First Fish on Salt Water Fly

[Moffy]

with the wind conditions finally right, it was all set for me to get my first fish on SW Fly on my recent trip to Mapoon north of weipa in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Having driven to Janie Creek about 15k's south of Cullen Point at Mapoon, fishing the mouth of a creek junction into Janie Creek itself , it was time to have a crack.

There were queenfish crashing bait periodically within my (very) limited casting range.

imagine my excitement when a monster fish came finning along just metres out from the bank.

I quickly stripped out enough fly line from the reel and after a hurried couple of false casts lay the fly (as best i could) a couple of metres in front of the fast moving fish....


i stripped the fly ..


once...


twice...


and .......


nothing...


it surfaced moments later a few metres further on, and was now out of my range (am still not sure whether it was a GT or a queenfish, but from the size of the dorsal fin, it was 8-10 kilos at least)

i stood on the bank and watched it for the next few minutes, as it continued to feed out of my range, knowing that with a baitcaster, i could have put a soft plastic in front of it in a heartbeat.

That said, i will never forget the expectation when i landed the fly in front of it. nor the feeling of walking the beach, fly rod in arm, scoping for that next shadow to cast to.

Will definitely put more effort into it in future.

Ohh - for the record, i did get my first fish on SW fly - but at 20cm the little flathead did not exactly trouble the 8 weight. but, it was a first all the same, i guess.

[catchy_fishy]

Welcome to the world of magic. I've been fishing all my life but have found that nothing compares to the excitement of the thrill you described.

Sadly more often than not the stripping results in one two three four ...........seven....ten.....blank, but then suddenly you hit a fish. Because you're stripping the line by hand you are right in touch with everything that's going on.

The screeming reel kicks into action, your palm cups the reel, water spinning everywhere, praying your loose line doesn't get fouled in the eyes of the rod, and then you sit back and wait - its pure bliss.

CF

[catchy_fishy]

About your casting - try find someone who can teach you the double haul casting technique - you should get at least another 5-8m if not more with time. (Using this technique you should be able to cast a full fly line).

Also what line configuration have you got - shooting head with running line or full line ?

CF

[wessel]

You got a fish mate, never mind what size it was.

Seeing a cruiser coming up and you know that you are in with a shot. That is when your fingers just turn to thumbs and your heart is beating in your throat. Better luck next time, it is bound to happen.

Wessel

[Moffy]

Cheers guys - it is a great feeling of expectation - i imagine when they do hit and scream off its even better.

probably undersold my casting a bit - can get probably half to 3/4 of the fly line out - with a few false casts - using a basic haul - am using 8wt Striper taper intermediate with bionic braid backing over 8wt strudwick rod - only have a cheap real at the moment - will get a feltys one day.

just a little different to being able to flick a lure on a baitcaster into exactly where i want from further out with minimal effort - am getting there though