Species on Fly

[catchy_fishy]

What species have you caught on fly.?.....Oh no here goes another fish naming research project:

I specifically try catch trevallys from the shore (before I bought my boat) but when the tide is wrong for access points I chase species. I'm interested in hearing your species list.

Did I read write somewhere on Ausfish that at certain places you can catch mac Tuna from the shore ? - What a pleasure !!

Here's my fly caught list

1. Couta (King mackeral / Spaniard I believe)
2. Dorado (Dolphin fish)
3. Shad (Bluefish / greenbacks I think)
4. Giant Ignobolis Kingfish (GT) Caranx Species
5. Other Caranx / Trevally - Bluefin, yellow tail,
6. Queen fish
7. Salad fish
8. Wave Garrick
9. Wolf Herring
10. Garrick
11. Moonfish
12. Blacktail
13. Rock Cod
14. Bonito (east coast little tuna)
15. kawa Kawa (MAc Tuna)
16. Garfish (Needlefish)
17. And a few different types - unidentified - caught in large tidal rock pools hugging the coast around mozambique
18. Sand Gurnard - - the barbel of the ocean - ugliest fish after a stone fish that you'll find
:-[ :-[ :-[ - never sure why I own up to that one.

Good memories nonetheless of each of the fish

Catchy Fishy

[catchy_fishy]

I'm confused, why so few (zero responses) it's not critical though - Ausfish members have helped me out in many areas already. Should I change the question - have you caught >5 >10 or > 15 species on fly ?

I suppose my hidden agenda is I'm trying to find all the ammo i can to convince the minister of finance I need to get to Aus to do some fishing for species I will never catch in SA.

Really interested in any answers here - if you're up to it

Mike

[wessel]

Not too sure why fly fishers are not more active in this section. Their are a few guys around who have parted with a wealth of information in the past. To those, thank you from my side. I tend not to respond to too many of the postings

- I am still learning
- I do not want to sound like and idiot
- There are those who are easily offended, which results in postings way of the original thread when the original poster made a seamingly innocent comment

Regardless of all that, and I have a couple of minutes spare to type this up. (So please, pardon the spelling because I do not run spell checker on this.)

I have tried for sailfish, and failed dismally
The same goes for yellow fin tuna, big eye tuna, spanish mackarel, dorado, kobia, reef sharks and mullet.

I have landed spangled emperor, rock cod, barracuda, garfish, half beaks.

Not an overly impressive list, but the best fight to date was by a mullet that I lost abouth 30 seconds into the fight. That thing pulled like a freight train for the size it was.

Still working on my plans for a trip to Mozambique somewhere in August or September. Any idea what the weather would be like then?

Wessel

[thumps]

ummmm



that list is pretty comprehensive

dont really think you have an arguement for that trip...considering that list is probably better than most saltwater swoffers down here.

add a few of the freshwater species like saratoga, sotties and impoundment barra...and youve probably done more than most.

you have to remember that Aus is a big place..and species can be fairly confined to areas...yes youll get your offshore game fish in a bigger area...but coastal species will be temperature confined.

but having said all that....MOST fish can be taken on the fly......so maybe you'd be better thinking what you WANT to catch..rather than asking for a list.

[catchy_fishy]

I agree the fly chatboards are seemingly slow - pity, there's a lot of good knowledge out there - maybe I'll start a topic that will keep the activity going, rather than mentioning my species list.

I hope I haven't bored anyone withy my postings - not intended.

Wessel - Mullet ?? As in the afrikaans "HARDER" - I would never have guessed they gave a good fight.

Mozambique in Aug / Sep - depends how far north you go, I have knowledge 1/2 way up - say up to inhambane, but I'm not too good after that, so my refernce talks up to Inhambane.

Highe rup the waters to get warmer, and things could be different. I'll ask around with some fishing mates and see what info I can get.

Sadly I can't even offer to join you, as I'm adding to my boat crew in August, and with a new child a fishing trip will be out of the question.

I'd love to meet up over a beer however.

