New to saltwater fly fishing
About a month ago I purchased a fly rod each for my brother and I. I've wanted one for a quite a while but didnt think I would get much use out of it and thought it was a bit out of my league. Anyway I ended up buying the 8wt beginner/rookie combos and we spent that night rigging them up and watching the instructional DVD. Next day went down to the park with cotton-buds tied on and started casting and both came away thinking it wasnt hard as we had originally thought.
One day after work i headed down to the Palm Beach boat ramp in Rockingham as i new there was a nice weed bank 15m out all the way up the beach, perfect stalking ground for some flatties. I was pretty chuffed that I was actually getting the fly out into the big blue let alone all the way out to the weed bank and after 5mins of casting I had a bit of weight on the end of the line and brought in my first flathead on fly! I ended up with 4 flathead and 2 flounder for that one hour session and i was totally hooked onto this style of fishing!
I went down every couple days catching a couple flathead here and there, even managed to jagg a 10kg eagle ray that was cruising the flats. He came in rediculously easy so i thought i'd give him a bit of slack line to run woth for a bit of fun and it took off like a rocket. I had only just got him onto the reel when the leader snapped, pretty lucky realy!
After a couple weeks I finally got the courage to take the rod out onto the main jetty after it was too dark to fish from the beach. The amount of tiny flathead in the lights of the jetty is amazing, everytime ive been there i at least get a couple, usually within the first couple of casts. Walk out a bit further out and schools of tiny snook are cruising the shaddows waiting for literally anything to swim by in the light. First night i walked out there I caught about 10 snook, another species ticked off the list. Took my brother out last week for the first time and he got stuck into the flathead and snook and also managed to catch a couple hardyhead(?) baitfish that were actually eating the fly. He also enticed one of the many big sea mullet down there to take his fly but failed to set the hook!
Hopefully knock some more species off the list this summer, including herring, tailor, and hoepfully a Giant Herring.
If anyone wants to tee up a session wth the fly gear, whether it be down at Rockingham or Penguin Island, or at the Swan River chasing some bigger flathead i'll be happy to join, hopefully learn a thing or two!
All photos taken with phone camera, sorry!
Cheers,
Beau
lurcha
Posts: 455
Date Joined: 29/12/09
Sweet start! Pics are pretty
Sweet start! Pics are pretty good for a phone too! Ive had some good sessions on the lower swan on fly, definately a good spot toget some practice.
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Good Start
Good start to the fly rod Beau, Ive only caught Gardies on mine. I have a Sage 7wt for Trout to Salmon, and a WildFish 9wt for anything larger . lol .
I'd be keen to hook up for a sesh, been having a hard time casting salt water fly's and line and would be great to get some time on the water.
Cheers Grant..
bod
Posts: 2319
Date Joined: 03/05/06
quite a skill
I believe fly fishing's addictive once mastered. Great pics and especially for a phone camera.
wonky36
Posts: 39
Date Joined: 23/11/07
Tips
Hi mate, well done on the fly fishing. ALl I can suggest is to take it one step at a time and try not to force the line out. I take it you were using a sinking line? I would try and buy a weight forward line and use a leader of about 6 - 8lb max. Judging by the pics, the leader is quite thick. The thinner the leader the less chance there is of a tangle and much more chance of fish taking the lure. I used to cast with the wind or breeze behind me to make it easier and then start to cast into the wind.
Like I say, if you take it nice and easy and dont try to act like a horse trainer with his whip, it will come very quickly. Great fun on light tackle for a start and then try and look for something bigger. I reckon tailor on fly would be the next step up.
Are you aware of playing the fish using the line rather than the reel? Probably stating the obvious, but youtube has loads of clips and help.
Good luck mate.
GlennO87
Posts: 182
Date Joined: 29/01/11
Thats more than most people
Thats more than most people get that have been fishing for years lol thats great mate. Hope you get into some huge ones.
I love fishing. It`s escaping reality for a few hours for me!