fact probably only putting the fish down
Given this we headed on to the Main area we fish in anticipation of a good day's SWOFFING ahead if the tuna were already about
The tide was rising but the reef was already past the point that would trap the bait against it - so that didn't help
So we after a while of looking for targets like small macks, trevs and queenies - close to the main reef - and finding nothing - we head a touch further north to a pinnacle Peter had fished before
On a high tide this Pinnacle (now called Pete's Hump) sits in 10m of water and of about 5-6m in height itself. With no fish showing on the surface and only the sounder showing schools of bait and the occasional big fish being indicated on the sounder. So blind casting it was till we found other action around us. We don't mind blind casting here as we have always found large fish about it. And today proved no exception.
We would cast to the front quarter of the boat and as the line sank and move with the tidal flow towards the back of the boat all the time anticipating a take on the drop and drift, then when at an angle to the back of the boat and the fly had sunk deep, we would start a stop pause or fast staccato or mixture.
(be careful here with your sinking lines as I now have an 8w and a 10w full sinking line that are not that full anymore - bugger!)
Sixth cast I come up tight to a strong fish - backing almost instantly out the rod tip on the first run. The fish on each run for the horizon used the tidal flow masterfully against me. We should have stopped trying to guess the species as eventually the line angled towards the surface and the tell tale image of a large queenfish exiting the water in a manner typically crazy of a queenfish, flopping about as it returns to the water with very if any style or poise.
I was sooooo stoked at seeing the size and thickness of the jumping fish for it has been a while between big fish for me, I have been watching Peter catch them regularly but never quite getting them to hand myself (I am too hard on the fish at times). So this fish was significant to say the least - well if only for my inner ego.
The tightness of the line, the irresistible steady pull of line off the reel - all creating a buzz in me that nothing else can
JUST LOVE MY SWOFFING - bring it on!
Peter missed a couple of netting chances, had it slip off one, then with a final grab that almost saw him fall out of the boat we had it on board for photos
At 91cm the largest in four years
The fly was a silicone surf candy number 1 hook - it took it right down and left a bit (?) of blood on it such was the depth of hook up. I tried several other flies, bigger, and type but the one all the fish wanted on Sunday was the silicone surf candy.
I was using 20lb leader and was very worried during the fight as to whether the leader would wear through (or the fish get taken by a shark like one of Peter's tuna did yesterday). The leader was very frayed so I was lucky
About 10-15minutes later Peter also gets a big queenie
This one 93cm
Sinking flies down deep can be a bit boring but with nothing else showing we kept at it
Peter lost one very strong fish after several minutes of back and forth - things like this kept us casting
I got the fright of my life once when the hugest flash of side on body, that occurred right behind my fly as I stripped - only a rod length from the boat as it slashed at the fly and turned. It had to be one of the biggest trevallys I have seen in a while - so clearly was it seen in the clear water - it is still burnt in my memory of a lost opportunity.
For the few moments after the episode - I was full of excitement, fear and regret all at the same time
Tarpon were also present - they fight so strongly and never give up - as soon as you hook them you know it to be a tarpon - then when on the surface its starts jumping - awesome!
This one went 51cm but I had a bigger one on that finally threw the hook after three contorting jumps and twists out of the water - spectacular fly fishing!
We caught heaps and heaps 40-50cm queenies as well but you had to be deep, small trevally too.
But as the tide turned the fish moved on and so did we
With nothing about we searched and searched
We found tuna again but small groups spread out and although we came close - no hook ups. however it was fantastic (and frustrating!) to see the tuna zipping about just under the water searching for baitfish
The increasing wind made the whole aspect of targeting the tuna so hard. The tuna also stopped showing themselves
We found some small macks and targetted them for a while - they were very tentative - following the fly and rarely hooking up - but they too kept us casting
We search around the reefs towards Shoal Bay hoping for fish to target but instead found a 3.5-4m croc floating above the reef. As we came near the croc dropped out of sight. We followed along near by hoping it would rise up again but it sulked on the bottom eventually evading us and we lost it amongst the reef area. The smudge in next image is the croc under the water 15 feet down
Come 4pm - Peter was done (me too) so we headed back into harbour to the boat ramp - the trip uncomfortable with the increasing wind and swell
So two days - two species prominent - one on each day - but over all heaps of fun in the local Darwin Harbour. We are getting much better at handling the wind - at times during the day the wind was recorded at 18-23knots.
