Longtail Tuna Chase 2007

[flyfisho]

Hi guys some of you may be interested to know that the sunshine coast flyfisher association had its annual Longtail Tuna Chase over the weekend, there were 34 compedtitors and 30 longtail boated and released with a lot more either popped or sharked

if you missed out don't worry it will be on again next year for all you budding flyrod champs to put your ego on the line (only kidding ) , this is a fun event with heaps of sponsers prizes, keep an eye on the clubs website (the link is posted in the fly chat area) , for further details on next years event.,
This years winner was Gordon Low from Fish Head onya Lowy !!!

heres one of mine , this one ate a #2 surf candy and I unfortunatly pinned this free swimmer on my 9 weight .Not quick enough for a tournament

[nuggstar]

oooooo wwwwwaaaaaaaaa big one there, i wish i could have been there. top fish mate

[wessel]

Excellent

Those things pull so hard that the line usually pulls a rooster tail through the water!! On a 9 weight that must have been great fun. Any stats of the top three? Fish weight, line size etc?

Regards

Wessel

[jez and suze]

what flies do you guys find are the best to use on longtail......we have been getting right amongst them but they seem to be fussy with slugs and i am really keen to get the flies into them......would love to get my longtail on fly

[flyfisho]

Hi Wessel,
Yeah mate they do pull hard unfortunatly we have no specific size stats on the top anglers fish, the points in the comp are based of numbers of captures eg 5 points for a LT and 1 point for every other species of tuna provided they exceed the 40cm fork length size limit , however I reckon that most of the fish averaged around 8-10 kilos perfect tournament size (20 mins in the boat) the comp is a catch and release comp too ,most people would have been using 10 / 11 weight rods with lines to match

Jez and Suze
I can understand you frustration as you probaly already know longtail fishing on fly requires consistant 90-100 feet casts with bugger all false casts , flies with spot on profile to the bait they are eating on the day and exceptional boat driving and somtimes dumb luck. I have put up a pic of the flies that I have been tying on first up untill I can see what they are eating , if your still having trouble I would downsize first then downsize and lengthen your leader I usually start with 20lb and downsize to 16 lb tippet my leader is usully 14 ft long to start with hope this helps

If anyone wants more info the sunshine coast fly fishers association would be a great place to start everyone is keen to share info and you might be able to snag a deckie spot when we do a club trip for pelagics.
also the Bribe Island sportsfishing club are holding their Tuna on Fly Comp on the 5/6 th of May I can get more details if you guys are intereted , it should be a good comp the LT's are thick as at the moment
heres a pic from friday it was pretty lumpy in the morning

[jez and suze]

thanks for the info......landed my first longtail today....1mtr long weighing in at 15kg....the strength of this fish made me come to realise that the fly gear i have just wont cut it!!!!the fish today actually took an unweighted pilly cast into the pack...

[jez and suze]

that fly by the way is an incredible replica of the white bait that they are thrashing.........great stuff

[flyfisho]

thanks for the info......landed my first longtail today....1mtr long weighing in at 15kg....the strength of this fish made me come to realise that the fly gear i have just wont cut it!!!!the fish today actually took an unweighted pilly cast into the pack...

Thats a solid fish Mate !!
the one in the top pic was 94 cm fork length and if I had all day and I wanted it for Sashimi I wouldn't have a problem with using a smaller rod I would just need a reel with at least 500yds of backing but hey get the eat then worry about what your going to do there's no structure out there, I reckon there is nothing better that seeing the arbour knot anyway

[wessel]

A pending womens IGFA world record for yellowfin.....

That must be the same as winching the anchor on-board using your fly rod......

http://www.twooceanssportfishing.com...llowtail-tuna/