August is still winter in Moz - so you should be thinking winter fish, and the malaria is less risky then:
Shore based Fly
- Big GT's come in during winter, but few small - medium sized ones
- Grunter on the sand banks
- Queen fish
Salad Fish
Shad - thick
Rockcod
Smaller wave garrick

Boat based - Any style
Couta (Spaniard)
GT's
Shad
Garrick on bacline
Queen Mackeral (Natal: Daga Salmon)

I have heard that you can get big Dolphin (Dorado) bulls 20kg + in Winter months - in SA too, but generally the dorado go in search of warmer waters

Up north in Winter you should get sailfish, dorado, marlin, wahoo, barracuda

I was just South of Inhambane in Sep 2005, and we had a bad trip - no fish in four days, the boat comp before we arrived 917 boats, got nothing in 5 days) - but the weather had been shocking

I hope this doesn't happen to you - it's the luck of the draw I suppose:

See these sites:

http://www.guinjata.com/
http://zavoralodge.com/front.htm

Fly in to Johannesburg, take a link flight to Inhambane, and get a pickup from either lodge, not sure about Zavora - but I know you can do this with Guinjata.

If you are going to have your own vehicle, bring a GPS and I'll get you points for good King Fish (trevally) spots from shore -Kings Pool, amongst others.

If you're thinking of hiring - my landrover could be available PM me, and we can discuss

Mike

[waggy]

Hi Guys, I'm have been swoffing for a few years now but still consider myself a novice. I have managed to catch barra, cod, grunter, tarpon, flathead, bass, sooties, saratoga, a few types of trevally, butterfish, coral trout, sicklefish, stripies, moses perch, yellowfin bream, queenfish & pike so far. I live a Gladstone and haven't gone too far afield to get these. I only have 8 weight gear and have been tying flies for a couple of years. I really enjoy the tying and the fishing (tennis elbow not withstanding) and hope to see more folk get involved. Not blowing my trumpet, just passing on the info requested.
Thanks, Ray

[catchy_fishy]

THANKS FOR THE POSTS !

Waggy that makes my day - suddenly there are 15 new fish I could catch - Hee Hee wait till I tell my wife.

Cheers

Mike

[Maxg]

Species, all up about 70, lost count when I lived in the NT. But thats over 35 years of swoffing.
Cheers MaxG.

[bdowdy]

:)have just started fly fishing and well :-[ have caught afew eel tailed catfish and a few murry cod, noone really flyfishes around here that i know of but i went to closeys up near beenleigh and caught a fewsilver perch and sooty grunter and barcoo grunter, it was great fun for learning and i want to catch some more species now. cheers bdowdy ;)

[iank]

Living in Darwin for ten years lets you catch a fair range of species, these are the ones I have caught so far, barra, saratoga, tarpon, catfish forktail, sleepy cod, sooty grunter, pikey bream, golden snapper (fingermark), javerlin fish (grunter), thredfin salmon, blue salmon, beach salmon, spanish mackrel, school mackrel, grey mackrel, giant trevally, bludger trevally, big eye trevally, golden trevally, tea-leaf trevally, longtail tuna, mackrel tuna, giant herring, wolf herring, coral trout, black tip reef shark, queenfish, milkfish, diamond scale mullet, brown sweetlip (bluber lip bream), slatey bream (blackall), estary cod ( both gold and black spot), flathead, pike and a stone fish. Was quite suprised at what I have caught in the 10 years I have been useing the long wand.
Cheers Ian

[Craigus]

Mike,

Sadly the only species that I have caught on fly are brown and rainbow trout. :-[
These were all caught back in South Africa in the Drakensberg Mountains.
Since Living in Australia I have done no fly fishing on any kind :'( which is really sad.
I have to get some saltwater gear sometime when I get some more money and a boat, which will be a long time coming. :'(

Wish I could catch fish on fly again as I feel that it is the most exciting and challenging form of fishing. For now i just have continue fishing with SP's.

Cheers
Craig

P.S. The Sand Gurnard you mention I think is the same as a flathead here in Oz.

[catchy_fishy]

Mike,

Since Living in Australia I have done no fly fishing on any kind :'( which is really sad.
I have to get some saltwater gear sometime when I get some more money and a boat, which will be a long time coming. :'(

Wish I could catch fish on fly again as I feel that it is the most exciting and challenging form of fishing. For now i just have continue fishing with SP's.


Have you got a 6/7 weight outfit ?, even a 5wt ? They've got to be looked after a bit better after salt use, but the fishing is still good on the light tackle. One of the early mistakes I made was thinking that saltwater fishing meant throwing palm sized flies.

Not true.