I was glad to bag a big fish for a change (although Peter pipped it by 2cm only 15 minutes later)
Cant wait to get out there again and get amongst it
Go a head - tie some flies - cast them to some structure or actively feeding fish - and hopefully get a zinging taunt line as the result
Well we knew the
weather, as in the wind, would be crap!
But both of us were
crazy desperate for a SWOFF (a fly fish in saltwater)
Instead of a big long weekend out of Dundee Beach the wind forecast had us fishing day trips in Darwin harbour
But even as we readied the
boat at Peter’s at 5:30am – the wind was crap
Launching the boat at
6:20 and the wind was crap
All the wet salt spray trip to
Weed Reef - the wind was crap
I think you get the picture!
Weed Reef was devoid
of fish life
However, we kept
casting – we kept looking for signs of fish activity
We eventually ended up
at the place we have fished many times before at the gravel edge as the water
surges off the flats with the outgoing tide
Nothing was showing
but in only a few casts Peter was on –
Peter got a few while I
got nothing – so I changed to a tiny white clouser
But this usual
performer didn’t make the grade
Peter was into several
other fish to my one 35cm Brassie trevally
So I upsized my fly
See here the white
clouser with mono weed guard I changed to
And then the next fly the much
larger blue/grey clouser
the bigger fly was instant success - I got three fish in
four casts – go the fly change!
up or down or colour - can't hurt!
But we occasionally were seeing late swirls of fish attacking the flies we were retrieving
So Peter said we should
change to a surface fly – both of us kept casting
Then off to my left I spy
a larger queenie hitting bait just under the surface - you could see its flash and swirl
Now the wind is still
crap and howling up to Weed Reef from Middle Arm – wind chop was large and intense,
not my usual situation for a surface fly as too mush wave noise and too hard to
find the fly in all the wind chop
But I give it a go and
in three casts get three fish – all good queenies (well compared to ones we had
been catching) - One went 65cm. I went
through a hot patch of many fish and Peter also changes to a surface fly
One of my versions of
a gurgler - seen here abouts
There is NOTHING better than seeing a fish attacking a surface fly - nothing!
Peter missed a few
fish on his surface fly and then after a while it all went quite – except the
wind – which was crap! And making the day crap! – Hate the wind!
But both of us kept
casting, kept SWOFFING as we knew it would soon turn into a good day
Time now 9am.
We ventured slowly due
to wind slop waves to Talc Head
Searched the flats
behind it out of the wind and wave – got a bit excited about some slashes in the shallows that amounted
to not much – bugger
We then started the
cross over of the harbour but those waves were nuts and the wind was … you guessed
it _ _ _ _!
Add to that the ride was rough, bumpy and wet
We search Kaitlyn
Beach, Cullen Bay mouth, cruise along the shoreline heading to East point = but
zip, nada!
East Point was a bust with
nothing showing - but now the wind seems to be getting less.
Despite knowing the
ride back would be as rough as - if the wind didn’t lessen – we head off to Lee Point
On arrival some bait
danglers are in our favourite spot - how dare they!
So we move a touch
inshore from them further along the reef and start casting – nothing again
Round two o’clock – we
start to write off the day to bad wind and begin to head back to Dinah Beach
boat ramp – but……….
But finally we see some
bird action – when close we also see a few slashes
This in the area south of the reef we fish towards the Hospital building in the distance
Peter on front deck, a
meter higher than me, starts to see thick schools of baitfish moving through
They are getting
herded up against the shallow reefs by predators and we too join in targeting the
predators
Peter sees bait
passing boat, next thing he is on – we call it for a tuna given its thickness
and length
Peter is pumped to say
the least after a day of much wind and only 35-45cm fish for the boat (aside from my couple of
larger queenies on the surface fly)
This fish has three
great runs into Peter’s backing – he gets the line back and off it goes again
We are thoroughly
enjoying ourselves to say the least!
Eventually it comes to
hand and we both high fives and give a little (maybe no so little!) “yahoo!” with this 80cm mack
Now we are seeing
birds in large groups above many schools of macks, trevs and queenies.
This is more like it
Peter hits a hot patch
and is getting fish after fish. We chase birds, we see nervous water - we cast
- we get more fish to tighten our lines – well Peter more than me!
