Australia: Fly Fishing for "The Other Fish"

Some fly fishers get a real kick out of catching creatures that they might not even have known existed up until the moment they come into view. Australian waters are richly endowed with a host of these. It’s a good idea to travel with a fish identification book in this part of the world, because unless you’re an ichthyologist its most likely at some stage you’re going to need it; and also keep a list of these new fish— who knows, chasing new things may become a fascinating pastime.

By: PETER MORSE Photos by: PETER MORSE and AUSSIE FLY FISHER

One of the things you’ll hear Australian fly fishermen “complain” about is the difficulty in selecting what tackle, which fly, and what rig to use, simply because of the diversity of species available to us. You can choose to specialize and target specific species, but in the meantime there’s often an endless string of other opportunities swimming by. For this reason, it always pays to have several rods rigged with different flies so those opportunities can be seized should they present themselves, and to have a couple of reels or spools already rigged with different lines so every situation can be capitalized on. The following are some favourites you are most likely to encounter in a variety of situations, some incidentally, and some you should take the time to target.

Saratoga

If you’re in pure freshwater barramundi country, the beautiful and primitive saratoga are ever present. Sharp eyed, they cruise openly on the surface, can be sight cast to, and also live in amongst the cover. Primarily an insect feeder but also highly opportunistic and aggressive, (eating lizards, snakes, and frogs), they’re suckers for a surface fly, Dahlbergs in particular, but also larger insect imitations such as a grasshopper will work fine. They’ll also eat bigger flies intended for barramundi. They’re a great early morning and late evening fish and in northern billabongs they live in amongst the lily pads, which give them cover from sea eagles, and flies need weed guards. They have mouths as hard as an engine block and you’ll miss more than you’ll land, hit them hard and then hit them again.

Jacks of All Trades

In the barramundi estuaries, mangrove jacks, threadfin salmon, and fingermark (aka golden snapper) are high on the list of likely encounters as are several species of cod. Both jacks and fingermark are structure-orientated fish and will be caught from much the same places as barra. Threadfin can also be caught in similar locations, but they are more likely to be encountered along mud banks where their feeding gives them away—and around the mouths of drains that with the rise and fall of the tide run into-, and out of the mangrove swamps.

“We also get monsters up to 10 kilos and 1.5 meters long, and almost nothing on the planet matches these for speed, leaps, and difficulty”

Most of the time all of these fish will eat flies intended for barramundi, but the threadfin can become particularly difficult when they’re feeding on shoals of immature shrimps, known locally as “jelly prawns”, or on the more mature prawns.

The Big Five of the Flats

On the flats, the big five you’re most likely to be fishing for are the permits, golden trevally, queenfish, GTs and blue bastards. These have been covered elsewhere but an awareness of the different flies and presentations used between the resident bottom feeders (permit and blue bastards), and the pelagic cruisers (GTs and queenfish), and the “in betweeners”, (Goldies) needs to be kept in mind. Having a rod rigged and ready with a streamer, and one rigged with a crustacean pattern is always a good idea.

Black Spot Tuskfish

Another highly prized flats species are the black spot tuskfish, an immensely powerful species that likes to get up onto coral marl flats and graze on crustaceans. In some areas they have become a much-prized target species, and if they’re in the area you’re fishing, talk to the guide and give them a crack, you won’t be disappointed.

Giant Herring

A highly prized fish that frequently lingers on the flats, and off the edge of the flats around surrounding reefs, but in fact can turn up almost anywhere, is known locally as a giant herring. In the US these are known as ladyfish, but there they’re merely considered nuisance value as they don’t grow large.

But there’s no faster, or more explosive fish found in our inshore waters. We get the small ones too, but we also get monsters up to 10 kilos and 1.5 meters long, and almost nothing on the planet matches these for speed, leaps, and difficulty.

Mackerel

There are five species of reasonably frequently encountered mackerel species in inshore Australian waters. These are of varying sizes and all of them have numbers of very sharp teeth. The Queensland school mackerel is the smallest, and although good eating, can be a pest as they snip off flies intended for other things.

Outside of the narrow-barred mackerel, known locally as Spanish mackerel, the smaller mackerel (school, shark, broad barred, and spotted mackerel) can usually be landed with a bite tippet of hard 40lb fluoro carbon. They eat a range of flies and can be quite particular, but surf candies will usually undo them, and will withstand their teeth for a time.

Although they have been landed on monofilament bite tippets, the potentially MUCH larger Spanish mackerel (narrow barred) need wire; not much, and not too heavy as they do become very shy of anything obviously out of place.

