Shark Bay Report

[Scott_Mitchell]

[smiley=2thumbsup.gif]I have just returned from our first trip into Shark Bay out from Denham in Western Australia. We fished aboard “The Spaniard” with Skipper Barry Edwards and deckie Rick. My well-travelled group consisted of Ian Sambell, Graham Seegar, Neil Shepherd,David Goonpan and Wesley Pang.We had a great trip landing 40 species on fly over 10 days, with Wesley landing the first bonefish (42cm and .600gms) on fly in Shark Bay waters to our knowledge. Other highlights included landing 8kg (16lb) pink snapper on clousers, 18kg Spanish mackerel, 10kg Diamond trevally, 10kg Shark Mackerel, Rankin cod, Sight fishing for Bald chin grouper and spangled emperors from the shore with crab patterns, bait ball mayhem on long tail tuna, bludger and gold spot trevally, big tailor, yellowfin bream, bar-tail flathead and whiting etc, etc, etc A lot of the time you just never knew what would pop up next!



Ian Sambell with a thumping snapper on yellow/white clouser

The whole operation was professionally run with Barry having over 25 years experience in the Shark Bay region. There is a huge range of options available and Barry is keen to work with more fly fishing groups in the future. He’ll also be adding some new surveyed tenders to the operation offering fully guided trips next season. You can tailor any trip to suite the type of fishing you want to do from wading flats and rocky headlands to bluwater.I have a DVD/Video which we put together on this latest trip, which better shows the fishing we experienced , so feel free to contact us if you would like any more details on this fantastic area



Wesley Pang with a Hooting spaniard !

Can't wait to get back already 8)

Regards Scotto

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Quinny,

Is 22kg big?

Regards,

Chris.

[Wesley_Pang]

Guys,

Shark Bay WA is a great spot. Just like Moreton Bay but with fish .

Shark Bay Bonefish.


Wes

[Quinny69]

Yes Chris, 22kg is big,, are they ALL that size? Wes was just hoping for a 20kg. Let me know when the 77s come in, very keen. Quinny

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Where do I sign up for the next one????
Sounds like a hoot guys - WELL DONE.

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Matt,

No, they're not all that big, they come bigger than that but get a bit hard to hang onto. Will let you know as soon as the 77's land.

Regards,

Chris.

[Maxg]

Well Shark Bay has been there for yonks, and fished for yonks but all sorts of wand wavers. Don't go overboard Scott, its just the standard stuff you are catching, nothing special.
Congrats on the bone Wes. They are all over the shop there, mostly in deepish water.
A couple of years ago a school of bones hit the Carnarvon jetty and the things were caught by lots of people on bait, funny whiting they were, but none on fly.
Max

[Maxg]

Your group Scott???, do you have a license for this kind of thing in WA. Did you get paid???? Max

[Quinny69]

Are the Longys bigger over there???? Sounds like a great trip, Anymore pics?. MQ

[Scott_Mitchell]

Max:It may not be that special to you in the West - but from an east coast perspective it's a pretty "special" place #

As far as "my group" - I just arrange to go fishing in remote area's with who I think is the best opperators, and take some mates with me .I'm not a travel/tour opperator and don't work on any commisions at all.I do however work as a flyfishing travel advisor/consultant with Gary Barnby at Angling Adventures in Geelong.

We pride ourselves on working with who we believe are the best opperators in any given area , with over 15 years experiance in flyfishing travel around Australia and over seas.Just part of our service Max 8)

Regards Scotto

[jeffo]

what sort of bluewater fishing optiona available?

[DaneCross]

Unbelievble! What a trip!

[jeffo]

hrmm... billfish... food for thought

[Scott_Mitchell]

Jeffo:The bluewater species we encountered included - Longtails, striped tuna, shark mackerel,spanish mackerel, bludger trevally, goldspot trevally (turrum) , Diamond trevally, and we saw large yellowfin (one est 50+kgs swimming on the surface near a bait ball) and dophin fish.Theres also a few sailfish and black marlin about at times - but not a lot of effort has been put into realy finding them #

Add the miles of inshore flats, bays and rocky headlands and you have a very diverse fishery idealy suitet to flyfishing.The only catch I see is the weather - or lenght of the year that you get suitable weather ? From talks so far with the locals I would surgest your best bet is from March to September - BUT weather is weather at any time and we did get plenty of wind during our visit.Being aboard a mothship does help in this area as you just move to a more protected area either inside Shark Bay or around the lee side of one of the Islands .

Great place which I'm sure we'll hear more about as more fly anglers fish it #8)

Regards Scotto

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With over 4000 miles of coastline in the bay it does look pretty good. There are areas well know for jumbo tailor that are accessable to fly fishermen, snapper, billfish from the rocks just around the corner, and world record yellow fin tuna have been taken in this area. The down sides are as Scott has ponted out the wind. Being a fairly shallow area the wind influences the water temp to a large degree, one good southerly blow and the flats temp drops and the fishing turns off like a light switch. Hotter the weather the better the fishing. It can also turn into a very nasty piece of water if caught out in a small boat.

The first bone heads trip was organised and run in Shark Bay and while no bonefish were taken it was a very worth while trip by all reports and much was learnt. Groups of fly fishing nuts have been fishing various areas in Shark Bay for over 20 years as far as I know. The more trips and positive press we can get for the Bay the better. It might just help to keep CALM from staking out the best flats as no fishing zones.

Chris.

Fly World.