Peter loves his
Silicone Surf Candies (see this link for the tying method blog of the fly)
I am using an extended body version of this fly - helps with bite offs with fly tied in at bend of hook which usually works as well as the normal version. But after Peter's many fish I change over to the Standard pattern and am instantly on.
This one particular fly became a sort of lucky charm for Peter. it wasn't bit off by the big mack rather pinned the toothy critter right in the jaw hinge
He then catches a little yellow tail pike and had to check his leader which had a few nicks in as he didn't want to loose his magic silicone surf candy!
We cruise past on the electric the land based anglers at Lee Pointwho are out of casting distance of the action - so nice to have a boat We are chasing the circling birds whom are over baitfish being hammered by predators as they work along the current lines
To the side of one area of mayhem, Peter sees a small patch of nervous water (bait school tight against the surface wrippling it) - he puts in a rapid "speccy" cast and instantly hooks up with a hard fighting Golden Trevally that ran rapid circles around him while the boat was on electric anchor.
It soon also comes to hand - Peter is having an awesome afternoon !
several times he would see surface activity accurately cast near the disturbance and then after a couple of strips of the fly, hook up - textbook!
He still hasn't lost his lucky fly !
Again hooked in just the right spot of the large siphoned rubber lips of the Golden Trevally
He did eventually lose his lucky fly but I had given him a box of them for Xmas last year so he was back into fish quickly
We chase birds, slashes and nervous water - and we cast till we could not cast one more time
We caught 30 or more fish in the space of a couple of hours - this after a very hard day in crappy wind and rough water
While we were happy given the conditions earlier in the day to catch a few before 9am - the afternoon with the wind finally under 10 knots - the water came alive and we revelled in its wonder and glory! Don't you just love fly fishing in saltwater !! (SWOFFING)
In that final session at Lee Point - we caught fish after fish and you could not have taken the smile off our faces. a great time for the first time back in the SALT for awhile for Peter after being home to Canada for a couple of months
The trip back to ramp was almost pleasant even!
Still I was very tired by the time we had washed the boat and said our good byes
Still had to clean a few fish for daughters and prepare the off cuts for the two cats
But you do what ya gotta do to do what you want to do!
See you on the water
Sunday is a late start on harbour again
Monday might be freshwater - we shall see!
Wind still Crappy!
Here's a crappy video clip on part of the fight with the mack that at the time we thought was a tuna!
my video cam I wear on my hat isn't working so this was taken with my iphone
There are so, so many creative tiers out there
- tying some fantastic flies
Some of the stuff you see on the web is mind
blowing in detail, in innovativeness or creative use of materials or sometimes all of the above
Some of the materials used, how it is used is
beyond comprehension til someone shows you how or provides images
Until the fly tyer comes up with the idea
One creative tyer that comes to mind is....
Jay "fishy" Fullum is a regular
contributor to the US based Fly Tyer magazine and the stuff he does is
incredible as to the materials and their use – go to their web site or search
the web for his stuff
I have been getting the Fly Tyer magazine since I don’t
know how long, I have the entire collection of magazines - all that has ever been printed
And the first thing on arrival - I always would turn to would
be - Fishy’s regular column.
Always Inspiring! constantly dragging you to the tying desk to start tying the next innovative fly presented in his regular column
That is not to discount the countless others
out there of course
Sometimes you get a one hit wonder like a rock
band on the radio with only one song ever that makes the charts
But others are long term contributors
Some tie stuff so weird it is useless but it
gives an idea you wouldn't have thought of without them
Now I like to tie flies, it is a big as part of
my SWOFFING as any part of this my favourite pastime
But I am not that creative - far from it
But rather I can take this one idea and inflame
it, take one idea and join it with another
Not all of it works but its fun testing them
Recently I saw an image of a fly - just in
passing, wasn’t even looking for a pattern to tie
The idea was cool, sorry don't know if it was
original or the tyers own who tied it - I think it was tied originally for US east coast Stripers
mine:
the webs::
But I thought - that could work. Let’s tie a
few
So here it is
My Foam
Post Baitfish Slider
First step is to slide on your firm tubing that will form a dome on hook shank later
Next is to tie on a foam post above the hook eye - this is
to hold the pattern just under the surface when stationary with the foam post protruding
out of the surface.