Experienced Spanish mackerel fly fishers tend to use only around 15-20cms of 20kg single strand wire, just sufficient to avoid those teeth and to withstand them should the bite tippet cross their mouth. They have wickedly sharp teeth and do much of their feeding by injuring baitfish and then returning to pick up the pieces. In the eyes of most fly fishers these are a special fish that rate very highly in many ways. Sharp eyed and often elusive they also succumb to many methods from breaking on bait schools like tuna, to sinking flies deep around reef structure, to teasing with hookless lures and chumming— how they feed means they’re absolute suckers for a chum trail. The first run of a big Spanish mackerel is something special. Once you set the hook stand by to clear the line instantly, maintaining just a little pressure on the fish and not so much on the line so coils don’t leap into the air – this is when trouble arises and many mackerel (and fast running pelagics) are lost in these line clearing moments. They don’t jump (unless there’s a shark chasing them) and they won’t deliberately swim for the reef, you just don’t panic and be patient.

Cobia

Cobia are another frequently encountered species and these are usually found hanging around manta rays, big stingrays, large sharks, dugongs, and whale sharks. In some places they are seasonal, and in others they can turn up at almost any time, just another reason for the need to have a heavier rod rigged all the time, and with a large fly such as a deceiver.

The Coral Reef Fish

Around the coral reefs and deeper reefs there’s a host of different creatures and every cast can have you wondering what you’ll encounter next. I’ve seen seven species caught from one spot on seven consecutive casts, and all of them were the sort of fish that’ll pull the kinks out of a fly line. Fish that live around reefs know every dirty fighting trick in the book and it usually involves just powering back to their rocky caves and ledges. Coral Trout, red bass (bohar snapper), and a host of emperor, wrasse, and cod species are on this list.

In the Depths

If for some reason the fishing on the flats or in the rivers is slow, especially on the change of the high tide period, most guides will have a collection of deeper water locations, sometimes reefs and reef passages, at other times deeper flats, where sinking flies will get you into trouble.

“This is not the place for sporting tippets, fish at least 40lb fluorocarbon”

Sinking flies deep is not for everyone but there’s a host of fish that never, (or at least very rarely) come anywhere near the surface. We have to be prepared to go down to them, and I suggest if this kind of fishing tickles your fancy, come with a fast-sinking line, or at least some well weighted flies and an intermediate sinking line.

In most places a #10 is as light as you would want to fish. In these situations, #11, #12 and even #13 weight rods are not out of place as the likelihood of encountering big fish is high. The preferred technique is to drift with the wind or the current (excellent if they’re opposed and you’re hanging on one spot) and to sink flies deep, then retrieve them, sometimes slow and sometimes fast, you need to work out what’s happening down there. This is not the place for sporting tippets, fish at least 40lb fluorocarbon.

The Sydney Harbour and Beyond

Not all fly fishing in Australia is in the tropics. The southern waters have some outstanding saltwater fly fishing too, even Sydney Harbour in the middle of that great city can be exceptional through the summer months.

Kingfish and Australian salmon are the prime targets, and these school on the surface right through the warmer months beginning in spring and tailing off in early winter. The hard fighting kingfish are found up and down the East Coast all the way to Tasmania. Snapper are another prized species and although not commonly caught on fly on the east coast, in South Australia and especially Western Australia they can be prolific and very willing fly rods targets, especially with those skippers who know and understand them.

On the west coast Samson fish, which are closely related to yellow tail kingfish, and amberjack, along with salmon, and snapper are the prime targets for saltwater fly fishers, and there are several exceptional charter boat operators in that area that know these fish and their movements very well.

Endless Possibilities

Australia is a continent with a coastline of more than 25,000 kilometres stretching from 10° to 42° South. Although it’s a desert continent it has its rivers, and being so flat, the tidal rivers and estuaries cut a long way inland, and in the northern wet season, in most years, everything floods and is renewed. There are immense sections of this coastline that have never seen a fly fisher, and very few fishermen generally. It’s one of the very few civilized but empty places left on the planet and whether you want 6-star, or roughing it, there’s a fishery and a place for you. Get into it!

Great Fishing Adventures of Australia is a new group of leading independently owned fishing tourism operators who have come together to collectively raise the profile of Australia as a world class fishing destination. No matter what the season, Australia offers international enthusiasts the opportunity to indulge in their passion and experience some of the very best fishing, amongst some of the most naturally spectacular and diverse environments, the world has to offer. Additional information available on:

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