Shallow Reef Fly fishing

[flyfisho]

Hi Guys just thought I would remind you guys how effective dredging the shallow reefs are at this time of year . I went out today with a mate of mine and we got areal mixed species list happening all on Fly
the list was

• Kingfish
• Squire
• Queenfish
• Tailor
• GT's
• Big Eye's
• Bludger Trevally
• School Mackeral
• Dart

All on fly in one day - all you need is a fast sinking line , we were using Scientific angler wet tip express lines , but you could make your own shooting head setup very cheaply , then just use a sinking fly , most of these fish were caught on clousers , it doesn't get any simplar
If your after a feed there are by far more effective methods to catch fish, but if your up for the challenge on that rod you always bring on the boat but never use , go the fly . Just leave your other gear at home one day you will be suprised!!

[spook76]

great looking fish!!! I like your photos, its good to see that you can catch good fish on flies great work guys!!
from spook.

[Crumbo]

That must be awesome fun on the fly gear!! There are some really good fish there too.

[wessel]

That looks awesome,

Yes, I am green just looking at them pics

Wessel

[B_E_N]

hey chris,
looks like you had a grat day out. where abouts where you fishing and wat gear wer you getting them on. cheers

[edleigh7]

Good fish again Chris...looks like you guys had a ball!! What wgt rod and what lb tippet were you using?

Ed

[flyfisho]

Thanks for the comments guys , I hope it gets you guys out there and giving it a go .
Ed and Ben '
We were mainly after the Kingies so we were both fishing a Loomis GLX 10/ 11 Mega with a wet tip express line , I was using a 10kg tippet and my mate was using 8 kg . It is a bit heavy for things like the tailor but with the kingies around you couldn't risk it . And of course I wouldn't be caught dead without an Abel reel on my rod , nah just kidding but we both had abel reels , they just have the smoothest drag and the ability to put quite a bit of drag on the fish

[B_E_N]

lol yeh i had a look at the abels, coz well frankly i love the paint jobs you can get on them. i know its a long way off yet but have been thinking, and just might put the money away for a few months and try and get a 10/11 mega. from whgat ive heard i want an abel but ive seent the prices. but the way i see it, if i pay for qaulity it should last so if i pay a grand and the reels lasts me 10years then its only 100 a year for an awesome reel.
what abel did you match to your mega? and an approx cost? would just like to know what my dreams will cost me

[flyfisho]

Ben,
An Abel Reel should last you for life but does require a bit of maitainence , you know it should be stripped down at least once a year and cleaned and lubed not that big a hassle . You can get second hand ones fairly cheap the black Big Game 4 of mine cost around $500 second hand with the arm (normaly $200 brand new) , but my silly mate in the picture has the Atlantic striper colour super 9 that was around $1300 brand new and you have to order them because they are one offs . Despite the colours they are good reels and I would suggest finding a second hand one because the life time warranty is transferrable , they really will stop a submarine my Big Game 4 hold around 700 yards of 50lb backing , I havn't encountered a fish that even looked like even taking half that.
And you mioght find it hard to get a Mega now as they have been replaced by crosscurrents now , its's a shame because it is an awsome blank

[B_E_N]

yeh i was looking at the mudhole blanks and it doesnt refer to anything mega! ive been looking at the abels the last couple of days, and by the sounds of them they are the best and with that comes a price tag. ive had a look at the custom painted ones and yeh your mate may be silly but he has got an awesome looking reel. do they still make the big game reels, ive only seen the super series so far

[flyfisho]

Hi Ben , I have only just se your post sorry about the late reply - yes they still make BG Reels they are not as popular because of the small arbor but have a massive line capacity

[flyfisho]

Its still happening out there guys ,
Went out today and got another mixed bag , Fly fishing is ridiculously effective a this time of year . My mate and I ended up with Snapper , Mackeral , Sweetlip and Tuna today . I must admit the Tuna were a real suprise for this time of year , but I reckon you would have struggeled with slugs as they were on very small bait , so eye candies would be the go and thats what worked for us , unfortunatly we didn't see any Longies , Here is some pics from today , and the fly that is working well on the snapper

[tiges]

Nice Chrispy, same location as originally in this post or elsewhere? That's not a bad squire in that 1st pic. By the way, you can't hide your identity with the wrestling mask. Besides the renderers pants give you away. Which brings me to the point, do you ever work?

[flyfisho]

My work is governed by seabreze ,
and yeah thats the same place its really fishing well in low light

[Maxg]

Generally speaking this is very similar to the type of gear used off ocean rocks and the fish species are similar. Depths are around 30 to 60 odd feet, and sinking shooting heads are the norm. But hitting kings can be pure disaster since they head for the gibbers and don't come out.
But the principles are the same. Except that you don't use a boat.
I keep telling you guys that you can get past the high cost of fly rods in this game by getting into shimano surf sticks. They run to 13/14# are very easy to cast two hands and have grunt you don't normally get in fly rods. Best of all $109
Casting two hands is easy fast and very successful, after all, him up there has given you two hands so why not use them.
Fishing off rocks these days, for me anyway involves a DH 9 foot 17# modified Shimano Starlo Syrf Styx, a LA88 no hole Old Florida reel, and a no stretch GsP system.
I'm not sure I'd call it dredging, just deep water fly fishing. MaxG.