The smallest flies still cathc some of the biggest fish. Imagine your average San Juan on a size 10, or a wooly bugger size 6 and you can catch some excellent fish - focus mostly on those that chase crustaceans and you won't need a boat or a 10wt+ outfit.

Mike

[karana]

Well I use a 7/8 and wade the flats using polaroids for spotting.

Only 'bad' incident I have had was fighting a large trevelly on the flats near the Hornibrook Bridge when one interested spectator said I was taking too long, grabbed the rod to show me how and it broke. How I long for that Killwell again.

I think he is still running, could have dropped his wallet or offered to pay for the rod.

I think the most interesting fish of many I have caught on fly was a Stargazer in the Pumicstone Passage. Never saw him, was flicking the fly back up to do a cast when he exploded onto it from almost under my feet. Nice 7 pound fish.

[ANGIE]

hey my name is Agnes am from Kenya and I see you have an interest in fishing I have a great passsion for the same and as a result I started a fishing flies company. would I send you some of my samples then we may do business with you. My email address is flashyflies_2000@hotmail.com

[catchy_fishy]

I have answered you via e-mail. Please chack your mail.

[catchy_fishy]

Anyone got a pic of a stargazer ?

[seajay39]

g'day catchy_fishy

for a stargazer have a look at this,

http://www.ausfish.com.au/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1146477697

[fishface]

I have only started the saltwater fly since i got back from the UK in august so got a lot to learn.especially swishhing a ;D. iam fortunate to live in cairns with a boat. besides the fresh water list of browns, rainbows , greyling. i have managed a few mac tuna. hopfully a few more can be checked off the wanted list this weekend lol
since the spanish macks are around i think il try and get a burley trail going and do a few blind casts watch this space daniel

[fishface]

I have only started the saltwater fly since i got back from the UK in august so got a lot to learn.especially swishhing a clouser ;D. iam fortunate to live in cairns with a boat. besides the fresh water list of browns, rainbows , greyling. i have managed a few mac tuna. hopfully a few more can be checked off the wanted list this weekend lol
since the spanish macks are around i think il try and get a burley trail going and do a few blind casts watch this space daniel

[catchy_fishy]

Watching ??????? ;D ;D

[wessel]

Me too, interested to hear how you catch spanish macks on fly.

That is one species I still want to check off my list.

Wess

[shandos]

Hi there

Just getting into salt water fly -- managed a bonito and mackeral so far. Going to try this week end at the Pin for falthead and bream.. was thinking of trying a deceiver pattern on the flathead ??? not sure what to do with the bream -- bass vampire maybe ??

Any ideas on presentation, flies or tackle weight would be welcome

thanks Paul :)

[BrandonH]

in the past i have only caught Bream at the bli bli barra park, I have had the barra boof my pellet fly but had no takers, prob couldn't get then in on my 6 weight anyways!! Lol. the bream were on a floating bread fly. this weekend after reading this thread i thought bugger it i am going to take the fly rod out for a bash ;) used a yellow sinking think that i was recomended for bream hoping to get some bream or flathead. anyways didn't get any bream of flathead but managed a nice yellow tailed pike ;D not tooo bad for my first non impoundment fish on fly!!!

Cheers
Tight lines
Brandon...

[shandos]

I was thinking of using a 5/6 weight on the bream and a 8/9weight on the flathead - maybe I should stick with the 8/9 weight on the bream as well. What was the yelow sinking thing??

Regards
paul

[catchy_fishy]

If you are new to flyfishing in the salt you must give the trevally's a try.

Streamer or popper patterns and an ultra fast retrieve (no even faster than that) (in fact even faster still) and then wham !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you hook up and hang on.

Best everyday fishing you're likely to have on a fly rod. Be carefule around structure though, as they can go deep and cut you off.

Fly line losses can add up quickly

Mike

[catchy_fishy]

oh yes and use 8/9 wt rod also don't forget a stripping basket. It makes fishing in the salt so much easier.

[shandos]

That stripping basket is a good idea -- I will have to get one. I imagine you pick up trevally around structure like bridge pylons and jetties

regards
paul

[S.S.]