You will need to hold foam out of the way to tie leader on but no hassle really
I am using a light gauged hook here – it reduces
weight allowing fly to be more in the surface rather then be dragged under by the weight of the hook
Then I use some firmish tubing I got from
spotlight to help form the hollow head type pattern of a baitfish
I fold this forward to keep it out of the way
while tying the rear part of the fly
For this version based on what I had on hand –
I tied in some grey crinkle and flash material in at the hook bend
Next I tied in some long olive craft fur –
ensuring the grey fibres are covered by the craft fur all the way round the hook shank
Then I add in enough layers of shrimp coloured
fibres to form the body of the baitfish
As using a longish hook shank here, it took three
bunches of fibres to fill it
Tie in of this main body materials in enough bunches, till the shank is full right up to rear of tube flaring dome
I then fold back the tubing to form a half dome
– this flares the material given a large profile to the pattern
Then I tie in two (or three) bunches of shrimp
coloured fibres to form head of fly in front of tubing dome
Tie off thread
Add eyes
Epoxy head and eyes to give eyes more durability with the toothy type fishes
So my goal at start of the year was more flats fishing, shrimp and crab patterns to be tied
Well now it is almost half way through the year and only been fishing twice - but one of those was with a lure guy trolling for barra and that doesn't really count - so that's only once on the water (thanks Chris! see previous blog for trip details)
During this last 5.5 months - I have tied a few crab flies but sadly not much else tying has been done
However, finally the learning curve at my new job is ebbing and waning and getting on top of things - although I still have 120 assessments to mark before weekend
And despite the support work for the builders of my new house most afternoons - I seem to have a little more free time lately - they have just started doing the block work (will be finished by Friday I am told)- I am only needed when ready to paint the ceiling and tidy up rubbish in the evenings
Best thing yet - ...............
My regular fishing buddy, Peter, is back from 3months visiting relatives in Canada and is very keen on big fish off Dundee and its sail city out from Peron Islands, With his wife heading off for five weeks - he is hoping to get tennis elbow from too much fly fishing happening!
So on the weekend for an hour or so i had a foray into some tying with a few guys whom I share a Messenger group with (thanks Rog and Cath for hosting!) - the end product even though they were all tying shrimp flies - for me was a surface slider type fly
(yes I know - a promised flats fishing only 2017! and here I was tying baitfish while all tie shrimp!)
Got the idea off a web image (see below for screen shot of it) and I modified it to suit the materials I had and the flies I have tied previously
Am happy with the result - the fly I tied (not shown yet) is all white with large red eyes, while the material is X wrapped and folded back on itself to create profile. The head is epoxied to secure eyed more. The post of white foam (should I have used red???) hangs the fly, when not in motion, just under the water surface and has a nice little walk the dog wiggle when stripped intermittently. Given the materials used and how it is tied - the tail of the fly pulses and moves with the slightest of motion when the fly is moved - awesomely seductive! (well - to a fish I hope).
The end product about 10-12cm long - hopefully a perfect snack for bigger fish!
Plus I can take a few of permanent coloured markers and add colour or striations if needed to "match the hatch"
I will write up a blog entry on the suspender fly I recently tied - soon! have all the pics just need to write up the step by step procedure
As for next time on the water...................
Peter while just back is still focused on his wife (after 3months away who wouldn't!) before she flies to Canada herself but then he will be super fishing mad for every opportunity to wet a line
So if i want to practice a bit of casting in anger before I head off hard core fishing with Peter (and this guys can cast ALL DAY! non stop!) that means I need to get fly fishing this weekend if I can - but my boat in the workshop with water in the gear box (cleaned and resealing of gaskets) and replacing the small motor (rusted out) that tilts the outboard motor. Not cheap but cheaper than buying a new outboard at least - still was quite amazed the wife approved the repair as she is real tight with money while we are building the house at our rural block. Still I have earned heaps - mega heaps even, of brownie points prepping the block to be built on - so why not spend a little on the boat and the guy who did so much work!
If I fish this weekend - the boat repairs need to be done by Friday so that I might get the chance to wet a line in the local harbour - Recent reports show the fish about but you still got to work for them - so here's hoping! my kids haven't eaten fish for ages ( so a few released into the ice slurry will solve that) and my cats give me the evil eye every time through the door cause I don't smell like fish when I come home.
So that is the state of affairs as it stands today in the world of the NT SWOFFER from Darwin
See you on the water - that will be me yaaahooooing at the top of my lungs capacity, with the bent rod and a tight line and backing zzzzzinging through the rod guides connected to a HUGE fish!