Flathead
Bream
Tailor
Swallowtail Dart
Bluefin Trevally
Giant Trevally
Golden Trevally
Dinner Trevally
Bludger
Gold Spot Trevally
and another four or so different trevallies
Coral trout
Sweetlip
Wire Netting Cod
Queenfish
Dogtooth Tuna
Mac Tuna
Longtail Tuna
Bonito
Spotted Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel
Doggie Mackerel
Black Marlin
Sailfish
Mahi Mahi
Bonefish
Brown Trout
Murray Cod
Golden Perch
Australian Bass
Saratoga
Giant Herring
Tarpon
Sleepy Cod
Barramundi
Eeltail catfish
Forktail catfish
Archer Fish
Australian Salmon
European Carp
Barcoo Grunter
Jungle Perch
Sooty Grunter
Spangled Perch
Barracouta
Barracuda
Javelin Fish
Black Bream
Threadfin Salmon
Blue Salmon
Cobia
Garfish
Estuary Cod
Fingermark
Frigate Mackerel
Pike
Mangrove Jack
Moses Perch
Long Tom
Black Tipped Reef Shark
Wolf Herring
Moonfish
Yakkas ;D
Slimey Mackerel
and a few unidentified ooglie thingies ;D

[Craigus]

Geez, Leeann :o :o

What fish have you not caught on fly? :o
I wish that had caught that many species on all types of fishing totaled. :o
You sure are lucky to have caught all those fish on fly. I envy You ;D
Just out of curiosity which fish was the most fun/rewarding to catch?

Craig

[wessel]

I am with Craig here, which one was the most difficult to land? :o


By the way, how did you hook a black tip reef shark? Luck or planned?

and what the heck is a Javelin fish?

Wess

[BrandonH]

Javelin fish is also known as a Grunter ;) I would be happy just getting some of those fish too dam!!! :o

Cheers
Brandon...

[S.S.]

Sharks were a planned capture. Got that one out of a Cape York creek (the mouth of the Skardon) when we were bored :)

I reckon every fish on fly is a great capture. Absolutely LOVED catching Jungle Perch and Sooties on surface flies in the Russell River a couple of years ago with then guide Peter Haynes. He was an absolute nutcase and we spend more time on the floor of the boat laughing than catching fish!!

Probably the toughest fishing i had was in New Caledonia over a wind-swept flat. heaps of cloud cover and sharks that ate every bonefish we hooked made things even harder. Anyway, I ended up with my first bonefish which was great.

The most difficult fish to land was my first black marlin. i had to wind the fish in left handed and I am the most uncordinated person doing ANYTHING left handed.... anyway, i had been using a right hand retrieve reel but unfortunately the line had a few twists in it so to avoid disaster, i used the other rod that was set up. My first Black Marlin was a huge thrill. Put in a lot of work over two days for that. Bloody expensive little outing that one ::)

Chasing Golden Trevally on the flats up at Hervey Bay/Fraser Island has always been at the top of my list. I love it up there. Oh, Cape York is a pretty special place as well :)

Oh, my 7.5lb Fingermark was a bit of a fluke. I had been fishing Dufyken Point (check the spelling!) near Weipa for Queenies and after I'd released an absolute ripper of a fish, the queenie spewed up a few morsals :P ... anyway, as it swam away, two large fingermark came up to eat what the Queenie just got rid of. I cast out and the surf candy floated down into the "berley" and the Fingermark ate it and took off. Saw everything and it was spectacular. They pull pretty damn hard too.

I've had a ball flyfishing. Was hard not to get hooked after landing an 8kg Golden Trevally as my first ever fish on fly. I've got some fantastic memories of fish captures and even better memories of the people I've fished with...... There are some absolute ratbags out there, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. ;)

[Canoedle]

Hi Leeann, great to see you on this forum after reading so much about your exploits in various mags over the years. I can only dream of seeing half the locations you have fished. Look forward to reading more from you. :)

[S.S.]

:)

Sometimes I get a little hard pressed for time to do everything unfortunately. I hold down a "normal" job however I fish a lot. I'm Brisbane based and will drive to Gladstone for a weekend fishing the dam if the weather's good. Then I've got to fit in the writing which I find a lot of fun too. Then there's an acreage block to look after. The cows have got half of it sorted but i still have to do "laps" on the ride on ::) I'm enjoying it all. Have got a great balance happening.
Would love to travel even more and may look at 2007 for something a little different.

[catchy_fishy]

:)

Would love to travel even more and may look at 2007 for something a little different.



Anyone up for planning a trip to fish Mozambique next year ? I'd love to "host" you. By then I'll have the boat license and I've already got the boat and landy.

I'm sure I could get a good mate to bring his ducky along ?

Catchy Fishy

PS Nice reading about your exploits LeeannP - 8kg golden on your first cast - lady luck I say ;)

[wessel]

Did somebody say Mozambique?

When are we going? I am booking my seat now for right up front on the bow.

Oh yes, where are my manners..............................PLEASE CAN I GO WITH ;D !!!

Better start working now on my brownie points with the missus.


Wessel

[S.S.]

[quote author=LeeannP link=1138307691/30#33 date=1152162402] :)

8kg golden on your first cast - lady luck I say ;)

;D First cast? oh god no!!!!!! had a million casts before the stupidest fish in the ocean took my fly ;)

[catchy_fishy]

Oh yes, where are my manners..............................PLEASE CAN I GO WITH ;D !!!

Better start working now on my brownie points with the missus.



Before we jump in feet first, my second deckie is arriving next week - I'm really low on brownie points right now but give it a month or so to plan and I'm sure we can cook something up for say September / October next year.

I'm thinking about halfway up - Inhambane or even Qusiko (slightly lower). If you wanted to make the great trek to Bazaruto I would have to really work hard at it. Petrol in Moz is *%# expensive, not like Qatar and with a V8 and boat fuel we couldn't carry enough illegally, let alone legally.

I will however start to find out about venues for camping higher than Inhambane - camping is the only way I would do the trip. I've got the freezers, generator, tables, 3 tents - one as a kitchen, shade cover for at leats four metres cover, rain sheets, water storage, ample chairs, and I'm sure I could get a loan of extra gas bottles.

Paul and I (my mate with the Ducky) are both into camping and between us have about the same amount of gear - so if I can con him, consider that to be double everything. If not PAul, then maybe another PAul - he has a beaut of a Cat but he's scared his vehicle can't pull it that far. (900 -1800 km's depending how far one went up the coast). If I twist his arm, and let the landy pull his boat, and his Isuzu pull mine (which is a glass boat so much lighter) I might be able to get him there.) Now that would be a good start. Madly keen fisherman, and mad as a hatter, falls over after a beer..

Oh yes and except for fly rods which I won't share I've got boat tackle enough to fit two boats.

So it's a case of get here, and bring your very small bag with clothes, towel and toiletries. Large bag of fly tackle and many rods, rock shoes and stripping baskets (which I might be able to secure a few of locally from the grocer) and lastly Malaria tablets.

And if you really wanted to why not fly the family over to join up with you afterwards and visit a bit in SA.

That's it, and we could be fishing in paradise for a week or so.

Think about it, give me month or so to break it in slowly, gotta see how the new baby interrupts us at first, then I'm all in.

Mike

So How many of you are actually remotely interested in buying a ticket and getting to SA for a week's excellent big game fly fishing and conventional saltwater deepblue boat fishing

[fisha_4_lyf_1989]

have never fly fishd before.
I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO CAST!
but looking forward to learn and get into it!
ill get back to ya! ;D

[T-roy]

Hey Catchy_fishy
I have just started fly fishing and have caught Bream, Flathead and Whiting so far
T-roy

[nuggstar]

ok my list
G T's
golder trevalies
queen fish
fingermark
big mullet
milk fish
barracuda

all these fish i caught up in darwin on my custom made compiset developement 10 wt blank and 10 - 11 wt systems 2 real that got stollen
that was 8 years ago and i still miss it, havent had a fly rod since. the big 8-9 kg milkys are the biggest rush i have ever had , lets just say you need at least 600 m of backing witch i had and i still got spooled

[liberty]

Jees after all those species (very impressive Leeanne), couldn't believe no-one listed a regular ole Snapper ... I got 4 on a chartreuse clouser on Sat on Hutchies shoal.

Just to make the experience I even had two bait fisherdudes on board ... who were catching naff all. They were getting really irritated ...

;D

The really funny part here, is that the first one of these I caught, I wasn't even hanging onto the rod. I had to jump quick to stop my Sage 8wt disappearing overboard! Then just to be completely obnoxious and prove it wasn't a coincidence, I did it again. Cast the fly out let it swing around in the current while it sank into the berley stream and then put the rod down. Count to 20 and bang - fish on!

I haven't laughed that hard in years ... poor bait dudes ... :'(

[wessel]

Well done.

Wessel